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"Smokin With Cigarettes" is the sixth episode of the third season of The Boondocks. It aired on June 6, 2010.

Synopsis[]

Riley befriends a boy named Lamilton Taeshawn who turns out to be a psychopathic menace and wants to be renowned for doing bad things, not realizing he's in more trouble than it's worth.

Plot[]

The show begins with an interview with, a then 6-year old, pathologically rebellious anti-Christ Lamilton Taeshawn, where the interviewer asks him many questions about how he could have hurt people and why did he do bad things, where he replies that "It's fun to do bad things.“

The scene then changes 2 years later to an 8-year old Lamilton picking up Riley in his grandmother's SUV that he stole. Lamilton offers Riley a cigarette, saying "You smoke with cigawettes?" (with a "w" sound instead of an "r" sound). Riley, trying to respect reputation as a "bad kid", accepts them, but is unable to actually smoke them with Lamilton's extremely reckless driving. Lamilton destroys many obstacles in his way, but the SUV comes to a stop when the car crashes upon impact with the ground after hitting a speed bump at a high speed. The police surround the vehicle, but lower their guns after seeing the driver and passenger were little children.

Later, Robert beats Riley senseless with his belt due to his bad behavior, which Riley didn't even do much anything bad other than the cigarettes. Lamilton appears on the news and remarks again "It's fun to do bad things", to cover for his wrongdoings. Granddad tells him to stay away from Lamilton or else he will tie Riley to the bed post, but Riley opposes it.

Lamilton

Lamilton and his grandmother arrive at the Freeman home for an apology. Lamilton obviously makes up a fake apology, and the grandmother then tells his entire story to explain the reason he is juvenile (although the story is so long and boring, it puts everyone to sleep). Granddad then leads them out of the house, hoping to never see them again.

Then two weeks later, a new story appears on the 24 news, says that Lamilton had beaten his grandmother for "not buying fried chicken" for him.

Soon after, Riley and Lamilton go on a spree of wreaking havoc on the people of the town. They drop objects over a bridge (such as a naked doll and a flaming bed) to disrupt traffic, causing many accidents; they also mow down passing individuals with paint-guns containing a mixture of urine and hot sauce.

Later, Lamilton wants to "do more bad things" but Riley is tired. Lamilton gets angry quickly, while Riley seems surprised by this outburst. Lamilton, in apology, offers for Riley to come over to his house and watch movies.

The two begin watching violent R-rated movies that are very graphic. Riley is freaked out by them, and asks why Lamilton likes those kind of films. Lamilton replies that he thinks "hurting people is fun". Lamilton then shows them his grandmother's handgun that he stole that was originally for defense against burglars; he then remarks that he wants to do criminal things with it to rob people and to hurt them. Riley thinks the idea is crazy and tries to leave, but is blocked by Lamilton and puts under the pressure of the gun.

Dr. Doomis arrives at the house to inform Robert to keep Riley away from Lamilton. He reveals that he has been attempting to lock Lamilton away for a long time. Dr. Doomis, who was the interviewer of at the beginning of the episode, remarks that he remembers Lamilton's blank expression on his face, that whatever was behind that blank face "wasn't human", and that he must be stopped. And later explained that he was possibly the anti-Christ.

Riley returns later that night, traumatized. Robert intends to scold him, but Riley openly states that what they did was horrible; they grounds himself and even promises to beat himself, leaving Huey and Robert shocked.

The two arrive at Mrs. Von Heusen's house that Lamilton wants to rob. A guard dog starts to bark, startling Riley. Lamilton then shoots the dog. They run away and Riley asks why he had to kill the dog. Lamilton says the dog tried to "bite" him as an excuse, although the dog was chained and could not reach them. Riley calls him crazy, and he leaves and parts from him. Dr. Doomis, who spied on them, tells the police, and Lamilton is arrested the next day. Dr. Doomis advises Riley about his arrest, and tells them he should have no worry, as Lamilton cannot bother them from "The System". Riley is worried though, as Lamilton will think that he told them.

The next day, Riley is at school, but Riley looks out the window constantly with his fear of Lamilton. Lamilton appears, with Riley's reaction which gets him detention for swearing in class.

Dr. Doomis calls Robert, advising them that Lamilton had gotten out of "The System", and Robert told Huey to rush to save Riley. Huey then gets Robert's shotgun, and the two leave and meet Dr. Doomis.

Back at the school, Riley is released from his detention, and sees Lamilton at his locker door, although he doesn't go to his school. Lamilton then threatens them with the gun after believing that Riley snitched on him. To save himself, Riley promises that he and Lamilton would go do bad things again, which causes Lamilton to back down. Riley then tackles him from behind and knocks the gun across the hallway. Riley picks up the gun and then runs away to the roof of the school with Lamilton following him.

At the roof, Riley throws the gun into the forest across to the other side of the town, and a fist fight then ensues thereafter. Ruckus (who takes the job of a janitor) awkwardly enters as the fight is taking place, and leaves (telling them to "proceed") after seeing it was "just two n*****s killing each other", so he doesn't care. Using this distraction, the fight continues with Riley getting the upper hand. Riley then knocks Lamilton off the edge while Riley tries to hold on to his hand, but Lamilton is and Riley says he is too fat and too heavy for him to hold. Lamilton apologizes and promises that he's sorry for trying to make Riley get scared of him, explaining it's because of his anger; he just doesn't want to die. Dr. Doomis, Huey and Robert finally reach the roof. Dr. Doomis then dashed past the Freeman family and forces Riley to let go of Lamilton's hand, causing him to fall. This display horrified the Freeman’s while Doomis is content with his act. However, Robert notices Lamilton is apparently gone but he did not die, only significantly injured and limping away. Shocked, Dr. Doomis then jumps from the roof on top of him, saying that Lamilton must die because he was the anti-Christ, and it was his duty to destroy him. While struggling to get him off, Lamilton begs for someone to find his grandmother for Doomis to respect the 100-yard restraining order, thus Lamilton's claims to have total disregard for the law and his own well-being and shown to be false. Robert, believing the conflict is over, starts for home. While leaving the roof, another kid asks Riley if he's "got any cigawettes." Riley turns his head with a blank expression on his face.

Appearances[]

Notes[]

  • The final battle between Riley and Lamilton appears to be the first time in the series that Riley has single-handedly won a fight (although when Uncle Ruckus interrupted the fight, he distracted Lamilton momentarily).
  • Throughout the episode, Lamilton's name is sung in the style of a dramatic chant, a la The Omen.

Cultural references[]

  • Lamilton Taeshawn is a spoof on 7-year-old Latarian Milton. Latarian Milton went on a driving spree in his grandmother's SUV, then beat his grandmother over fried chicken; both of these antics occur in the episode. The episode's title, "Smokin With Cigarettes", comes from a quote from Milton in an interview, in which he said "...and he smokes with cigarettes". This is also referenced frequently throughout the episode. The promo for this episode says "it's fun to do bad things", a quote from the same interview. [Where Is Latarian Milton Today and What Happened to Him? (buzzsouthafrica.com) source]
  • The interview at the beginning is a parody of the 2002 film The Ring. The interview involving the "chicken wing" scene can be found on the internet.
  • The psychotic, red-haired clown that appears in the horror film Riley and Lamilton watch is a reference to Killjoy from the 2000 film Killjoy.
  • Dr. Doomis is a reference to Dr. Sam Loomis from the Halloween franchise. The conversation between Dr. Doomis, Huey, and Granddad is almost identical to the one that Dr. Loomis has with Sheriff Leigh Brackett in the original Halloween movie. Frequently music similar to the theme from the Halloween franchise is played when Lamilton is on screen.
  • The fight scene on the roof bears striking similarity to the final fight in Juice, and is most likely an homage. In fact, the episode makes frequent references to the film:
    • During the fight scene with Riley and Lamilton, the song (presumably by Metaphor The Great) playing in the background has a beat similar to Eric B. & Rakim's hit song, "Know the Ledge", which was made for the movie Juice which is frequently referenced in this episode.
    • When Lamilton confronts Riley at his locker, this scene mirrors Bishop intimidating Q with a gun at school.
    • When Riley throws Lamilton's gun off the edge of the school, it is similar to when Q throws the gun into the river
    • Earlier in the episode and in the promo, the statement of "who's got the juice" pays homage to the title of the movie.
    • When Lamilton kills the dog, he claims, "It jumped at me", similar to Bishop when he killed the liquor store owner.
    • The ending mirrors the similar scene from Juice with Riley having someone say the phrase "you got a cigarette" in the manner Q was told "you got the juice now" at the end of the movie.
  • Part of the episode deals with similar elements from the movie The Good Son starring Macaulay Culkin as a mentally disturbed boy, Henry, who engages in several similar activities that Lamilton does like smoking, stealing things, pulling pranks, causing a massive car pile up, and killing a chained up guard dog, and like Riley he tries to get his cousin Mark played by Elijah Wood to be like him.
  • Lamilton's mugshot indicates that his police identification number is "0666" in reference to the Number of the beast. In addition, this episode was aired June 6 (6/6) and is the 6th episode of the season.
  • After Lamilton assaults his grandmother in the local Walli-Mart, (a parody of Wal-Mart), they are both interviewed by a news reporter in front of the Walli-Mart. The front of the Walli-Mart can be seen with the words "We Work For Less", (a parody of the Wal-Mart line "More For Less").

Critical reception[]

Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club graded the episode a "B-," complimenting some good gags and the artwork, but noted that the tone was very uneven and it lacked a clear message, ultimately calling it a "stumble in what's otherwise been an excellent season."[3]

Gallery[]

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