grown-ish

The pursuit of higher education aside,

there are so many reasons people go to college.

Some go to find love...

...others to find their purpose.

And for Vivek Shah, the number-one reason he went

was to reinvent himself and finally fit in.

But don't get me wrong...

there'd been some bumps along the road to his reinvention.

What's up with you and being so close to my body, bro?

Bro, you make it so hard to root for you.

Bitch, I will slap you.

But despite the growing pains,

Vivek had finally found his way.

I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you. Is that a domi-yes? Hm?

Or a domi-nos, bitch?!

Whoo!

And since being kicked out of Winthrop house

by the rich kids and crashing at Hawkins,

he had really started to fit in.

But on the road to reinventing yourself and trying to fit in,

is it possible to fit in too well?

Get at me later, my .

What the hell just happened?

Hold up.

Did anybody peep that?

Why is nobody trippin'?

Trippin' on what? Somebody do something?

Your boy, "V-Didge."

Yo, it seems like he's starting to feel

a little too at home at Hawkins.

Well, I mean, the dude's been crashing here,

so technically, he is home.

No, no, I'm saying, like, homeland home,

motherland home, "For Us By Us,"

but he ain't... one-of-us kind of home.

Yo, he's starting to get a little too comfortable, man.

Well, I can argue Vivek has always... been comfortable.

Hey, Queen.

We do it for the culture!

Excuse me, Queen, you thirsty this evening?

You mad.

- Yeah. - No, I'm saying my problem is,

we're all a little too comfortable

with him being that comfortable.

Somebody's gonna have to check his ass.

What? Whoa! Can you...

Dude, this is our boy we're talking about here, okay?

Not some stranger.

This is harmless, sweet-faced, chipper-ass Vivek.

The dude's like a buff little Disney prince or something.

No, no, no. Did you not hear what Rafael just called him?

That's not Vivek's fault.

You cannot blame him for Rafael's dumbass comment.

Plus, everybody knows Rafael says the N-word all the time.

The dude's got a serious problem.

Come on, . Come on!

Ooh!

My .

Talkin' bout.

Come on. Unh-unh. Don't do that.

But that doesn't excuse Vivek's behavior.

Bro, he's appropriating our culture... period.

How can Vivek be guilty of cultural appropriation?

By definition, it means taking

the elements of someone else's culture

without knowing anything about it

or having any respect for it.

Vivek isn't stealing anything, and you are buggin'.

Yo, when I watch old boy brush his hair

with the little wooden brush like that,

I feel mad disrespected.

From the way he brushes his hair?

Yes, and you don't find it odd that when we text each other,

he sends me the black thumbs-up emoji?

Honestly, I find it more odd

that two grown-ass men text with emojis.

Okay.

And in his defense, Vivek is brown.

What the hell color is he supposed to use?

Not the Wesley Snipes thumb.

Yo, and... and... Okay.

How do you explain the whole video game thing?

Doug, it's a basketball game.

The majority of the players are Black.

Here.

Yo, he had the option to customize his player

to look exactly like himself,

and he went and made it look like 2 Chainz.

Yo, I just think you're too close to dude to see it.

I guarantee you if this was anybody else besides your BFF,

you would find this whole thing mad sus.

Just sayin'.

So, after learning that a little volunteer work

would not only help society but also help me boost my grade

so I could get off of academic probation,

I decided to scour the Internet.

You know, it's too bad that Cal U won't give you

extra credit for the type of volunteer work that I do.

Which is...?

Writing sizeable tax-deductible donations

to private school students in Israel.

Wow. How noble of you.

I'm pretty much like the Jewish Oprah.

Okay, you're insane.

Well, I'm big on giving back, too.

Once a year, I go with my church

into low-income neighborhoods to paint poor children's faces.

You guys, you should see the smile on their faces.

After we paint them on.

Okay, and you're insane, too.

Ah. Damn it!

The puppy rescue is full.

You know, I would have killed

to rescue a poor little discarded golden retriever

named Hector.

- Ohh. - That woman looks so fulfilled.

Okay, well, is there another site you can check?

Uh...

Actually, you know what?

There's a site my father uses.

- Arts and culture... - Yeah.

And ZIP code...

Oh! "Project: Ballgown."

This is actually pretty perfect.

Not only can I stack extra credit,

but I can also stack the confidence

of high school girls who can't afford prom dresses.

- That's perfect. - Mm-hmm.

I mean... it's no face paint.

Yo, what's poppin', my people?

This is your boy V-Didge,

and we outchea in these Cal U streets!

Mm-hmm.

Ooh, God, what is that?

- Who taught him that? - I'm telling you.

Brrrratt!

Brrrr, brrrr, brrrr, brrrrrr...

Mm! Mm!

Oh, see? Look. Look.

Right there, Vivek just built the best defense for himself.

Black people don't let dogs kiss them on the mouth.

- That's just not a thing that we do. - All right, cool.

But none of the rest of that seemed sus to you? Come on.

I mean, sure, yeah,

Vivek, as a human, makes me feel very sus,

conflicted, confused, about a lot of things,

but as a Black person, no.

And besides, he's a minority, dude.

He can't steal from us.

It still doesn't give him an all-access pass

'cause he's not White.

But it does give him a limited-access pass,

because as a minority,

we know what it's like to have to assimilate.

We don't trust cops,

we know the difference between a well-seasoned piece of meat

and that bland-ass bullshit

White people cook for Thanksgiving.

What the hell is a turducken?

- Okay, I'm sorry, but, bro... - Hm?

...if you're not Black, right, it doesn't matter

how similar our taste buds or our hardships are.

You stay in your lane, I stay in mine.

It's simple.

But how can you tell which lane is which

when everyone's trying to be us?

Black culture is pop culture.

It's not Vivek's fault

that the lines are so blurred, you know?

What was that?

Who turnt up over there?

What's happening?

"Wave Cap Wednesday."

And these about to be seasick! You hear me?

Ohhh!

Oh!

Ohh!

Man, I don't know about that.

Come on. Come on.

Ohh!

Come on. Don't let me down.

Don't let Daddy down.

Ohh!

My man! Unh!

He won. He won that one.

Yes, sir, hold up!

Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh! Whoa! Whoa!

Hold up!

What?

Here we go. Here we go.

Ohhhhh!

- Ooh! Ooh! - Man, how you like that?

But the lines aren't so blurred now, are they?

Welcome.

The Zoey Johnson Styling Experience

has officially gone philanthropic.

I'm giving back in the best way I know how...

fashion.

Oh, my God!

She looks... stunning!