Presumably, we are coming in on the middle of a conversation, because I would like to think that Sarah didn't just walk up to Karamo and say the following: "Wasn't it your father the one who, like, kind of, I don't know how to phrase this...made you resent white people?" Karamo says that his father tried to educate him, and gave him books, but then didn't explain them. Karamo says that the racists of the '30s and '40s who didn't want integration and equal rights are still alive, and are the parents of his classmates, like MJ and Landon. Um, grandparents, maybe. I've got almost ten years on Karamo, and my parents weren't born until well after that. I see what he's saying -- that we're not all that far removed from the days of the Jim Crow laws and lynchings and whatnot -- but I think he would have a better argument if he talked about how racism today is more insidious and institutionalized. But that's probably too subtle an argument for this show. Plus, then he wouldn't mention Landon and MJ's names, thus setting up the rest of this story arc.
Landon plays pool and tells Karamo that when he was in kindergarten, he said the n-word on the school bus. Except that he doesn't say "n-word," and Karamo corrects him, and the editors lay in a banjo on the soundtrack, which makes the moment seem lighthearted when it's not. Landon's point was that his mother made him eat a bar of soap. Landon smirks and seemingly thinks, "Yeah, that whole soap thing clearly worked out for you." Landon interviews that he was brought up to be open-minded, because his parents aren't prejudiced. Landon proves his lack of prejudice by pulling out an "I had a black friend in college" story, to show how cool he is with other races. Sigh. Landon, please stop talking. Karamo appears to agree with me, and just keep in mind that someone like Karamo has to put up with many small instances of this type of bullshit on a daily basis. It's just ignorant. Landon says that his black friend was hilarious, because he always thought Landon was telling jokes behind his back. Karamo asks if he was, and Landon says that he wasn't. Karamo interviews that Landon makes potentially offensive comments that Karamo lets slide because he's trying to be open.
Shavonda and Karamo have a black summit in the office. Shavonda thinks that things will get better as they get closer to the other roommates. Karamo thinks that he's going to start shutting down more as time goes on. Karamo interviews that when he's away from his people, he's outside of his comfort zone, which makes him act out. Karamo tells Shavonda that he doesn't want to be the angry black man, and it sucks that he even has to think about that, because you don't see MJ and Landon having a conversation about coming off as the angry Southerner or the angry Wisconsinite or the angry whitey or whatever. Shavonda says that her father told her not to be the angry black woman, and they laugh. Karamo interviews that he knows that he can't bully anyone or cause drama.
The phone rings, and it's Karamo's mom. She asks how it's going, and he closes the door to the phone room so that they can really talk. In the kitchen, MJ asks if Karamo's okay, and Shavonda says that Karamo is starting to shut down. MJ asks if it's his fault, and Shavonda says it's not. Karamo tells his mom that he's going crazy, and his mom tells him not to lose it, and to be a powerful black man instead of an angry black man. His mom says that it's a different environment, and that he needs to go with it. MJ whispers that Karamo might be holding things against people, or it might be that he's not with his friends from home. MJ interviews that Karamo needs a support system, and that MJ's willing to be that, if Karamo will let him. The roommates discuss the steaks they are eating, and Willie makes a sexual joke about "thick meat." Please. I'm trying to eat.
Shavonda calls her dad and fills him in on their house. She adds that they are all running out of money. So spend less. I don't have a lot of sympathy for that. You get free rent. Eat pasta or something. Shavonda interviews that she's never had money, and that she has to eat. Shavonda's dad promises to send some money when he gets paid on Friday. Shavonda interviews that she's been on her own since seventeen, and always had bills to pay. But she still asks for handouts from dad?
Shavonda tells Sarah about her childhood, which was not good. She was scared of her mother, who was physically abusive, and her father ignored the whole thing. Shavonda talks about how that affects her to this day, and that her father has never apologized for not being there, or even acknowledged it. Sarah interviews that she can't believe how great Shavonda turned out, given her background. Shavonda thinks the whole thing made her stronger, and Sarah cries.
Willie and Melanie play pool and invite Shavonda to lunch. She wants to go, but she's broke. She decides to call her dad to see if he put money in her account yet. She gets his voicemail and leaves a message. Shavonda interviews that her dad promised to help her get by until they got their jobs, and now he's avoiding her calls. Well, that's a little different if it was just supposed to be temporary, and he shouldn't have promised if he couldn't do it. But she's still too old to be taking regular handouts from her parents, in my opinion. Shavonda calls her ex-stepmom, Colleen, and complains about her father. Shavonda adds that she's used to having money of her own, and that she's frustrated and thinking about coming home. Colleen says that her boyfriend will probably loan Shavonda some money, and Shavonda says that's not the point, although she's grateful for the offer. Colleen promises to try to find Shavonda's dad and find out what's going on, and advises Shavonda not to come home. It's nice that Shavonda has one seemingly normal adult influence in her life.
Shavonda tells Sarah about the money situation, and says that she wouldn't have spent the last of her money yesterday if she'd known her father was going to bail on her. Sarah responds that Shavonda is practical, which Sarah admires. Sarah says that when they invite Shavonda to dinner, they don't mind covering her, because they want her company. That's really nice of Sarah, who clearly has money to burn. Sarah interviews that it's friendship, not charity. Sarah says that the cost is minimal for the experience they have. Sarah and Shavonda hug.
Colleen calls and tells Shavonda that she and her boyfriend are going to put money in her account. Shavonda interviews that she's never met Colleen's boyfriend, and that she needs to thank him...someday. Try a thank-you note. Works like a charm. Colleen says it should hold Shavonda over, and Shavonda thanks her and hangs up. Well, that storyline is wrapped up.
MJ, Landon, and Karamo decide to go out and have some drinks. MJ talks about an after-school tutoring program he did, and how the first time he had to go to the Projects, and some guys knocked on his car window and asked why he was there, so he left. I guess the point of that story was that MJ can imagine how uncomfortable it is for Karamo in the house? I don't know. Karamo says that he doesn't want to be angry, and brings up Landon's use of the n-word, admitting that it was said jokingly. Landon doesn't get why that would be upsetting to Karamo, and interviews that Karamo thinks he's a hick, and doesn't respect him. MJ says that no one in the house is a racist, and Karamo says that he used to be. Karamo interviews that his distrust for white people has many grounds, and that he's working on changing.
Many, many drinks later, the guys have met some ladies and are dancing. Even Karamo! Someone should tell that lady that she's barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. Karamo interviews that he felt someone patting his side, and realized that he was surrounded by four cops. Karamo starts screaming to MJ to come over, and I think the music is really loud and that's why he's screaming so loudly, but since we don't hear the background noise, it immediately seems like Karamo is freaking out.
And now it's time for the Most Awesome Thing I Saw on TV Last Week. The most awesome thing I saw on TV last week was the Brady Bunch reunion special on TV Land. Not for what was said, but because there was so much unsaid. Jan and Peter clearly hate everyone else. Peter clearly hated Jenny McCarthy (the host). Jenny McCarthy kept asking questions that all of the actors had discussed and answered years ago, like, the best way to deal with those issues would have been to show a clip package or something, because the actors just got annoyed. No one wanted to mention that Robert Reed was kind of a dick to work with, although he was allegedly a nice enough guy in his personal life. Alice only got to show up for five seconds at the end, and she barely spoke. Cindy brought the mood down when she talked about how she cared for her dying parents. Really, the only interesting part that wasn't just my interpretation of the undercurrent were the many clips, which revealed to me just how much of my younger life was shaped by The Brady Bunch. I learned so many life lessons from that crazy blended family. And I still knew all of the words to the Silver Platters' songs, all these years later. And the dance moves. Which is awesome.
Karamo continues telling the story. Apparently, the cops got an anonymous tip that Karamo had a gun, and Karamo is annoyed with MJ for talking to some chick instead of helping him out. MJ is sitting fairly close to Karamo, and must be either really dumb, or really drunk, not to notice all the cops milling about. Karamo makes his way over to MJ and yells about the situation and says that he wants to go. MJ interviews that he wasn't in a big hurry to leave, because he didn't realize how big the situation was.
Once they get outside, Karamo yells to the cops that he's not going to give them any information about himself, and that he knows his rights. Some guy (the bar owner?) explains that someone probably saw Karamo's microphone pack and thought it was a gun. Karamo isn't satisfied with that explanation. Karamo asks if he's getting a ticket, and the cop yells that they're doing an investigation. Karamo can't understand what there is to investigate. He doesn't have a gun, so he kind of has a point, unless they want to investigate who made the false allegation.
MJ voice-overs that he walked outside and saw Karamo yelling at the cops, so he tried to calm Karamo down. Karamo complains that the cops took his ID, and that MJ doesn't understand what that means. MJ keeps telling Karamo to calm down, which always works well when someone is drunk and upset. Except not. Karamo says that he doesn't want to talk about this right now, and asks MJ to get Landon so that they can leave. That should be MJ's cue to split, but instead, he keeps trying to reason with Karamo, who just wants to leave and talk about it later. Karamo interviews that MJ acts like Karamo is overreacting, but that this sort of thing happens to Karamo and his friends all the time. One of the cops explains to Karamo that someone called in and gave Karamo's description, so they didn't randomly target him. Karamo calmly says that the cops are just doing their job and that he respects that. I totally understand why Karamo got upset. He's had to deal with a lot of little racist or prejudiced jabs in the house so far, and it's been building up. And now he's drunk. So now that he's got a legitimate target, he's going to blow. It's not rational, but anger rarely is, and I totally understand why he's so angry. I think MJ's best bet would be to tell Karamo that it totally sucks that the cops targeted him like that, and get him home. I don't see why MJ wants Karamo to admit that MJ is right, which seems to be what MJ wants.
Karamo walks down the street, and MJ sprints to catch up with him. Karamo is suddenly all fired up again. Karamo tries to explain why he's so upset, but MJ doesn't get it. MJ wants Karamo to speak in a mellow voice, but Karamo doesn't want to talk about it. MJ interviews that he doesn't think this happened because Karamo is black, which is when MJ totally lost me. That's exactly why it happened. MJ and Landon have mikes on too, and no one called them in. Karamo tries to explain that this isn't the first time this has happened. MJ asks if Karamo blows up like this every time. Karamo tries to get MJ to understand how frustrating it is, and gets angry, but he's not really yelling. MJ blows up and says that all Karamo does is run his mouth, and now MJ's pissed too. Karamo walks away sadly.
MJ and Landon catch up to Karamo, who doesn't seem interested in talking to them. He just keeps his head down and walks on. Karamo interviews that he thought MJ was on his side, because he's like Karamo's friends from home, but now he feels totally alone. MJ interviews that it's impossible to reason with Karamo because he's so angry. MJ and Landon discuss what they should do. Landon cracks me up, trying to have a very serious discussion while drunkenly slurring his words and wearing about a million Mardi Gras beads. MJ asks what they should do, and Landon advises him to walk away. MJ interviews that he wants to be there, but that Karamo won't let him.
Karamo walks in the house, and Melanie asks what happened. Karamo relates the story to Melanie and Shavonda, who are shocked, and can't believe that MJ accused Karamo of overreacting. Outside, MJ says that Karamo made a scene, and the cops told him not to make it worse. Landon says that Karamo doesn't listen, and just wants to talk. Karamo continues telling the story, and concludes with MJ walking away from him.
Landon and MJ get home. MJ asks if Karamo will listen to him now. Karamo yells that MJ walked away. Karamo wants to know how many times that situation has happened to MJ, and tries to say it in the calm voice that MJ has requested. MJ admits that it's never happened to him, and Karamo says that it's happened to him over twenty times. MJ asks why Karamo is holding that against them. Karamo says that he's not. Nice empathy there, MJ and Landon. MJ puts out his hand for Karamo to shake, but Karamo refuses. MJ interviews that Karamo makes a big deal out of situations, and that it all comes back to race.
Karamo walks outside of the house and sits on a bench, praying. In a confessional, Karamo wonders why this is happening to him so often. Sadly, the answer is probably because he's black and he lives in America, which sucks. Karamo continues praying for guidance.