Season 4 Talk

[Dee]

Trevor Jackson is a cutie. I can totally understand why the Johnson women are crushing on him.

Ruby scamming Dre was hilarious. Earl would be proud.

Junior and Rainbow's scenes were surprisingly sweet; but he's probably right that he needs a gap year to mature.

Jack being impressed over 'See You Later Alligator, After While Crocodile' was amazing. I love that kid.

Marsai's growth spurt has thrown off the twins rhythm a bit.

Charlie being being impressed that Crispus Attucks and Frederick Douglas 'looked good for their age' cracked me up.

Hi Curtis!

[ItCouldBeWorse]

4 minutes ago, Dee said:

Junior and Rainbow's scenes were surprisingly sweet; but he's probably right that he needs a gap year to mature.

Totally, but in real life he would almost definitely apply to college this, his senior year, and accept one admission before applying for a deferral. We'll see what happens.

[mtlchick]

Nice call back to Ruby's card game antics to win the Forever 21 gift card from last season to use it to go shopping now...after she scammed Dre into a new Benz.  I may have cackled. 

[Racj82]

"my TV stays on centric" 

I love little bits of dialogue only black people can appreciate.

I'm a TV one man myself. Unsung is the shit.

Ruby's scam was genius. Great use of her so far this season. She's still Ruby but is also being explored beyond her being a constant nag. 

Dre is also handling problems a lot more maturely instead of straight over the top.

[Dee]

Did Johan return to Europe?

[Star Aristille]

6 hours ago, Dee said:

Did Johan return to Europe?

He did.  Largely because Daveed Diggs is devoting his time to running The Mayor now.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

So last season Dre and Bow were meeting with a financial planner and talking about cutting back on extraneous expenses and this season Dre just bought his mom a car (she made sure to ask if it was paid off) without even consulting Bow when they just had another baby and their oldest is about to start college? Okay then. It must be nice to have money grow on trees!

[monakane]

Charlie, I love you so much!  A bathtub full of tarantulas will be my go to excuse whenever I'm late for meetings.

[charmed1]

I cracked up because this episode hit home. My mom was recently a victim of an elder scam. I'm too poor for her to scam me into buying her a car, but she got a couple of free meals from the Cheesecake Factory out of me. And trade Kid Capri for Jeffrey Osborne, and I would think I was watching my own documentary. 

I'm glad we get to hold onto Junior for a little longer if he takes a gap year.

[vibeology]

1 hour ago, charmed1 said:

I'm glad we get to hold onto Junior for a little longer if he takes a gap year.

I thought it was very smart to establish that now. Junior is exactly the sort of person who would benefit from a gap year and it means they don't have to make a big deal out of it down the line.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

So last season Dre and Bow were meeting with a financial planner and talking about cutting back on extraneous expenses and this season Dre just bought his mom a car (she made sure to ask if it was paid off) without even consulting Bow when they just had another baby and their oldest is about to start college? Okay then. It must be nice to have money grow on trees!

It's from their retirement account! Who needs one of those when they have 5 kids they can move in with in their golden years!

[Sheenieb]

I'm all for being progressive, but Zoe telling her friend that he could crash at her house, I'm assuming in her room, was a bit much. Considering Rainbow's surprise at seeing him, Zoe obviously didn't ask her parents if this was ok. I'm surprised Dre didn't go full on manchild about it. 

Junior's nerdy and awkward, but I don't think he'll struggle in college. If he takes a gap year, I hope it's to travel or get an internship. Real world experience wouldn't hurt him.

Quote

So last season Dre and Bow were meeting with a financial planner and talking about cutting back on extraneous expenses and this season Dre just bought his mom a car (she made sure to ask if it was paid off) without even consulting Bow when they just had another baby and their oldest is about to start college? Okay then. It must be nice to have money grow on trees!

Yeah, this was a big wtf. And dipping into their retirement! See, this is the type of shit that would've made me divorce Dre if I were Bow. 

Edited October 19, 2017 by Sheenieb

[ElectricBoogaloo]

21 minutes ago, Sheenieb said:

I'm all for being progressive, but Zoe telling her friend that he could crash at her house, I'm assuming in her room, was a bit much. Considering Rainbow's surprise at seeing him, Zoe obviously didn't ask her parents if this was ok. I'm surprised Dre didn't go full on manchild about it.

I had multiple issues with this:

• she obviously didn't tell her parents that this guy was even coming over to the house because Bow had no idea who he was or that he had arrived and then gone up to her bedroom
• she didn't ask if it was okay for someone who no one in her family had ever met/heard of/known about could sleep at their house
• she then proceeded to tell her mom to stop being weird because she was startled by finding an older boy in her daughter's bedroom

I never thought I'd side with Junior, but yeah, as long as your kid is living under your roof, they have to obey your rules. One of those rules is the common courtesy to ask permission to have an overnight guest. This has nothing to do with the fact that it was a guy either. If it had been her own roommate, she still should have let her parents know ahead of time and asked if it was okay (especially since Bow just had a baby).

[atiyah9369]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I had multiple issues with this:

• she obviously didn't tell her parents that this guy was even coming over to the house because Bow had no idea who he was or that he had arrived and then gone up to her bedroom
• she didn't ask if it was okay for someone who no one in her family had ever met/heard of/known about could sleep at their house
• she then proceeded to tell her mom to stop being weird because she was startled by finding an older boy in her daughter's bedroom

I never thought I'd side with Junior, but yeah, as long as your kid is living under your roof, they have to obey your rules. One of those rules is the common courtesy to ask permission to have an overnight guest. This has nothing to do with the fact that it was a guy either. If it had been her own roommate, she still should have let her parents know ahead of time and asked if it was okay (especially since Bow just had a baby).

Zoe's story-line had me clutching my pearls. You bring a boy home, you are in your room with the door closed knowing your parents don't like that and you close the door in your moms face?? OH NO MA'AM!!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

23 minutes ago, atiyah9369 said:

Zoe's story-line had me clutching my pearls. You bring a boy home, you are in your room with the door closed knowing your parents don't like that and you close the door in your moms face?? OH NO MA'AM!!!

Haha glad it wasn't just me! I actually turned to Mr. EB and said, "Did I just turn into an old lady because I think Zoe was being so flippant and disrespectful in every way about this entire situation?"

[possibilities]

5 hours ago, vibeology said:

I thought it was very smart to establish that now. Junior is exactly the sort of person who would benefit from a gap year and it means they don't have to make a big deal out of it down the line.

And it's way better than having him fail to graduate high school, or not get into college for no reason.

 

4 hours ago, Sheenieb said:

I'm all for being progressive, but Zoe telling her friend that he could crash at her house, I'm assuming in her room, was a bit much. Considering Rainbow's surprise at seeing him, Zoe obviously didn't ask her parents if this was ok. I'm surprised Dre didn't go full on manchild about it. 

Seriously-- even if there wasn't the "he's a man!" issue, it's just rude and presumptuous to not even ask your parents if they'd mind hosting someone in that way.

4 hours ago, Sheenieb said:

Junior's nerdy and awkward, but I don't think he'll struggle in college. If he takes a gap year, I hope it's to travel or getting an internship. Real world experience wouldn't hurt him.

He's more mature than his father, but I think gap years are great for getting some real world experience, so when you go to college you don't wind up graduating with no idea what the hell you're preparing for. Plus, he's my favorite of the family, so I'm glad they're keeping him around.

I was really angry that they had Ruby revert to insulting Bow, and Bow and Dre letting her do it. This is not funny to me. It's worse than obnoxious.

Edited October 18, 2017 by possibilities

[Dee]

Zoey and Rainbow have always had an awkward relationship, she's the Rhonda to Rainbow's Ruby

[TiffanyNichelle]

26 minutes ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Haha glad it wasn't just me! I actually turned to Mr. EB and said, "Did I just turn into an old lady because I think Zoe was being so flippant and disrespectful in every way about this entire situation?"

I agree with both of you. That should have been a bigger part of the storyline even though I liked Diane having a crush. Of course after Bow lost her shit over Zoe just bringing some random boy into her house Dre would say he knew about it the whole time.

[AuntiePam]

Glad to see I'm not the only fuddy-duddy!  Except for Junior and Diane's story line, I thought this episode was a lazy mess.  Bow's not the most hands-on parent, but I was embarrassed for her bizarre reaction to the man in Zoe's room.  Yeah, Zoe's gonna do what Zoe's gonna do, but it doesn't need to be in your house, where Diane and Junior can take note.  And Ruby, using Dre like that -- he's supporting her, and she wrecks his garage door and scams him for a new car?  Nuh uh.

[tennisgurl]

Yeah, Zoe letting her guy friend/spin off love interest stay over and not telling Bow, and Bow being cool with it, seemed super weird to me. That would have NEVER flown in my house, not ever! I wouldnt call myself exactly old (in my mid 20s), or prudish, but even I was doing a double take. My mom probably wouldn't be ok with a guy friend or boyfriend staying at my parents house with me in the same house as them NOW, and I dont even live there anymore!

Anyway, still a good episode, and it was nice to have a lighter tone than the last two weeks. They seem to be going back to status quo with Ruby and Bow being pissy at each other, but at least they're using Ruby in better ways. Shes a better character when she actually does stuff besides nagging and talking about how Jesus is judging everyone. 

Aaron is awfully cute. I can see why the Johnson ladies are all over him. Even if Ruby has to make it weird. 

Next time I end up being late for something, I plan on saying that my bathtub was filled with tarantulas. Or that they stole my phone to play Candy Crush. 

[Luciano]

I was waiting for the scene where Dre realizes there is a teenage stranger hanging around with his daughter behind closed doors and sleeping in his house (and his kid's room?) and puts an end to the whole thing or at least has a fit. I don't think they even had a scene that included both Aaron and Dre, like they wanted to avoid Dre acting cool (and out of character) about it or doing his usual freak-out. Did I miss something or did Dre just not acknowledge his daughter's guest?

Heh at Charlie thinking Dre was Ruby's father.

So Dre's boss is being slowly poisoned by his son? Makes sense, actually.

Edited October 19, 2017 by Luciano

[attica]

I dig that both Disney's and Ruby's Easter dresses were flouncy and pink.

"I don't need a project." Girl, let that be your guiding light for all of your days.

[Dee]

22 hours ago, Luciano said:

I was waiting for the scene where Dre realizes there is a teenage stranger hanging around with his daughter behind closed doors and sleeping in his house (and his kid's room?) and puts an end to the whole thing or at least has a fit. I don't think they even had a scene that included both Aaron and Dre, like they wanted to avoid Dre acting cool (and out of character) about it or doing his usual freak-out. Did I miss something or did Dre just not acknowledge his daughter's guest?

A strange dude, who Andre's never met, is sleeping in his house & semi-dating his favorite child and Andre does absolutely nothing?

He was grilling Zoey's dates a couple of seasons ago, and was lamenting about potentially missing Zoey last season, but he doesn't even as blink when three female members of his family are crawling all over this new guy?

And Rainbow doesn't mention and/or discuss this with Andre, in between discussing Ruby's issues, at any point in the episode?

Edited October 20, 2017 by Dee

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, attica said:

"I don't need a project." Girl, let that be your guiding light for all of your days.

YES!

[attica]

The flashback to Ruby's 'homeless vet' scam was word for word an Eddie Murphy scene in Trading Places. "I can see! I can walk!" This is why we love Ruby: she steals from the masters. :)

[jhlipton]

On 10/17/2017 at 6:37 PM, mortonsalt said:

This was funnier than the first two episodes, but I guess it's back to the status quo with Bow and Ruby unfortunately. 

I'm mad about that -- and that Dre insults Bow any chance he gets, not just when Ruby's around.  I was shouting at the TV when I watched this.

On 10/17/2017 at 6:59 PM, Dee said:

Charlie being being impressed that Crispus Attucks and Frederick Douglas 'looked good for their age' cracked me up.

I wonder if that was a call-back to Trump sounding like he thought Douglass was still alive?

On 10/18/2017 at 9:52 AM, Sheenieb said:

See, this is the type of shit that would've made me divorce Dre if I were Bow. 

It's the constant belittlement that would get me.

On 10/18/2017 at 2:02 PM, possibilities said:

And it's way better than having him fail to graduate high school, or not get into college for no reason.

Definitely -- he's always been shown to be the smart (if nerdy) one.

[attica]

47 minutes ago, jhlipton said:

I wonder if that was a call-back to Trump sounding like he thought Douglass was still alive?

I think it may well be that, in addition to a call back to Charlie-is 300-years-old (or whatever the actual too-high number was). 

[jhlipton]

Cool!

[meep.meep]

My DVR conked out while Ruby was beguiling young Aaron.  Did she lure him in?

Are they planning a different show that's Zoey at college?

[morakot]

Zoey is living on campus during the semester, isn't she and was just home for the concert? AFAIK, they only have one guestroom in the house (that Ruby uses) and the guesthouse where Dre's father lives so the only place a guest can stay is on the couch or in a child's room... Hey, where did Johan stay? Zoey did not have a sexual relationship with the guy, as far as I could tell, and seemed to consider it equivalent to having a girlfriend stay over. That would be why she didn't mention it to anyone (though, yes, even a girlfriend over night should be introduced to her family....)

[ItCouldBeWorse]

21 hours ago, morakot said:

the only place a guest can stay is on the couch or in a child's room

Exactly.  He could have stayed in Junior's room, or on the couch, like Dre's friend from a while ago.

21 hours ago, morakot said:

Hey, where did Johan stay?

They never said.  There really isn't any place.  I predict that when the baby is ready to move out of Bow and Dre's room, we will find out that there is an extra bedroom and bathroom in the basement, and that Zoey will stay there when she's home so that that her room will be available for Devante.  Then when Junior goes to college following his gap year, a second basement bedroom will appear so that the twins can each have their own room.

Edited October 24, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[OnceSane]

Quote

An incident at school threatens Junior’s future at his beloved Valley Glen Prep.

[Dee]

Best episode of the season by far.

Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis are amazing. I had to stop the episode after Earl & Ruby's team entrance because I was literally in tears from laughing.

[mtlchick]

They somehow made Monopoly FUN.  

 

SHABBA!  I died. 

[Jodie Landon]

Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis were the MVP's of this episode. The flashback of them yelling at a young Dre took me out, especially Ruby's "I swear to God, little boy!" I missed whether or not they decided to rekindle their relationship, but I hope they do because it will create an opportunity for some really funny episodes.

Dre is a terrible person. He really got lucky when he married Bow.

[mortonsalt]

1 hour ago, Dee said:

Best episode of the season by far.

Laurence Fishburne and Jenifer Lewis are amazing. I had to stop the episode after Earl & Ruby's team entrance because I was literally in tears from laughing.

Yes, this was such a great episode. I knew it was coming, but I was so happy when Dre started to lose and flipped over the board. His meltdown was hilarious. I loved that the rest of the family gave Jack or rather sold Jack their railroads for only a dollar to gang up on Dre.

[Traveller519]

Tune into next week's episode when Jack & Diane make a Minecraft video!

Pops and Ruby set the tone for the episode, especially with the flashbacks. I also enjoyed Meghan and her back and forth with the family. "I feel like we can trust her. You know she's good for it" 

[Pamela]

2 hours ago, Dee said:

Best episode of the season by far.

It so was. As a somewhat (and by "somewhat", I mean "extremely") competitive board game player myself, I enjoyed how seriously the whole family took it. And man, did it make me want to play Monopoly. It's been forever.

[Star Aristille]

Well, that was fun.  A whole lot of fun.  I agree with the outpouring of love for this episode.  They managed to revolve an entire episode around a board game and make it . . . pretty damn successful.  This goes up there with Modern Family's "Connection Lost" episode of an odd episode concept that surprisingly feels fresh and actually works!  They should totally submit this one for an Emmy!

1 hour ago, mortonsalt said:

Yes, this was such a great episode. I knew it was coming, but I was so happy when Dre started to lose and flipped over the board. His meltdown was hilarious. I loved that the rest of the family gave Jack or rather sold Jack their railroads for only a dollar to gang up on Dre.

Yeah, well, if Dre hadn't been so damn cocky, arrogant, and annoying, maybe he wouldn't have been begging for karma to come back and bite him as hard as it did.

Pops and Ruby trying again?  Huh.  That could be interesting.

Does Bow seriously have it against Megan being with Junior because she's white?  I'm hoping that that's not the reason she has a problem with her.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Star Aristille

[Aileen]

So, so good. I thought this episode was absolutely hysterical. I love the chemistry between the cast (despite MIA Zoe). I so appreciate that this show can do more serious episodes and downright hilarious ones, too.

[Dee]

Miles Brown has really come into his own over the past couple of seasons. Now he's stealing almost as many scenes as Marsai.

[possibilities]

I never enjoyed playing Monopoly, and I didn't enjoy watching other people play it.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 10/23/2017 at 5:18 PM, morakot said:

Zoey is living on campus during the semester, isn't she and was just home for the concert?

Zoey hasn't left for college yet. Bow said that she's leaving in a few weeks.

Quote

Zoey did not have a sexual relationship with the guy, as far as I could tell, and seemed to consider it equivalent to having a girlfriend stay over. That would be why she didn't mention it to anyone (though, yes, even a girlfriend over night should be introduced to her family....)

Regardless of whether she's having sex with this guy or not, it's just rude to invite someone to stay at your parents' house without asking their permission first. In this particular circumstance it's especially inconsiderate since Bow just had a baby and was shown to have post partum depression. The last thing she needs is an unannounced guest when she is dealing with the baby, probably not sleeping well, etc.

[paulvdb]

I've always hated how badly Ruby treated Bow. You'd think Bow would learn from that and treat her son's girlfriend better, but she's just as bad as Ruby.

[Higgs]

I watched this show for the first time ever, mainly to see how a sitcom about a black family compared with one about a black mayor.

I don't believe a black family would treat any guest so rudely.

I don't believe no one, especially including her boyfriend, would defend her.

I don't believe teenage couples say goodnight without kissing.

I do believe black males don't kiss white girls on the mouth on the major networks in prime time.

But hey, maybe I'm naive and/or don't watch enough TV.

[attica]

I loved how the Johnsons have their own rules for the game; my family did too. I love how Ruby keeps 'special' money in her bra, and that Dre knew enough to ask especially for it. I loved the ugly-ass velour. I loved the 'put it in my waistband' callback at the end.

Hilarious all the way through.

[fishcakes]

25 minutes ago, attica said:

I loved how the Johnsons have their own rules for the game

Dre: Pops doesn't pay income tax.

Pops: Reparations.

[monakane]

I loved this episode.  I am Dre when playing Monopoly, so I can relate.  I'm not a competitive person in any area of life except board games.  I have a bit of a "reputation" within my family.

I loved, loved, loved Ruby and Pops.  They were the episode standouts.  I hope they rekindle their relationship because that would be comedy gold.

[tennisgurl]

Oh that was hilarious! A whole episode about monopoly sounds tedious, but it totally worked. I admit it, I can totally relate to family's getting getting too into board games. 

My family still talks about the Thanksgiving where a particularly intense game of Sorry almost got one of my aunts disinherited. 

The one thing I didn't like was how mean Bow was to Madison. It came out of nowhere too, I knew that Bow had issues with Junior dating a white girl because of her issues with being biracial, but I never noticed her being so mean to her face. Has she learned nothing from how Ruby treats her? Will the cycle still continue? 

[NutmegsDad]

9 hours ago, paulvdb said:

I've always hated how badly Ruby treated Bow. You'd think Bow would learn from that and treat her son's girlfriend better, but she's just as bad as Ruby.

13 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

The one thing I didn't like was how mean Bow was to Madison. It came out of nowhere too, I knew that Bow had issues with Junior dating a white girl because of her issues with being biracial, but I never noticed her being so mean to her face. Has she learned nothing from how Ruby treats her? Will the cycle still continue? 

I expect this show to be good enough and smart enough to pick up on this for a future episode.

Edited October 25, 2017 by NutmegsDad
Two! Two good observations to quote! Ah! Ah! Ah!