Black-ish Review: Elder. Scam. (Season 4 Episode 3)
After two much heavier episodes Black-ish Season 4 Episode 3 “Elder. Scam.” while still dealing with serious concepts, delivers an amusing and enlightening episode on Ageism.
When Ruby falls for an elder scam, Dre begins to jump to conclusions and starts to worry that his infallible mother might be showing signs of Alzheimers. Black-ish also informs the audience that African-Americans are twice as likely to develop Alzheimers than white people. Ruby takes advantage of Dre’s fears and plays him in order to get a new car.
But underneath her desire for a new car, there’s a legitimate fear in Ruby of growing old and having people treat her differently.
I feel a little like Dre when he realizes that Ruby had been playing him, hurt that she would use his fear against him. What I mean by that is I’m not sure that I’m really comfortable with Black-ish having Ruby use a feigned case of Alzheimers to teach Dre this lesson.
LAURENCE FISHBURNE, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, JENIFER LEWIS
It is, however, an important lesson to learn. Black-ish challenges the way that we think about and talk about older people as they age.
Ruby: You think it’s easy getting older? People don’t listen to you, your body feels different, men on the street stop looking at you with desire, you start to get the feeling that you don’t matter anymore in society.
Just because people age and things change, does not mean that we should treat them like that makes them weak or lesser. Yes, people have to adapt to changes as they age, but that shouldn’t lessen our view of the people that they’ve always been.
YARA SHAHIDI, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS, TREVOR JACKSON
The background story of this episode involves the rest of the family in a variety of ways. When Zoey has a friend (who’s a boy) over for the weekend things get amusing on so many levels.
Aaron: Nothing matters, Donald Trump is President.
Diane develops an intense crush on Zoey’s friend, deciding immediately that she’s going to marry him one day. It’s adorable in the way that girls with their first crushes are, and it’s the way that Zoey gets her to move on is so completely Diane.
YARA SHAHIDI, TREVOR JACKSON
Meanwhile, Junior tries to get in Rainbow’s head about the nature of Zoey and Aaron’s relationship. I love how much trust Rainbow has in Zoey and her respect for her privacy. While I do think that Zoey should have at least given her mother a heads up before having a guest over, Rainbow’s style of parenting is one that I admire.
Rainbow: That’s what the internet is, an exaggeration.
Junior however plays the voice of doubt, trying to get a rise out of Rainbow. Its goofy and a little contrived, but it comes off a little sweeter when Junior reveals that it was all a rouse to spend time with her before he goes off to college too.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- Charlie’s home has been taken over by tarantulas for some reason, and no one questions it. The escalating ridiculousness of Charlie’s life is one of my favorite things about Black-ish.
- Jack being unconvinced that Diane stands a chance with Aaron until he replies to her with a good old “afterwhile crocodile” is so pure and innocently Jack.
- Rainbow’s approach with Ruby is actually a lot better than Dre’s this week, but her jokes about getting rid of her keep up their little feud and add a sarcastic humor to the episode.
What did you think of this episode of Black-ish? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Black-ish airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.
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Samantha Coley
Samantha (she/her) is a social media specialist by day and a sci-fi junkie by night. As a freelance writer and podcaster, she also enjoys live-tweeting, blogging, good music, and better television. Her current favorite television shows include Star Trek (yes, all of them), Riverdale, and Stranger Things and there will always be a place in her heart for Battlestar Galactica, Leverage, and The West Wing.