"Riley Wuz Here" is the 12th episode of the 1st season of The Boondocks. It originally aired on February 19, 2006.
Riley gets caught spray-painting graffiti on a neighbor's house, so Robert forces him to channel his urges by getting art lessons. However, the art teacher helps Riley improve his graffiti skills, by teaching him to paint awesome murals on the neighbors' houses. Meanwhile, Huey experiments with only watching TV shows about black people for 2 weeks straight, to see if his mental and physical health will decline.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil: The art teacher is a soft-spoken man who genuinely wants to help Riley find his artistic sweet-spot. He's also a criminal and vandal who engages in high-stakes car chases and shootouts with the police.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: As Robert beats Riley, he tells the grandson to stop watching [adult swim]. It happens to be the late night block that airs this show.
- Brown Note: Huey has heard claims about the harmful effects of television programs which mostly feature black people; supposedly it will decrease your intelligence, or watching for too long may even kill you. So he decides to watch frequent hours of black-focused TV and find out for himself as an experiment...
- But Now I Must Go: The art teacher is last seen dropping off Riley, giving him some final advice, and then fleeing the police.
- Car Chase: On the last night that Riley and his Art Teacher go on a graffiti spree, the police show up, so the Art Teacher drives away while wildly firing a gun.
- Continuity Nod: This episode combines two plots that were originally from the comic:
- The main plot is about Riley committing a graffiti spree throughout the neighborhood. Although in the comic, Riley was changing the names of street signs; while in the show, he's painting murals on houses.
- While the side plot is about Huey experimenting with only watching TV shows about black people for 2 weeks straight.
- Do Wrong, Right: The art teacher sees Riley tagging someone's house, and instead of trying to stop him, gives him advice on how to improve the message.
- Generic Graffiti: Riley starts out with simple tagging:Police Officer: It says "Riley Wuz Here". And you took photographs of you posing in front of the work. Also, you have paint on your hands.
- Hidden Depths: The episode reveals that Riley is actually extremely talented as an artist.
- Implausible Deniability: Riley denies that it was him who did the graffiti, despite not only having written his name at the scene of the crime, but also having dropped pictures of himself and having paint on his hands.
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In Memoriam: 2 of Riley’s murals are this:- The first is dedicated to Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
- The second is debated to be either Riley and Huey’s (presumably deceased)parents, or Robert with his (presumably deceased)wife.
- Manly Tears: Riley paints his last mural on his own house, which depicts what is heavily implied to be his parents' wedding, which moves Granddad to tears. Although Granddad is proud and takes a photo of it, he still forces Riley to wash it off.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Art Teacher is a blonde, beardless Bob Ross.
- The “fallen soldier” Riley spray paints is the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, of the Wu-Tang Clan.
- Riddle for the Ages: It's never explicitly stated who the subjects of Riley's final mural are, with Granddad's reaction suggesting the mural is based on a wedding photo of either the boys' otherwise unseen parents or Robert himself with his (presumably deceased) wife.
- Role Swap Plot: In the reverse of their usual roles, Riley is doing something meaningful and thought-provoking with his graffiti art, and Huey is doing something foolish by forcing himself to watch black television.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: Robert starts getting suspicious about Riley's art teacher, because according to rumors, he's a Gulf War veteran who had a nervous breakdown.
