Season 4 Talk

[Dee]

That's the thing, Megan is Junior's first real girlfriend.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Dee

[jhlipton]

9 hours ago, Higgs said:

Megan could have virtually every straight male in the school, including faculty and administration. That she chose Junior says a great deal about both of them.

Their first scene was them speaking Dothraki to each other, showing that she's as big a "nerd" as he is.  He's probably one of the few kids at school to value her for her mind (not that he minded some Jacuzzi time with her while her parents are away!).  That, plus Junior has a great heart (which growing up in the Johnson family is a bit of a miracle).

Edited October 30, 2017 by jhlipton

[ItCouldBeWorse]

15 hours ago, BoogieBurns said:

There was an episode last season where Bow is upset to meet Megan. 

From IMDB:

Being Bow-Racial 

30 November 2016

Season 3 | Episode 8

Junior gets a white girlfriend which is celebrated by all except Bow. Bow must now confront her own racial issue in order to accept Junior's new love.

[Guest]

On 10/25/2017 at 0:34 PM, Higgs said:

Not liking Junior's girlfriend and repeatedly insulting her to her face in public are two entirely different things. There is no way in hell a TV comedy show's main protagonist would have behaved in such an inexcusably crass manner if the colors of all the characters were switched. (The obvious exception would have been "All in the Family", to be consistent with its theme and purpose.)

I feel like that level of inappropriateness is the main aspect of this show.  They do and say things all the time no real or sitcom family would do or say.  It's outrageous because that's the comedy style.  And it's usually about race or family.  

I didn't love the episode but I too find Monopoly dull.  There were some hilarious lines, though.  I found myself wishing the game would end and we'd see some scenes from elsewhere.  

I did like the Trump digs but I always do.  

[Dee]

Except Rainbow spends the majority of Being Bow-Racial focused on her own internalized issues. Not once does she ever say, or do anything, racially to Megan.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Dee

[DarkRaichu]

Junior is such a mama's boy, Bow is not going to be happy with any of his girlfriend no matter what her race.  :P 
I  want to see an episode where Ruby points out how much Bow becoming like her where it comes to Junior's girlfriend :D 

[Higgs]

1 hour ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I feel like that level of inappropriateness is the main aspect of this show.  They do and say things all the time no real or sitcom family would do or say.  It's outrageous because that's the comedy style.  And it's usually about race or family.  

What might well be humorous and quire acceptable within the family can become much less so when an outsider is involved. Have there been incidences in the past where an adult in the family behaved strangely/inappropriately/rudely toward someone outsde their circle?

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Higgs said:

What might well be humorous and quire acceptable within the family can become much less so when an outsider is involved. Have there been incidences in the past where an adult in the family behaved strangely/inappropriately/rudely toward someone outsde their circle?

On Black-ish?  I'd say it's pretty much every episode. 

It's farcical.  You either find it funny or you don't but it's not meant to be realistic or 'acceptable'.  I think it's deliberately the opposite.  

[Black Knight]

Indeed. And while we didn't see them in this episode, other recurring white characters like the neighbors and Dre's boss and coworkers behave terribly - which I think is one of Higgs' concerns, whether only black people are shown behaving badly. We don't see the neighbors often, but we do see Dre's boss and coworkers in nearly every episode, continually saying inappropriate/rude/racist things.

And then of course there are the episodes centered on racial issues, like the police brutality episode or the voting episode, and the show doesn't pull punches. Black-ish episodes run the gamut from over-the-top farce to quite serious. This particular episode happens to be in the former category.

And was it ever hilarious! I'm with those who loved it. No surprise that there's a Man-Baby penalty created especially for Dre. And I don't know where he got those money guns (or whatever they're called) from, but it was so funny when he was spraying the money around the room with them.

[Higgs]

10 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Black-ish episodes run the gamut from over-the-top farce to quite serious. This particular episode happens to be in the former category.

I felt the episode was both, and the reason Bow's treatment of Megan bothered so many people is that it was a deeply serious splash of cold water in the midst of the Monopoly farce.

It is unfair to consider Bow's actions as racism, and the same might be true with all colors reversed. Her concerns may just as well be taken as desire for preserving cultural identity within the larger community and/or fear (however out-dated it may now be) that Junior's life would be more difficult in an interracial marriage.

In terms of story arc, it's possible it will turn out to be more about Junior than Bow, with him ultimately gaining the confidence to tell his mother to butt out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

11 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And I don't know where he got those money guns (or whatever they're called) from, but it was so funny when he was spraying the money around the room with them.

He DEFINITELY didn’t get them from a strip club!

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Higgs said:

I felt the episode was both, and the reason Bow's treatment of Megan bothered so many people is that it was a deeply serious splash of cold water in the midst of the Monopoly farce.

So many people?  

[Dee]

This week's episode officially knocked last week's episode to my second favorite of the season.

Every single member of the Johnson Family was on fire in this episode. EVERY. ONE.

Even the Lido & Stevens scenes weren't as grating as they've been recently.

Anthony & Tracee exhibited why they are awesome screen partners. Their goodbye to Junior on his first day of public school was classic.

Junior imitating Ruby over his chain cracked me up.

The Belly & Dangerous Minds cutaways had me in tears.

And Ruby strolling down Junior's school hallway ala Lenny Wosniak had me howling.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Dee

[OnceSane]

Quote

Diane experiences a big life event toward becoming a woman and Bow, Ruby, Zoey and Alicia are there to support her. Meanwhile, afraid that he may never be able to beat Junior at basketball again, Dre conducts psychological warfare on Junior before challenging him to a game.

[Jodie Landon]

I was really looking forward this episode since it was centered around Junior. I'm glad he enjoyed public school and finally found a place where he fits in. I was sad for him when Zoe made him bury his cape.

Dre and Bow linking arms in the public school was funny, as was Ruby's teenager disguise.

I also greatly appreciated the nod to Belly. 

[Traveller519]

I did not get the Belly reference. So thank you, Internet! For a film that came out when I was 17, which made less than $10m, I'm not too worried that I missed out on it. I'm glad others did though. 

Ruby in the end tag was fantastic. 

"I just listened to that new Luther Vandros" 

"Blending in..." 

Edited November 1, 2017 by Traveller519

[Star Aristille]

What was the Belly reference?

One thing that was refreshing was Dre and Earl being so proud of Junior when they thought he'd beaten up Reggie.  You could see the pride welling up within them and especially showing on their faces, and it was nice.

So of course they blow it away by revealing in the end that Junior didn't really hit the kid, after all.

Edited November 1, 2017 by Star Aristille

[charmed1]

Diane's light clap on her juice box when Junior announced his expulsion LOL! They don't have many scenes together, but Jenifer and Marcus are comedy gold when they do. I wish Ruby's 21 Jump Street plan was a regular occurrence.

I really love the little mini history lessons in the beginning. I feel like they're put there specifically for the, "What if there was a show called 'White-ish?'" trolls.

Edited November 1, 2017 by charmed1

[BSB]

I thought this episode was hilarious!! We don’t play Monopoly in our house anymore because of a night where I seriously contemplated divorce during a game! It’s been a week since I watched but I don’t think Bow treated Meagan that badly. Yes she had a dig about the wine and a couple of looks but what else? I know as viewers we know she doesn’t like her but I didn’t see anything over the top in her actions. I think Meagan got her digs in too by getting Junior to deliberately side with her during the game instead of his mother.

[nilyank]

Quote

I thought this episode was hilarious!! We don’t play Monopoly in our house anymore because of a night where I seriously contemplated divorce during a game! It’s been a week since I watched but I don’t think Bow treated Meagan that badly. Yes she had a dig about the wine and a couple of looks but what else? I

And i didnt blame her because why is an underaged teenager bringing wine over. 

[attica]

I realize that schools have changed since I went to them, but Junior's ability to find 'his' peeps in a public school certainly echos my experience. My public high school was really big and diverse, so there were niches for everybody. Even misfits had a crew.

The black velvet necklace pedestal in Junior's locker made me laugh. So Junior.

Speaking of which, I wonder what his classmates call him. Probably not Junior, since they don't know his dad, but I don't remember if we've ever heard anybody not in the family call him by a name?

Ruby in a side ponytail, blendin' in. I love her so very much.

ETA: Marcus has shot up, tall-wise! He was towering over AA!

Edited November 1, 2017 by attica

[EdnasEdibles]

As someone whose kids go to public school and I have to deal with the snobbishness from private school folks, this episode kind of annoyed me. Public school is sometimes as good as private school depending upon the area. Plus, the girl with 5 kids who wanted him to be in a foursome? Sigh. 

But Ruby in a side ponytail was quite good.

[teebax]

3 hours ago, EdnasEdibles said:

As someone whose kids go to public school and I have to deal with the snobbishness from private school folks, this episode kind of annoyed me. Public school is sometimes as good as private school depending upon the area. Plus, the girl with 5 kids who wanted him to be in a foursome? Sigh. 

But Ruby in a side ponytail was quite good.

I teach in a public high school, and a reform school at that, so I was nervous about where they were going with this episode. I definitely see how our schools are leaning toward segregation again; my school is about 98% Latino, and I'm the only black teacher there. Luckily for me, it makes the kids think I'm cool, which would be hilarious is they knew how much of a geek I was in reality.

I was glad to see that Junior ended up fitting in at public school. I ran with many crowds in high school: the jocks, the nerds, the outcasts, the theater kids, and the band kids; I enjoyed the fact that no one cared which crowd I hung out with on any given day, and my friends and I could have posed for a Benetton ad. I never went to private school, so I can't comment on it, but I did start my college career at a snooty private college in Pennsylvania, where the majority of my classmates were private school grads. I didn't fit in there at all and ended up transferring to a state school, where I felt much more comfortable.

Edited November 1, 2017 by teebax
Desegregation is not the same as segregation!

[Boofish]

Jr was FIRE tonight

"Mom, like you she has 5 kids .."

"And everyone has a nickname like Way Out and Meal Ticket"

And honorable mention to Diane's juicebox clap when she thought Jr. had clocked a kid.

Gold. Pure Gold.

[MaryMitch]

On the one hand, I kinda wish Junior HAD broken that guy's jaw. (This is fiction, so everyone calm down.) That would be a new side of Junior!

On the other hand, I was kinda relieved that he hadn't. But the way the guy did break his jaw was lame.

[jmonique]

This is why forums are good: I'm about 2 minutes into the show, and I'm so completely over Andre's treatment of Junior that I almost stopped watching.

Based on your responses, I'll see this one out!

[Traveller519]

You know what the past two weeks have really proved? How much better the show is when Lawrence Fishburne is present. Not only for his own absurdity but some of the deft wisdom Pops provides. 

The PPD episode was proof of that two. He's not a character of focus, but he really supports everyone else. 

[attica]

54 minutes ago, Traveller519 said:

How much better the show is when Lawrence Fishburne is present. Not only for his own absurdity but some of the deft wisdom Pops provides. 

Don't forget his awesome collection of dope tracksuits!

[teebax]

3 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

On the one hand, I kinda wish Junior HAD broken that guy's jaw. (This is fiction, so everyone calm down.) That would be a new side of Junior!

On the other hand, I was kinda relieved that he hadn't. But the way the guy did break his jaw was lame.

Well, Kanye suffers from the same affliction. <snicker>

[tennisgurl]

Is it bad that I was kind of hoping that Junior really had punched the kid? It would certainly be a new side to Junior, and Pops and Dre were so proud!

So happy that Dre ended up loving his public school! Public schools might not have the same fancy classes or name recognition as a private school, but they have a more diverse student population, and Junior can find his own crowd, and doesn't have to deal with snooty kids who treat him like crap. I can get why that would be a decent trade off for him. I went to a public school (a mostly white rural school) and while it was seriously underfunded and had a serious meth infestation, I never got to worry about snobby rich kids or feeling like I didn't fit in, because everyone had a group. 

Ruby with her side ponytail! I would love it if we had a running joke of Ruby showing up every once in awhile at Juniors school trying to "blend in" with her ancient pop culture references and gogo boots. 

[Sparger Springs]

I kept thinking the public high school that Jr would go to would be awesome giving the demographics of the area they live in. Public schools in rich areas are very good.  

[peeayebee]

Loved this ep. I'm glad others appreciated Diane's little juicebox-clap. 

 

16 hours ago, Dee said:

The Belly & Dangerous Minds cutaways had me in tears.

Could you fill me in on this? I know of Dangerous Minds, but I don't know what The Belly is. What were the cutaways? Were either of these what Diane and Jack were watching on her laptop?

 

14 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Ruby in the end tag was fantastic. 

"I just listened to that new Luther Vandros" 

"Blending in..."

This was awesome. So funny. I also loved how both she and Pops were looking at Bow with such perplexed faces when she was talking about being an Indigo girl.

I love Junior, so I'm glad things worked out for him. 

 

8 hours ago, charmed1 said:

I really love the little mini history lessons in the beginning.

Ditto. They're informative and entertaining too.

"Eustace!"

[notagain]

4 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Loved this ep. I'm glad others appreciated Diane's little juicebox-clap. 

 

Could you fill me in on this? I know of Dangerous Minds, but I don't know what The Belly is. What were the cutaways? Were either of these what Diane and Jack were watching on her laptop?

 

This was awesome. So funny. I also loved how both she and Pops were looking at Bow with such perplexed faces when she was talking about being an Indigo girl.

I love Junior, so I'm glad things worked out for him. 

 

Ditto. They're informative and entertaining too.

"Eustace!"

The Belly reference was " I don't like this shit", the show did a split screen and showed the clip from the movie.

I liked the epsiode for the most part, but the horror of public school storyline was annoying and eye roll inducing. Like Pop was saying Dre and Bow live in a community were property has a high value, the property taxes is higher, therefore the school funding will be higher.  While a black neighbor will never command the property value of a white one, the biggest chunk of school funding is property taxes, that's the most fundamental base reason we are stuck with underfunded schools. 

[TwistedandBored]

Finally caught up with the show and I really enjoyed this episode. I just love anytime the focus is on Junior so this was great episode in my book but then again everyone was on fire here which helped.  

[peeayebee]

30 minutes ago, notagain said:

The Belly reference was " I don't like this shit", the show did a split screen and showed the clip from the movie.

Thanks. I don't even remember that bit in the ep. Is the movie called "Belly" or "The Belly"? Is it about high school?

Edited November 1, 2017 by peeayebee

[Jodie Landon]

12 minutes ago, peeayebee said:

Thanks. I don't even remember that bit in the ep. Is the movie called "Belly" or "The Belly"? Is it about high school?

Belly is a film about two drug dealers played by rappers Nas and DMX. The two begin to make a name for themselves, much to the dismay of another dealer, Rico. As Nas and DMX ride around in a luxury car, a jealous Rico looks on saying that he might have to snitch on them. He says "I don't like that shit. I don't like that shit," as he eats a banana.

They recreated the scene last night except the guy was jealous of Junior's chain and his newfound confidence. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Heh, Pops had a perm back in the day. (Or maybe they called them conks then.)

Oh of course Bow was an Indigo child. She never stops being precious, does she?

In school Charlie was #1---for humans.

Wonder why they didn't address charter schools? In many states that's where a lot of public school funding is being diverted to. A lot of them aren't much better than the poorest public schools and others consider themselves in pretty much the same lane as elite private schools.

Another great episode. Everyone was on fire.

[Racj82]

24 minutes ago, Jodie Landon said:

Belly is a film about two drug dealers played by rappers Nas and DMX. The two begin to make a name for themselves, much to the dismay of another dealer, Rico. As Nas and DMX ride around in a luxury car, a jealous Rico looks on saying that he might have to snitch on them. He says "I don't like that shit. I don't like that shit," as he eats a banana.

They recreated the scene last night except the guy was jealous of Junior's chain and his newfound confidence. 

I already know the scene and I've seen belly. Belly is a generally awful movie mainly because Nas, DMX and t Boz can't act but hype Williams directed the movie with his music video style and that was awesome. But, just reading someone describe that scene with attention to the banana detail made me bust out laughing at work.

I was actually just laughing yesterday because I was watching a BuzzFeed video where it was seeing if black people can identify certain black movie quotes. I never need help identifying any of this stuff. It's black people 101 for me. Nothing wrong with you if you can't pull it off course. I even only watched belly once but could quote it.

[NUguy514]

This episode was a bit trippy for me because I tutor high school kids in LA, most of whom live in the Valley (lots of Sherman Oaks kids), for the SAT/ACT, and I have had many students from all of the private schools Janine mentioned in her scene with Bow.  I will say, not that a fictional TV show needs to portray reality, that there is no public high school in Sherman Oaks itself (a few in neighboring Van Nuys, though) and that the public schools in the city of Los Angeles (which includes Sherman Oaks and the surrounding neighborhoods) are universally terrible.  There are a few very specific public schools with good magnet programs, but it is very, verrrrry true here that parents will send their kids to private school if they can afford it or will find a way to get them into one of the few actually good public schools (Beverly Hills High and Calabasas High, specifically).  In the fictional world of the show, Sherman Oaks High might be able to provide Junior with a good education, but in the real world, his education would suffer a major downgrade by having to go to public school.  The education inequality in the city depresses me so much if I think about it for even half a second.

[docmatt]

I feel like so far this season has had a really hard time balancing commentary/comedy. This episode they finally got the mixture right!

[Higgs]

There are a good number of really excellent public high schools in LA County, some with higher academic performance than ANY private school in California. In the link, below, look for high schools with API > 820. Among that group, Beverly Hills is merely average. Most of what is presented in the media or scripted TV shows about public versus private schools is ignorant snobbish nonsense. New York City alone has two public high schools with more Nobel Prize winning alumni than probably all the private schools in the country combined.

http://api.cde.ca.gov/Acnt2013/2013GrthAPICo.aspx?cYear=2011-12&cSelect=19,LOS,ANGELES

I would also note that even in schools with lesser academic scores, AP/IB/Honors classes almost always exist which essentially constitute a first-rate school-within-a-school for academically ambitious students.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Higgs

[StatisticalOutlier]

14 hours ago, charmed1 said:

Diane's light clap on her juice box when Junior announced his expulsion LOL!

It was perfect.

 

8 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

You know what the past two weeks have really proved? How much better the show is when Lawrence Fishburne is present.

And when the baby is ignored except to be cute in a costume.

[RedHawk]

I thought Bow's reactions to Megan were hilarious, and the Trump digs were inserted cleverly and not overbearing. TER's comic delivery and timing is just so perfect.

I wish we'd seen Megan politely thanking Dre for her $100. She got paid too, right?

[sinkwriter]

Quote

I did like the Trump digs but I always do.  

I laughed so hard when Dre said something like, "I've destroyed [or bankrupted?] all my businesses, I have no friends left... oh my god, I AM Donald Trump!" That was a good one.

Count me in as enjoying the episode. My family is notorious for 'no mercy' game playing, so I felt like this was an episode I should have been watching with all of my family. They would have been laughing hard and seeing themselves in this, big time. There's a story going around that things got so cutthroat one time, my uncle flipped the game board. I'll have to tell everybody about the "man baby" $100 fee for anyone who does that. LOL.

The only things I didn't really like were Dre calling Jack a dumb baby (that's not trash talk, it's outright cruel), and Bow being so mean to Megan. I understand why she's having trouble with her son having a girlfriend (especially one who is white), but usually the episode ties up stuff like that by having Bow see herself and how badly she's behaving; unfortunately this time she didn't even seem to notice or care. Usually they're better about making a strong point about stuff like that and wrapping it up a little more neatly, but they didn't this time. 

[Dee]

Rainbow has always been every bit as bad as Andre. That's why they get along so well.

[luckyroll3]

Finally caught up.  What a great episode...except my family is no longer allowed to play Monopoly after the embezzlement incident of 1996.

[sinkwriter]

LOL, luckyroll3. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

19 hours ago, Boofish said:

"And everyone has a nickname like Way Out and Meal Ticket"

Those were the public school kids' nicknames for Junior.

Wouldn't Following Zoe's advice (to immediately beat up the biggest kid in public school) gotten Junior immediately expelled, and likely arrested as well?

The Valley Glen Prep lockers appeared to have locks on them, so why didn't Junior think to protect his chain?  Why didn't anyone mention that?

Also, Reggie was more popular when he had raging acne? (Presumably why his parents put him on Accutane.)

I'm trying to figure out what part of the year this season is taking place in.  Colleges release their regular acceptances near the end of March.  Zoe hasn't graduated yet, so it must be April or May of 2017.  That means that Junior transferred to public school near the very end of his junior year of HS.  I wonder how his new school is going to determine his spring grades for the purposes of his transcript.  Also, since college applications ask if you've ever been expelled from HS, Dre and Bow better get his expulsion from Valley Glen Prep rescinded.  On the other hand, since Junior did take a swing at Reggie (even though it didn't connect), he probably should have been expelled if the school has a zero-tolerance violence policy.

And we now know a possible contributing factor to Dre's rising above his difficult childhood circumstances - Ruby used Earl's disability check after she shot him to send Dre to private school.

Edited November 2, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Boofish]

6 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Those were the public school kids' nicknames for Junior.

 

Yes, I caught that; what made it funny for me is I don't think Jr realized exactly what they meant which is why he called them "cool"

Edited November 2, 2017 by Boofish

[Ikki]

As a public school graduate and current public school teacher, there were a lot of things that bothered me about this episode. In fact, some of the comments from the Johnson's reminded me of various racist comments I heard from various people when I was teaching in a predominately black (98%, I believe) public school. I suppose the source of the comments does matter somewhat, but still.

The less serious thing that bothered me, though, was in the end tag when Junior and his friends were talking about movies from the MCU. They were talking about watching them in chronological order, and Junior suggested that Guardians of the Galaxy, because it was in space, could somehow be before Captain America: The First Avenger. Really? With how prominent 80s music and and nostalgia is in that film, not to mention the opening scene ON EARTH, Junior is really going to say it could have happened BEFORE a movie set during WWII?