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"Home Alone" is the tenth episode of the second season of the Adult Swim animated television series The Boondocks and the twenty-fifth episode overall. It originally aired on December 17, 2007.

Synopsis[]

Huey and Riley are left to fend for themselves at home for a few weeks while Grandad tries to "do it big" in Costa Rica.

Plot[]

The episode starts with Huey and Riley fighting. As they bust through the bathroom door, Robert, taking a shower at the time, expresses his dissatisfaction with their constant aggression.

Later, Robert is playing cards in his basement with Uncle Ruckus and Tom Dubois. Tom suggests that Robert take a vacation to Costa Rica, telling him he should "do it big" like the rappers. Robert takes the suggestion into extreme consideration and even fantasizes about what might happen. His fantasy includes him popping Cristal with Hispanic girls while going by his alias "Mr. Bitches." Tom, interested in accompanying Robert on this trip, causes Robert to think about what might happen in the same situation were Tom present. In this fantasy, Robert hits it off while Tom is having a conversation about an absurd dream he had. The girls, bored by Tom's musings, leave. As a result, Robert doesn't commit to the trip.

Huey explains Robert's past attempts at hiring a babysitter for him and Riley: the first, a pre-teen to young teenage girl, the second a British Nanny, and the last a guidance counselor for misguided black youths. The young girl misconstrued what playing "cops and robbers" with Riley entailed, and got her money stolen as a result. This landed the brothers on a "do-not-sit" website. The nanny, though extremely effective, was fired after using the telephone for five minutes and leaving the kitchen light on while no one was in the kitchen (Robert had hidden a nannycam). The counselor had taken to a fetal position upon Robert's return.

Robert, going off on the "do it big" trip without Tom, tells Huey that he should tell Tom to inquire as to his whereabouts, to tell him that he went to the store. Other than that, he leaves two weeks' worth of food money and hires Uncle Ruckus as their babysitter. After Ruckus threatens to use a cattle prod and shock collar as punishment devices, the boys work together and ambush Ruckus with airsoft guns, causing him to evacuate the house.

Huey, presuming himself to be in charge, tells Riley to clean up the living room. Riley suggests that they take turns being in charge, and ultimately refuses to do as told. Later, Riley uses the food money to buy new clothes for himself. Huey, to Riley's surprise and chagrin, doesn't fight Riley, but rather grounds him for his action. Riley's first attempt to leave the house is thwarted when a ready-to-strike Huey nails him with a kick as soon as he opens the front door. In another attempt, Riley tries to climb out of his bedroom window with a makeshift rope, but this goes wrong when Huey lights the rope on fire, causing Riley to scramble back up into the house. As Huey explains, Riley made several more attempts to escape and eventually had to be forcibly restrained with duct-tape handcuffs and barred windows (which Huey installed). Huey locked away Riley's guns, retaining only a couple for himself which he used to enforce his "supreme authority." He also dresses Riley in an orange prisoner-like jumpsuit and keeps a domineering eye on him as he makes him do chores. Huey, always with a gun in hand, never takes his eyes off of his brother, even while his brother slept.

Meanwhile, Robert, after having a rough go at the airport, collapses on his bed upon arriving at the hotel. Later, he goes down to the club and tries to play the room, but the women show little interest in him. Retreating to his hotel room, he is shown doing things like watching a Spanish soap opera and doing crossword puzzles, while he hears other younger vacationers having the times of their lives. Eventually, he decides to call home to talk to the kids, but the conversation is cut short when Riley bites through his cuffs and tries to get away. Huey hangs up and runs after him, re-binding his wrists and locking him in the closet as punishment.

Huey thrice has to deal with Tom who, as Robert predicted, comes to ask about Robert. Huey obeys Robert and continues telling Tom that Robert is out running errands. While Huey answers the door and maintains this lie for the third and final time, Riley breaks out of the closet (apparently having picked the lock with a wire-hanger). Then Huey battle Riley with their airsoft guns, blaming each other for Robert leaving and both worried that he may never come back. Things have come to a head when Huey and Riley are holding a gun point blank at one another. Then they both shoot after Huey tells Riley not to shoot themselves out in a low whispered voice, knocking themselves out in the process.

Meanwhile Robert, having had a regrettable experience, returns after only a few days of absence. He is not worried about the wrecked house (since the kids didn't permanently damage the house and "it doesn't look too bad" to him, at least no worse than he expected) and doesn't ask about Ruckus. He is just happy to see Huey and Riley and there friends, and they, recovering, greet him with a hug, relieved that he decided to return. Robert tells the boys that he "did it big," though he did not, and tells Tom that he didn't go to Costa Rica, though he did. Huey and Riley agreeing for the first time in the episode, immediately decide to clean up the house as Robert goes up to bed while he receives 1 message from Ruckus (about them being evil), and plenty of messages from Tom (2 of them asking about the trip, and the rest being as Tom suspected he went on the trip) which Robert deletes all of them.

Appearances[]

Bloopers[]

  • At some point of the episode, Riley was forced to wear an orange jumpsuit, which he later took off when he was able to escape from the closet that Huey locked him in. When Robert came back from his trip and opened the door, Huey and Riley was lying on the floor, and Riley was back to the orange jumpsuit. When they both went to hug Robert, Riley was seen back to wearing the white tank top and jeans.
  • According to the flashback with the Cristal, Jay-Z makes an appearance in this episode when Tom told him that Robert was drinking his champagne when Tom told him not to.

Cultural references[]

  • The title references the film Home Alone.
  • When Huey forces Riley to put clothes in the hamper, the song playing is Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings", the main theme in the 1986 Vietnam War movie Platoon.
  • When Huey and Riley are prepping BB gun ammo to shoot out Uncle Ruckus, the dining table scene where they are packing their handguns is from The Boondock Saints.
  • Tom and Ruckus discuss Jay-Z's boycott of Cristal.source
  • The nosepiece of Grandad's plane ("Dorothy") can be seen in his den (from "Wingmen").

Gallery[]

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