Black Jesus S01E07 Recap – Pouring Bleach Over Troubled Water

Black Jesus pulls off an impressive feat every week. The Adult Swim series in which a resurrected Savior delivers his message of peace and love in run-down Compton, California manages to raise interesting issues of faith while being genuinely funny. Episode 7, “The Other Shoe Drops,” keeps this balancing act going in hilarious fashion that I’d love to see the networks try to emulate.

The episode opens with Trayvon filming a documentary on Jesus and their newly established community garden. Each of the disciples wonder at what they have accomplished. There is a lot of love for the magical tomatoes that make consumers feel a high, but only because of God’s love. Still, all is not copacetic in the hood. Vic the landlord and a crooked local councilman are still determined to shut him down. One day the disciples discover the garden has been bleached. Jesus is convinced “Pops” (aka, God) did it because he’s mad over the lack of gratitude everyone is showing over their bounty. No one listens to Jesus’ warning that the answer is getting back to love, compassion and happiness. Miss Tudi is determined to find out who destroyed her moneymaker.

At the same time Trigger and Spider, the two-man “protection force,” want to know what’s in the sauce because it flies off the shelves. They declare themselves Miss Tudi’s new partners. Diane the cop still hates Jesus; he tells Jason he has to respect that. Suddenly Jesus realizes what they are doing wrong the whole time: greed. They have to treat the two Hispanic gangbangers as partners. When Miss Tudi refuses to listen, he finally blows up with the long-delayed shaming she deserves. Finally a deal is worked out that makes everyone happy and satisfies God’s will.

Of course Lloyd, the resident homeless man, gets his moment to shine. He finds Jason’s ruined Air Jordans in the trash and puts them on. He walks past Lisa’s car, which causes the most hilarious cop-chasing-a-perp scene in some time.

“Black Jesus” brought together an excellent cast. Although this is only the seventh episode, this ensemble works as well together as though the show had run for several seasons. In a time when the networks have forgotten that a sitcom is supposed to make people laugh, McGruder and Clattenburg make it look easy. I look forward to each new episode.

– Louis Burklow (aka, Hollywood Country Boy), Senior Staff Writer, Phoenix Genesis

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