Black-ish – “Hope”
Black-ish isn’t a show that’s on my constant weekly rotation but there are episodes that announce themselves to the audience and demand our attention. Such was the case with season two’s stunner “Hope” which both gave Anthony Anderson a chance to deliver his best performance on the series thus far (and it was far from comedic) and also allowed for the episode to be self-contained, digging deep on the tragedy they’re watching unfold on their streets. The show has never been afraid to talk about racial politics and prejudices but in “Hope” they reach a new apex of their skewering of the current racial climate. In a true to life narrative, the family watches as a trial over an innocent black who was shot and killed goes exactly the way we’ve come to expect in the past few years and the protests that follow. Their sense of tragedy but, ultimately, as the episode of the title implies, their hope in that whatever they face they’ll be doing it together, lands a serious, emotional punch during a time period that’s been so fraught with incessant fear. Black-ish is almost always funny and/or entertaining television, with “Hope” it was important television too. –Allyson Johnson
Advertisement
