Black-ish Review: North Star (Season 4 Episode 17)

It’s Easter time on Black-ish Season 4 Episode 17 “North Star” and Bow’s extended family has come to celebrate with the Johnsons. They don’t come around very often, so when they do their points of view clash against Dre’s family’s usual ways.

Families can have very deep ties to their holiday traditions and it’s okay if your traditions differ from even the people closest to you. Which is a lesson that every member of the Johnson family learns on this episode.

Dre rightfully makes the connections with his family’s food such as mac and cheese, collard greens, and fried chicken, and their traditions, back to the history of black people in America. For so long they had to get by with scraps, but like Dre says, they took white people’s garbage and turned it into gold.

In a delightful Chopped spoof, Dre explains the origins of soul food and why it’s so important to him and his family. But he’s not the only one with a deep emotional and cultural connection to his food.

The big plot twist of this episode is seeing Bow’s family explain why they cook the things that they cook and do the things that they do.

Bow’s cousin, who hasn’t spoken at any other point in the episode, tells Dre that the reason he cooks beets is because it’s all his grandmother had when they fled Europe to escape the Nazi’s.

It’s an emotional moment and particularly humbling for Dre as he recognizes that while his people’s struggles are valid and it’s important to remember where they came from, they aren’t the only people to have ever suffered in the world.

Bow’s mother also learns an important lesson about her somewhat outdated view of feminism. She thinks that Bow building Dre’s dinner plate makes her subservient to her husband in a way that she shouldn’t be.

But as Diane points out when she’s making Jack’s plate, it’s also just nice. This portion of this episode of Black-ish gets even richer when Dre’s grandma explains why she used to make a plate for her late husband.

On “North Star” Black-ish really highlights the way that people can do things differently or disagree with which traditions are better without either side being wrong.

Most of the time people have a good reason for behaving the way they do, and we’ll never know what those reasons are if we don’t sit down and talk to each other.

Dre and Bow are one of my favorite couples on television right now because even after all these years of marriage, in almost every episode they learn more about each other and grow closer.

Dre opens up to accepting Bow’s family a little more, something long overdue given that she has to accept his family every day. They manage to laugh at and with each other and grow together as a couple. Even in the little ways, like making each other a plate of dessert.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

• Jack and Diane’s storyline with the “white cousins” is one that most kids go through at one point or another during family holidays throughout their adolescence. I was glad to see them all give up on being grown up by the end of the episode to still indulge in Junior’s egg hunt.
• Do you think they should’ve counted last Easter with Bow in the hospital? No? Me either!
• Do you think Gary actually made his pie? I think he did, but Ruby’s suspicion of him was still fun to watch.

What did you think of this episode of Black-ish? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

Black-ish airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on ABC.

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

24 Favorite TV Couples from 2017