Monsters of Television

We’ll discuss it later.

It’s been a busy week at Monsters of Television. This whole “summer-is-just-another-season/no-rest-for-the-weary” thing the networks are doing is wearing me out. But we can’t really complain about some of the great television we’re getting. Well, mostly great television. Hopefully Melissa & Joey doesn’t create a great abyss that sucks the life out of everything we hold dear. Forget the atomic collider in Switzerland: that show might obliterate the universe on its own, unraveling the fabric of time and space with ill-timed canned laughter and overacting that would make the cast of SNL blush.

Sorry. I digress.

We have some really great reviews for you to take a look at this week, from Mad Men to True Blood to Sherlock to, gods help us, that aforementioned pit of despair. If you missed any, it’s new to you!

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“Just because you say you’re retiring doesn’t mean you’re retiring. You could be like Jay-Z and come back like a couple of months later.”

Is this the end? The season three finale of The Boondocks could very well be the last episode of the show. Going into it with that in mind, there are many reasons why this not only felt like a series finale, but was a very appropriate one at that. Agent Jack Bauer Flowers is after Huey in connection with an impending terrorist attack in Woodcrest. What follows is an action movie inspired, 24 spoof episode utilizing characters and elements all related to our favorite ten-year-old terrorist: Huey Freeman.

The White Shadow (John C. McGinley) makes a much appreciated reappearance to warn Huey that his paranoia is finally merited. Men with guns are coming for him despite the fact that he has retired from the anti-establishment game. Huey’s planning and paranoia were a subject touched on a few episodes ago in “Fried Chicken Flu” but this put it in arenas more suited for Huey’s know-how. Instead of a zombie invasion like scenario he was finally placed right in the middle of a large conspiracy. Ed and Rummy are planning on blowing up Wuncler Plaza in connection with a new scheme by Ed Sr. and Huey is set up to take the fall for it.

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“I bet it’s your brother! I knew I should have abandoned him at the mall when I had the chance.”

Earlier in the season The Boondocks gave us its take on Asian cinema with “The Red Ball” and now we are treated to an apocalyptic episode with “Fried Chicken Flu”. Besides being an excellent take on the genre, this episode allowed the show to do a few things that had been noticeably absent from this season as a whole. Most notably would be the focus on Huey and his conspiracy theory personality traits.

There have been a few Huey centric episodes this season but none have hit at the heart of Huey’s character much like this one. Even before the flu breaks out, Huey is hard at work building a generator in the garage, preparing for the survival of whatever imminent disaster is heading his way. Jazmine marvels (as she so lovingly does) at Huey’s drive and comments on how smart he is. She has always been the only character to really appreciate Huey’s radical beliefs and ideas. Until trouble starts anyway.

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“What if they tell me I only have a month to live? That would totally ruin the rest of this month for me.”

Ah modern medicine. Nowadays you can take a pill or a shot or a laser treatment for just about everything. But all that can get awfully expensive. According to Thugnificent (nice to see you back prominently in an episode, dawg) the ultimate panacea for all that ails you is ganja. Reefer. Mary Jane. Hemp. Nuggies. Skunk. That’s right: a Boondocks episode all about weed.

Now before we go and get all racist, this isn’t an episode just about a bunch of black people sitting around smoking weed and neglecting to pay their child support. It’s a satire of the pharmaceutical companies as well as a push for the legalization of marijuana. May the state of California and those kids that lived down the hall from me in college rejoice.

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“I’ve been a part of this family my whole life. It’s an overrated experience.”

This week we’re giving you a double dose of The Boondocks. Adult Swim must have missed the memo about what day it was and so while I was celebrating our Independence Day last weekend, they were airing a new episode. Thomas Jefferson and I were so pissed.

“The Story of Lando Freeman” was so ingeniously named because it told us the story of man named Lando Freeman. He had come in search of Robert, who he believed was his father. The similarities are uncanny (dress style, love of strip clubs, etc.) but it would take a lot more than that for Robert to welcome this stranger into his house and into his life.

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“See? Tom is going to face his fears. He’s going to walk out of that prison with his rectum and his piece of mind intact.”

I’m gonna go ahead and slap a big ol’ disclaimer on this review. This episode was about gay sex. It’s bound to be offensive to some. If you’re some of that some, you may wanna skip this review (and episode for that matter) and come back next week.

Facing expulsion from school for fighting, Huey and Riley are forced to enter a Scared Stiff program in an attempt to curb their delinquent ways. Tom agrees to chaperone the event as part of his endeavor to overcome his fear of being anally raped in prison. What follows is a very vulgar, politically charged look at the problems with the prisons system and the homosexual subculture amongst prison inmates.  The episode features 2 things the show loves to do: social-political commentary and ripping off the internet. Let’s start with the latter. Read more »

“I know it’s a homoerotic Christian theater cult, but if it gets me into Hollywood who cares? It can’t be worse than Scientology.“

Finally.

I like to think that Aaron McGruder reads these reviews personally and takes the praises (and more recently criticisms) to heart. This week’s episode proved that he does because he is back to the biting satire and on-point humor the show has been lacking the past 2 weeks. And he didn’t just copy some internet video to do it.  The target of this week’s episode: Tyler Perry and his odd, tyrannical reign over black entertainment. That’s the ticket McGruder, go after someone I hate and I’ll let you right back into my heart. Pause. No homo.

Winston Jerome is a very prominent playwright/actor/director. His plays typically feature the same actors in slightly tweaked roles that go through the same cookie cutter trials and tribulations to come to the same conclusions. And then Ma Dukes dances around and says stupid shit. Then those plays are turned into movies. And those movies become television series. Sound familiar? It’s Tyler Perry.

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“The first rule of fund raising: I don’t give nothing to nobody. Period.”

Well it’s an improvement.

After last week’s terribly disappointing episode I was hoping we could get the season back on track. “The Fundraiser” didn’t wow me like previous episodes but it didn’t fill me with rage either. It had it’s moments but once again the overall failed to deliver what I’ve come to expect from the show. Simply put: it was meh. But at this point is falling somewhere in the middle good or bad? Read more »

“They can’t send me to jail. I’ve been on TV. I’m a superstar.”

Lazy. If there was only one word to describe this week’s episode that’s what it would be: lazy. Adapting from previous works and basing things off of real events are great ways to tell a story, but to copy something word for word, shot for shot, is just plain uncreative. In usual Boondocks fashion the episode was jam-packed with social commentary, but nothing that couldn’t be gleaned from the episode’s source material. For the first time this season, I am disappointed. I guess TV shows are a lot like albums. You can love it as a whole but there are always gonna be tracks that you don’t like. If The Boondocks is Thriller, “Smokin with Cigarettes” is “The Lady in my Life.” Read more »

“Well well well, we came a long way to kill ya’ll little niglets. Now it’s time for the big bonanza!”

Serialization is wonderful. It rewards viewers for continuing to watch a show and really gives the feeling that there is actual story, that the characters we’re watching are real people with real memories. It does wonders in animation. Every time Sideshow Bob reappeared on The Simpsons it was sure to be a great episode. The Boondocks has continued to do this with its very own Colonel H. Stinkmeaner.

Stinkmeaner, an angry old man whose purpose in life is to spread ignorance and chaos, first appeared in season 1 (“Granddad’s Fight”) where he ends up getting killed in a confrontation with Robert Freeman. He returns in season 2 (“Stinkmeaner Strikes Back”) as a demon possessing Tom DuBois to continue his reign of terror. In this episode Stinkmeaner’s old crew, The Hateocracy, returns for revenge on the Freeman Family. Read more »