Season 2 Discussion

[topanga]

Wait, why do Jack's sandwiches have nails in them? (If it's a nail, that's what was said above. I couldn't tell.)

I thought they were toothpicks. Really big, hidden toothpicks. But I could be wrong.

[SmithW6079]

Wait, why do Jack's sandwiches have nails in them? (If it's a nail, that's what was said above. I couldn't tell.)

Maybe Diane the budding sociopath put it there so she could "save" him.

While I've liked Diane in the past, this episode added her to the "Unlikable Johnsons" list.

As someone pointed out upthread, she didn't want to "get back together" with Jack because she missed him, she did so because instead of failing (and as obvious from the lunchroom scene, she planned to take pleasure in his humiliation), he thrived without her.

[Rinaldo]

I too thought those were toothpicks -- the sort that are put in club sandwiches etc., to keep them together.

 

I would enjoy this show so unreservedly if Ruby didn't exist. They still haven't explained what she's doing there, and I never find her funny or even endurable. More Pops!

[jhlipton]

I also hated the Buick commercial that ran throughout the episode, although it does look like a nice car.

 

Since so many people skip ads these days, product placement is one of te most common ways to get money for a show.  I thought it was pretty well done.  (And the first add after they showed the car was for a Buick Encore.)  But I'm not sure Zoe would be all that excited about a Buick -- that's still pretty much of a Dad Car, isn't it?

 

Yes, but older siblings are supposed to find their younger brothers geeky and annoying. Parents are not. At least, they're not supposed to treat their children with open disgust, which Dre does in almost every episode.

 

Exactly. Dre will bond with Junior when (a) he needs something from his son or (b) Junior has a n interest that matches Dre's.  So Junior's a nerd and a dork.  Get over it and be glad he's not a meth-head in a mobile sex box.

[peeayebee]

Wait, why do Jack's sandwiches have nails in them? (If it's a nail, that's what was said above. I couldn't tell.)

 

I said they were nails. In the first scene, where Diane saves him, I couldn't tell what it was. It kind of looked like a refill for a pen. But in the second scene, it pretty clearly looked like a nail to me. Definitely too thick for a toothpick. As far as how it got there, I think it's absurdist humor. There's not supposed to be rational explanation for how it got in there.

[attica]

Wait, why do Jack's sandwiches have nails in them?

 

Because OF COURSE they do!  (Srsly. I think it's a mcguffin for Jack.)

I loved how Ruby turned off the car key fob panic button.

 

And that Dre did.not.know. how to react to that. Admire the MacGyver-ness of it? Be squicked by his mama's boobies doing real work? Be befuddled over the wft-ery of it all?

[anna0852]

 

Since so many people skip ads these days, product placement is one of te most common ways to get money for a show.  I thought it was pretty well done.  (And the first add after they showed the car was for a Buick Encore.)  But I'm not sure Zoe would be all that excited about a Buick -- that's still pretty much of a Dad Car, isn't it?

Zoey is being handed a brand new car. If she is anything less than excited, no matter what kind of car it is, I think her parents are full justified in taking it back. I'm sure at her age it was a matter of 'wheels! freedom!'

 

I also felt it was very realistic that Bow and Dre were immediately talking about Zoey now pitching in with family errands. My mother was nearly cheering when I got my license and a car (the old family mini-van) because now there was someone else to help with groceries and soccer practices and all the myriad errands that add up in a family with kids.

[fishcakes]

 But I'm not sure Zoe would be all that excited about a Buick -- that's still pretty much of a Dad Car, isn't it?

 

Pretty much. Someone I know test drove something like 30 cars over six months trying to decide what to buy and ultimately she chose ... a Buick Regal. Which made me want to laugh at her for a week, smack her for being stupid (because she was replacing another GM car where the steering failed and almost got her killed, which was a common problem GM knew about but didn't think warranted a recall) and also told me that Buicks are still being produced. For some reason, I thought they had gone the way of the Pontiac. After that, I began to notice their new ad campaign, which is basically that Buicks suck less now and people under 70 should check them out. So it makes sense for them to have product placement in a show where a pretty, popular California teenager is thrilled with her new Buick. If it were real life, I think Zoey would have been annoyed that it wasn't the previously promised Tesla.

[MaryMitch]

Was it really so awful that one of the kids was tired of sharing a room with an opposite-sex sibling? I'd think Bow would have welcomed the chance to tell Ruby that one of the twins was taking over the guest room. (I doubt Monster-in-Law is crashing on the couch.)

 

I've been wondering about this since the show started. It just seems odd to me (as a member of a family with boy/girl twins) that at this age they would share a room, especially since that house is so big. 

 

And shouldn't someone explain why Ruby is underfoot all the time? If Dre let her move in, that should be grounds for divorce.

I know a lot of people find her funny, and she IS a lot of the time, but when she called Bow a "hybrid" I gasped. She's just horrible to Bow, and if I were her (Bow) I wouldn't put up with it; no matter how close Dre is to his mother he's MARRIED to Bow. I know, it's comedy... but it's just too much.

 

I did like smart and capable Zoey.

She speaks Farsi AND she juggles!

[SmithW6079]

I think she had him sign a release because she knew he'd be the type of jerk to sue her, even if it was his fault. 

 

The asking about parking thing was stupid and only a plot point so Dre could get his outrage on. Again. You don't own the street in front of your house, so anyone is free to park there. And if they are people from the neighborhood, why aren't they walking over to Janine's house? Are Californians that lazy that they have to drive down the block? She's still under zero obligation to invite someone she doesn't like, who doesn't like her, to her party.

 

Wasn't the premise from the pilot that the Johnsons had just moved into that house? And Dre was worried that "soft" living wouldn't make his kids "black enough"? Why did Dre say they'd been Janine's neighbors for 11 years?

[mtlchick]

 

This was one of the better ways to enclose an in show commercial for a product.

 

I told my sister Buick MUST be ok with the line about selling meth from the trunk.

 

 

I hate Ruby. Every episode with her just makes me hate her all the more

 

Meanwhile, every episode with her for me and my sister is "Yup.  Mom would do/say that."

[Dee]

Ruby is no worse than Earl.

[charmed1]

After the library, I was hoping Zoe picked up Charlie and took him to the liquor store.

I just got the Jack & Diane reference too. I'm not a big John Cougar Mellencamp fan.

Edited February 20, 2016 by charmed1

[teebax]

Pretty much. Someone I know test drove something like 30 cars over six months trying to decide what to buy and ultimately she chose ... a Buick Regal. Which made me want to laugh at her for a week, smack her for being stupid (because she was replacing another GM car where the steering failed and almost got her killed, which was a common problem GM knew about but didn't think warranted a recall) and also told me that Buicks are still being produced. For some reason, I thought they had gone the way of the Pontiac. After that, I began to notice their new ad campaign, which is basically that Buicks suck less now and people under 70 should check them out. So it makes sense for them to have product placement in a show where a pretty, popular California teenager is thrilled with her new Buick. If it were real life, I think Zoey would have been annoyed that it wasn't the previously promised Tesla.

When I was in the market for a new car, I test drove a Buick. It didn't feel like an old person's car to me at all. But if had a really bad experience with another GM car years ago and just couldn't pull the trigger.

If Zoe is anything like I was, she would have been legitimately thrilled to have any car. My first was a Chevy Chevette, and I loved the hell out of that car. It meant freedom.

[fishcakes]

I too would have been thrilled with any car when I was 16, and when my parents bought me a Honda Civic in the most hideous shade of gold (because the gold ones were the cheapest), I loved it even though it was butt ugly. It did mean freedom to me, but it also meant driving my mom to and from work every day and taking her to the grocery store every Saturday for the next five years. Meanwhile, my spoiled friend Lisa's parents bought her a top of the line Toyota Celica, which she hated on the grounds that it wasn't a Honda Prelude. On more than one occasion, she would say she wished someone would total her car so she could get a better one. (Our other BFF drove a rusting 1969 Opel Kadet, the hood of which had to be tied down with rope, so I usually had to restrain her every time Lisa started whining.) So I don't think every teen would be thrilled with any new car, and Zoey seems like she'd be pretty brand-conscious, so I could have seen that story going in a different (and much more realistic, IMO) way, where she sneers at getting a Dad-car and they have to teach her a lesson about being grateful, rather than what they did where she apparently become fluent in several different languages and a master mechanic over a period of one week and then steals the keys to the car so she can go to the library. But because Buick was paying for the product placement, they never would have approved a script where there was any hint that their car wasn't coveted by everyone.

Edited February 20, 2016 by fishcakes

[jhlipton]

Zoey seems like she'd be pretty brand-conscious,,,  But because Buick was paying for the product placement, they never would have approved a script where there was any hint that their car wasn't coveted by everyone.

 

Exactly.  Junior would be ecstatic wirh any car; Diane would want a "murder van", and Jack would care more about the sound system than the car itself.  But Zoe's car is going to be on display on Instagram so it can't be just any car.  Not necessarily expensive -- I don't see her in an Escalade, for example, but perhaps an all-electric car like a Volt or Leaf (which are the only cars allowed to be single-passenger in car pool lanes in Cali).

 

[When the hybrids first started coming out, they were allowed to be single-passenger, but after the introduction of the Volt and Leaf, they were kicked out of the car-pool lanes,)

[needschocolate]

Exactly. Dre will bond with Junior when (a) he needs something from his son or (b) Junior has a n interest that matches Dre's.  So Junior's a nerd and a dork.  Get over it and be glad he's not a meth-head in a mobile sex box.

 

Zoe has her dad wrapped around her little finger, but Junior is Bow's "favorite" and I am okay with that in a sitcom.   The part that bugs me is that Dre seems to dislike Junior, while Bow doesn't treat Zoe like she is less important.  I wouldn't want Bow to dismiss Zoe that way.  Dre's attitutide is just following the standard sitcom "rule" of nerds/geeks should only be laughed at and made fun of.

 

I've been wondering about this since the show started. It just seems odd to me (as a member of a family with boy/girl twins) that at this age they would share a room, especially since that house is so big.

This episode got me wondering ... How old is too old for boy/girl twins to share a room?  I am not sure how old Jack and Diane are, but it seems like they are nearing the age that Bow and Dre should be thinking about separating them.  I don't have twins, but I have heard numerous times that you should make a point of treating them as separate people - don't dress them alike, don't give rhyming names, make sure they have different teachers, different after-school activities, etc... (note: I am fully aware that this is a tv show, and there are comic reasons for keeping them together, I am just wondering about twins in the real world). 

 

Since so many people skip ads these days, product placement is one of te most common ways to get money for a show.  I thought it was pretty well done.  (And the first add after they showed the car was for a Buick Encore.)  But I'm not sure Zoe would be all that excited about a Buick -- that's still pretty much of a Dad Car, isn't it?

 

Dad car?  I was thinking that Buick was more of a Grandpa car.  I don't think most people in their 40's and 50's think "I really want a Buick." But Buick is really trying to change their image and appeal to the the 20-somethings.  I can see how it fit in with their marketing plan to have Zoe be so excited about getting a Buick.  But I am surprised that they were okay with a grandmother thinking the car was perfect for her.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I wasn't expecting my parents to get me a car so when they surprised me with a used beater car before I left for college, I was so ecstatic. I was just happy to have something with four wheels and an engine. My younger sister, on the other hand, then had the expectation that she would get a car too so she started looking through the ads before she even turned 16. My parents weren't about to give her just any car she wanted so they clashed about it for a while. Finally my parents told her that if she didn't want to drive any of the used cars that they were willing to buy for her, she could drive my mom's boat of an Oldsmobile (which she did out of spite for over a year). Eventually they found a car that she was happy with and that my parents were willing to buy for her.

 

But my high school was a very mixed bag. There were some kids who had really nice cars and there were other kids like my boyfriend who worked part time after school until he had saved up $600 and he bought an old truck that was made the year before I was born. Then he signed up for auto shop so he could fix it up (which involved, among other things, a lot of bondo).

 

Based on what we have seen of Zoey so far, I agree that of all four kids she seems the most likely to care about the brand and the image and therefore the one most likely to complain about getting a dad car. Maybe this is supposed to be one of those moments where she surprises us by being a grateful teenager? But I also agree that since this was blatant product placement, Buick would not have been happy to have a teenager complain about being given an old person car (and I say that meaning teenagers see parents as old people, not that I think Dre is actually old).

[GHScorpiosRule]

Jack and Diane are nine now.

[attica]

Well, Jack is nine, Diane's probably thirty-five. That girl has seen some stuff. :)

[shura]

This episode got me wondering ... How old is too old for boy/girl twins to share a room?  I am not sure how old Jack and Diane are, but it seems like they are nearing the age that Bow and Dre should be thinking about separating them.  I don't have twins, but I have heard numerous times that you should make a point of treating them as separate people - don't dress them alike, don't give rhyming names, make sure they have different teachers, different after-school activities, etc...

 

I'd say if they are still sharing a room when they start bringing dates home, that's probably too old, no?

 

My son is friends with a pair of boy/girl twins (well, more with the boy half of the pair at this point), so I know them and their family pretty well. They just got moved into separate rooms, at the age of seven, but not really because of any age-related reason or because it was becoming less than appropriate to share a room. It's just that their sleeping habits became different enough to start creating problems - the boy is an early to bed, early to rise kind of person, and the girl is a total night owl. There is no issue with treating them as separate people, these two could not be more different in their temperament or interests. They would not even hear of being in the same class when it was time to get enrolled in kindergarten, they basically jumped at the first chance of being separated and have been ever since.

 

The funniest thing is (and I've heard it from other people who have boy/girl twins, too), when people see them with their parents somewhere and learn that they are twins, the parents get asked almost invariably "Are they identical?" They (the parents) say they used to try to point it out politely that one twin is a girl and the other isn't, but that never helped. So now they simply nod and go "Yes, they are."

Edited February 22, 2016 by shura

[topanga]

I'd say if they are still sharing a room when they start bringing dates home, that's probably too old, no?

 

My son is friends with a pair of boy/girl twins (well, more with the boy half of the pair at this point), so I know them and their family pretty well. They just got moved into separate room, at the age of seven, but not really because of any age-related reason or because it was becoming less than appropriate to share a room. It's just that their sleeping habits became different enough to start creating problems - the boy is an early to bed, early to rise kind of person, and the girl is a total night owl. There is no issue with treating them as separate people, these two could not be more different in their temperament or interests. They would not even hear of being in the same class when it was time to get enrolled in kindergarten, they basically jumped at the first chance of being separated and have been ever since.

 

The funniest thing is (and I've heard it from other people who have boy/girl twins, too), when people see them with their parents somewhere and learn that they are twins, the parents get asked almost invariably "Are they identical?" They (the parents) say they used to try to point it out politely that one twin is a girl and the other isn't, but that never helped. So now they simply nod and go "Yes, they are."

People are dumb. Some of them, anyway. 

 

At nine, even though Jack and Diane are still childlike physically, I would think that Bow (maybe not Dre) would start thinking about puberty, since American girls are entering puberty much sooner than they did 10, 20 years ago. Even skinny girls like Diane who eat more kale than McDonalds. Yes, the twins should be in separate rooms long before one of them starts transitioning. (Can I use that term for puberty, or is it only a transgender term?  I'm totally serious). 

 

Is there a lack of space issue? Then kick Ruby's ass out. She can go live with Pops in the guest house. Or she can live with Raven and her girlfriend. Or she can live in her own friggin apartment. There's nothing wrong with Ruby, is there?

[RedHawk]

Is there a lack of space issue? Then kick Ruby's ass out. She can go live with Pops in the guest house. Or she can live with Raven and her girlfriend. Or she can live in her own friggin apartment. There's nothing wrong with Ruby, is there?

 

 

Haha! Shall we make a list? ;-)

[xander874]

I really didn't like this episode - I think it's the first time that has happened. I just thought both Diane and Dre were awful, awful people in this episode. Dre was just mean to Zoey and I kept expecting some heartfelt moment between them but they just resorted to her sassing him in another language. He did come around in the end, but I thought it was too over the top.

 

And Diane was trying to smother her brother and Jack is the one that has to leave? Diane wanted to separation, so she should move out. And there is no way Bow would let Jack sleep in the closet. She would've set up a cot or something in the room. Even though it made for funny TV, it just seemed out of character.

 

I'm in the minority that Jennifer Lewis doesn't bother me too much. I enjoy Ruby's crazy talk in small doses.

[topanga]

 

I'm in the minority that Jennifer Lewis doesn't bother me too much. I enjoy Ruby's crazy talk in small doses.

I also think Ruby is hilarious in small doses. But I don't like a) that she lives in their house--or that she's simply always there. And b) I cringe at the way she treats Bow. What's worse is that Dre allows her to treat his wife with such disrespect. In their own house!

[readster]

I also think Ruby is hilarious in small doses. But I don't like a) that she lives in their house--or that she's simply always there. And b) I cringe at the way she treats Bow. What's worse is that Dre allows her to treat his wife with such disrespect. In their own house!

Its another old TV troupe. You have to have one parent that just hates the spouse because they can and the excuse is: "its my mother/father". In this day and age, you have the other in-laws tearing into those type of monster-in-laws now. Along the lines of: "How would you feel if I said and did those things to your child?" "So, why do you keep doing it?" Ruby can also be very selfish at times, like here she thought the car was for her. I mean, really? I get it wasn't a model of car she in her backwards thinking is a type of car for a teen to drive. However, she can't put 2 and 2 together and realize, her son bought a car for her grand daughter when she knew how poor they grew up. 

[ari333]

I always thought it was weird that Jack and Diane were sharing a room.

[Dee]

What's worse is that Dre allows her to treat his wife with such disrespect. In their own house!

 

 

Rainbow allows her mother to treat her husband with utter contempt in their own house too.

 

So, what's good for the gander....

[ari333]

I should have said that I always thought it was weird that Jack and Diane were sharing a room ...in a large, financially well-off home that has plenty or rooms. Some people have to share rooms. I get that.

[topanga]

Rainbow allows her mother to treat her husband with utter contempt in their own house too.

 

So, what's good for the gander....

I'd argue that it's not as bad. And when she does say something disrespectful, Bow calls her on it. 

[Dee]

Rainbow never reprimands her mother's snide attitude toward Dre & his family, instead, she rationalizes her mother's abysmal behavior instead of checking her.

 

She remained silent as D'Alicia labels Andre a victim of a limited worldview and someone who grew up in an environment of fear, snidely assailed Earl & Ruby's parenting and heckled the Johnsons choice of eating fried food and Andre not being able to swim.

 

D'Alicia even brought a dying man, to marry Rainbow, during Rainbow & Dre's wedding; and as soon as she felt there was a chance Bow & Andre's marriage was on the rocks, she swooped right in to help speed up the process. Just like Ruby.

[henripootel]

Have they had a change in show runners?  Ever since Charlie left there seems to be a change in tone, at least a little.  Just looking at the previews, now it seems like a lot.  Not sure I like where they're taking this but I guess we'll see.

[SmithW6079]

Except Dre does have a limited worldview. He did grow up in an environment of fear. His parents are awful people -- his mother regularly attempted to kill his father, and his father regularly cheated on his mother, when he wasn't browbeating his son.

[Dee]

Whether it may be true, it's not D'Alicia's place to say it.

 

Dre isn't married to her, so he shouldn't be the target of her lingering bitterness about her daughter's choice in husbands.

 

Also, Rainbow's parents are just as awful as Andre's. 

 

D'Alicia passed her refusal to deal with anything that gives her the slightest bit of anxiety and/or doesn't fit in her rigidly conservative worldview, to her neurotic Type A daughter who looks down her nose at people who don't measure up to her standards and Paul has as much as a roving eye as Earl. One that borders on fetishization, to the point where he lasciviously eyes his son-in-law's mother, and has to regularly be reminded by his wife that he's married.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Dee

[joanne3482]

I think the difference, for me, is that now that Ruby seems to have been made a regular fixture in the home it feels worse than on the rare occasions Bow's family is visiting.  Yes, both parents are kind of awful in their own special ways, but I can see gritting one's teeth for a few days when you only see those family members once a year, if that, but I would have a hard time with gritting my teeth if they were at the house all the time.  

[Jodie Landon]

Well, if the focus of the show is what it's like to be a black man raising his black kids in today's society, then they have to at least touch on police brutality. I admire what the show is trying to do, but I'm not sure how a somber episode of Blackish is going to work. I'm willing to keep an open mind, though.

[fishcakes]

I think it could work, although it might not be super funny. Some of the better sitcoms in the 70s, notably All in the Family, used to deal with serious topics without being superficial or having a pat ending, and one of the best episodes of Blackish, IMO, was The Word, which I think they handled beautifully. On the other hand, it could turn out to be a Very Special Episode of, say, Diff'rent Strokes, where Mr. Carlton from WKRP is taking pictures of Arnold in his underpants. I'm thinking it will be better than that, though.

 

I saw a promo for that said this was going to be an extended episode, but according to TVguide.com, it runs from 9:31 to 10:00, which is its normal running time. If anyone is recording it to watch at a different time, though, it might be a good idea to start earlier/end later, just in case.

[GHScorpiosRule]

The View showed a clip of tonight's show yesterday, when Traci Ellis Ross was on. And the scene they showed was humorous. I do expect some seriousness, but I am confident that they will also use the humor so it doesn't feel heavy handed.

[spaceytraci1208]

I think it was very well done. When Dre talked to Bow about being terrified for President Obama as he stepped out of his limo the night of his inauguration...damn, that hit me. They weren't stingy with the funny either. Laughed my ass off when Pops said (paraphrasing) "I ain't worried about the thugs; hell, I married one!(looks over at Ruby)"

[Dee]

Outside of Bow & Dre's discussion around Obama's inauguration, I thought this episode of black-ish was supremely boring.

 

It tried way too hard to be a Very Important Episode instead of just a funny family sitcom.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Dee

[BoogieBurns]

When Dre talked to Bow about being terrified for President Obama as he stepped out of his limo the night of his inauguration...damn, that hit me.

 

I agree. When he started talking about the inauguration and the pride we all felt, I was with him. Then he talked about when the POTUS got out of the limo and walked down the parade route, I started to look away. Even watching footage of a moment I know went well, I'm still scared for his safety. 

 

Semi-On topic: When then-senator Obama was making his speech at the 2008 Democratic national convention in Denver, it was an outside arena. All the previous days of the convention were indoors. The news showed the layout of the outdoor arena the evening before his big speech. I was so sick to my stomach that I had to call in sick to work the following day, crippled with fear that we would all watch our presidential nominee get hurt or killed. I was 22 at the time, and I still felt like I was his mama and he needed me to focus on his protection. I don't think the fear really left my body until after his reelection. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I really liked it.  The episode made me laugh and also agree with everything Dre, Ruby and Pops were saying.  And that moment, when Dre was talking about Obama and his inauguration...it got to me. It reminded me how, during the campaign before the election, I was afraid he'd be assassinated.  It was something my friends and I talked about.  But before Dre said what he did about the fear of Obama being killed, I thought he would say how everyone from Boehner to McConnell, said how they were determined to make sure he'd be a one term President. 

 

I did love the parts that made me laugh, though. I thought it was a nice balance.

 

And now I'm going to have to rewatch and pause to see which Gandhi assassinated article was shown: Mahatma or Nehru's grandson, Rajiv.

[TiffanyNichelle]

I remember right after election night I had a nightmare that Obama was assassinated at the inauguration so I was really nervous when he got out of the car to walk around. Scared the crap out of me. 

 

Good episode. I was afraid they would have Junior act like a doofus and I loved that Zoe's thing with the menus was more about her trying to hide her fear and confusion and less about her not caring at all. Would have liked less of Rainbow looking naive while the other adults came down on her. I would have also liked Bow to point out that their neighborhood was less likely to be one attacked during a riot and then maybe a conversation about why certain neighborhoods tend to get them and others don't.

[Dee]

I hated Bow's joy that Zoey exhibited "depth." She's as bad as Dre is about Junior.

[anna0852]

It was nice to see Earl's fondness for Bow. Ruby might be a raging witch-with-a-B but Earl clearly thinks the world of Bow, even when they disagree.

 

Snorted water through my nose at Dre's crack regarding Law and Order cops.

[Driad]

It has not always been standard for children to have their own rooms.  My mother grew up in a farmhouse with no electricity, no running water, and one bedroom, which belonged to the parents.  The kids slept on the couch, a cot, etc.  They may have had a screen for privacy when they changed clothes.  They couldn't change in the bathroom because there wasn't one, just an outhouse.

 

More recently I have known families who started with kids sharing rooms but later did construction, e.g. to change three big bedrooms into four smaller ones.

 

We don't know how many bedrooms the house has but it is a big house.  I like Ruby in small doses but not as much as we have seen her, so if she has put down roots in the guest room, IMO it is time for some gardening.

[Mozelle]

I enjoyed the episode. On the whole, I've enjoyed the second season more than the first, and I think that it's in large part because the show runner(s) and writers have decided that they weren't going to "dumb down" the references.

I keep remembering Eddie Huang's beef about how ABC was, essentially, whitewashing Fresh Off the Boat (by being more concerned with whether white viewers understood the show as opposed to staying true to the narrative of a Taiwanese immigrant family in Florida). That's how season one of blackish came off to me: more careful about what a white audience would think and/or get and less concerned about the black viewers who would (very likely) get the references in the show.

Which is why this episode, especially, was so poignant. All the reactions of the Johnsons felt authentic, even Bow's because black people are not a monolith (though there is often a shared sense of community).

[Dancingjaneway]

I thought this was a well done episode. I laughed but it also did a good job of showing different ways of looking at the situation. Jack being worried about the unarmed man without arms was funny and cute.Also it was funny/nice to see Ruby and Pops getting along. I LOVED the flashbacks with Dre and his mom The one thing I have always liked about this show is the history lesson at the beginning of the show. It not only brings attention to situations that the world glosses over but it also introduces us to people in history that made a differences that may not get a lot of attention. I also don't think this episode will garner new viewers or lose viewers. I also am glad that they didn't take this to Dre's office. I don't care about a white persons take on this subject. This is a subject where white people need to shut it and allow black people to have their feelings and thoughts because they are the ones going through all of this. 

[Dancingjaneway]

I liked certain parts of this episode. It was nice to see Jack make friends and actually be the higher man on the totem pole so to speak. He's just such a sweet kid and it bugs me when Diane is mean to him(at least the way she was in this ep). Ruby cracked me up with her "I had a Shalamar" cd in there". I also loved the recording she was making when she thought the car was for her and her bit about it being the anniversary of Marvin Gaye's death. The Zoey/Dre stuff wasn't funny it was annoying. I can't believe that Dre would listen to the people he works with?? I mean his bosses kids are super messed up and the rest of them don't even have kids. So the whole thing with Zoe just wasn't funny it was stupid. This is one of those episodes that kind of makes the writing for Dre look super uneven and bordering on dumb. 

[Dancingjaneway]

This episode was pretty good. Jack & Diane switching roles was funny and cute. I still am laughing my ass off at Ruby coming to save Dre and Dre calling upon Black Jesus. The fact that there was a video of it and the show even put out a remix of the video is fucking awesome. I loved all of the Dre in the pool scenes and the Dre learning to swim scenes. To me the weak part of the episode was Bow and the school mom's storyline. It wasn't funny and it didn't add to the episode.