"The Boondocks Season 3" The Gold Standard for Animated TV

 

    Wow. Just wow. Easily, and I do mean easily the best season of The Boondocks by far, and I don't think it'll be topped (if what I hear about season four is true). What makes it so good? Well simply put, I think it's has the least misses in terms of episodes I didn't care about in the show by a good margin. It started off strong and it just never let up. I was just so thoroughly impressed the entire time, it really does feel like the show in it's most fully realized form. Let's talk about it.

    You know what this season of The Boondocks reminds me of? Dan Harmon. I guess depending on who you ask this might come off as a bit of an insult, but this season of The Boondocks managed to touch the same itch for me. I would never say The Boondocks is one of my favourite shows, but it was Harmon-esque in how McGruder and co. managed to so masterfully weave in parodies of popular TV shows or movies. Like it really does remind me of early season Rick and Morty or early Community in the way they'd just parody all of these well-known pieces of media, and managed to put their own funny, witty, inventive spin on it all without it feeling derivative. 

    Whether it be episodes like It's Goin' Down, The Fried Chicken Flu, The Fundraiser or Pause, the show always knew when to lean into the absurd to create this masterful balance where the characters may take the situation so seriously, but it only adds to the hilarity of it all.. I mean If I had to list my favourite episodes in this show I think all four of them might make my top ten or 15 list of shows I really loved. By this point of the show you become so enamored with all of these characters you've been watching for three seasons it's easy to believe and enjoy whatever situation they've found themselves morphed into.

    That doesn't mean this season lacks anything in terms of originality either. This season started off with a bang with It's a Black President, Huey Freeman. For a season released in 2010, The Boondocks remains still incredibly ahead of the curve 16 years later, and very much feels correct in it's prediction/assessment on political events like with Obama. I do love the dickriding with Obama song though I think about it sometimes. Or what about The Red Ball, another fantastic episode as someone who has been begging for more Huey-centric episodes. A real treat to watch them treat kickball like some masterful art form, and then for it to truly devolve into violence. Or even The Story of Jimmy Rebel. Season three did it, I finally enjoyed an Uncle Ruckus-centered episode. I didn't believe it, but it was really funny watching them move onto their next target, Hispanics.

Final Score: 90/100

    I could go on and on, but by then I'd just listing literally 80% of the episodes. Like Huey wearing a makeshift turban in A Date with the Booty Warrior, or Stinkmeaner 3 which might be my second or first favourite Stinkmeaner episode. And how could I forget Mr. Medicinal, which by the way I didn't realize actually had Mark Hamill in it until after I searched up this review. I usually don't give out high scores to TV shows, but I devoured this one pretty quickly, and have to admit the show probably peaked here. The writing was so witty and smart, but the premises were absurd and stupid. Personally, I don't need much hesitation to say this, but The Boondocks season three is pretty close to TV royalty for me if I had to rank the best seasons of TV I ever had to watch, and I don't say that lightly. So please, go watch it.

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