I'ma be straight with you Boondocks peeps, because you've been here all the way through the season with me: if this is truly the end (Adult Swim is cagey about it, but the episode is pretty straight-up that it's the end), I'm really gonna miss this show. Aaron McGruder's comic strip wore out its welcome pretty fast; it quickly degenerated into talking heads and endless strips of Huey watching TV. McGruder even got bored with it and handed over the reigns to others. But the animated series seems to be where he really discovered his passion: he brought in new and entertaining characters, imbued the story with a lively sense of movement, color and energy, and was able to use the freedom afforded him by getting away from the daily newspaper pages to broaden and deepen the satire in a way that would have had Pluggers fans calling for his public castration.
There's still some disagreement over whether we should be pouring out a 40 for the show, or simply wishing it a temporary "Yo, homes, smell ya later", but if it's finally done for good, the fact that I can finally go to bed at a reasonable hour on Sunday nights will be a small gain in the shadow of a huge loss.
Metaphorically, if not factually, reinforcing the fact that this may really be the series finale is the plot of "It's Goin' Down": in many ways, it's a mirror of the very first episode of the show, with Huey right in the middle of an outbreak of chaos, and again with Ed III (this time ineptly assisted by Rummy) going berserk. This time, though, Huey himself is suspected of being the man behind the plan, and FBI Agent Jack, ahem, "Flowers" is here to make sure he is executed, rather than executing. The tip comes from an imprisoned Afghani who gives it up after unsuccessfully trying to resist Flowers and the giant boot from that episode of The Simpsons where they go to Australia. The real culprits, though, are Rummy and Ed III, who really, really, really likes his iPhone. While they go about their business, interrupted only by their own desire to tip off everyone in town about what they're doing, Huey starts a wild chase across town, unbeknownst to his oblivious family.
This was a strong episode, and a great way to end the season: it was a bit short on characterization, but the end of the season calls for an episode that pulls out all the stops and goes buck-wild with old-school cartoon craziness. It was fun to see Huey, who's seemed a bit denatured lately, on the radical tip again, and the episode had its rapid-fire pacing down pat, which not only served the 24 parody, but also kept the jokes coming so fast that the jokes that landed hit hard, and the ones that didn't weren't on screen long enough to disappoint. And, a karate fight between two fat guys! What more could you want?
Anyway, thanks to all of you who tuned in with me for The Boondocks this season. It's been a blast watching with you, and while I'm sorry so few people seem aware of what a great show it's become, it was also nice having a little secret club just for me, you folks, and ten billion people on Twitter. (Our final Fun With Wikipedia segment: did you know that in Denmark and Russia, this show is known as The Ghetto? I'm not sure if this is meant as irony, as in 'you can take the brother out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the brothers', or if they just don't know what "boondocks" means and are unaware that the show actually takes place in the suburbs.) If there's still life in McGruder's creation, I 'll see you next year; if this is really goodbye, it's been a blast, and I hope you'll join me for whatever my next TV Club assignment ends up being. PEACE.
Rating: A-
Stray Observations:
– "Allah, make my testicles strong against the boot of the infidel."
– "Yeah, anything except make a fuckin' phone call."
– I loved the security guard who assumed that once he gets around to starting his own business, he'll make so much money that he'll get slammed by Obama's tax plan. That's the essence of libertarianism, right there.
– "He tied her to a missile? What kind of Wile E. Coyote shit is that?"
– "This is no ordinary child. NSA's got a file on him thicker than a loop dancer. Now, I don't know if you know anything about loop dancers, but they are very, very thick."
– Nice to see the return of Riley's possibly imaginary CIA handler, and Real Housewives of Compton, which provided amusing chatter throughout at least a third of the episode. I still wanna see that show.
– "I can't wait to see what the white man is going to do to you."
– BIO-NUCLEAR ANTHRAX! (music sting)
"Oh well. We tried." Huey gives up pretty easily when it comes to saving the lives of a bunch of white people.
"Wow! Go 'head, Steve!" Yet another feature of the iPhone revealed.