The Boondocks Has Lost Its Way [Editorial]

The long-awaited fourth season of The Boondocks isn’t as interesting as we would’ve hoped. And if we’re being totally honest here, this is the worst way for the show to go out.

Not to discount the ratings win that Adult Swim managed to snatch up from last week’s premiere, but the first episode was the second sign that things with Riley, Huey, Granddad, and all the sub-characters will never be the same. (The first sign of implosion came when creator Aaron McGruder announced that he was done with the show, a few weeks before its debut.)

McGruder didn’t give much detail as to why he decided to jump ship, but all signs point to a Dave Chappelle-esque situation.  Somewhere along the way McGruder’s original intent with the groundbreaking series –which started as a comic strip in 1996 — got muddled by the politics of cable television.

Since this is the final season, it’s important to finish strong, yet the writers behind the show don’t seem to abide by this concept. Aside from not really being funny, the first episode of season four was just plain lazy for targeting Chris Brown, and according to some viewers, it was a recycled version of earlier episodes.

Photos: Tumblr

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Brown is an easy target because he bring it on himself, and he’s locked up at the moment, but the entire episode was still about four years behind schedule. Also, there’s really nothing funny about Rihanna getting pummeled by her then boyfriend back in 2009. Making a joke out of a woman getting beaten to a pulp elicits a kind of tense laughter that is as unnecessary as it is uncalled for, and it can only be punchline for so long (no pun intended).

Breezy’s character was portrayed by fictional singer  “Pretty Boy Flizzy.” On the plus side, the name “Pretty Boy Flizzy” sounds about as dumb as the entire episode ended up being, so the writers can count a small victory on the sliding scale of mediocrity.

But back to Flizzy. He wasn’t very interesting (or funny), just an R&B stereotype who tricks off dough, rolls with a tiger and an entourage of coons — and let’s not forget that he beats women, that was basically drilled into our heads.

We got it.

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Any hope that the Boondocks could pull it together was effectively shattered by week two. For a show clearly stuck in the past, an episode about Good Times is only mildly interesting in theory, and the debt situation that Granddad found himself in wasn’t enough to hold my attention. It also points to the scatterbrained strategy of season four. Even Uncle Ruckus looks like he’s ready to walk from this train wreck.

The Boondocks used to be mentally stimulating, but the best part about it is that the lessons weren’t on the surface. There were actual layers to that sh*t. Now it’s just a shell of what it used to be, and for that Adult Swim should feel embarrassed.

McGruder’s brainchild deserves better, and so do the fans.