Fans of “Black-ish” have been asking for the show to bring back Pops, and now their wishes nave been answered – Laurence Fishburne is returning for another episode as a guest, and possibly even further than that. In the new episode, Dre’s parents get back together after Pops makes a display of machoism, although it does seem like the newly reinstated relationship isn’t much more stable than what they had previously, as it quickly becomes evident.
The episode is actually a flashback to old times in more ways than that, as some publications have pointed out that it’s reminiscent of the older episodes in terms of its production and direction style. The episode has a heavier reliance on voiceovers, fantasy sequences, and it also explores some slightly darker themes that the show has recently been straying away from. And of course, some have been enjoying the opportunity to take jabs at the newly recovered couple.
Mostly though, fans of the show seem to be enjoying seeing Ruby and Pops together again, even though they seem to be aware that this relationship is obviously doomed and the writers will probably put an end to it at some point. Judging by the way the two have been going, that point will likely come sooner than most have been anticipating too, especially when some of the jokes about their past are thrown into the mix.
Overall response to the new episode has been great though, and it seems that the producers have made a very smart move by deciding to bring back Fishburne. It remains to be seen if they will want to give him even more screen time afterwards, although the actor’s schedule would also have to allow that, and now that he’s so involved with “Hannibal”, it might be a difficult situation. The actor has previously announced that he’ll be splitting his time between the two shows, although he didn’t make it clear if it will be an equal split, so fans have been wondering what they should expect.
There has also been some mild criticism about the humor in the new episode, with some critics claiming that it was lost on them, but those seem to be in the minority, as most were actually quite pleased with the quality of dialogue that was presented in the episode. Many of the jokes were based on previous episodes of the show, as well as references to its fictional history, so they might not be that easy to dig into for some people, although true fans of the series should be able to instantly understand the humor behind every line the writers have thrown in the episode.