Tonight's episode of Black-ish had to do two important jobs - introduce an important new character and tackle a major issue. It does one of those things a little better than the other...
The plot of "God" revolves around, you guessed it, God. When Zoey confesses that she is uncomfortable leading the family grace, Dre, as usual, takes it way to far. While Bow realizes that Zoey is questioning God just as she is questioning everything else in life (because that's what growing up means), Dre is convinced that Zoey may be a secret Wiccan and is definitely going to hell.
Dre's discomfort with Zoey's newfound atheism spills over into his work life and he gives a stirring speech about the connection between hardship and belief to his apathetic colleagues. Charlie is the only one interested in what Dre has to say, and that's just because he wants to know if Dre's been reading his anonymous letters about Diane. He thinks Dre should just learn from his mistakes. You don't want two evil daughters on your hands.
Dre tries in vain to get Zoey to admit that there may be something greater out there, but she doubles down on her stance, in part because of his annoying nagging. So Dre calls in the big guns. With Ruby on his side, Zoey will surely be persuaded to see the light.
Ruby's and Dre's literal Bible thumping have no impact on Zoey's beliefs and Dre is very reluctantly forced to admit that nothing is working. When he talks to Ruby and Bow about the situation, he is also forced to admit that he doesn't have the strongest relationship with God either. He throws out a lot of "genie prayers" (although God totally left him hanging on that pizza one), but hasn't had an actual connection with the Guy Upstairs in quite some time. Bow assures him that it's normal for people to question their faith and that, if Zoey can't have faith in God, then they should at least try to have faith in her.
It turns out that Zoey does have faith; she just doesn't know it until it counts. Bow brings all the kids along for her sonogram and the doctor has a hard time finding the baby's heartbeat. The scene is great and all the actors nail it. You can sense the mounting tension and panic as the doctor tries to assure Bow everything is all right and that the baby is just playing hide-and-seek. The baby turns out to be fine and Zoey gives a tiny prayer of thanks. Dre teases her about it and when the family is shown all saying their prayers, Zoey is back to not caring. But it's a start.
On the whole, the plot was written and acted well, but I'm not sure what message Black-ish was trying to send. The conversation between Dre and Bow about respecting Zoey's beliefs felt like the last act and the resolution, but the sonogram scene undermines it by showing that Zoey does pray, just not very often. But isn't that like Dre's genie prayers? She only prays when she wants something...
Blackish ended up being a little confusing in its intention, but overall, the episode was crackling with humor and genuinely sweet moments.
In providing a nuanced take on a big issue, however, the plot completely left its new character dangling.
I was pretty excited when I heard Tony award winner Daveed Diggs was joining the cast as Bow's ne'er-do-well brother, but his introduction was anti-climactic to say the least. It made me feel like I had missed an episode at some point. All of a sudden, there's another family member at the dinner table. In the narration, Dre explains that Bow's brother, Johan, is living with them after returning from teaching in France, but he doesn't give the audience enough information. Is he crashing them for a little while, or staying indefinitely? How does the rest of the family feel about this?
Johan ties into the main plot by being a foil for Dre and, as Dre sees it, the devil on Zoey's shoulder. It would be easier to take his views on atheism seriously if he wasn't a walking magnet for every kind of hipster nonsense imaginable. He waxes on about the romance of having dinner late, claims he believes in science, not magic, and generally acts as a thorn in Dre's side. In the end, Johan is revealed to be fairly vacuous and sheltered.
I'm sure the show will deepen Johan's character soon, but using him as a straw man for a major thematic argument in his first episode didn't help. I found myself hating him nearly as much as Dre did.
The third plot of the night was so slight it barely registered. The twins realize they can trick Bow and Junior into doing their chores for them, but Bow and Junior soon figure out their scheme. There wasn't much connection to anything else going on (although Diane should definitely be monitored for future evilness).
In the end, Black-ish improved upon its season premiere, but hasn't gotten into its groove for the season yet.
Line of the night:"Bonjour, is this Rite Aid?" While Johan's pretentious French affectations is exactly the kind of hipster nonsense he would engage in, I also choose to take it as a nod to Digg's most famous role as "America's favorite fighting Frenchman".
What did you think of tonight's episode? Let me know in the comments!
