"Good Times" is the 2nd episode of the 4th season of The Boondocks, and the 47th episode overall. It originally aired on April 28, 2014.
Robert Freeman finds himself in very, very deep trouble when he defaults on his debt to Ed Wuncler II, which amounts to millions of dollars. It turns out that Ed II is a ruthless loan shark who thrives off of trapping people into owing him debt.
Tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: Robert keeps borrowing more and more loans without reading the contract to see what the interest rate is before signing it. His troubles first started by taking out a loan with a 21.00% interest rate. After losing his house for defaulting on loans, Robert blindly signs up for a loan from Wuncler II but this time with a 150.00% interest rate, and his debt raises by another million dollars.
- All for Nothing: After spending all day washing cars into physical exhaustion at the car wash owned by Uncle Ruckus, Robert gets fired by Ruckus at the end without pay of the same day he got hired.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Wuncler confiscates the Freemans' house as retribution for Robert failing to pay mortgage on time (he only allotted Robert one month to pay $52,000), and allows dozens of other people to live in it as tenants.
- And I Must Scream: Granddad and Riley scream in horror over having become slaves to Ed Wuncler II.
- Artistic License – Law:
- Huey calls Ed Wuncler II's final deal of forcing Granddad and his kids to work off the debt as being "literally slavery". Technically, Huey's not correct - it's indentured servitude. Slaves wouldn't owe any debt, they'd be working against their will. Granddad willfully signed himself up for slavery to pay off the millions of dollars he took out on mortgage loans.
- Ed Wuncler II is absolutely breaking state laws by charging Granddad a mortgage loan with an interest rate of 21.00% and then a personal loan with a 150.00% interest rate.
- The Bad Guy Wins: While Ed Wuncler II never collects the millions of dollars that Robert owes him (though he's a billionaire anyways so this has little to no impact on his wealth), he does get Robert to sign himself and his grandsons into literal slavery.
- Broke Episode: Driven by Granddad's gullibility.
- Didn't Think This Through: Robert for always taking out loans without reading just how much he's borrowing and how much interest there is.
- Disposing of a Body: At one point, Ed II stabs someone to death off-screen and dumps their corpse in the Freemans' garage, with the expectation that Robert will hide the poor bastard's rotting body (and a warning for what can happen if he fails to satisfy Wuncler's demands).
- Dissonant Serenity: Vanderbilt (Wuncler II's assistant) delivers very bad news to the Freemans in a calm tone.
- Downer Ending: The whole Freeman family are forced to become (literal) debt slaves to Ed Wuncler II. Their financial crisis is what starts the main conflict of the Season 4 story arc.
- Faking the Dead: Vanderbilt suggests to the Freeman family to do this, though it never happens.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: One day, Uncle Ruckus is running as a candidate for mayor. And then the next day, he's the owner of a car wash. The only given explanation (which even Ruckus himself stated) for why he always changes jobs is to harass Robert 24/7.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: Ed Wuncler II, who isn't above attacking unemployed, broke people (such as Granddad) and cancer patients just for more money.
- Riches to Rags: For most of the series, Robert is an upper-middle-class retiree living in relative luxury and comfort. But thanks to many poorly-made and idiotic decisions he made, he's bankrupt and owes a huge debt to the Wuncler family. The only "good news" is that Robert gets to keep his nice house at the expense of his freedom.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: Robert receives one from Ed Wuncler II for taking out such a huge loan and starts panicking over the bill.
- Shout-Out:
- ''GOOD TIIIIMES!!!''
- Uncle Ruckus telling Robert at the car wash to do "Wax on, wax off!"
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Ed Wuncler II can't even go one sentence without saying "fuck".
- Villain with Good Publicity: Uncle Ruckus gets enormous praise from FOX News viewers just for berating Obama.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Some poor cancer patient off-screen who is undergoing chemotherapy as treatment gets yelled at on the phone by Wuncler II for not paying on time. Wuncler II threatens to kill said person, even though that person has a disease anyways.
- Work Off the Debt: Robert takes up a car wash job to pay off the hefty loans, even though a car wash attendant makes high 4 to low 5 figures when Robert owes 7 figures.
