The Wayans Bros. Season 1 Reaction: Pie Fights, Bad Poetry and Pops Moving In

We're back with more of The Wayans Bros. season 1, and this stretch gave us a poetry scheme gone wrong, a four star restaurant covered in pie, and Pops moving in with his grown sons. Our overall verdict on the poetry episode is simple: it was "so tight and it's so funny and entertaining," and it was lovely getting to see more depth to both characters.

Shawn's Poetry Scheme For Marlon Ends In A Pie Fight

The episode opens at Pops' diner during a Tuesday night poetry reading, where Marlon falls for Valerie. She loves men who can express deep emotions, so Shawn writes the poems and Marlon takes the credit. Marlon's own attempt, the line about being "a doozy if we got naked in my jacuzzi," got a laugh from us because at least it rhymes. Shawn's version wins Valerie over, and Marlon books a dinner date, which had us asking how he was going to pull it off.

At the restaurant, Shawn sits at a separate table feeding Marlon lines. Marlon turns "dumbfounded by your beauty" into "dumbfounded by your booty" and "infatuation" into "flatulation," which had us shouting that they are not the same. Valerie soon works out that someone is feeding him lines, and when Marlon admits his brother wrote them, she says she loves the man who wrote the letters.

Then Lisa walks in and sees Shawn with Valerie, and things fall apart into a food fight. Our reactions were pure fun: "This must have been fun to shoot," and "They had one chance, one take." By the end, everybody got pie in this episode.

There's Someone Out There For Everyone, Even Marlon

One of the things I loved is that Marlon ends up with a girl after all, a woman who likes his jacuzzi poem. Because there's someone out there for everyone, and you don't need some fancy pants girl who doesn't really know who you are, however attractive she is.

We both agreed Valerie was really attractive, but it's a reminder of "how instantly ugly they become when they're rotten to the core." She was so mean, especially to Lisa and her friend, who had literally just walked in and done nothing to her.

Marlon Wayans Has The Chops For Serious Roles

For me, this episode gave us more depth to both characters. They keep becoming more complex while staying endearing and lovable, and I just want more. With Marlon, I really enjoy seeing some of that vulnerability. He's totally capable of playing a moment sincere and straight with emotion, then he quickly undercuts it with comedy, so you only get a touch of it.

That led us to his more serious work. With a "don't kill me if I'm wrong" caveat, the Tupac movie came up, where he was trying to get into a gang and was more serious while still keeping a sense of comedy. We also mentioned a recent horror film that neither of us has seen. We'd both love to see him in even more serious roles. "I think he's got the chops to do it," and he's fascinating because his face is so expressive.

The Brothers Share The Same Laugh

We love them together. Even in the little teasing moments, it's so natural. They have the same smile beat, and you can see their laugh land at the same time. It has "the comfort of like having grown up with someone" who really knows who you are, so you can't hide.

Marlon is on Instagram, though Shawn may not have an account. On there, Marlon seems more mellow now, though still witty and funny, just a tiny bit different, and he's really supportive of his trans child. We just love this family so much.

Pops Moves In And Takes Over The Apartment

The next episode, Pops Moves In, starts with Marlon eating what he thinks is Shawn's Chinese food, only to learn it's Shawn's bait. It's so simple but hilarious. A gross diner moment with a customer's eggs also hit home for an ex server.

Pops is fighting with the boys' mother, and Marlon and Shawn give him opposite advice. Shawn urges him to go home and show her who's boss, while Marlon tells him to treat women as an equal, but Pops ends up kicked in the head by a lady wearing bunny slippers and moving into the apartment. He sleeps in the same bed as his sons, declares family night, and hands Shawn a curfew. He even crashes their party, bringing out a photo of Marlon on a pony and revealing the boys once had a musical act called the Williams. Eventually Shawn delivers a speech, Pops agrees they're men, and he heads home. Of the jokes, we said, "They did not hold back," and "They never hold back."

Parents Never Stop Parenting

That was relatable. There's a personal parallel: leaving home at 17, and even in the early 20s, coming back for the holidays to a mom who immediately treated her grown child like a teenager. A night out clubbing with friends meant coming home at 2 a.m. to find her, a woman who goes to bed at 9 p.m., sitting on the couch downstairs. In London, nights out lasted until 4 a.m., but under her roof, it was back to being a kid. Parents are committed for life: "this is a forever job. It doesn't go away." There's appreciation for it, though.

We agreed that's better than parents who are controlling or demeaning. The show embodies that relationship so well: the brothers are grown, but Pops is still dad, and he's always himself. The bed scene was a favorite part of the episode, recalling sleepovers with a best friend where you talk until one person is out cold. I think John Witherspoon does a really great job as their dad, with Marlon hugging and sucking up to him while Shawn rolls his eyes like a youngest child. It all feels natural; I completely buy that they're a family.

Will We Ever Meet Mom?

"I feel like we're never going to meet mom." The things they say about her get more outlandish every episode: one good eye, big feet, and she's clearly strong because she can beat up dad. I reckon they've built her up so much that no one could live up to it.

It reminds us of How I Met Your Mother, where you don't see the character until the end. I wonder if a reveal might feel like a letdown. It'd be funny if she finally shows up and she's just the nicest little lady, totally normal, with everyone else pitting themselves against her.

Benny Is Finally Getting Lines, and We're Happy for Him

One of the things we kept noticing was Benny. He's getting lines now and actually getting to be a character. We also flagged that this comes from a time "back when they had Asians on shows." At first it seemed like he was just an extra, and he kind of was in the beginning before he gradually got more to say. He's pretty funny himself, so our feeling was basically: Benny's all right, we like Benny.

There's a caveat, though. As we know with these shows, some things don't age well and don't fly anymore, and that includes a little bit of the Benny material. Seeing a character like Benny as an Asian person came with this caveat: "I kind of have to take it in the context of what it was back then." It's hard to tell whether what he says is real without speaking Chinese. Still, he's showing up and he's getting work, and we're happy the Wayans brothers gave him a space to shine. It's an open question whether we'll see more of him as the season goes on, and the answer was, "I hope so."

There was also a very scary moment in this episode. A passenger asks to be taken to the World Trade Center, and seeing that now is strange because of what happened. The show came out in 1995, and what happened was in 2001.

The Afro Cab Was a Cute Idea That Couldn't Last

On the afro cab itself, the word has definitely been that it can be really difficult for a black person to get a cab, though whether that's still the case now is unclear. "I hope not," came the reply. It's an interesting concept: fine, we'll just have a cab for us. But in true Wayans Brothers style it has to be crazy and audacious, and the verdict was, "I don't think I would get in that specific cab."

That led us to how today you can request a woman driver. Uber just started offering that, while Lyft has had it for a while. Travels in other countries have turned up way more women drivers, and while there's never been a specific request for one, when it has happened at night it's felt "so much safer." Admittedly, a woman could equally decide to do something bad, but it lets you mentally relax a little more. In the same way, an afro cab would at least get you a cab and might make you feel more comfortable, without any weird, unnecessary attitude.

Of course, with Marlon and Shawn it's outlandish. They literally kidnap a guy who just says he lives there, and then they pick up bad people by accident. It's not working out for them and it's not sustainable, but it was a cute idea. It's also lovely that they're still fighting with Pops, insisting they're grown and holding their own, while he goes, sure, let's see, and then welcomes them back with open arms when they come crawling back.

Shawn's 13 Parking Tickets Hit Close to Home

Moving on to The Shawn Shank Redemption, 13 parking tickets is wild. We weren't sure whether the price goes up the longer you leave them, and you'd probably just get impounded at that point, but you do get a warrant out. There was a story of being with someone who got pulled over in LA over this, which was super embarrassing.

LA parking signs are confusing. There are signs where you can't park from Wednesday and Thursday at 10 to 12, but on Fridays you can until 1:00, and on Saturday not at all. You have to take a picture and study it. Sometimes you have to arrive half an hour early just to check the parking works, and sometimes that means skipping certain areas entirely.

A friend's birthday party in West Hollywood was one example, where the choice was a $50 Uber, risking a ticket, or a $20 valet. The valet won, and it turned out to be just a parking lot next door. It would have been possible to park there directly, which was annoying.

Lisa Doesn't Care About Gifts, but Shawn Wants to Give Her the World

We love that Lisa is still cool about all this. It doesn't matter to her; she just loves her man. She's a rich girl and gets that from her dad. But we understand why Shawn wants to give her the best, and it's a really nice sentiment. It's also something he can work towards, since he's really young right now.

Sometimes, as a woman, you have to weigh the guy with all the love in his heart who's broke right now against the guy who can give you everything but doesn't have those other things. "I'd rather go for a Shawn," came the verdict, with 100% agreement: he's super sweet, and he loves her so much.

It was nice to see Marlon really want to support his brother and set things up for him at the end, but he makes it worse every time by talking up the big surprise. He's the worst hype man ever: read the room. There was some relating to that, too: sometimes getting too excited and starting to say things, then suddenly just shutting up when someone gives a signal. The request has been to stop more smoothly.

That Tiny Diamond Ring Was Cute

The teeny tiny diamond ring Shawn got at the start would actually be a welcome gift. There's a memory of a wardrobe lady on a commercial set with the cutest engagement ring, the thinnest little gold band with the tiniest diamond, which works especially for someone who uses their hands a lot. We both think Lisa would have appreciated it.

We weren't sure what happened to that ring; one guess was that he returned it and got a $400 bracelet, and the reply was, "Yeah, I guess so." That may be a much better gift when you're newly dating, because a ring can give the wrong impression right away. If it were a promise ring, that would be cute, though it probably depends on what he was trying to do.

The preference was clear: "For me, I would rather you work within your means," since he obviously can't afford a $400 item. Don't be in debt, be responsible: being fiscally responsible is attractive. A $50 piece of jewelry that's a big amount for you can mean more than a $3,000 one you barely notice. It's all relative. We're really enjoying the show so far.

Would you rather get a tiny diamond ring or a gift that stretches the budget?