A Different World's Malcolm X and MLK Episode Stands Out While Working Through Season 6, Episodes 16-20

Working through A Different World's episodes 16 through 20 left us with a mostly fun but uneven set of episodes, and the standout of the batch was easily the closer, episode 20, where Whitley's class has to role play an imagined conversation between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. We called it plainly: "No, it was a nice episode. I thought it was nicely done," and agreed "they did a good job."

The run opens with Ron and Freddie sinking credit card debt into the Reggae Room, which they rename the place where the blues will be played, and roping in Mr. Gaines's four grand nieces, Faith, Hope, Charity and Henrietta, as a surprise girl group revealed at the end to be a stand in for En Vogue. Neither of us immediately placed the reference, and we admitted it: "I feel like we're going to get dragged" for not recognizing them right away. We were also relieved Mr. Gaines's money worked out in the end, saying "you hear all these stories about older people getting taken advantage of by scams," so it was a relief to see him come out fine.

Dwayne's job interview with Konichiwa, where his ex Kenu turns out to be the one interviewing him, and his eventual rejection, hit harder. We connected it to our own experience with auditions and callbacks, and to the ending of Pursuit of Happiness, saying we wanted to see Dwayne actually get a win onscreen rather than just live through more fallout. The dance marathon episode and the cabin trip with Mr. Gaines, Velma and their son Darnell that ends in a skunk spraying everyone were fun, but we felt the resolution between Mr. Gaines and Darnell fell flat: "I don't feel like Mr. Gaines learned anything from that conversation," since his son still failed at running the pit and nothing clearly changed between them.

Episode 20 redeemed a lot of that frustration. Watching Whitley's character get emotional while describing a nephew who was accidentally shot and killed gave Jasmine Guy's character a rare grounded, vulnerable beat rather than her usual sass, and we noted "we got to see a crack in that armor" while she still held onto her authority as the teacher in the room. The episode also drew a comparison to earlier scenes of Uncle Phil and Will discussing Malcolm X, and we appreciated how the assignment forced the students, including Terrell after his gun scare and near expulsion, to actually sit inside the two men's differing philosophies rather than just debate them from the outside.

Did the Mr. Gaines and Darnell storyline need a clearer resolution before moving on?