Sunday, October 18, 2015

Arrested Misfire

The latest Black-ish episode was a clunker to me. I did wonder why they were doing a "Daddy's Day" in October, but that girl saying it should replace the racist Columbus Day was so crazy, given that people in real life are actually trying to change that holiday to Indigenous People's Day. No one even tells that teenager that her idea is so very wrong and insulting. I know it's a silly sitcom, but to me it's beyond ridiculous that any advertising firm would try to create a duplicate/alternate Father's Day on such a politically and racially charged day. It's so ridiculous that I can't suspend my disbelief, let alone find it funny. Plus, the plot about Dre hiring the other girl to be in the commercial was nonsensical. He's an advertising man; wouldn't hiring his real daughter to be in his commercial be a form of inappropriate nepotism? The commercial didn't even feature Dre playing that girl's father. So why on earth would Zoey expect to be hired for that campaign, and why would other people claim that it's somehow a betrayal of her for Dre not to hire her? This was so silly and over the top.

Overall it reminded me of the plot of Arrested Development's episode "Afternoon Delight" with Michael and Maeby getting jealous of Lindsay and George Michael spending time together, and vice versa. I think it worked better there because there was no dumb ad campaign involved, and the holiday was Christmas, which has been lampooned plenty. I mean, there were some fun moments in Black-ish like Charlie giving Zoey a driving lesson, but the absurdity about Daddy's Day just felt like meaningless and annoying whining. Meanwhile Bow and Junior bonded, and I kept expecting to learn that he was buttering her up for something in particular, but no, the show apparently intended it to be a creepy motherboy situation like what Dre had with Ruby. That did remind me a little of Bluth incest too, but I just didn't find it funny here.


As for Empire, this week's episode wasted a lot of time before starting to dig up Vernon's body, and Lucius continued to annoy. It's not bad enough that he keeps calling himself a god, but now he's Satan too? I found the feud between Jamal and Hakeem tedious and petty. When will those boys grow up? I'm tired of Cookie never making up her mind about trusting Anika. (My Tivo description for the next episode says that Cookie and Anika are working together again, so why the fuck have a split here?) Why can't two women be colleagues working for a common goal instead of sniping enemies? Is it just because it's a soap?

I'm glad that Cookie found a way to manipulate the prosecutor, but it seems that this endless business rivalry between Empire and Lyon Dynasty is spinning in circles. The only interesting side character is this lawyer Thirsty, and we've seen very little of Becky or Porsha lately. It's frustrating and repetitive. I'm sad that the Vernon character was so underused in season 1. Maybe I should just look at spoilers for this show to help me decide whether to skip episodes or drop it altogether. I'm close to fed up.

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