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 21 “Blue Valentine” (C)

Well, this was a dark and gloomy way to end my sampling of this show with its sixth and final submitted episode for Best Comedy Series. While there were moments of political commentary that approached seriousness to be found in some of last season’s selected episodes, I really didn’t see that at all in any of the other installments I watched this year. Evidently, in the time between Junior having sex for the first time and this half-hour, much has happened, and the state of Dre and Rainbow’s relationship has devolved considerably. There was barely any hint of sunshine or laughter in this episode, with flashbacks to much happier times meant to represent how far things have come and how a change might be needed, though this hardly seemed like the same kind of cinematic parody that I’ve seen previously, not that the film “Blue Valentine” starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling is a beacon of positivity. While this episode does manage to show that reality isn’t always as colorful as television, this episode didn’t make much sense in the scheme of things since it’s so unlike all of the other episodes this show has produced, and certainly those it has submitted. I wouldn’t know what to make of this episode if I screened it as a sample provided for Best Comedy Series, since it’s not funny and not nearly as emphatic or as worthwhile as other dramatic efforts by shows that are usually more comedic. The other five are better, if still imperfect, representations that would make me rank this show eighth out of eight if I was voting in this category.