Season 6 Discussion

[hula-la]

11 hours ago, nokat said:

No black hair is wrong.  It's all beautiful. 🙂
 

I loved this message from the show.  We get so many messages that black hair isn't beautiful--that it's weird, it's strange, it's unprofessional, difficult to care for.  I was in envy of most the hairstyles of the women in the show (ok, not the woman who hadn't cut off her relaxed ends).

I lived in Australia for a year on a teacher's exchange. The first thing that I did when they told me which city where I was matched was to check and see if there was a black hairdresser there. Not check on the school, or where I'd be living, but check and see if there was a place to get my hair done (I had it relaxed at the time).

[Quickbeam]

I loved this episode. It was working hard to be informative to the general audience while entertaining. Ruby's "dipped in lye" comment is not THAT far off.

[possibilities]

Diane as James Brown was awesome. I never would have guessed how awesome that would be.

[tennisgurl]

I always like when the show does something interesting and different, and this was a really good episode, mostly with Diane and Bow at the hair salon, and I even thought the interview segments with the various women worked well. It was informative, but also a fun episode. The ending with Diane seeing that all black hair was beautiful was really nice as well, and she looked great! 

Diane as James Brown and the Dragon Ball bits were hilarious. Diane does a good James Brown, who knew?

 

[link417]

13 hours ago, hula-la said:

I loved this message from the show.  We get so many messages that black hair isn't beautiful--that it's weird, it's strange, it's unprofessional, difficult to care for.  I was in envy of most the hairstyles of the women in the show (ok, not the woman who hadn't cut off her relaxed ends).

I lived in Australia for a year on a teacher's exchange. The first thing that I did when they told me which city where I was matched was to check and see if there was a black hairdresser there. Not check on the school, or where I'd be living, but check and see if there was a place to get my hair done (I had it relaxed at the time).

Being unsure of whether I would be able to get a relaxer anywhere I went was one of the things that pushed me to go natural, LOL. And like someone else said, I LOVE not going to the hairdresser every other week. Plus, I can scratch whenever I damn well please!

The DBZ scene (with Big Bad Relaxer as a Piccolo wannabe, my favorite DBZ villain) was unexpected and fun. Loved Jenifer Lewis with her wigs.  

Not sure how I felt about the way the episode covered black hair, though you can’t expect much from one half of a 20-minute show. The “Good luck” at the beginning was like, “Yeah, we know, don’t @ us.”

And I know Dre did not throw out a half-used bottle of Stubb’s...erm...”Mr. Fat’s” BBQ sauce...That stuff is the stuff 🤤

[Gothish520]

I really enjoyed this episode, and my favorite part was when the buzzed stylist (Rochelle?) was trying hard to convince Diane to shave it all off. I have long maintained that if I were able to get away with it, I would chop off my dry, thinning straight hair. 

I work with a young Black woman who changes her hairstyle every few days. She's sported just about every style shown in this episode and she looks great in all of them, but my favorite is when she wears it natural. 

[TV Diva Queen]

Wasn't Diane doing Eddie Murphy, doing James Brown?  Nonetheless it was spectacular, but I seem to think that James Brown Hot Tub is a SNL thing.  No?  Can't open youtube at work, but I did google it and eddie murphy pops up.  

[Marley]

I liked this episode and found it interesting. Honestly I only know the basic info about black womens hair so it was cool for the episodes to get into some details. My hair is just wavy and nothing special so it’s neat to see all the different styles.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

Wasn't Diane doing Eddie Murphy, doing James Brown?

Yes. And also to give credit where credit is due, I hope the producer broke a little something off for Spike Lee because that musical interlude in the hair salon was basically an updated version of a similar moment in the movie, School Daze.

[possibilities]

I never saw the SNL sketch, but I knew she was James Brown anyway.

[Aileen]

Black-ish is one of my absolute favorites but I didn’t love this. I think the timing of the episode was poor since Mixed-ish recently had their hair episode (which I personally think was better done). I loved the interviews with the staff at the start of the episode in lieu of Dre’s voice over, but felt they were a distraction when they kept happening throughout the episode.

[Lifesabeach]

Poor Bow!  Having to wear that ass ugly multicolor shirt for most of the episode.  And I see there is a lot of hair talk now.  I thought her hairdo looked painful or at least it would be for me.  🤯

[TiffanyNichelle]

On 1/12/2020 at 1:03 PM, Joimiaroxeu said:

Yes. And also to give credit where credit is due, I hope the producer broke a little something off for Spike Lee because that musical interlude in the hair salon was basically an updated version of a similar moment in the movie, School Daze.

I thought they were going to start singing Good and Bad Hair from the movie. 

[Empress1]

The reason Dre and Junior's relationship has been strained up until now is that Dre has been emotionally abusive to Junior. I liked that Bow pointed that out, although it was a little flippant for my taste (I don't find Dre's treatment of Junior funny, never have).

I did laugh when Bow was recounting the story of how she let her friend take the fall for her farting in class. She's right: middle school is vicious.

[Quickbeam]

Why was Rainbow wearing a 1950's housewife apron for most of the show?

[ItCouldBeWorse]

10 hours ago, Empress1 said:

The reason Dre and Junior's relationship has been strained up until now is that Dre has been emotionally abusive to Junior. I liked that Bow pointed that out, although it was a little flippant for my taste (I don't find Dre's treatment of Junior funny, never have).

I did laugh when Bow was recounting the story of how she let her friend take the fall for her farting in class. She's right: middle school is vicious.

Will we see this on Mixed-ish?  What grade is Bow in on that show?

[Aileen]

On 1/15/2020 at 7:50 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Will we see this on Mixed-ish?  What grade is Bow in on that show?

Seventh.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:44 AM, Aileen said:

Seventh.

Thanks.

The truth is, I don't actually want to see it, but I suppose it makes sense that the currently pescatarian Bow would not react well to chili-cheese dogs, and for continuity's sake the show should at least make a reference to the incident next year if it is renewed (and if each year of the show corresponds to a new school year.)

Edited January 19, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[tennisgurl]

Its so strange to see Stevens actually giving some good advice, and showing self awareness about how much he messed up raising Conner, and what a loser he has become. 

Yeah I cant imagine dating a client would be a good idea if you work in the ad industry, but I guess its good that Junior learned it now and not later with a more serious relationship. I never find Dres abusive behavior towards Junior funny, and everyone being so flippant about it is a bad look for everyone, even if they are getting along better now. 

I guess even sweet little Bow learned to be more mercurial in her next year of school over on Mixed-ish, I dont see current seventh grade Bow doing that and not freaking out with guilt and apologizing right away, if she did it at all. 

"...Eustace!"

[Joimiaroxeu]

Does Diane actually like Mason or was she just mad that he'd moved his attention to someone else?

Charlie would be a riot on the Price is Right. Drew Carey wouldn't know how to deal. (Too bad the shows are on different networks because otherwise I could see this happening.)

 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by Joimiaroxeu

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I was surprised that Stevens didn't think it was a risk for Junior to date a client. What if they lost the account because of it? He really wouldn't care?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S6.E13: Kid Life Crisis

Quote

The Johnsons go on vacation at an all-inclusive beach resort in paradise; Dre and Bow meet a couple without kids and live a kidless fantasy for a while; Junior catches the eye of a cute girl and vies for her attention; Jack gets the flu.

Original air date: 1/21/20

[vibeology]

"You're the parent now."

Now? I'm pretty sure Devonte was raised by a combination of Junior, Ruby and Black Nanny. And probably the dog. And then Bow and Dre.

[DanaK]

I mostly liked this vacation episode but Bow and Dre being nasty to the kids in order to be alone together was a real turnoff

[LadyintheLoop]

Quote

I'm pretty sure Devonte was raised by a combination of Junior, Ruby and Black Nanny. And probably the dog.

I'm amazed that they remembered the dog. And relieved that they remembered the child.

Quote

I mostly liked this vacation episode but Bow and Dre being nasty to the kids in order to be alone together was a real turnoff

Sounds like the kids had something contagious, so maybe the parents are next. One can hope. . . .

[Irlandesa]

56 minutes ago, vibeology said:

"You're the parent now."

Now? I'm pretty sure Devonte was raised by a combination of Junior, Ruby and Black Nanny. And probably the dog. And then Bow and Dre.

That's why this episode didn't work. They acted like they were giving Junior a task he had no clue how to do when he has practically raised Devante.

[PupCal]

Wow this latest episode was terrible. The way Bow/Dre were so nasty to the kids and just dumped them on Junior made me stop watching.

[MissLucas]

Best thing about this episode - Devante suddenly disappearing during the check-in scene. Even the continuity faerie keeps forgetting him.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I very rarely agree with Dre, but he was not being unreasonable when he suggested that he and Bow take a weekend trip without the kids. Junior is an adult and Ruby and Pops can make themselves available for a few days to supervise the kids. It's not like Dre suggested that they abandon their kids forever. They can definitely survive a weekend with their grandparents, and just because you have kids doesn't mean you have to take them on every trip.

What I didn't agree with was the way that Dre stomped off when she said they couldn't just go to Paris on such short notice. He could have acknowledged her concerns about having to rearrange her work schedule and suggested that they pick a date in the near future (like maybe a month or two from now) so that she would have time to put in a request for a few vacation days and then planned ahead so that it wouldn't be a stressful last minute experience for her.

I totally get when parents decide that the vacation is not all about what the kids want to do. That's totally fine. But what drives me crazy is when they bend over backwards about stuff like fetching drinks and snacks all day AND THEN decide they've had enough. Everyone but Devante is more than old enough to get out of the pool and get their own ice cream and snacks and whatever else Dre was complaining about fetching for them. Quit acting like their personal concierge and maybe you'll enjoy your vacation more. Devante is the only one who needs actual supervision. Jack and Diane are definitely old enough to go to the pool and play cornhole without hovering parents.

Did we see Devante at all after the first pool scene?

[Empress1]

Just now, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I very rarely agree with Dre, but he was not being unreasonable when he suggested that he and Bow take a weekend trip without the kids. Junior is an adult and Ruby and Pops can make themselves available for a few days to supervise the kids. It's not like Dre suggested that they abandon their kids forever. They can definitely survive a weekend with their grandparents, and just because you have kids doesn't mean you have to take them on every trip.

I'm with you, and with Dre. The kids' grandparents live with them. They can watch the younger kids for a couple of days. Dre said the kids need for THEM to have a strong relationship and he's right (they DID almost get divorced). Ditching their kids forever is not a good look, but taking a weekend trip every so often is fine - and I think necessary. They have financial and family help resources that many parents would kill for; I think they should take advantage every once in a while. I don't necessarily think that Bow's mom guilt is something she should just accept.

Diane was being a huge brat. I wish I WOULD have told my parents, who were taking me on a luxury vacation, "nice job picking a flight that gets in two hours early," or yelled at a pianist across a resort restaurant. That's just bad behavior.

[Snapdragon]

This entire episode, all I kept thinking was, "Why don't they just use the kids' club?" because all of those resorts have them.  Also, it's ridiculous that Dre and Bow don't ever take a weekend for themselves.  They have two live in grandparents who can watch their kids, plus two adult children who could watch the minor ones.  I'm also getting tired of Bow's mom guilt.  She spends half her time complaining about how hard it is to be a working mom, but when they had her stay at home for half a season, all she did was complain about that too.  It's annoying.  

[vibeology]

Agreed about Dre and Bow taking a weekend. Yes, going to Paris right away was probably impossible with work but surely they can book time in a month or two so Bow can set her schedule. This is a very well off couple. They have many fixed expenses but its always been clear that they also have money to spend. They could probably set it up that they could take a weekend a month and either travel or stay in a hotel in town and have time for themselves. Junior and the Twins are fine with light supervision from Pops or Ruby. It's only Devonte that needs constant supervision.

[Empress1]

9 minutes ago, vibeology said:

It's only Devonte that needs constant supervision.

And Dre and Bow don't do that anyway.

31 minutes ago, Snapdragon said:

This entire episode, all I kept thinking was, "Why don't they just use the kids' club?" because all of those resorts have them.

And Jack and Diane are really old enough to putter around a resort by themselves. They could go on the water slide alone. Actually at their age, I'm surprised they wanted to hang out with their parents at all.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Empress1

[ElectricBoogaloo]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

And Jack and Diane are really old enough to putter around a resort by themselves. They could go on the water slide alone. Actually at their age, I'm surprised they wanted to hang out with their parents at all.

But who else will fetch (and pay for) all the snacks they need while they’re at the water slides?

Edited January 22, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Axie]

I haven’t watched this show in awhile, and, tonight reminded why I haven’t.  None of the characters are likable anymore.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I guess Diane settled on a hair style before vacation.

As to Bow having to call the kids' schools before leaving, did they really take the twins out of school for a vacation? (I wonder if we'll ever get an episode about the daycare that Devante obviously attends.)

Edited January 22, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Fostersmom]

Can't imagine why the kids act the way they do when their father sets such a shinning example all the damn time. Their grandparents too. Their mother is only slightly far behind, Bow at least manages not to throw hissy fits on a regular basis. 

 

[Madding crowd]

They could have arranged the vacation so they had some time to themselves but also let junior have some fun. I was that kid growing up, having to constantly take care of my nieces and nephews ( had much older sister) and watching others have fun. Junior is a really nice kid and he deserves some fun too.

I don’t like it that they make Diane so mean. I like her so much when they show her caring about Jack and just being a kid. I liked the part about the surfer couple arguing at the end-we also think other people have perfect lives. 

[DanaK]

This show tries to thread the needle between comedy farce, light comedy, drama, and important social topics and sometimes it doesn't succeed very well when the comedy craziness overwhelms the more real stuff. It just makes it hard when they want us to take these people seriously. One good example, noted above, are the times they made Diane to be very mean and, in a farcical way, make it like she was really disturbed. That works when you keep a comedy a comedy, but it makes it harder to maintain when you go for the drama and social issues

[tennisgurl]

Why are we pretending that Junior hasn't been Devontes primary caregiver pretty much since he got home from the hospital? 

Not a particularly good episode, mainly because all of the issues just seem so contrived. Junior is suddenly overwhelmed by taking care of the kids, even though he spends half his time taking care of his siblings? Dre isnt wrong that he and Bow should be able to take a vacation without the kids, so why not just do that? They have two live in grandparents and two adult kids, one of whom lives with them, so why not go on vacation together? Why do they all need to be joined at the hip on trips anyway, why cant Jack and Diane just go on slides alone, they're in the eight grade, really its amazing that they actually want to hang out with their parents! Why is this even a big deal? Just take a weekend, and stop whining and talking about how much your kids suck to random strangers!

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by tennisgurl

[jmonique]

Why the hell did these jackasses even have Davonte? 
 

It’s sad to see Bow now after watching her be such a sweet kid on Mixed-ish.

[readster]

8 hours ago, jmonique said:

Why the hell did these jackasses even have Davonte? 
 

It’s sad to see Bow now after watching her be such a sweet kid on Mixed-ish.

Because the creator of the show had a baby late in life and the writers thought it be "comedy gold" to give them another kid. 

[msrachelj]

On 1/15/2020 at 8:50 PM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Will we see this on Mixed-ish?  What grade is Bow in on that show?

I love Mixed-ish. So much better than this show. Dre is a bully towards his son and it's not funny and the lovely young Bow grew up to be a bitch. 

17 hours ago, jmonique said:

Why the hell did these jackasses even have Davonte? 
 

It’s sad to see Bow now after watching her be such a sweet kid on Mixed-ish.

Totally agree. What happened to her? She's almost as bad as her husband after hearing that story about how she never owned up or apologized to her classmate but even worse, how she gloated about it. Bitch.

On 1/22/2020 at 1:09 PM, Fostersmom said:

Can't imagine why the kids act the way they do when their father sets such a shinning example all the damn time. Their grandparents too. Their mother is only slightly far behind, Bow at least manages not to throw hissy fits on a regular basis. 

 

Yep, shitty rich people.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S6.E14: Adventure to Ventura

Quote

Dre worries Diane and Jack don't know how to fend for themselves and sends them out on an adventure; Junior gets into a tricky situation at work when he befriends Josh in hopes of scoring a positive peer review.

Original air date: 1/28/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

All I know is that if my parents had handed me cash and told me that I could get ice cream or lunch without them, I would have been out the door so fast that I would have left nothing behind but one of those cartoon puffs of dust!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

And somehow Josh ends up being the most ethical person at Stevens & Lido? Not that he had much competition, but still. 

[Snapdragon]

I'm glad that they showed that outside of work, Josh has a social life.  I'm not a fan of when shows make characters complete sadsacks who get dumped on by everyone else.  Also, why would Junior be opposed to hanging out with Josh?  Wasn't Josh his mentor for awhile last season?  I thought the two of them were supposed to get along pretty well.

[qtpye]

On 1/22/2020 at 12:48 AM, PupCal said:

Wow this latest episode was terrible. The way Bow/Dre were so nasty to the kids and just dumped them on Junior made me stop watching.

 

On 1/22/2020 at 7:29 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I very rarely agree with Dre, but he was not being unreasonable when he suggested that he and Bow take a weekend trip without the kids. Junior is an adult and Ruby and Pops can make themselves available for a few days to supervise the kids. It's not like Dre suggested that they abandon their kids forever. They can definitely survive a weekend with their grandparents, and just because you have kids doesn't mean you have to take them on every trip.

What I didn't agree with was the way that Dre stomped off when she said they couldn't just go to Paris on such short notice. He could have acknowledged her concerns about having to rearrange her work schedule and suggested that they pick a date in the near future (like maybe a month or two from now) so that she would have time to put in a request for a few vacation days and then planned ahead so that it wouldn't be a stressful last minute experience for her.

I totally get when parents decide that the vacation is not all about what the kids want to do. That's totally fine. But what drives me crazy is when they bend over backwards about stuff like fetching drinks and snacks all day AND THEN decide they've had enough. Everyone but Devante is more than old enough to get out of the pool and get their own ice cream and snacks and whatever else Dre was complaining about fetching for them. Quit acting like their personal concierge and maybe you'll enjoy your vacation more. Devante is the only one who needs actual supervision. Jack and Diane are definitely old enough to go to the pool and play cornhole without hovering parents.

Did we see Devante at all after the first pool scene?

 

On 1/22/2020 at 7:36 AM, Empress1 said:

I'm with you, and with Dre. The kids' grandparents live with them. They can watch the younger kids for a couple of days. Dre said the kids need for THEM to have a strong relationship and he's right (they DID almost get divorced). Ditching their kids forever is not a good look, but taking a weekend trip every so often is fine - and I think necessary. They have financial and family help resources that many parents would kill for; I think they should take advantage every once in a while. I don't necessarily think that Bow's mom guilt is something she should just accept.

Diane was being a huge brat. I wish I WOULD have told my parents, who were taking me on a luxury vacation, "nice job picking a flight that gets in two hours early," or yelled at a pianist across a resort restaurant. That's just bad behavior.

 

On 1/22/2020 at 9:28 AM, Snapdragon said:

This entire episode, all I kept thinking was, "Why don't they just use the kids' club?" because all of those resorts have them.  Also, it's ridiculous that Dre and Bow don't ever take a weekend for themselves.  They have two live in grandparents who can watch their kids, plus two adult children who could watch the minor ones.  I'm also getting tired of Bow's mom guilt.  She spends half her time complaining about how hard it is to be a working mom, but when they had her stay at home for half a season, all she did was complain about that too.  It's annoying.  

 

On 1/22/2020 at 1:09 PM, Fostersmom said:

Can't imagine why the kids act the way they do when their father sets such a shinning example all the damn time. Their grandparents too. Their mother is only slightly far behind, Bow at least manages not to throw hissy fits on a regular basis. 

 

 

On 1/22/2020 at 1:52 PM, Madding crowd said:

They could have arranged the vacation so they had some time to themselves but also let junior have some fun. I was that kid growing up, having to constantly take care of my nieces and nephews ( had much older sister) and watching others have fun. Junior is a really nice kid and he deserves some fun too.

I don’t like it that they make Diane so mean. I like her so much when they show her caring about Jack and just being a kid. I liked the part about the surfer couple arguing at the end-we also think other people have perfect lives. 

 

On 1/22/2020 at 7:47 PM, tennisgurl said:

Why are we pretending that Junior hasn't been Devontes primary caregiver pretty much since he got home from the hospital? 

Not a particularly good episode, mainly because all of the issues just seem so contrived. Junior is suddenly overwhelmed by taking care of the kids, even though he spends half his time taking care of his siblings? Dre isnt wrong that he and Bow should be able to take a vacation without the kids, so why not just do that? They have two live in grandparents and two adult kids, one of whom lives with them, so why not go on vacation together? Why do they all need to be joined at the hip on trips anyway, why cant Jack and Diane just go on slides alone, they're in the eight grade, really its amazing that they actually want to hang out with their parents! Why is this even a big deal? Just take a weekend, and stop whining and talking about how much your kids suck to random strangers!

 

Late to the game because I just watched this episode. Amen to everything said like hoe Junior always helps out with his siblings and Diane has a hella lot of nerve complaining about flight plans and screaming at the piano player across the room.

There is no reason that the parents could not go to Paris for a couple of days. Jack and Diane are like twin jerks.

I was also offended that Bow said working was “me time for women”.  I know Bow is a successful doctor who does not have to work because her infantile husband supposedly pulls in so much money....but most working moms work because the family needs their paycheck...same as the men.

Edited January 29, 2020 by qtpye

[ItCouldBeWorse]

When Dre said how Junior and Zoey were so different from Diane & Jack with regard to going out into the world on their own, I wondered if he had forgotten how Junior was clearly scared to attend college since it meant being away from home. 

I didn't actually think the twins were afraid to go places alone. I just think they are extremely lazy. 

[LucyEth]

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I didn't actually think the twins were afraid to go places alone. I just think they are extremely lazy. 

I agree, I don't think Diane is afraid of anything.

Edited January 29, 2020 by LucyEth