From Entertainment Weekly:
From its very first episode, ABC?s Black-ish has been about culture and identity. Yes, this is a family sitcom that has a lot in common with a lot of other family sitcoms. It boasts a lot of similar qualities and comedic beats to its Wednesday night lead-in, Modern Family. Black-ish is different though. It?s not just a traditional sitcom that happens to have a black family at its center. Instead, Black-ish is a show about being a black family, and that?s a big difference. The show has the form and tropes of a traditional sitcom, but it isn?t shy about its subversive nature, grappling with themes of identity, race, class, and privilege, and all while being one of the funniest shows on television.
It?s fitting then that the first season finale of Black-ish, ?Pops? Pops? Pops? dives into the past and explores not only the history of the Johnson family, but also the history of black culture. Twins Jack and Diane are charged with making a family tree for a school project, and other than including their grandparents, they can?t seem to go any deeper into their family?s roots. ?Can we fill it out with dead pets?? inquires Jack, which isn?t such a bad idea, if a touch morbid.
The lack of depth in their family tree inspires Pops to tell the story of the Johnson family, going back to a moment during the Harlem Renaissance in 1927 that forever changed the course of not only their family, but of black culture.
Read more at EW.
