Season 6 Discussion

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I wonder if Anthony and Tracee are tired of the structure of at least half the episodes:  Dre overreacts to a situation and proceeds to entrench himself in his bad decision-making until Bow convinces him to dig himself out of his hole. Sometimes it directly involves the kids, who are whipped back and forth between them. Ruby and/or Pops render their opinions.  All ends well until next time (save for all but the last episode of the divorce arc).

Also, Devante either sleeps all the time, or is in full daycare, even when the rest of the family is home.

Edited October 20, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse

[tennisgurl]

24 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Also, Devante either sleeps all the time, or is full daycare, even when the rest of the family is home.

I spend so many episodes just wondering if Devante is alright. Is there a new Nanny? Is he at day care? Visiting Zoe at college? Are the twins babysitting?!?

Not a bad episode, even though its sad that Jack is giving up on basketball. I kind of want to read more of Dres poetry, it sounds like a whole...experience. "Is the meat the black people or the white people?" 

This show does sure love its format. There is some issue, Dre or Bow overreactions, Dre talks to his co-workers (who are at least funny again lately) the parent that didnt overreact tries to set the other one straight, and the situation ends. At least this one didnt really end with the issue being resolved.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Just now, tennisgurl said:

Not a bad episode, even though its sad that Jack is giving up on basketball.

When Diane mentioned that Jack would be missing the social aspects of the team, I hoped that one of his parents would suggest he check out if he could become an assistant manager or scorekeeper as a way of attending all practices and games.

[AnimeMania]

Jack should have tried to move from a point guard to a shooting guard. If he can make the shot from anywhere, all he has to do is be open. At least Dre was spending a lot of time with Jack, so at least he was being a good supportive parent, even if he was acting like an A-hole.

[OnceSane]

Episode 5:

Quote

"Mad and Boujee"

When Dre is invited to join a private social club for the black upper class, Bow and the family jump at the opportunity to mingle with this new community, but Dre's not so sure these exclusive clubs are all they're cracked up to be. Meanwhile, Junior helps Pops pick a wedding date.

Airs October 22, 2019.

[Aileen]

Who played the guy who invited Dre to the club? He looks so familiar and I deleted the episode before noting his name.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was so frustrated when Bow was frantically making cake pops before running back to the hospital for a surgery only to be told she had to organize a field trip for that weekend. I was waiting for her to tell Dre, Jack, and Diane that they needed to start doing some of that work.

[Empress1]

8 hours ago, Aileen said:

Who played the guy who invited Dre to the club? He looks so familiar and I deleted the episode before noting his name.

I know him from Single Parents; he plays the ex of one of the main characters. I don't know his name.

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I was so frustrated when Bow was frantically making cake pops before running back to the hospital for a surgery only to be told she had to organize a field trip for that weekend. I was waiting for her to tell Dre, Jack, and Diane that they needed to start doing some of that work.

I wish the fuck I would. I get so frustrated by kids in TV and movies not having chores. Also, I would take my doctor coins and buy those fucking cake pops, and nobody better say shit to me about it.

At least Junior is being productive by helping Pops plan the wedding!

[ljenkins782]

An actual Devante sighting at the end there! He lives!! I was really beginning to wonder whether they'd just quietly written him out, he hadn't even appeared in a background shot in quite awhile. 

This was a decent episode, a little more low-key with no huge drama, but some funny lines.

Quote

Who played the guy who invited Dre to the club? He looks so familiar and I deleted the episode before noting his name.

That was bugging me too, I know that guy from somewhere (and I've never seen Single Parents, so it must be from somewhere else). IMDB isn't showing a whole cast list so that's no help...

[Joimiaroxeu]

Triple-A fo life! Motor clubs represent!

I dunno, something about that Premier Noir bunch seemed off to me. Off in an Us kind of way. Maybe those bougie folks have Tethereds in the underground. 🤔

Meh, I'm thinking Charlie knows better than to show up at the country club in a wife beater and flip flops.

Devante had a line!

Quote

Who played the guy who invited Dre to the club? He looks so familiar and I deleted the episode before noting his name.

Was it this?

Both Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle (he played the other guy Dre was talking to after golf) were in it.

[Meedis]

11 hours ago, Aileen said:

Who played the guy who invited Dre to the club? He looks so familiar and I deleted the episode before noting his name.

3 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I know him from Single Parents; he plays the ex of one of the main characters. I don't know his name.

38 minutes ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Was it this?

Both Bashir Salahuddin and Diallo Riddle (he played the other guy Dre was talking to after golf) were in it.

I first saw Bashir Salahuddin on the Netflix series Glow as the referee / boyfriend of one of the lady wrestlers.    He reminds me of Malik Yoba of New York Undercover fame.

[ljenkins782]

3 hours ago, Meedis said:

I first saw Bashir Salahuddin on the Netflix series Glow as the referee / boyfriend of one of the lady wrestlers.  

Ahhhhh, that's it!!! That was totally bugging me, I knew I'd seen him somewhere recently! 

[DrSparkles]

I love Charlie. That is all.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

And of course Charlie is inexplicably great at golf! He’s a man of many talents. 

[red12]

15 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I was so frustrated when Bow was frantically making cake pops before running back to the hospital for a surgery only to be told she had to organize a field trip for that weekend. I was waiting for her to tell Dre, Jack, and Diane that they needed to start doing some of that work.

Unfortunately, the cake pop/field trip stuff wasn't too far from real.

Hopefully, it's changing as the economy requires both parents to have careers in order to maintain the upper level bougie lifestyle depicted in this episode. But, many times these types of organizations are vested in the recreation of the white American patriarchal ideal dipped in chocolate. In decades past, they were kept running by SAHMs more vested in appearances and giving their children access to the "right kinds of people" than their own stress levels. The men did almost nothing but, go to work and socialize / network together. Working moms and divorced women were definitely looked down upon when I was growing up in these circles.

9 hours ago, Empress1 said:

At least Junior is being productive by helping Pops plan the wedding!

Speaking of, Junior is really missing a career opportunity. He would be an excellent wedding planner. Hell, he could also become a highly sought after nanny in L.A. if he put his mind to it.

[readster]

1 hour ago, red12 said:

Speaking of, Junior is really missing a career opportunity. He would be an excellent wedding planner. Hell, he could also become a highly sought after nanny in L.A. if he put his mind to it.

No kidding, they set Junior up with things that would work perfectly for him. Not having "Gap Year 2, Electric Boogaloo" Plus, the writing is so much better when they do it this way with Junior. Other wise he comes off looking like an idiot. 

[tennisgurl]

Junior just keeps finding things that he would be good at (like wedding planning) and ignoring them! Will he ever just find something and end this plot?!

That Charlie, a true renaissance man! 

[Aileen]

13 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I know him from Single Parents; he plays the ex of one of the main characters. I don't know his name.

I wish the fuck I would. I get so frustrated by kids in TV and movies not having chores. Also, I would take my doctor coins and buy those fucking cake pops, and nobody better say shit to me about it.

At least Junior is being productive by helping Pops plan the wedding!

YES! Poppy’s ex! Thank you!!

[retired watcher]

I'm just getting back to watching again. I think this show jumped the start when Bow got pregnant and then the marriage problems. I stopped watching last year in the middle of the season. To be honest I never liked the scenes at Dre's work. I was glad when Charlie left. I don't like the boss. He is too much of a caricature. I love it when the twins were younger. My favorite was Evil Diane.

[Evagirl]

On 10/23/2019 at 11:37 AM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Meh, I'm thinking Charlie knows better than to show up at the country club in a wife beater and flip flops.

I kind of chuckled when I saw him switching up to the others already on the golf fourse, but reading your comment made me howl!  I don't know why seeing it written out was funnier than actually seeing it!!!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S6.E6: Everybody Blames Raymond

Quote

Halloween is around the corner and the Johnsons are definitely not seeing eye-to-eye on the family costume. The only thing they do agree on is that Jack's new friend Raymond has got to go. Meanwhile, Junior wants Devante's first trick-or-treating experience to be perfect.

Original air date: 10/29/19

[Marley]

I liked the episode but Junior is still annoying to me. I don’t get the point of Devante. I actually really like Dre this episode. I wasn’t sure if Charlie dressed like that on purpose or was the joke he just dresses like that to golf? Dre’s work ppl weren’t even that annoying this time.

[msrachelj]

On 10/10/2019 at 10:48 AM, NYCFree said:

I loved the line about (paraphrase) “then we’ll have to hear about how the Irish were once slaves.”  I’ve seen that come up twice in the past month and have been astounded. The first time I was “WTF?” The second time “oh, we’re actually trying this now?”

As a white feminist I have to say that the “this is the worst thing to have happened to women” line did not shock me, or doubt the realism.

As a white woman and a feminist I was offended by the concept of this show. As women we can all stand together for women's rights. White women have fought for decades for black rights when black people couldn't openly do so. Are we to have White Feminists and Black Feminists separately doing their own thing now? This is setting back progress. It's like they no longer want white people to watch.

[MaryMitch]

48 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

As a white woman and a feminist I was offended by the concept of this show. As women we can all stand together for women's rights. White women have fought for decades for black rights when black people couldn't openly do so. Are we to have White Feminists and Black Feminists separately doing their own thing now? This is setting back progress. It's like they no longer want white people to watch.

I'm white and I consider myself a feminist. I took it as "something to think about that I've never considered." This show does point out problems that black people have that white people don't have to consider, and I appreciate that. I don't know a lot of black people, but I try to understand.

[PupCal]

Getting real sick of Junior. Unlike Dre, I do wish he had stuck with college.
At least Ruby's there to talk some sense into him.

Edited October 30, 2019 by PupCal

[MadyGirl1987]

1 hour ago, PupCal said:

Getting real sick of Junior. Unlike Dre, I do wish he had stuck with college.
At least Ruby's there to talk some sense into him.

Junior actually didn’t bother me this episode. Devante deserves parents who are involved in his life and want to spend time with him. Forgetting they have a young child is not okay and all Junior was doing was reminding them of their responsibilities. I also wasn’t buying what Ruby was saying.  Yeah, family should step up and help out, but parents have a responsibility to their kids and shouldn’t rely on others to pick up their slack. It’s not up to Junior to raise his little brother because his parents can’t be bothered.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

19 minutes ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

I also wasn’t buying what Ruby was saying.  Yeah, family should step up and help out, but parents have a responsibility to their kids and shouldn’t rely on others to pick up their slack. It’s not up to Junior to raise his little brother because his parents can’t be bothered.

ITA - there's a huge difference between siblings/aunts & uncles/grandparents helping out and the there's Dre and Bow who seem to have abdicated all responsibility for Devante. It is not Junior's responsibility to do all the parenting and childrearing. I mean, Bow and Dre didn't even notice that Devante was gone for three days when Junior took him to Coachella. That's how much they pay attention to their youngest child.

[qtpye]

On 10/23/2019 at 7:01 PM, red12 said:

Unfortunately, the cake pop/field trip stuff wasn't too far from real.

Hopefully, it's changing as the economy requires both parents to have careers in order to maintain the upper level bougie lifestyle depicted in this episode. But, many times these types of organizations are vested in the recreation of the white American patriarchal ideal dipped in chocolate. In decades past, they were kept running by SAHMs more vested in appearances and giving their children access to the "right kinds of people" than their own stress levels. The men did almost nothing but, go to work and socialize / network together. Working moms and divorced women were definitely looked down upon when I was growing up in these circles.

Speaking of, Junior is really missing a career opportunity. He would be an excellent wedding planner. Hell, he could also become a highly sought after nanny in L.A. if he put his mind to it.

Lord, on that awful Real Housewives of Potomac there are some members of Jack & Jill on the show. One lady is still angry about a "cookie incident" that happened a decade ago. This person also has a real "Big Sister Gorgeous One" mentality if  people on this board get that reference...think Whitley from a Different World with a lot more seething jealousy and resentment.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Diane trying to hit on bad boy Raymond. Had her hair all done up too.

I liked the Us costumes better than the Aladdin ones.

That was cute the way they took Devante trick-or-treating inside the house. Lucky for them they have a big enough house to make that work. 🙄

[TiffanyNichelle]

11 hours ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Junior actually didn’t bother me this episode. Devante deserves parents who are involved in his life and want to spend time with him. Forgetting they have a young child is not okay and all Junior was doing was reminding them of their responsibilities. I also wasn’t buying what Ruby was saying.  Yeah, family should step up and help out, but parents have a responsibility to their kids and shouldn’t rely on others to pick up their slack. It’s not up to Junior to raise his little brother because his parents can’t be bothered.

Halfway through the episode I found myself wishing they had just did a storyline where Junior becomes a teen dad because he's basically one now.

[Traveller519]

1 hour ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Diane trying to hit on bad boy Raymond. Had her hair all done up too.

I liked the Us costumes better than the Aladdin ones.

That was cute the way they took Devante trick-or-treating inside the house. Lucky for them they have a big enough house to make that work. 🙄

The "Us" costumes were fantastic. Of course it's a shame they couldn't involve Devante in those.

I adored the Ruby and Diane chat, especially Ruby's okay-ness with Diane stating this was a mistake she would have to make for herself.

[jalady]

What are the "Us" costumes?  I'm clearly tragically unhip because I had NO IDEA who/what they were supposed to be . . .

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

What are the "Us" costumes?

"Us" is an amazing horror film that came out earlier this year. It was written and directed by Jordan Peele and starred Lupita Nyong'o, Here is one version of the movie poster:

It also featured a chilling remix of the classic 90s song, "I Got 5 On It," a sample of which was heard in this Black-ish episode.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Joimiaroxeu

[tennisgurl]

Well on the plus side, the show acknowledged that Devante not only exists, but that Dre and Bow can barley remember him, let alone be his parents. On the negative side, Dre and Bow continue to not pay attention to Devante, and I guess at the end Junior was supposed to take the lesson "help out and dont judge your parents!" and Dre and Bow weren't supposed to take a "stop letting your son watch your baby all of the time and stop neglecting your child" lesson, which seemed...questionable. Devante is their son, and they should actually parent him! They didnt even notice when he was gone for three days! God knows what would have happened to the poor kid if Junior actually did move out for college!

The Us costumes were kick ass, they really did win Halloween, even if it was just for the gram! Now I want to watch it again, what an awesome creepy movie. I do wonder where they got that rabbit, and what happened to it afterwards. Is it alright? 

[Rebky]

16 hours ago, jalady said:

What are the "Us" costumes?  I'm clearly tragically unhip because I had NO IDEA who/what they were supposed to be . . .

Same! I watched a trailer, but it shed no light on what character Junior was supposed to be. 

[Empress1]

On 10/30/2019 at 2:18 AM, MadyGirl1987 said:

Yeah, family should step up and help out, but parents have a responsibility to their kids and shouldn’t rely on others to pick up their slack. It’s not up to Junior to raise his little brother because his parents can’t be bothered.

Yeah, I was glad that Junior called them out on this. It was long overdue.

I felt bad for Jack, feeling like he doesn't have a place. Everybody wants to be known for something.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Empress1

[jmonique]

6 hours ago, Rebky said:

Same! I watched a trailer, but it shed no light on what character Junior was supposed to be. 

Tim Heidecker plays a family friend in the movie:

[Rebky]

1 hour ago, jmonique said:

Tim Heidecker plays a family friend in the movie:

Thank you jmonique!

[TigerLily20]

Seeing Charlie dress up as Sho-nuff (sp?) was the whole episode for me.  We had just seen The last Dragon (I think  that was the movie) on TV a few nights ago and I swore that the actor who played Charlie was in that (I was wrong) but still, it felt like they read my mind a little bit : )

[Gothish520]

On 10/23/2019 at 12:37 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Meh, I'm thinking Charlie knows better than to show up at the country club in a wife beater and flip flops.

But at least his golf pants were awesome! 

[ljenkins782]

On 10/30/2019 at 11:48 PM, tennisgurl said:

Well on the plus side, the show acknowledged that Devante not only exists, but that Dre and Bow can barley remember him, let alone be his parents. On the negative side, Dre and Bow continue to not pay attention to Devante, and I guess at the end Junior was supposed to take the lesson "help out and dont judge your parents!" and Dre and Bow weren't supposed to take a "stop letting your son watch your baby all of the time and stop neglecting your child" lesson, which seemed...questionable. Devante is their son, and they should actually parent him! They didnt even notice when he was gone for three days! God knows what would have happened to the poor kid if Junior actually did move out for college!

It seems like a wink to the audience that they're openly admitting that the baby doesn't factor into the show, but...why did they include him in the first place? Tracee wasn't pregnant in real life and if they didn't have any plans for including the baby, why write that storyline? 

In fairness, there were some interesting moments/stories during the pregnancy (like when they couldn't find the heartbeat, the story about Bow's struggle with telling work, Dre maybe taking time off, etc), but I can't recall anything noteworthy once the baby was actually born. (I've blocked out the entire separation storyline, so perhaps new baby stress played a role there, but I'm not revisiting those depressing, unfunny episodes to find out.)

Quote

The "Us" costumes were fantastic. Of course it's a shame they couldn't involve Devante in those.

I adored the Ruby and Diane chat, especially Ruby's okay-ness with Diane stating this was a mistake she would have to make for herself.

I was fascinated by Junior in the Black Panther costume, he looked SO different with the glasses and the hairstyle, but it looked good on him. 

I also loved the Ruby/Diane conversation, Ruby's willingness to let Diane figure that one out on her own was hilarious. 

Where has Pops been? 

[xander874]

11 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

but I can't recall anything noteworthy once the baby was actually born

I did like the postpartum episode where Bow told off Ruby. But, yeah Devante has been an afterthought (or a no-thought in most episodes).

I loved Josh in his Cats outfit - that seemed like a random group costume since Cats is so old (and I realize the movie is coming out at Xmas so I think it would make more sense next year). Poor Josh - I need him to get a win sometime.

[qtpye]

13 minutes ago, xander874 said:

I did like the postpartum episode where Bow told off Ruby. But, yeah Devante has been an afterthought (or a no-thought in most episodes).

I loved Josh in his Cats outfit - that seemed like a random group costume since Cats is so old (and I realize the movie is coming out at Xmas so I think it would make more sense next year). Poor Josh - I need him to get a win sometime.

The trailer to the new cats movie is the stuff of nightmares....it's the scariest costume you can pick on Halloween.

Don't watch it. I think someone even scored the trailer to  Us's "I got a five on it".

Here is is:

[Toothbrush]

At a previous job we pranked our Sr VP by telling her that we were going to have pajama day one Friday. She is the only one who came dressed in pjs & she thought it was hysterical. 

I want Diane's Wham! t-shirt. 

[readster]

On 11/3/2019 at 9:19 PM, ljenkins782 said:

It seems like a wink to the audience that they're openly admitting that the baby doesn't factor into the show, but...why did they include him in the first place? Tracee wasn't pregnant in real life and if they didn't have any plans for including the baby, why write that storyline? 

In fairness, there were some interesting moments/stories during the pregnancy (like when they couldn't find the heartbeat, the story about Bow's struggle with telling work, Dre maybe taking time off, etc), but I can't recall anything noteworthy once the baby was actually born. (I've blocked out the entire separation storyline, so perhaps new baby stress played a role there, but I'm not revisiting those depressing, unfunny episodes to find out.)

They did it because Kenya the creator of the show had a baby late in life and the marriage problems they were having that spun out of so much from Baby D was also based on the show's creator having marriage problems during the first two seasons. 

It comes across as just lazy writing, they felt that having a baby and injecting the show's creator's real life problems could create some good stories. Instead of made both Dre, Bow and most of the family come off as morons. Even more now that they basically admit that Baby D doesn't factor into anything. Even though Junior is basically raising him, Dre wanted Bow to stay at home instead of work to watch Baby D (please insulting the nannies). Their marriage pretty much almost went out because Baby D was developing slower than the rest of the kids. Even more how really, outside of Junior no one GIVES A DAMN about the baby. I'm surprised they didn't just magically age Baby D up since they have NO IDEA what do with him.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S6.E7: Daughters for Dummies

Quote

When Dre realizes that his relationship with Diane has been distant, he plans some daddy-daughter bonding sessions, but the plans backfire when he realizes the interest is one-sided. Meanwhile, Bow covers for Junior at his ChoreBoar gig.

Original air date: 11/12/19

[Empress1]

I laughed at Dre's interaction with the sales clerk. "If I can't get this money ... I don't know!"

[Joimiaroxeu]

Taking up two parking places needlessly and in an expensive car? Begging to get your car keyed if not towed.

Diane. Pronounced "Demon." And it's the older demons you have to watch out for because they tend to act a fool. Heh, poor Charlie stays scared of Diane. 🤗

It's already set that Jack will be walking Diane down the aisle when she gets married. Aren't they like in ninth grade? Whatever, ouch, Dre. That's gonna leave a mark.

[tennisgurl]

Oh the tragedy and triumph of being the dad to a teenager! The sales clerk gets it! 

So what job was Junior interviewing for? I appreciate that Bow realized that his jobs are hard, but I do hope he gets some direction soon, if for no other reason than to move this plot along!

I know that this show probably cant keep track of every spin-off, but couldn't Bow have bragged about how Zoe just got a super fancy design job abroad? She certainly is doing more than just posting on Instagram! Did she not tell her parents she was going to work abroad? Are those shows taking place during different times, has that not happened yet on this show?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

So did Junior get the new job?

Didn't we recently have an episode where Dre realized he hadn't bonded with either twin? Also, the kids were not wearing their uniforms when they were dropped off at school (unless that rule has changed.) 

It takes a bit of suspension of disbelief that Jack was willing to spend all day with Bow running Junior's errands. I guess it was meant to show the contrast with Diane ignoring Dre, but it wasn't called out and although Jack certainly loves Bow, it doesn't really seem like something he would willingly do without a tangible reward.

Dies Junior have a special Chore Bore (sic) phone that Bow took (and which wasn't locked) or did he go without his phone all day? Couldn't he have forwarded/shared his schedule with Bow? That took me out of it.

Finally,  with the way the Johnson family must spend money on sneakers, hair styles, cars, designer clothes, etc, I can't believe that Diane would care about returning a shirt to a mall store. There's no way she had to spend her own money on clothing. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by ItCouldBeWorse
The rule was changed!