Even though it is played for laughs, the idea that Richie the lion could dream of being captain of the crew, and then also be taken seriously as a genuine leader, is powerful discourse. We have seen animals oft portrayed as nothing but tools or such for the humans, and even Richie has previously just been used as Mohji’s weapon, so the thought of the other pirates happily uniting under the lion for their future adventures demonstrates revolutionary attitudes that betray traditional hierarchies of power. I think a noteworthy aspect of this scene is that Richie could not ever be captain if he didn’t have the dream and take action on it. We all have things we wish we could do and it is critical that we make choices that help bring our own goals to fruition, whatever that looks like.
Conversely, we also see that the clown crew is desperately missing some sort of power structure. Without Buggy, they have more or less fallen into uselessness, incapable of doing much of anything at all. They encourage Mohji & Cabaji to duel for the title of captain so they can have any leader at all, and then immediately fall behind Richie when he seems like the victor. In many situations, it is beneficial to have someone performing the leadership role so that there is consistent direction for the larger group to work towards. When Richie pretty much immediately leads them to be conquered by the Bear Paw Tribe, the other crew doesn’t even seem angry with him because they still recognize that they are all responsible as part of the crew and they consented to the lion being their captain.
We also see some effective camaraderie occur when Buggy returns to the pirate crew. Cabaji & Mohji quickly put aside their combat to share joy that the true clown captain has returned to them, and even Richie is excited to no longer be in charge. Buggy does not blame his crew for the events that separated them or caused them all struggle, he simply prepares for the next adventure.
Last note, I appreciate the “time line” joke when Luffy forgets the name of the town & Nami says she just told him the name. It’s hard to guess exactly how long the characters have been traveling towards Logue Town, but for the audience, it has been 3 or more episodes since we heard its name. This casual method of exposition adds some fun flavor to a minor detail, while also developing the characters and their relationships.