"The Garden Party" is the 1st episode of the 1st season of The Boondocks, and thus also the series premiere. It originally aired on November 6, 2005.
Robert "Granddad" Freeman and his grandsons Huey and Riley are new black residents of the affluent and mostly white town of Woodcrest. They have been invited by Ed Wuncler I, a wealthy businessman who owns the bank through which the Freeman's house is mortgaged, to a garden party at his mansion, to welcome back his grandson Ed Wuncler III from his tour in Iraq.
Robert is worried about Huey and Riley embarrassing him in front of the rich white guests; Huey, because he's been having dreams of causing a riot among white people due to his militant black nationalism; and Riley, because of his wannabe gangsta ways. However Ed III himself and Uncle Ruckus (a servant of Ed I) also make a scene at the party.
Tropes:
- Adorably Precocious Child: Huey is annoyed that Wuncler's guests find him to be cute instead of offensive, due to being so articulate for a kid.
- Blown Across the Room: Partially justified and subverted. Riley shoots Ed Wuncler III with a SPAS-12 combat shotgun (requested by Ed to prove his body armor works) and only makes him fall backwards (albeit out a window) but sends Riley — who is only eight — flying backward and injures his arm.
- Brick Joke: Huey believes that white people can't be moved by cheese. When Ed Wuncler I pays a visit, he is pleased by the offer. Huey, overhearing this, just rolls his eyes.
- Bring My Brown Pants: During Ed III's anecdote about his time in the Iraq War, he mentions that he kept defecating in his pants out of fear, allowing the enemy to smell his unit approaching, granting him the embarrassing name "Smoke Bomb"
- Dream Intro: The episode starts with Huey having a dream where he told a garden party full of rich white people that "Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government is lying about 9/11." All of these "truths" supposedly shatter the white man's ignorance, sparking a riot. When Huey wakes up, Granddad Dope Slaps him.Granddad: Mm-hmm. You having that dream where you were making the white people riot, weren't you?
Huey: But I was telling the truth!
Granddad: How many times have I told you? You'd best not even dream about telling white folks the truth! You understand me? Shoot, making white people riot. You'd better learn how to lie like me! I'm gonna find me a white man and lie to to him right now... - Early-Installment Weirdness:
- This is the only episode where Granddad hits Huey, when he dreamed of sharing "the truth". But then again it might be justified; he doesn't get hit again since no one took him as seriously as Robert and Huey thought they would. Not to mention, Riley's more obvious antics draw Granddad's wrath better.
- Ed Wuncler I is politically incorrect and crass but otherwise a Cool Old Guy. A far cry from the cruel Corrupt Corporate Executive of later appearances.
- Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: In Huey's dream, the guests react to his speech by rioting and fighting each other. See Go Mad from the Revelation.
- Friendship Moment: Granddad and Ed Wuncler Sr. do a lot of bonding, and the episode ends with them finally having a drink over old times.
- Go Mad from the Revelation: Huey has a dream about sharing "the truth" (his conspiracy theories) with a crowd of rich white people, which causes them to go crazy. Subverted when Huey tries to reenact his dream during the real party, but they just applaud him instead.
- Insane Troll Logic:
- Robert somehow believes he can use cheese as leverage against white people. Huey points out how completely ridiculous this is. Much to his annoyance, it seems to work.
- The whole reason why Huey believes in the conspiracy of former president Ronald Reagan being "The Devil" is because his first, middle, and last names all have six letters, making it Number of the Beast.Huey:I'm tryin' to explain to you that Ronald Reagan was the devil. Ronald Wilson Reagan? Each of his names has six letters? 6-6-6? Man, doesn't that offend you!?
- No-Sell: No one at the party is shocked by Huey's theories, Uncle Ruckus' song or Wuncler III falling from a window after being shot. Huey explains that they are too rich to be fazed by any of it and they simply consider Huey a bright kid who speaks well, without caring about what he says.
- N-Word Privileges:
- Robert tells Huey and Riley that they shouldn't use the N-word, even though Robert says the word all the time.
Granddad: Y'all need to start appreciating your granddaddy. I went and spent your inheritance on this beautiful house in this neighborhood, and all I ask you to do is act like you got some class!
Riley: (to Huey) Hey... what's "class"?
Huey: It means, "don't act like niggas".
Granddad: S-s-s-see? That's what I'm talkin' about right there! We don't use the "n-word" in this house!
Huey: Granddad, you said the word "nigga" 46 times yesterday. I counted!
Granddad: Nigga, hush!- Nobody at the party takes offense to Uncle Ruckus' song "Don't Trust Them New Niggas Over There", because he's one of the only black people present.
Female guest: "I think the N-word is okay if they say it." - Special Guest: Edward Asner as Ed Wuncler I, and Charlie Murphy as Ed Wuncler III.
- Too Dumb to Fool: Huey hopes to rile the party into a riot with his theories, but they prove to be too detached to even consider what he's trying to say.
- Too Dumb to Live: Ed III dares Riley to shoot him with a shotgun, which blasts Ed out of a second story window. Fortunately his bulletproof vest seemed to protect him from getting a big hole in his chest.
