Black-ish season 4, episode 20 recap: Fifty-three percent

Black-ish takes a turn for the serious as Bow and Dre are facing trouble in their marriage. Star Tracee Ellis Ross makes her directorial debut.

After the latest episode, Black-ish gave their viewers a heads-up that this week’s episode would be heavy. Though a sitcom, Black-ish is always finding ways to address serious issues without completely losing their levity. Most were devastated by the news of marital issues, but were hopeful that the problem would resolve itself within the episode.

In the intro to the episode, Dre points out the fact that 53% of marriages in America end in divorce. If your show is to be realistic it is only natural that the couple involved have some issues. Dre mentions that every few years, he and Bow go into a funk. They ignore each other, sleep on their own sides of the bed and generally just don’t enjoy each others company. However, in the past they’ve eventually come out of these funks on their own. This time, they are struggling to come back.

Devonte’s party

The episode opens at Devonte’s first birthday party. Dre and Bow are already bickering about the fact that Devonte is not yet walking. Dre points out that all of their other kids were walking by this age and he is concerned. Bow on the other hand says that this is normal and doesn’t want to take Devonte to a doctor.

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Later, they reveal that Devonte’s name is spelled incorrectly on the cake. Dre ordered it so Bow is mad at him for the mishap, he then says she should have checked it when she picked it up. A clear pattern is emerging that the two are not going to agree on much right now.

After the two wash dishes together, and Bow grabs some that Dre washed to re-wash them they argue again. It is at this point that they both acknowledge that they aren’t right and that they need to do something. Bow suggests that they go back to the marriage counselor.

Therapy

At the therapists office, Dre and Bow go back and forth again about the previous issues. The therapist cuts them off and tells them that they need to remember that they’re on the same team. She suggest that they have a date night to focus on each other and they realize how long it’s been since they’ve gone out.

They agree to go on a date that Thursday.

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The date

As they are ordering, Dre keeps going back and forth about what he wants and Bow is clearly annoyed. When she orders, the waiter leaves and we can see that the couple beside them is arguing. The husband is watching a game on his phone and the wife is not pleased. He says he’s doing so to make sure he enjoys something that night.

This gets Bow and Dre’s attention and Dre proceeds to give Bow a compliment. She tells him that it’s nice to hear and Dre takes that personally. He asks if she’s suggesting that he never compliments her and then points out that she never compliments him. This quickly turns into an argument and as the camera pans out, we now see the other couple staring at them.

They realize what is happening and decide that the answer is that they need to get back into their “flow.” This apparently carries a sexual meaning for them and they decide that they’ll use tomorrow night as their night to get their groove back. The other couple is watching still and now appear jealous.

Friday night

As you would expect, Dre and Bow awkwardly approach their love-making appointment with neither knowing where to start. They eventually begin to kiss and then Dre takes Bow’s hair down.

She stops him and puts it back up and the mood is quickly gone. Bow says that Dre has to have everything the way he wants it, and though this situation in itself is small, it points to the bigger picture.

At this point Devante starts crying. Bow hesitates before she realizes Dre isn’t moving so she says she’ll go tend to him since she always does. Dre then hops up and says he’ll do it so she doesn’t hold it over his head the way she always does.

In the room, Dre realizes Devante has a dirty diaper and sits him on the floor. Bow and Dre, in a race to out-parent each other both head to get the changing supplies when they realize Devante is standing up. That’s when he walks toward them and in that moment they are both through the roof and everything else in the world stops.

The end of the night

After Devante is in bed, Bow admits to Dre that she was worried about him not walking as well. Dre then becomes angry that she pretended not to be worried and that she was willing to lie to him so they wouldn’t do anything. She was making an executive decision and using her position as a lawyer to strengthen it. Dre tells her he doesn’t like the way that she handles things and they argue again.

At the end of the episode they are back on their own ends of the bed as Bow tells Dre that it’s clear that they see the world differently. Dre agrees.

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Conclusion

For those hoping that the issue would resolve itself quickly, they were surely hurt by the way things went. The issues are here to stay and the creators have already announced that this will be a four-part series arc. This should prove to be a tough time for fans of the show but there are lots of fans who appreciate them for tackling these issues. With a 53% divorce rate in the country, it would make sense that at least half of the show’s fans have experienced divorce either directly or indirectly. We’ll continue to hope that the Johnson’s come back strong at the end of this but it appears this could go either way.

This episode also marked Tracee Ellis Ross’ directorial debut and I would be shocked if there aren’t many more to come.

Tune in to see if the Johnson’s are able to work things out as Black-ish returns next Tuesday at 9/8 Central on ABC.