"The Passion of Reverend Ruckus" is the 15th episode of the 1st season of The Boondocks, and also the Season 1 finale. It originally aired on March 19, 2006.
After having a dream about "White Heaven", along with a cancer diagnosis, Uncle Ruckus starts a new Christian sect that revolves around white supremacy and black self-hatred. Meanwhile, Huey plans a prison break to bust out Shabazz K. Milton Berle, a Black Panther activist who is sitting on death row for a murder he didn't commit.
Tropes:
- Accidental Truth: One of Huey’s plans to prevent Shabazz’ execution is to send a letter to the governor, claiming to know about his gay lover. Huey thinks he made it up, but when the letter arrives to the Governor’s office, his aid tells him that someone knows about Raul, meaning that the governor really does have a gay lover.
- An Aesop: Religion can be used to exploit people's ignorance and prejudice, but it also provides a source of strength and purpose for people who feel powerless against injustice.
- Bolt of Divine Retribution: A lightning bolt from a thunderstorm causes the Deus ex Machina described below.
- Boomerang Bigotry: Uncle Ruckus takes his usual self-hatred to new levels by trying to convert other black people. Shockingly, it seems that he almost succeeds; he asks a church congregation to "name 10 niggas you hate", and Tom DuBois is able to do that, almost convinced that it must mean he hates black people.
- Captain Ersatz: Armstrong Elder is a Composite Character of Real Life black conservatives Armstrong Williams and Larry Elder, to the point of his character design basically being Williams with Elder's mustache.
- Chekhov's Gun: When Huey tells Shabazz about his "desperation tactic" of sending the Governor a random blackmail letter about his alleged gay lover, it appears to be a one-off joke, but later in the episode it is revealed that the Governor actually does have a secret gay lover, who is named Raul, and he stops the execution to prevent the truth from getting out.
- Common Nonsense Jury: Shabazz K. Milton Berle was sentenced to death for the murder of a policeman, even though the real killer (Eli Gorbinsky) publicly confessed that he did it! Also see Orgy of Evidence.
- Deus ex Machina: The aforementioned lightning bolt, which may or may not be a holy miracle, resolves the two conflicts at once:
- While Ruckus is delivering a sermon to his congregation, he suddenly gets struck by the lightning bolt. Ruckus later discovers that the cancerous tumor on his back has been destroyed; now that he isn't terminally ill, he's no longer in any rush to earn his way into "White Heaven". He also loses his following.
- The lightning also causes a blackout throughout the Woodcrest area, cutting off the power to the prison at the instant a guard throws the switch to electrocute Shabazz. When the power comes back on a few seconds later, the hotline phone from the governor's office starts to ring - a call commuting or postponing Shabazz's death sentence, granted because the state governor is worried that someone may know about his secret gay lover.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Shabazz K. Milton Berle is an obvious expy and parody of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Both of them are Black Panthers who were controversially convicted and imprisoned for the murders of police officers. Mumia's supporters claim that he's an innocent man who was wrongly incarcerated. According to The Boondocks, Shabazz is a very obviously innocent man who somehow got thrown into prison anyway.
- Dream Intro: In the beginning, Uncle Ruckus has a dream about "White Heaven", a paradise ruled by his hero Ronald Reagan. Apparently, the afterlife is racially segregated, with "separate but more or less equal heavens" for different races. Ruckus is told that even he can ascend to White Heaven if he spreads the word of "White Jesus".
- Gambit Roulette: Huey's blackmail letter to the Governor threatening to reveal having a gay lover, even admitting it only had a five percent chance of working. It actually worked.
- Karma Houdini: Eli Gorbinsky, the man who shot a cop named Gary Faulkner, manages to get away scot-free with the crime, because another guy named Shabazz K. Milton-Berle was wrongly convicted of the murder instead.
- Miscarriage of Justice: Shabazz being sentenced to death row for a crime he could not possibly have been more innocent of is this trope exaggerated to the point of ludicrousness. It seems to be Subverted when he receives a last-second reprieve, only to turn out to be Double Subverted when rather than having him set free, the governor only commutes his sentence to life in jail.
- Orgy of Evidence: And how.
The shooter (Eli Gorbinsky) publicly confessed to the crime and identified himself by name; a stenographer transcribed the confession on the spot and got Eli to sign and date it; a passerby filmed the murder, and a stenographer transcribed the events as they happened; Eli's fingerprints were easily identified on the gun because he'd been eating a chocolate-frosted donut at the time; and the guns' sales receipt and warranty card (both signed/dated by Eli) were both found at the scene, and that the victims' last words were: "Eli Gorbinsky killed me". Despite all of this evidence, Shabazz is tried and convicted. - Prayer Is a Last Resort: After Huey's original plan to liberate Shabazz fails, he desperately prays to God, despite not really being a believer. And then lightning strikes afterwards...
- Race Lift: During the White Heaven dream, Ruckus is told that his reward there will be a transformation into a white man with blond hair and blue eyes.
- Religion of Evil: Obviously, Ruckus' take on Christianity is incredibly racist. He preaches that anyone, white or even non-white, can find salvation in White Heaven if they reject dark skin.
- Slow Electricity: After Uncle Ruckus is struck by a lightning bolt, the lights of the city go out one section at a time.
- Tempting Fate: While Uncle Ruckus is delivering a sermon in the climax:Uncle Ruckus: Now let us pray. Lord, I have spent my whole life hating you for making me black. And now I see I must hate myself and all those like me, and cause them misery just like your savior Ronald Reagan did. And if any of my words don't come directly from the almighty God himself, then may I be struck by lightning right this very instant! Halleluj— (gets struck by lightning) —AAAAAAHHHH!!
- X-Ray Sparks: This occurs when Uncle Ruckus is struck by lightning.
