The Carmichael Show Episode 1.02 Protest

It's Jerrod's birthday, and he has it all planned out. First he and Maxine will watch Coming to America, and then go to his parents house for his surprise party, eat some cake, and his parents will sing to him. But before the celebrating can commence, Nekeisha and Bobby stop by to announce that the cops shot an unarmed teenager downtown, and Nekeisha's going to go join the protest. Maxine wants to join the fight, but Jerrod just wants to go to his surprise party.

After the "surprise," Maxine fills Joe and Cynthia in on the shooting, and inspires Cynthia to join in, though Joe doesn't want her to because protests are full of too much "sexual energy." Cynthia used to protest all the time in the '60s and is determined to show Maxine how protesting is done right.

Just then Bobby bursts in to announce that riots have broken out and people are looting. Maxine is offended - surely only a few people are looting and giving the rest of the peaceful protesters a bad name. As soon as she says this, Nekeisha returns from the protest, dragging a brand new flat screen TV for Jerrod's birthday. Jerrod straight up asks her if she looted his birthday present, which offends Nekeisha to her core. She didn't steal the TV, she stole it from someone else who stole it! If you think about it, she actually rescued the TV.

While Maxine and Cynthia head off to the protest, Jerrod is left sulking to Joe that his birthday is ruined. They get into a discussion about racial profiling, and Jerrod recalls an incident where cops stopped him because he fit a description. Joe starts questioning his son about what he was wearing and how he was walking at the time of the incident, and discovers Jerrod was wearing a hoodie and walking with an "aggressive stroll." Joe's way to get through life is to pre-judge to keep yourself safe. Jerrod definitely needs to work on his walk.

Later that night, Cynthia comes home, complaining that kids these days have no idea how to protest. But where's Maxine? She's been arrested! Jerrod is livid, but Maxine is thrilled and super proud of herself. Jerrod realizes he got so upset about his girlfriend protesting because it could easily have been him who was shot by the cops, and racial profiling is something he has to deal with on a daily basis. Maybe he wasn't upset because his birthday was ruined - maybe it was because the incident hit so close to home.