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 sixth 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 7, Episode 8 “What About Gary” (B+)

This episode is one of the show’s six installments submitted for Best Comedy Series, but also serves as Anthony Anderson’s choice for a showcase of his work. Anderson has had great submissions in the past, including one mostly dramatic episode that I thought might have won it for him a few years ago, and this one is pretty good in comparison. Dealing with a white family member who was suddenly into the cause of racial justice was a very relatable storyline, one that I know I consistently saw and heard people of color express when they thought this was all a new problem that they could solve overnight. Casting Rob Huebel from “Transparent” as Gary worked well since he has the right kind of energy to play something who gets in way over his head but is then easily able to pull back and realize that it’s not for him even though, just moments earlier, he made it seem like the most important facet of his life. Dre got him when he didn’t want to send his kids to public school, and making a music video telling white people to Google it at the end of the episode was a perfect end to this particular lesson. Olivia giving Jack advice on how to stand up to Diane made things awkward between him and Junior, and I haven’t seen enough of this to know if she truly understands how terrifying Diane can be to every member of her family, no matter how old they are.