Black-ish Review: Sugar Daddy (Season 4 Episode 9)
On Black-ish Season 4 Episode 9 “Sugar Daddy” Dre is diagnosed with diabetes, and he comes face to face with what could happen if he doesn’t take it seriously.
SUGAR DADDY
When Dre learns that he has diabetes he’s understandably scared. Anyone being diagnosed with a medical condition is immediately going to face some lifestyle changes that can range from little things to a complete overhaul on how you live.
ANTHONY ANDERSON, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS
At first Dre thinks that it’s something he can fix on his own, rather than listening to his doctors, and his wife. In a hilarious twist on the “It’s A Wonderful Life” trope, Dre dreams of what would happen to his family if he were to die from diabetes.
To the contrary of the original work, Dre’s dream shows that his whole family seems happier and better off without him as he’s replaced by a fantasy life with Rick Fox.
The vision does the trick though, spurring Dre to actually take his medicine. I love how Black-ish continues to use their platform to educate their audience through humor. “Sugar Daddy” shows how common, frightening, and most importantly treatable diabetes is.
RAINBOW: I am your partner in this.
The lesson that Dre learns on this episode is a valuable one: listen to your doctors. Don’t let treatable, or even preventable, conditions take your life from you.
ANTHONY ANDERSON, TRACEE ELLIS ROSS
He’s also reminded how important it is to listen to his wife, which delightful and refreshing in the sitcom world.
SUGAR BABY
Meanwhile, the kids are dealing with the idea that little DeVante doesn’t seem to like his big brother Jack. Though this storyline is mostly just for laughs, it also holds a valuable lesson too.
If you give it time, you can usually find a way to get along with someone, even if that someone is a tiny baby. (Or especially if that someone is a tiny baby.)
MARSAI MARTIN, MARCUS SCRIBNER, MILES BROWN
Diane and Junior try to toughen Jack up in their own ways; Junior says that he needs to become more like himself so that he can ignore the hurt and Diane tells him hurtful things in order to build up his immunity.
Diane: I say embrace it, my haters give me life.
In the end Jack finds his own way of getting DeVante to like him and he doesn’t have to change his sweet tender heart. The kid’s story in “Sugar Daddy” is a great example of the shenanigans that kids get up to when their parents aren’t looking.
AUSTIN/BERLIN GROSS
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- Diane stealing a baby for Jack to make DeVante jealous with is pure gold. She WOULD steal a baby and have a snappy comeback for it the mom it belongs to.
- WHITE GUY’S prized glasses are a weird bit in this episode, but that poor clueless man is a hoot.
- Charlie has an excessive amount of pictures of Rainbow on his phone, his creepy crush on her is equally unnerving and endearing.
- I love that Rainbow can be an incredibly brilliant doctor and an absolutely dorky wife and mother all at once.
- DeVante’s little giggles warm my heart.
- Dre and Rainbow’s marriage is one of the best on television right now.
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.