Black-ish season 4, episode 22: Collateral Damage

In episode three of the 4-part arc surrounding marital issues, Black-ish tackles how these issues affect the children. Meanwhile, Bow and Dre take one step forward, then three steps back.

After last week’s episode, fans of Black-ish were hoping that some levity would return. They got their wish with the kids returning to the forefront, but the laughs were soon followed by tears. Reading comments, it’s clear that fans of the show feel a special bond with the Johnson family and the kids reacting to the martial issues only added to the building pain.

At the start of the episode, Dre and Bow have the kids seated on the couch. They tell the kids that they are going to try “nesting.” In this scenario, the parents will be renting an apartment and taking turns living in the home with the children. When delivering this news, they tell the kids not to worry and not to feel the need to share the news with anyone. They reassure them that they aren’t getting a divorce and that there is nothing to worry about.

Junior’s reaction

As they continue to explain the setup, it becomes clear to Junior that they don’t know what they are doing. Regardless, Junior thinks they’ll be fine. As has been his role in other areas, Junior feels that he needs to be the glue that holds the family together. He decides that it’s time to graduate from “Junior” to “JR.”

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When Dre shows up at the house for his stint in the home, Junior greets him like a doorman welcoming him and explaining what he’s missed. He’s putting on a strong face for his dad and acting as if nothing is wrong with what is happening.

Pops’ reaction

When Dre walks in Pops is sitting at the kitchen table. Having gone through a divorce, he tells Dre that they are not going to be getting back together and that the divorce is going to kill his pockets. He goes on to explain that the only women that will be available to him are going to have issues. Crazy kids, bad credit, or a host of medical issues. He says all of this matter-of-factly and Dre tells him that he isn’t helping. Pops tells him he isn’t trying to.

Jack’s reaction

Jack, the happy-go-lucky one, has his own method for fixing the family. He decides that his dancing always makes people happy so he starts dancing everywhere. When he sees that his dad is home, he walks into the room and starts dancing which makes Dre smile for the first time since he’s walked in. As Jack explains to us what he’s doing we see a flashback where Bow is crying, then turns around to see Jack dancing and starts laughing.

Unfortunately, Jack is also using it to hide his feelings and he takes this to school and gets in trouble for dancing when the teacher wants him to sit down. Dre and Bow go to the school to get him and then they both come back to the house. In a small moment, Jack asks to ride with Dre but Bow says it’s her day so he’s riding with her.

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The parenting style clash

Back at the house, Jack asks for ice cream and Dre says he can get some as Bow shuts it down. They then blame each other for Jack getting in trouble. Bow accuses Dre of trying too hard to be the fun dad. Dre tells her that he has to bring joy to the home after they’ve had to deal with strict mom.

At some point in the argument they realize Diane is there.

Diane’s reaction

Diane is typically unfazed and this is no exception. Keep in mind that they have not argued in front of the kids to this point so this is the first the kids have seen of an argument. Diane says that she doesn’t mind and that conflict is normal. She goes as far as to say that if they have to get physical, they have to get physical. She continues reading like nothing is happening behind her.

Zoey’s reaction

Zoey is back home from college just in time to deal with her parent’s issues. We don’t get a lot from her but she questions if fighting with someone means you love them. She mentions that she and her boyfriend have been arguing a lot. We haven’t seen him on Black-ish but fans of Grown-ish likely appreciated the reference. We then see Zoey arguing on the phone with him before eventually giving in and accepting his request. Bow watches this go down and is hurt to see that this is where her daughter is in her relationship.

A reminder

Dre wants to give Junior one of his old watches as a graduation gift but he has to get it resized. He and Bow go together to the jewelry store where they are regulars. There, the clerk is way too excited to see them. She refers to them as her favorite couple and says that one day she’ll find her own Andre. She’s so flustered by their presence that she starts to head to the back without taking the watch.

When she leaves Bow and Dre take the moment to realize that they do have something special. They talk about getting back to “us” and that they have to at least try after 20 years.

Junior’s speech

After having transferred to the public school, Junior was able to earn valedictorian. His grandparents have trouble finding him on stage now that he’s not the only minority in the picture and point out how different it was at the private school.

Junior decided to dedicate his speech to family and commitment. In his speech he mentions that his father’s commitment got him out of Compton and allowed him to start a family in Sherman Oaks. He then mentions that his mother’s commitment allowed her to finish med school while nursing her newborn daughter. He says that even though this graduation is a goodbye for the students, that they are family, and you can never say goodbye to family. The entire family is emotional, and as Bow cries, Dre places a hand on her knee. Following the jewelry store scene, it feels like things are looking up. Until they aren’t.

The big one

After the graduation the family makes it back to the house. Everyone is laughing and joking and things appear to be somewhat normal. As they go to start a game of spades, Dre gets a moment alone with Bow and asks her to stay at the house for the night. He says he’ll sleep on the couch but that it would be good for the kids to see them together in the morning. Bow declines, saying that she has to get up at 5 A.M. to go to work.

When Dre questions when she started going back and why she didn’t tell him, Bow acts like it’s not a big deal. She says she didn’t know she needed to tell him that she wanted to go back to work to provide for her family. Dre translates her going back to work and not telling him as preparing for a life without him. She says that this is why she didn’t tell him, because he overreacts to everything. He then says that she’s making up the rules as she goes along and he just accepts them. He mentions that both therapy and nesting were her ideas and asks if she’s made any other life decisions without him. When Bow says she’s fighting for them, he says it doesn’t feel like it.

Collateral damage

As mentioned earlier, they hadn’t fought in front of family until the slip-up in front of Diane. However, for this argument, the entire family is there. Pops tried to interject at one point but was cut off. Near the tail-end, Junior walks in.

He asks them what’s going on and when they try to downplay it he cuts them off and tells them to stop lying to him and pretending that everything is alright when it’s not. He points out that they’ve been faking in front of the kids the whole time. Jack is crying at this point and Junior takes his watch off and throws it into the backyard before marching off. At this point even Diane realizes that this is real and can’t hold back the tears. When Zoey reaches to console her she smacks her hand away and runs off as well.

More than space?

After a commercial break, the show comes back to Dre and Bow looking for the watch in the backyard. They agree that arguing in front of the kids was bad and that they are clearly not themselves. Dre suggests that they need more than space and Bow agrees to this as well. She walks back inside as we see Dre find the watch.

The family

Back in the house Junior is on his bed with the dog as the rest of the siblings and Dre’s parents walk in. Junior is mad that his speech didn’t work to fix things but Pops tells him that he can’t blame himself. He also mentions that he wished he had told Dre that he and Ruby’s divorce wasn’t his fault when he was a kid. Diane asks what happens now and Ruby tells her that whatever happens they aren’t going to stop being family.

Next: Black-ish recap: Blue Valentine

Summary

We are now three episodes into this arc and things continue to look worse for the longevity of the Johnson’s relationship. Considering the show has not been renewed yet for a season 5, it is hard to imagine the show ending on the sad note of divorce. With that said, it was good to see the kids return to the show and add a few laughs after last week’s incredibly rough episode. This made the episode much easier to get through but seeing the kids break down at the end may have been some of the most difficult to bear during this stretch. Reading tweets from fans, many lost it when the emotionless Diane started to cry.

We have almost made it through this dramatic turn for Black-ish and just have one episode to go. While some fans are still hopeful that the Johnson’s resolve their issues, I can’t see a way back. The preview for the last episode hints at the Johnson’s moving out of their home which can’t be a good sign.

Black-ish returns for its season, and perhaps series, finale next Tuesday at 9/8 Central on ABC.