Emmy Episodes: Black-ish

It’s always my policy to watch every Emmy-nominated episode each year, which leads me to sample a handful of shows that I don’t tune in to on a regular basis. For the third year in a row, I’m making a special effort to spotlight each of those installments to offer my perspective on shows that I don’t review each week.

Black-ish: Season 4, Episode 14 “R-e-s-p-e-c-t” (B-)

We’re skipping ahead a few episodes into the middle of the season for the fifth of this show’s six submitted episodes for Best Comedy Series. This was a definite example of over-the-top portrayal of something that happens in real life, which has become this show’s token way of highlighting issues in a comedic way. Dre picking up on the fact that Junior had sex for the first time led him to celebrate like crazy, with Lucy at work as the lone female perspective that no one wanted to hear. In a time of #metoo shedding light on sexual harassment being so prominent in Hollywood, this is one way to deal with that, though I didn’t find it particularly funny. What worked a lot better was Bow turning the tables on Dre by pointing out that Zoey has had sex, prompting what seems to be the frequent parodying of popular media on this show, mocking “Get Out” with Dre falling into the sunken place. Their joint anger at Junior for dumping Megan was humorously reframed by his predictable admission that she was the one who broke up with him. I obviously missed something about the twins and whatever happened with their former friends who are truly brilliant, and the antics with Ruby were most worthwhile for the appearance of Amy Hill, who plays Josh’s mother on “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” as Nana Jean. Diane and Jack not being to tell whether their latest lecture was a trip was a humorous note on which to end.