Season 1 Talk

[attica]

The stealing of the fingerprint won me. That's some Bourne shit, right there.

[Skittl1321]

I really liked the line of Diana's when she said "But I live in the same room as him" or something like that, to respond to not hanging out with idiots.

[lonerafter]

I just watched it and I'm not really sure how I feel about this episode. So far I've loved each episode, so I haven't really felt the need to comment since everything has basically already been said, but this one was kind of weird to me. There were definitely funny moments (Dre calling Bow a chicken with all of the 'buts', Junior finding the loopholes, Bow's mom not wanting to harsh her vibe) but the whole premise kind of annoyed me. I think maybe it's because I'm closer in age to the kids than the parents, or that I haven't had my own child yet, but I felt like they went way overboard. I completely agree that Zoey should have had some kind of punishment, as if she had been caught/gotten into an accident there would have been actual legal ramifications, but I don't think one kid making one bad choice is a good reason to put all of them on lockdown. I mean, Junior doesn't seem to break any normal rules, apparently he just finds ways around them, so why punish him with the 10,000 commandments? I guess he doesn't really have a lot of friends to go out and see anyway, but group punishments always rub me the wrong way.

Another thing was how almost everything Bow said about being close to her daughter was made fun of in one way or another, when I feel like a lot of what she was saying had some value (especially when she said something along the lines of "That's why you resent your father" to Dre). It was also kind of annoying how Dre took charge of the punishments. I get taking her phone away, as that isn't huge, she could always use computers at school or a friends phone, and Bow didn't seem to mind that. But the 10,000 commandments weren't good, it was obvious that Bow did not support them, and if the decision regarding the punishment doesn't come from both of your parents it makes it harder to take seriously. I understand having rules, my parents were strict when I was little, and then somewhat into middle school, but eventually they realized that continually grounding me wasn't fixing anything, and instead that we needed to talk and actually have communication. Maybe it's just me, but if Bow and Zoey had had a closer relationship, maybe they would have had a conversation about how Zoey wanted to drive to impress her friends, and they could have talked about the motive behind the actions and maybe prevent them from happening again by offering up a different solution. Once I was about halfway through middle school, and all through high school, my parents essentially left me alone and didn't really ask "What are you doing?" "Who are you hanging out with at school?" or anything like that. The fact that they weren't constantly pestering me made me more prone to tell them things and talk to them about important stuff going on. I had a friend who had very strict parents, they would go through all of her messages, demand to know her passwords and then change them so they determined whenever she could do anything. She didn't magically turn into an angel, she just learned to hide things better. There was a lot of drama for me in the beginning of high school involving what I guess would be called bullying? Or maybe just harassment, but either way it took me a few months to actually work up the courage to tell my parents about it since I assumed they would be like most of the people I knew and blame me for it, but I ended up telling them just in time. I can't imagine how much longer it would have taken me to tell them if they had been overly harsh and strict, or if I would have just continued to hide it. I mean if Zoey was pregnant with a toilet baby, who would she be more likely to tell and talk to about it, supporting parents who she has a good relationship with, or parents who revel in the power they have over their children?

I can't remember if she has her permit or not, but the rule in my state was if you had a permit you had to have someone 21 or over in the passenger seat, and it had to be during certain hours of the day. So, when they showed her in the car my first thought was that she was hanging out with a much older guy, which would be a huge problem. I don't know why I expected that, maybe it's because I had some friends who would befriend 21 year olds when they were 15 just so they could drive without parents.

Basically, I think there should have been a punishment for Zoey, but not what was done. I don't think reacting with anger always works, I think explanations combined with a reasonable punishment do a lot more good. Also, if she is 15 and she doesn't have a permit (because I honestly can't remember), why wouldn't they get her into drivers ed. and start that process? It's obvious she wants to drive.

[DearEvette]

I feel like the last three/four eps have really hit their stride.  The situations/plots themselves are familiar sitcom tropes, but the lines, dialogue and quips feel like they are really elevating the show.  The jokes are flowing so fast and furious and the site gags (I loved the emoji conversation in this one & all the 'white savior' movies in the last one) are clever and spot on.  And I even liked Dre in this one.  This is how Dre's neurotic personality needs to be deployed best.

 

Also, Diane's hair was super cute.

[twoods]

"Toilet baby"- I am still laughing my ass off with these two words. Hilarious!

[mojito]

These episodes are getting flatter and dumber. This has become just another dull sitcom. Sorry to see that this show has lost its humor so quickly. It's like it started out appealing to the masses but has now sunk to high school level humor. The injection of Pops' weird, harsh opinions (in contrast to some of the new-age stuff Bow is spouting) and Charlie's off-beatness saves this show for me. 

[Luciano]

I laughed hard at this conversation between Dre and Bow:

"I wonder what that's like, somebody constantly questioning your blackness? Like just because you misquoted the lyrics to 'Ain't No Fun.'"

"Why would Nate Dogg sing, 'and you even lit my halls,' huh? Context, Bow, context!"

[sinkwriter]

I laughed out loud at a few things in this episode. The behaviors were over the top but not at a level that bugged me. Probably because the underlying structure was something that cracked me up, like trying to find loopholes in parents' rules. My parents had a mixed bag of structure and rules plus rare occasions when they relaxed those rules, so I saw a little bit of everything in Dre and Bow.

 

I remember one time my siblings and I did something... well, it wasn't our brightest idea, let's just say it involved climbing outside of our bedroom windows at night... and we got caught, and my dad yelled at us (rightly so). But after he left our bedroom, he also saw the comedy of the situation because we heard our parents laughing about it. Of course, we were idiots, because we ran right out to the living room and said, "See! It's not that bad! You're laughing!" But my dad switched gears quickly by reminding us that we weren't going to be laughing (or going to our cousins' house for fun the next day) if we didn't get back to bed and stay there, and we knew he meant it.

Edited May 1, 2015 by sinkwriter

[jhlipton]

If I was going to vote for the "best" first time children of a new generation were from another generation than their parents, I would go with indoor plumbing vs. outhouse. I mean cell phones and DVRs are great vs. landlines and VCRs, but hello? Ten degrees out, having to bundle up and head outside to do your business in a hole in the ground vs. sauntering to the bathroom in the middle of the night? No contest!

Indoor plumbing has been around forever (since the Romans, actually).  Unless you're from a very rural area, multiple generations will have had it.  (Now, toilets that actually flush when you want them to is another story.)

Using David Spade is funny because he's only slightly more handsome than Steve Buscemi, but he's been rumored to have a lot of "hot" girlfriends.  So having Maisie be obsessed with him was pretty funny..  

[joanne3482]

"Toilet baby"- I am still laughing my ass off with these two words. Hilarious!

Having grown up in a state that has had toilet babies I feel like I shouldn't laugh at this. But I can't stop. 

[Donny Ketchum]

I completely agree that Zoey should have had some kind of punishment, as if she had been caught/gotten into an accident there would have been actual legal ramifications, but I don't think one kid making one bad choice is a good reason to put all of them on lockdown. I mean, Junior doesn't seem to break any normal rules, apparently he just finds ways around them, so why punish him with the 10,000 commandments? I guess he doesn't really have a lot of friends to go out and see anyway, but group punishments always rub me the wrong way.

I kind of agree.  This ticked me off as much as an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air did years and years ago.  In the third-season premiere, Will wanted to keep dressing up, talking to people, getting his hair cut, and wearing all clothes that gave him a link to his Philadelphia lifestyle, even though it was inappropriate for Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian's lifestyle and and embarrassed them in front of their social circle.  Still, Will thought he had a right to stick to doing whatever he wanted, and Phil and Vivian did grudgingly accept it . . . or pretended to.  Since Will wasn't technically their child, they couldn't force him to give up what he loved about his background.  However, they had a backup plan to make him do just that.  Since Hillary, Carlton, and Ashley were their children, they could deal with them as they saw fit.  So as long as Will wanted to keep his inappropriate Philly attire and lifestyle . . . their own kids were grounded.  Another unfair group punishment due to one person.  And that one person wasn't even grounded with them!

 

Junior, Jack, and Diane being subjected to the rules even though only Zoey had broken one reminded me heavily of that episode.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[mansonlamps]

True, but at one time children had toilets while their parents growing up had outhouses. A bazillion years after ancient Rome I would imagine. In my opinion that was an amazing step forward, even more than the cell phone. Better even than having electricity vs. reading by candlelight.

[BoogieBurns]

Using David Spade is funny because he's only slightly more handsome than Steve Buscemi

 

David Spade is in my top 5 of SNL hotties. But, I'm no Maisie...

[jhlipton]

True, but at one time children had toilets while their parents growing up had outhouses. A bazillion years after ancient Rome I would imagine. In my opinion that was an amazing step forward, even more than the cell phone. Better even than having electricity vs. reading by candlelight.

 

I see... I thought you were saying that kids Junior's age were the first experiencing indoor plumbing.  You were actually saying that in some year X, the kids got their first real toilet.    Right?  If that's the case, then yes, indoor anything beats the outdoor version!

[RedHawk]

People who can breathe comfortably in Spanx don't actually need them.

 

 

I don't own stock in Spanx and I definitely need them. When I bought the right size I was amazed at how comfortable they were and how well they "smoothed out" my clothes.  

 

No, Bow didn't really need that entire Spanx whatever it was she was wearing, it was just a funny visual that underscored how desperately she wanted to look as great as possible and how little confidence she suddenly had in her awesome self.

[SmithW6079]

Dre was the usual douchebag in this episode, but he was in the right this time.

Liked Bow's flashback with the fork and the outlet.

[SmithW6079]

So we're going to be subjected to Dre being homophobic in this episode?

[readster]

I kind of agree.  This ticked me off as much as an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air did years and years ago.  In the third-season premiere, Will wanted to keep dressing up, talking to people, getting his hair cut, and wearing all clothes that gave him a link to his Philadelphia lifestyle, even though it was inappropriate for Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivian's lifestyle and and embarrassed them in front of their social circle.  Still, Will thought he had a right to stick to doing whatever he wanted, and Phil and Vivian did grudgingly accept it . . . or pretended to.  Since Will wasn't technically their child, they couldn't force him to give up what he loved about his background.  However, they had a backup plan to make him do just that.  Since Hillary, Carlton, and Ashley were their children, they could deal with them as they fit.  So as long as Will wanted to keep his inappropriate Philly attire and lifestyle . . . their own kids were grounded.  Another unfair group punishment due to one person.  And that one person wasn't even grounded with them!

 

Junior, Jack, and Diane being subjected to the rules even though only Zoey had broken one reminded me heavily of that episode.

 

 I completely agree, I remember that episode and going: "How is that fair?" Of course Uncle Phil sometimes got carried away on: "His house, his rules." There were times where Will and Carlton really didn't do anything that a normal teen or college kid would do and then he blew up. Yet, with the kids being punished for how Will was dressing and acting really went against all of that. Like I said with the Wife and Kids show a few years ago, this reminded me of that. 

[dirtypop90]

Laughed so hard at the bathroom scene with all the kids and junior telling diane and jack to step into the light with him and them not budging lol

[spaceytraci1208]

I enjoyed Raven Symone's cameo; cute episode. Jack is catching up to Diane in the character ranking for me...he was masterful in how he recovered from getting played by Diane. I hate that Pops was absent; I'm curious if he would've had a similar reaction to Ruby's, or if he would've shrugged and sipped his cognac because he's known all along

Edited May 7, 2015 by spaceytraci1208

[TiffanyNichelle]

I am just never going to like Ruby. I did like Raven Symone on the show. It's a shame she was stuck in a Ruby episode because they always bug me. Go away, Ruby. Bring back Pops.

 

Junior not knowing Rhonda was gay and Charlie's slow realization that his brother and his brother-in-law were gay was the high points.

[formerlyfreedom]

Liberals Dre and Bow go ballistic when Junior declares he's joined the Young Republican Club to impress a girl (ironically named Hillary). Since they really can't believe any reasonable black people would be Republicans, Dre and Bow arrange to meet Hillary's wealthy and conservative parents. Meanwhile, everyone teases Zoey when she finds out she needs glasses.

[Irlandesa]

"I think my brother and his husband are gay!"

 

I also loved the little sight gag of Dre throwing the banana over his shoulder when his mom came in. 

[red12]

Just watched the episode on DVR. I liked Jack and Diane as usual, but so tired of the "black people are soooo homophobic because....Jesus" crap. It's bad enough coming from white liberals, but watching Dre and his "black people be like..." commentary was beyond. Also, the crack about Bow being out of touch due to her light skin when she and Raven are basically the same complexion was dumb too.

Edited May 7, 2015 by red12

[possibilities]

I usually love Junior, but they wrote him to be too stupid this week.

[Racj82]

Just watched the episode on DVR. I liked Jack and Diane as usual, but so tired of the "black people are soooo homophobic because....Jesus" crap. It's bad enough coming from white liberals, but watching Dre and his "black people be like..." commentary was beyond. Also, the crack about Bow being out of touch due to her light skin when she and Raven are basically the same complexion was dumb too.

Except no one here was homophobic. I personally think that word is used too often out of proper context. No one here was afraid of a gay person. What we had here were multiple reactions to a situation. I don't mean that in a offensive way. I'm just saying that Dre's sister being gay was the plot. The kids don't care. Bow doesn't care. Junior is excited about it. Dre actually doesn't care either. He just doesn't talk with his sister about serious things. It really didn't have much to do with her being gay. There heart to hearts in generally are just surface level stuff. Ruby was just in denial which many parents (black or whatever) often are. Nothing offensive hear. There was no stream of homophobia here. It was actually refreshing. No one was really mad about it. There was no one thrown in a trash can. 

[teebax]

Except no one here was homophobic. I personally think that word is used too often out of proper context. No one here was afraid of a gay person. What we had here were multiple reactions to a situation. I don't mean that in a offensive way. I'm just saying that Dre's sister being gay was the plot. The kids don't care. Bow doesn't care. Junior is excited about it. Dre actually doesn't care either. He just doesn't talk with his sister about serious things. It really didn't have much to do with her being gay. There heart to hearts in generally are just surface level stuff. Ruby was just in denial which many parents (black or whatever) often are. Nothing offensive hear. There was no stream of homophobia here. It was actually refreshing. No one was really mad about it. There was no one thrown in a trash can.

I agree. This episode resonated with me. My mother still refers to my partner as my friend. She knows we're together and accepts who I am, but she's never going to say girlfriend or partner or wife. Do I wish she would? Of course. But getting my born again Christian mother even to this point was an achievement. I'm black, but I had a long-term partner who was Italian, and her mother acted the same way. It's definitely not just a gay thing.

I enjoyed Raven Symone's caneo; cute episode. Jack is catching up to Diane in the character ranking for me...he was masterful in how he recovered from getting played by Diane. I hate that Pops was absent; I'm curious if he would've had a similar reaction to Ruby's, or if he would've shrugged and sipped his cognac because he's known all along

Pops reminds me a lot of my dad. So I think I can give an educated guess. He wouldn't have had much to say. While my mother was shocked when she found out I was a lesbian, my father told me he was just glad I'd finally figured it out. He'd known my whole life and just wanted me to be happy. I could see Pops having the same type of reaction.

The scene at the office in which the female employee mentioned being a lug also resonated with me. It is probably different for gay men, but when guys find out I'm gay, they pretty much react the same way as Dre's colleagues.

[tennisgurl]

Raven is just showing up all over my TV lately. First she shows up on Empire, and now here! Good for her. And I thought she did a good job. Her and AA had good sibling chemistry. 

 

The younger guys crack about leaving this trip to the 50s, and being amazed by the fact that he makes less than Dre and Charlie, cracked me up. I`ve worked with people MUCH older than Dre and Charlie, and it can be an...interesting experience. 

 

As always, the twins are the best.

[Black Knight]

I usually love Junior, but they wrote him to be too stupid this week.

Although I agree in principle, the reactions of his family in both of his too-stupid scenes were so priceless that I forgave it.

 

I laughed at so many things in this episode, but I think possibly my very favorite moment was when Bow sarcastically asked if Rhonda had told Dre about her wedding and not inviting him because of Ruby, and he repeated that monkey's-hand-means-no-show line (or whatever it was) and said "Maybe?"

[biakbiak]

I thought Ruby was a lot more than just being in denial until the last scene.

[Black Knight]

She did carry on a lot about "not my family" and made the seemingly-obligatory reference to Leviticus and so on, but if it really ran deep then I don't think she would've come as far around as she did in the space of, what, an hour? Plus, she seemed to like Rhonda's girlfriend well enough; she treated her much better than she does Bow, that's for sure. If she really had a serious problem with the relationship I expect she would've been continually nasty to Sharon in an effort to derail the relationship.

 

So I think with her it's really just more of a thing where she had a particular picture in mind for her daughter's life and her daughter's life doesn't fit it, and it's hard for her to accept that it's not what she had in mind.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Black Knight

[SanDiegoInExile]

......I hate that Pops was absent; I'm curious if he would've had a similar reaction to Ruby's, or if he would've shrugged and sipped his cognac because he's known all along....

 

It did seem odd that he was never mentioned. Makes me wonder if he is not her father.  Especially with the 10+ years age difference between siblings.

[possibilities]

If she wasn't afraid of The Gay, Ruby wouldn't have been in denial about it. She wouldn't have kept Dre from eating bananas. She wouldn't have "blamed" it on letting "the kid next door who was like that" be her daughter's friend. If you have no problem with it, you just don't think it's something to blame about, and you won't be upset or angry or hurling selective biblical passages as threats. You won't storm out and threaten never to return.

 

We can say that when she realized no one was going to give in to her tantrums, she decided to stay in her daughter's life rather than be cut out of it, and we can decide whether or not to forgive people their biases, but I don't think there was anything ambiguous about the fact that Ruby was homophobic.

 

I think it's just this way that many families come to an uneasy truce, but it's more like a demilitarized zone than an actual peace and love alliance. Once you've been truly loved and accepted, you can really tell the difference, and it's harder to settle for the scraps that people who don't really like who you are will sometimes throw at you. But most of us are well-enough schooled in taking shit that we do in fact put up with second-class half-measures, incredulity, and skepticism, so it's not like I think the show was unrealistic about that.

 

Straight men are the only people on the planet who like LUGs.

[SimoneS]

I thought Dre was great refusing to along with his mother's homophobia. I wish more people would do this with their parents and that older generation instead of ignoring or tolerating their bigotry. I cringed when she quoted Leviticus because it was so familiar. Once Dre put his foot down, Ruby was forced to back down. Hopefully, she will come around in time. 

 

I cracked up when Bow couldn't stop dancing at the news that Dre had threatened to cut Ruby out of their lives.

 

I agree that Junior was ridiculously stupid, but it was very funny. I loved how Jack totally outmaneuvered Diane.

 

Raven Simone and Anthony Anderson were wonderful in the basketball scenes. They worked the sibling chemistry and it was awwww moment.

 

I could not stop laughing when Dre was muttering to the effect, "why do I listen to this fool?" It is a question that I ask about him all the time. Charlie is crazy.

 

I am glad that they are keeping Dre's younger black co-worker around. I totally related to his frustration with Dre and Charlie's attitudes and his comment  about going to his office and leaving the 1950s. Ha. 

Edited May 7, 2015 by SimoneS

[marceline]

I just loved Charlie referring to his brother's wedding as a health care consolidation party on Fire Island and I really want a gif of the guys dancing to "Blurred Lines."

[shura]

Plus, she seemed to like Rhonda's girlfriend well enough; she treated her much better than she does Bow, that's for sure. If she really had a serious problem with the relationship I expect she would've been continually nasty to Sharon in an effort to derail the relationship.

 

Did she treat Sharon better than Bow? I thought Ruby never said a word to Sharon, just referred to her dismissively in the third person (and in her presence) as "Rhonda's mechanic."  I'm not sure it's all that much better than actually talking to a person, even if only to put them down.

 

It was kinda nasty, unintentionally, for Bow to basically tell Jack "all this stuff your sister just gave me is just crap, your hug is much better." I laughed at that, and Diane deserved it, but come on, Bow, what kind of parenting is that?

[attica]

monkey's-hand-means-no-show line (or whatever it was)

 

Ah, my youth: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show.  For a bit, I was thinking that this swell ditty would have been out of Dre's (and Sharon's) age range, but the Google reassures me there have been a number of covers over the years.

 

I laughed really hard at the various word forms: lesbianification, lesbianize, lesbionic. They will come in handy next Thanksgiving! :) Also, how great is TER for going all the way with her so-unfunny-it's-funny "Erica Ba-DON'T!"?

[Racj82]

Did she treat Sharon better than Bow? I thought Ruby never said a word to Sharon, just referred to her dismissively in the third person (and in her presence) as "Rhonda's mechanic."  I'm not sure it's all that much better than actually talking to a person, even if only to put them down.

 

It was kinda nasty, unintentionally, for Bow to basically tell Jack "all this stuff your sister just gave me is just crap, your hug is much better." I laughed at that, and Diane deserved it, but come on, Bow, what kind of parenting is that?

Maybe it makes me bad tv watcher but I don't give these jokes much thought. You know like, Bow was rude or Junior was really done. It's just all for the sake of comedy. It's not like Diane is going to be broken up about it next week. For me, it's just a sitcom. I focusing on my laughter at Jack and Diane's facial expressions at the end of the scene. That's what I come for.

 

I feel sorry for any black show though. I feel like there is always this pressure, to be something for a whole race of people. Like, we have a lesbian on the show and because that it has to worry about being another show where black people are homophobic is even one person doesn't go along homosexuality. I can't even think of a softer way to have someone not agree with homosexuality. Ruby overreacts like she often does. She's the only one who felt that way. And after she finally settled down and addressed the topic with her daughter, she got over it. Nothing about this is offensive to me. In another world, Ruby would have just agreed to continue to not talk about it at all with her daughter and would have been just as logical in the real world. They actually worked through it. People were even assuming Dre was going to be offensive about this and he didn't care that much. They even bucked that trend.

 

It's like Cedric's character on the movie Barbershop with the whole "Rosa Parks aint do nothing but sit her black ass down". There was a minor uproar and call to boycott the movie because of this one line. Cedric's the only one who felt that way. The only one. It was clear that Cedric will just say what he wants and not give a damn. Everyone told him to shut up. So, because one person feels this way and says one line a whole movie should boycotted? I just don't agree with reactions like this. Not saying that anyone is going that route here. Far from it. But, Ruby represented one way of people react to homosexuality. Nothing wrong with that. No one was over the top rude about it and pretty much all accepting. Everyone just being, who cares, leaves no room for a plot. She was in a denial (or just didn't want to deal with something she's doesn't understand or agree with) and after it all came out, they moved on. All good work from the show to me.

 

Also, lets be real, if Dre were unmarried and brought a white woman home,we then would have seen some offensive behavior by Ruby. What she did here in comparison to how she would react to something like that is down right sensible in relation.

[MelsW]

So I see just like last week, this epsiode was brought to us by Buick. At least this week wasn't quite as blatant.

[joanne3482]

Also, lets be real, if Dre were unmarried and brought a white woman home,we then would have seen some offensive behavior by Ruby.

 

Isn't that part of why she treats Bow so poorly? Because she's 1/2 white? 

[LJonEarth]

This episode hit so closely to home, that it almost wasn't funny. Thank goodness the twins' storyline was there for extra comic relief.

I'm worried about how street dumb they're making Junior.

I'm a bit confused about the moral of the story for what Dre did at the table. I almost did that IRL, but was warned never to out someone, even if everyone knows already and even if you end with a somewhat happily ever after resolution.

[Black Knight]

Did she treat Sharon better than Bow? I thought Ruby never said a word to Sharon, just referred to her dismissively in the third person (and in her presence) as "Rhonda's mechanic."  I'm not sure it's all that much better than actually talking to a person, even if only to put them down.

She told Rhonda to bring Sharon a drink, which showed some consideration that is missing from her interactions with Bow. I don't know, I just got the impression that she doesn't dislike Sharon as a person like she does Bow. I'm not saying that I don't think she wouldn't have a problem with any woman Dre was involved with, but I do feel her dislike of Bow goes beyond just that. She and Bow are very different people.

 

Which reminds me, I loved Bow's huge smile and the dancing she did when Dre was telling her how Ruby was threatening never to come back. It was kind of the perfect bookend to when Ruby was first mentioned on this show and Bow had her Winter is Coming fantasy.

[Dagny]

Although I agree in principle, the reactions of his family in both of his too-stupid scenes were so priceless that I forgave it.

 

I really wanted Diane to break out the word "portmanteau". Spanglish! Only because that is an awesome word.

[Empress1]

I have a second cousin who's gay and he actually DID come out, but apparently his father behaved so abominably that he stopped mentioning it. His father died nearly 20 years ago (Cuz went to the funeral for his mother's sake) and his mother is very elderly and her lucid moments are getting fewer and farther between, so I've been hoping he'll just live out loud now, but it's still "my friend Alan." Who, incidentally, no one in the family has met. (I don't know why Alan tolerates this. I wouldn't.) He and Alan have been "friends" for ... 15 years? Like, come on. I have conversations with him about my gay friends so he knows I'm an ally, but it's his life.

 

So this episode struck a chord with me. I liked the banana gag, and Ruby's "Since when??" when Dre said Mother's Day was about all kinds of love. They could have gotten Raven-Symone (who annoys me) a less obvious wig though.

 

It would have been interesting to have Pops there as a possible foil to Ruby - I could see him being like "[shrug] I've known for years. I'm going to the track" and then Ruby bugs out.

[TiffanyNichelle]

 

I cracked up when Bow couldn't stop dancing at the news that Dre had threatened to cut Ruby out of their lives.

That was a great moment. I wanted to dance along with her. I feel like so often Dre is very open about how much he hates her parents while Bow (although very cool with Pops, he does live with them) has to tip toe around her feelings about Ruby all the time. So for her to grin and dance over Ruby leaving forever was so refreshing.

[Racj82]

Bow isn't tip toeing all the time. The only actually difference is that Bow tip toes in public. In private, she's very vocal about how much she dislikes Ruby. Dre is vocal about his dislike in public and private.

[Dagny]

The one scene that bothered me was with the beers. Because everyone counts rounds from weapons, I kept track of the beers. Bow threw a beer that went through the window, but the next scene of them - three finished beers on the table & everyone had a beer. Bow next doesn't have a beer and grabs Raven's beer, cut away to everyone holding a beer.  This is what I choose to focus on. :p

[nicepebbles]

I can totally see Bow being a "spaz" during college just because TER can play that well if they were to do a flashback, a lot of people were and guys kept dumping her.  I thought that would be the reason. Nope and I'm glad that wasn't the reason. Everyone that talks about her being dumped neglects the very important fact that she was future-focused, which is totally fine since college is preparation for your future. That should've been emphasized more like, after saving Charlie's life she was all, "And that's why I more concerned with books than guys in college" or something to that effect.

 

Agreed that Dre was a real jerk, which is par for the course in just about every episode.

 

They better do a flashback episode about him in college and he better not be a cool dude because there is no way in hell he was cool in college.

[DearEvette]

I liked this ep, but the thing that really made me crack a loud laugh was Bow's impression of Ruby.  She NAILED it.  LOL.

 

Also, Raven Symone was great and she and Dre had great sibling chemistry. Liked the many different permuations of the word 'Lesbian', i.e. 'Lesbified' or 'Lesbionic.'

 

Charlie, as usual, was perfect.  His realization about his brother kinda-sorta mirrored Juniors.  Although I agree they went a little overboard with Junior.  I could get behind him not realizing his aunt is gay, that makes sense given his personality.  Junior has never been as street savvy as any of his siblings, even the younger ones. But he isn't stupid.  For a kid who spends as muchh time online as Junior does, the word-combos would be old hat.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Meh, it was one of the weaker episodes IMO. The only time I really laughed was when Junior had the sudden revelation that Aunt Rhonda's mechanic was also gay. Otherwise, I was really having trouble with the ironic fourth wall sort of breaking due to Raven's public "issues", described here.