I guess I have to agree. As funny and entertaining as the show was, it lacked any room for meaningful character development. And not to mention the Flanderization... Huey changed from a passionate activist into a boringly apathetic bystander, Riley was always stuck in the thug life 24/7, and Granddad become dumber with every season.
Yeah. And like I said, if you were talking about something like, say, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, meaningful character development just wouldn't fit the show. But The Boondocks didn't feel like that. I'm not saying I wanted them to be kindhearted, well-adjusted individuals, but I don't think they needed to be the caricatures they ended up as either.
The thing is that the show uses the stereotypes to show how stupid they are. Plus, the show is partially based off of the creator\'s own observations of the black community. Also, consider that Season 1 did not have Stinkmeaner Strikes Back or the Hateocracy.
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Excellent show, but...
Ah, Boondocks. There's nothing else quite like it. The satire is biting, the characters are hilarious, and the animation is gorgeous. And yet, I often felt like it could've been more than it was.
I'm one of the fans who feel that the first season was the peak of the show. It was funny while still able to deliever strong messages. It had numerous episodes showing a softer side to the Freeman family, as well as a couple showing a little of their lives before they moved to Woodcrest. I feel that not only did future seasons stray from the social commentary, but the main characters became more shallow.
I'm all for black comedy, but sometimes I think the show makes the characters more unlikeable than they need to be. With a few exceptions, nobody learns anything or grows as a character. I was disappointed that Riley's art skills never came up again, or that Cristal never had another episode. I found the ending to "Kung Fu Wolf" irritating, not because it was sad, but because it showed how almost no one was allowed to have character development, even one shot characters. It's true that some adult comedy shows don't lend themselves well to nuanced characters, but The Boondocks never felt to me like a show that needed to be that way. Tom got development. Ruckus got development. Why couldn't the Freemans?
As funny as the show is, a few of its messages are a bit too direct, and I feel that the show revels in sterotypes more than it fights them, which can hurt some of the show's overall themes.
To sum it up, Boondocks is a funny and overall very entertaining show. But most of the time, it has no heart.