BLACK ISH SEASON 2 EPISODE 14 CAST HOW TO

As we quickly see, the twins don’t like being pushed into gender-normative roles: Jack wants to learn how to cook, and Diane wants to learn how to make knots. I pushed through my confusion, though, when Ruby takes Jack and Diane to their respective Boy and Girl Rovers meetings. It’s a little hard to watch Bow cast judgment on other women she’s usually more open-minded. Bow wants them to earn rewards, not buy them, and thinks the women in the School Mom Mafia are the epitome of trophy wives. Meanwhile, she’s upset to learn about Junior and Zoey’s latest schemes: Zoey uses the boys in her class to crowdfund the purchase of a Chanel backpack, and Junior gives money to girls so they’ll be nice to him. She resents their leisurely lifestyle and doesn’t think they’re good role models. These women try to get Bow to commit to activities like yoga and aerial silks, which are all scheduled when she works. Both agree to overlook their misunderstandings, and the Johnsons prepare for Janine’s next pool party.īefore we get to the actual party, though, a few other story lines build up - and unfortunately, the transitions between them aren’t very smooth.īow doesn’t want to attend the pool party because she doesn’t want to deal with the School Mom Mafia.

Dre assures her that the email she accidentally received from him - the one with the subject line “I don’t like Janine” - was out of context. She admits she didn’t extend an invitation because she didn’t think Dre liked her. Still unconvinced, Dre confronts Janine, who is a little freaked out to see a black man at her door at night. They proceed to list all the reasons why he’s unlikable: He’s loud, he wears too much cologne, and he thinks everything is a race issue. Daphne and Josh suggest Janine hasn’t invited Dre because she doesn’t like him. Stevens assumes Dre can’t swim because of so-called “scientific” evidence that blacks have denser bones and will sink. The montage is set to “Runnin’” by California hip-hop group Pharcyde, which has quite a relevant hook: “Can’t keep running away.” When combined with the images of “Whites Only” pools, it’s clear that there’s no escape from America’s history of racism.ĭre thinks Janine hasn’t invited the Johnsons to her pool parties because she doesn’t think black people can swim, a stereotype aggravated by lack of pool access. He calls Dorothy Dandridge the Beyoncé of her time, reminding us that hotels would drain swimming pools to keep Dandridge out. Dre immediately thinks there’s a racially motivated reason behind the oversight, but Bow and his co-workers dismiss the notion.ĭuring the historical-lesson montage at the start of the episode, Dre traces America’s history of segregated pools. Turns out, Janine has been having pool parties on the weekends without inviting the Johnsons. Janine is back, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed Nicole Sullivan’s casually racist neighbor until I saw Dre suspiciously watching her. “Sink or Swim” almost seems dead in the water, too, until Ruby arrives to save it.

This week, Dre and Bow dive into a boatload of assumptions that lead to some much-needed laughs. Anthony Anderson as Dre, Tracee Ellis Ross as Bow, Marsai Martin as Diane, Yara Shahidi as Zoey, Miles Brown as Jack, Marcus Scribner as Junior.

Black ish season 2 episode 14 cast