Patrice's unnamed mother is the villainess from "Spare the Rod", episode 5.03 of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (airdate September 22, 1979). She was the mother of Patrice, a withdrawn classmate of the show's titular protagonist.
During the opening minutes of the episode, Patrice was playing with Albert and his friends at their school's jungle gym when one of her shirt sleeves slid down, allowing Albert to see several bruises on Patrice's arm. When Patrice refused to talk about them, a concerned Albert followed Patrice home, witnessing her enter her house only to rush out moments later, with her mother calling after her.
Albert went up to the house soon after and asked Patrice's mother if he could come in to talk with her. She vehemently refused, claiming she had things to do and that he would have to come another time. When Albert ran into Patrice again, he claimed to her that he had a friend who was getting beaten at home, which ultimately led to Patrice revealing that her mother was physically abusing her. It was also later revealed that Patrice's father knew what was happening, but didn't intervene out of fear of hurting his family. Despite all this, however, Patrice claimed that her parents loved her and that she was staying quiet about her abuse to protect them. However, at the end of the episode, Albert convinced Patrice to report her situation to their teacher Miss Wooker, and Patrice's mother was presumably arrested offscreen for child abuse.
Trivia[]
- Patrice's mother serves as a counterpart to Feena, the villainess of the episode's Brown Hornet segment; as both were authority figures who were revealed to be abusive to those under her care. A major difference is that Patrice's mother is never shown redeeming herself for her abusive ways, while Feena ultimately realizes the error of her actions and redeems herself to her subjects.