Chozen: I’m With The Contraband Review

When Troy and his fellow freshmen have some trouble getting into decent parties (or, really, ANY parties) on campus, Chozen decides to help his buddy out by drawing upon his prison experience and limited understanding of supply and demand to turn the tables on the frat establishment. Of course, like any grand scheme or anything Chozen does ever, it all comes crashing down.

This episode, “I’m With the Contraband” was okay. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t that great. It was nice to see Tracy actually getting in on her brother’s scheme and not in a way that she’s exploiting him. It’s clear that Tracy was sort of meant to be the Sweet Dee of this show, but I think the writers found pretty quickly here what the writers of It’s Always Sunny found: having the one girl being the down-to-earth voice of reason, aside from being tediously stereotypical, is just boring and a drag. I, for one, love that Tracy (and, in her show, Dee) are just as fucked up as they boys are. It makes for better story and humor. And it’s certainly a lot less sexist.

Again, Crisco and Ricky? Boring as shit. I mean, really. I know this show is written by a bunch of white guys, but come on. Troy was barely in this episode and still managed to be the crux of the plot, while these two ass-clowns remain firmly in the one-note minority camp. We get it. They have a higher melanin content and different cultural circumstances. What else you got? I mean, Jimmy’s an idiot too, and despite his academic intelligence, Troy ain’t far behind, but at least their comedic idiocy comes from what they do, not who they are. It’s almost like Crisco and Ricky’s entire characters are their ethnicities, and if the writers of this show try to peddle the idea that it’s some kind of meta commentary, they can move along, cause I ain’t buying. I mean, I’m a suburban white guy, and I’m feeling insulted at the lack of decent characterization for the two men of color in this show.

Like I said, the episode wasn’t terrible. There were a few good gags. Honestly, at this point, Chozen’s sexuality is such a background hum that I forget he’s gay until they make some well-placed jokes that refer to it, all of them tending to be pretty funny. Even funnier was the scene where Chozen and the campus security guard talk in subtitled prison lingo. I appreciate that the character’s humor isn’t entirely dependent on his orientation. Still, that wasn’t enough to keep this episode afloat for very long. There were a few other clever one-liners, but overall this was not the creative team’s best effort. Let’s hope next week gets us back on track with Chozen’s vendetta against Phantasm, because that’s where the show really seems to shine.

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