The most significant change in Lamont's character throughout the series was his attitude toward his work, his father, and his future. In the first episode, he is portrayed as hostile and angry toward Fred and the life he is forced to live, especially when Fred's interference ruins his plans, similar to the relationship of Harold Steptoe and Albert Steptoe. This lasted through the middle of the first season, especially in an episode when he takes Fred out on the town for his birthday and becomes frustrated by Fred's lack of manners and crudeness in public. At the end of the night, he becomes so angry that he abandons Fred at the restaurant, leaving his father to walk home in the rain. His attitude towards Fred softened by midseason, as episodes tended to focus more on the two working together to solve a problem, as when several bill collectors converged on the house threatening to repossess their belongings. He changed throughout the series and became a man dedicated to his work and to his father, but also who would try new things and new ideas to better himself, such as when he attempts to embrace his African heritage or later when he tries to run for state assemblyman. One source of bitterness for the 34 year old Lamont is revealed in an angry confrontation with his 65-year-old father in which he reveals that he had to drop out of High School after his mother died so he could help his "sick" father; after 20 years of working in the "Junk Business" he suspects that his father "faked" a heart attack just so he could get some cheap labor out of his son.