The Fund-Raiser – S03/E07
- Welcome
- Episode synopsis
- HBOMax Synopsis: Riley takes over the school candy bar hustle and floods the block with sugar. But when the competition comes looking for payback, it’s all out war for control of the chocolate covered streets. Will the sweet life take Riley under?
Pre Show:
Show:
- Selling candy for schools
- Gangster movies
- Granddad’s bad influence
- Huey tried
White People Question:
- From lots of random white folks everywhere:Why use “Black” instead of “African-American”? (or vice-versa)
- Have a “Stupid White People Question” you want to leave us?
Post Show:
Trivia:
- This is the fourth time Riley has taken narrating duties in the series.
- Ed Wuncler III was shot once again, but this time, his W-Chain protected him, although the impact of the bullet against the chain against his chest had knocked him out.
- If Huey had never predicted Riley’s fate and given him a bullet-proof vest, Riley would have been killed as it was shown that he was shot in the chest region of the vest.
- This is Cindy McPhearson’s fourth and final appearance on The Boondocks.
- The opening music is a slowed Scarface theme song.
- The music for the montage after Riley confronts the principal is similar to Debbie Harry’s “Rush Rush” from Scarface.
- Cindy references rapper Beanie Siegel from the film State Property when she says – “Either Get Down Or Lay Down”
- The premise of the episode is similar to that of Scarface.
- The speech that Granddad gives Riley about allowance is a reference to the speech that Julius from the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris gives Chris when he asks for an allowance, for example when he says “I allow you to live in this house!”
- The student being dunked and frozen in chocolate is a reference to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which Han Solo is frozen in carbonite.
- The Scene in which Cindy and her friends bully a girl for selling on her territory is taken from a skit, “Can It Be All So Simple” remix on Raekwon‘s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… album.
- When Riley tells the business owner off, he says “My President is Black and my Lambo is Blue,” which are lines from the Young Jeezy song “My President”.
- There is a Goodfellas reference when Riley confronts Jazmine about the money, similar to when Henry’s wife got rid of the coke and Henry confronted her on it.
- There is also a Goodfellas reference when Riley is driving to close his fundraiser, and he looks up to see a helicopter following him.
- Another Goodfellas reference is at the episode’s end. Riley starts as a normal “loser” kid, and after everything ends up the same way. Just like Henry Hill started out as an average nobody, tried to run away from it, but still ended up in the “schnook” life.
- The scene where Granddad‘s new car blows up is similar to a scene from The Godfather in which Michael Corleone’s wife, Apollonia, is killed after igniting a car bomb.
- The scene where the chocolate factory owner sits and introduces himself to Riley is a reference to Harry Lonsdale’s monologue in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In the same scene, when Riley is being seen and his thoughts are being heard, the end of Snatch with Turkish sitting in front of Doug ‘The Head’ Denovitz is referenced.
- The name of the chocolate factory owner is “Alestor Rigby”. This may be a reference to the British song “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles.
- Additionally as Riley responds to the chocolate factory owner, he says “Fuck Guy Ritchie.” Guy Ritchie being the director of the previously referenced movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. He also directed the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey, Jr.
- Additional British references include the chocolate factory owner mentioning “(he) gets angry when Liverpool beats Arsenal.” The reference is to the two English football clubs in the Premier League. The allusion to him being an Arsenal supporter is supported by his Cockney accent – an accent stereotypically associated with working-class London, Arsenal’s home city.
- The scene where the PETA worker pulls out the check for the fundraising money that Jazmine sent to the organization was in reference to the golden tickets in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
- The scene in which Riley describes how the kids sell the chocolate is a reference to rapper Freeway‘s song “What We Do” in which Jay-Z raps “Rain…sleet, hail…snow man” and refers to selling drugs in any circumstances.
- The shootout scene is a reference to a similar shootout which also saves the protagonists in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
- The ending scene where Riley narrates would he do it again is in reference to the film Paid in Full.
- When Riley says that Cindy has “less compassion than the average girl”, it may have been a reference to when 50 Cent said that President Bush has “less compassion than the average human.”
- The scene where Riley and his crew are walking down the sidewalk slowly while wearing sunglasses is a reference to the opening sequence of the Tarantino heist film Reservoir Dogs.
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