“Please, Baby, Please” is a compendium of many troubling realities circa 2017-18: superstorms police brutality Trump pooh-poohing climate change science and pulling out of the Paris accord the shockwaves of Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem. But it’s cold comfort against the violent truth of white nationalism. The Karen meme sends up a laughable, often feckless symbol of racism in America. The truth about white nationalism is much worse Television Commentary: ‘Karen’ is an easy target. Recognizing the importance of this moment, they listened and agreed.” (Notably, Barris left ABC for Netflix soon after ABC shelved “Please, Baby, Please.”) The decision to release the episode comes on the heels of a massive national reckoning about many of the issues explored in in its brief running time, and follows ABC’s re-airing of two other timely “black-ish” episodes - “Hope” and “Juneteenth” - which addressed police brutality and America’s eagerness to forget about slavery.
Series creator Kenya Barris tweeted Monday that “Please, Baby, Please” was finally going to see the light of day after he asked Walt Disney Television “to revisit making the episode available. Another potential worry for ABC and its corporate parent, Disney (which also owns Hulu), may have been grandpa Earl “Pops” Johnson’s (Laurence Fishburne) spot-on commentary about why Black pride is positive and white pride is dangerous when contrasted with America’s troubled racial history. “Black-ish” masterfully deconstructs something that most network comedies wouldn’t dare go near: the idea that Trump, the rise of white nationalist movements and the deep divisions among many Americans are a form of backlash - against the fact that a Black man won the presidency for two terms - led by enraged citizens whose political zeal is in fact an attempt to turn back the clock. It’s also a greatest hits of that year’s tragedies - floods, mass shootings, hatred toward immigrants, Russian election-meddling, gay bashing - in a combination of animated explainers, news clips and chats between Johnson family members. “Please, Baby, Please” offers a wide sweep over the anger, racism and fear that underpinned the rise of Donald Trump, whom Dre refers to as “The Shady King” throughout the episode. Speculating about what scared off the network’s execs is part of the fun of watching the episode, listed on Hulu as “S4 E99” of the series.
But what’s so controversial about this particular half-hour of television is that it was yanked by ABC shortly before air, making it one of the best-known TV episodes of recent vintage that no one has seen.