Entertainment

The 'black-ish' Christmas Gets A Little Fiery

by Kayla Hawkins

Do the Johnsons love Christmas? Of course they do, because they're a big, (mostly) happy sitcom family that's built lots of extended family and friends over the past two seasons. And when black-ish celebrates Christmas, they do it with lots of guest stars and lots of love for one another, but that doesn't stop the Christmas tree from catching on fire in the episode's hilarious climax. Often, Dre will express his anxiety about parenthood through worrying about Zoe growing up, and her final Christmas before heading off to college is an emotional time for her dad. And of course, overdoing it on the flammable memories is what winds up sending the family Christmas tree up in flames. But while the family's picture-perfect holiday may be destroyed, the family's love is real and heartwarming.

And speaking of parenthood, the cute baby you've been seeing in the episode's commercials isn't the newest member of the Johnson family — he's actually the son of Gigi, Dre's BFF from way back when. But the adorable guest star does prompt some discussion about what being a good mom means, especially with Bow expecting another child herself. Now, according to creator Kenya Barris, Bow won't necessarily give birth in Season 3, so Dre and Bow have plenty of time to modernize their parenting technique (though I love that acerbic, inappropriate Ruby is able to instantly calm the baby).

Bow and Gigi start out competing with one another, but they're able to find common ground, just like Dre and Zoe find common ground between being stuck in the past and looking to the future. And Johan, overstaying his welcome with the Johnsons, even though fans should be happy to see him stick around in the guest house for a little longer, fights with Pops and Ruby over making the "perfect" holiday playlist, but even this goofy argument has no real right or wrong answers, aside from being a loving family who come together to — again, literally — put out any fire and have a happy end of the year.

Of course, there's nothing "last" about this Christmas, for either Zoe and her family or the show. Even Junior is able to get in on a Christmas embrace by the end of the episode, proving that everyone's heart has grown to three times its original size by the end of the episode.

Image: Ron Tom/ABC (2)