The First Season of The Boondocks introduced us to the Freemans, the Dubois family (attorney Tom, the whitest black man in the land; his (white) wife Sarah; and their daughter Jazmine), Uncle Ruckus (the black man who hates black people), and gave us yet another reason to tune into Adult Swim (not to mention what might have happened had Martin Luther King, Jr. had survived in a now-controversial moment of television history that caused Reverend Al Sharpton to get up on his soapbox).

Featuring the magnificent vocal talents of Regina King (Huey and Riley Freeman), John Witherspoon (Robert Freeman), Cedric Yarbrough (Tom Dubois), Gary Anthony Williams (Uncle Ruckus), Jill Talley (Sarah Dubois), and Gabby Soleil (Jazmine Dubois), The Boondocks - The Complete Second Season takes us back to the suburbs of Woodcrest where Huey Freeman is still waiting for the right moment to rise up against the man, his younger brother Riley is still trying to be a gangster, and granddad Robert is still trying to get laid.  Suffice to say, things haven’t changed much…

Disc One
“…Or Die Trying” - Granddad is extremely stoked over Soul Plane 2: Blackjacked and prepares to sneak the boys and Jazmine into the theater to see it.  A much-awaited epic kung-fu battle between Huey and Uncle Ruckus (as an usher) is an inspired highlight.  Snoop Dogg, Mo’Nique, and Affion Crockett (as a hilariously barely-intelligible 50 Cent…or 50 Cent, if you prefer) lend their voices.

“Tom, Sarah and Usher” - Sarah meets Usher (the Usher, not Uncle Ruckus from the theater) in the restaurant…causing Tom to become extremely jealous.  The Freeman’s stage an intervention with the assistance of A Pimp Named Slick back (Katt Williams).

“Thank You For Not Snitching” - Ed and Gin, two of the blackest white men in the country (Charles Q. Murphy and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively), are on a robbing spree throughout the community.  Naturally, everyone blames the black folk. 

“Stinkmeaner Strikes Back” - Stinkmeaner, the old bitter, blind man that Granddad killed in the First Season, is thrust back into the world by Satan himself and promptly inhabits the body of Tom (leading up to a wonderful “Blaxorcist” moment with “Father” Ruckus).

“The Story Of Thugnificent” - R&B Superstar Thugnificent (Carl Jones) moves in across the street, bringing a whole heap of trouble with him and starting a musical war between him and Granddad.  Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes guest star as Thugnificent’s sidekicks.  Fatman Scoop, Sway, Nate Dogg, and Xzibit also guest star (as themselves).  Note how Thugnificent’s video features a caricature of John Witherspoon, prompting Granddad (played by Witherspoon) to grunt out “It’s just that guy from Friday”.

Disc Two
“The Hunger Strike” - One of two episodes that were banned from hitting the airwaves (the other episode is included on Disc Three).  Huey goes on a hunger strike in retaliation against the degrading kind of programming B.E.T. is airing (and rightfully so).  A Dr. Evil-esque parody of B.E.T.’s real-life president/CEO Debra L. Lee is featured.

“Attack Of The Killer Kung-Fu Wolf Bitch” - Granddad’s MySpace sexcapades haven’t been very successful lately, but then Luna (Aisha Tyler) shows up at the door.  Luna is beautiful, sexy, and looking for love.  Oh, she’s kinda psycho-nutty, was raised by wolves, and is a master of an ancient martial arts technique.  Tichina Arnold guest stars.

“Shinin’” - Thugnificent & Co. make Riley part of the Lethal Injection crew and give him a nice blingity-bling necklace thingy…which is promptly stolen by the neighborhood bully (played by Daryl Sabara of all people).  Sway plays himself (complete with that big poofy hat of his).

“Ballin’” - The weakest episode of the season.  Tom has a Mighty Ducks dream to accomplish coaching a basketball team and Riley is his new star potential.  Unfortunately, Riley is more show than game.

“Invasion Of The Katrinians” - Granddad’s cousin Jericho (Cedric the Entertainer), one of the many New Orleans residents left homeless after Hurricane Katrina, come to stay.  And mooch.  Hey, that FEMA check is on the way…right?  Greg Ellis and Lil’ Wayne lend their voices for this one.


Disc Three
“The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show” - B.E.T. has given Ruckus his own reality show…and it is everything that you would expect it to be.  Needless to say, this episode was also banned from airing (B.E.T doesn’t have a sense of humor, it seems).  Cee-Lo co-stars as Rev. Rollo Goodlove.

“Home Alone” - Tom and Granddad talk about an exciting getaway to Costa Rica.  Then, realizing Tom is a total bore, Granddad goes on his own - leaving Huey and Riley to fend for themselves (not to mention defend themselves against each other). 

“The S-Word” - Does anyone else think of Saturday Night Live when they see that title?  Anyway, Granddad and Riley team up with Rev. Goodlove for the pursuit of big money after Riley’s third-grade teacher calls him The N-Word.  Fred Willard is an absolute riot as Riley’s teacher and gets a rare opportunity to use every racist term in the book (in the name of comedy, of course), who argues that there’s a difference between “nigga” (which he used) and “nigger” (which everyone says he used)…just like a real-life incident which inspired this episode.

“The Story Of Catcher Freeman” - Granddad attempts to entertain the boys by telling them a completely bullshit account of his great heroic ancestor, Catcher Freeman.  The story takes a different turn when Uncle Ruckus comes in and tells his version of the story.  Each version is played out like a movie (complete with Riley heckling and shouting like a young kid in the movie theater).  Scrubs star Donald Faison guest stars.

“The Story Of Gangstalicious, Part 2” - Mos Def returns as Gangstalicious, the gangsta rapper who doesn’t know how to handle a gun and is secretly gay.  His new song and video, “Homies Over Hoes” is taking the music world by storm.  Gangstalicious sends Riley a box of femmy clothes from his new apparel line (which must be seen to be believed), which causes Granddad and Ruckus to question Riley’s sexual preference.

Presentation
Sony brings us a fine-looking transfer of the 2007/‘08-produced series in a 1.78:1 ratio presentation (with anamorphic enhancement) and a 2-Channel Stereo English soundtrack.  There are no Subtitles, but Closed Captioning is available.

Extras
Several episodes include an optional Audio Commentary with creator/producer Aaron McGruder and producers Rodney Barnes and Carl Jones: “Stinkmeaner Strikes Back”, “The Hunger Strike”, “The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show”, and “The Story Of Gangstalicious, Part 2”, with optional Video Introductions on “The Hunger Strike”, “The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show”, giving brief explanations as to why the episodes were banned (blame B.E.T., kids).  Amusingly enough, due to B.E.T.’s lawyers, McGruder is unable to even mention certain individuals parodied in these episodes. 

Additional Bonus Features include the Featurettes Behind The Boondocks (17:06), Trouble In Woodcrest? (4:31), What Niggas? (1:16), and Interviews with The Cast.

Two Minisodes and several Previews are also included (which we could all do without).

The Bottom Line
Aaron, I only say this because I know how much you hate to hear it: “Hey McGruder! When’s Season Three coming out?”