| The Boondocks | |
| Season 2, Episode 25 | |
 | |
| Air date | December 3, 2007 |
| Written by | Aaron McGruder
Rodney Barnes |
| Directed by | Dan Fausett |
| Production # | 212 |
| Episode Guide | |
| previous Invasion of the Katrinians |
next The S-Word |
"Home Alone" is the tenth episode of the second season of Adult Swim's The Boondocks Series and the twenty-fifth episode overall. It originally aired on December 17, 2007.
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Episode
The episode starts with Huey and Riley fighting. As they bust through the bathroom door, Granddad, taking a shower at the time, expresses his dissatisfaction with their constant aggression.
Later, Robert is playing cards in his basement with Uncle Ruckus and Tom Dubois. Tom suggests that Robert take a vacation to Costa Rica, telling him he should "do it big" like the rappers. Robert takes the suggestion into extreme consideration and even fantasizes about what might happen. His fantasy includes him popping Cristal with Hispanic girls while going by his alias "Mr. Bitches." Tom, interested in accompanying Robert on this trip, causes Robert to think about what might happen in the same situation were Tom present. In this fantasy, Robert hits it off while Tom is having a conversation about an absurd dream he had. The girls, bored by Tom's musings, leave. As a result, Robert doesn't commit to the trip.
Huey explains Robert's past attempts at hiring a babysitter for him and Riley: the first, a pre-teen to young teenage girl, the second a British Nanny, and the last a guidance counselor for misguided black youths. The young girl misconstrued what playing "cops and robbers" with Riley entailed, and got her money stolen as a result. This landed the brothers on a "do-not-sit" website. The nanny, though extremely effective, was fired after using the telephone for five minutes and leaving the kitchen light on while no one was in the kitchen (Robert had hidden a nannycam). The counselor had taken to a fetal position with a look of terror in his eyes upon Robert's return possibly due to Riley's persistance.
Robert, going off on the "do it big" trip without Tom, tells Huey that should Tom inquire as to his whereabouts, to tell him that he went to the store. Other than that, he leaves two weeks' worth of food money and hires Uncle Ruckus as their sitter. As Robert leaves, Ruckus tells Huey and Riley to "shut the f**k up" so he can explain himself about "nigger-sitting" the two brothers. After Ruckus threatens to use a cattle prod and shock collar as punishment devices, the boys work together and ambush Ruckus with airsoft Glock guns, causing him to evacuate the house.
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Huey, presuming himself to be in charge, tells Riley to clean up the living room. Riley suggests that they take turns being in charge, and ultimately refuses to do as told. Later, Riley uses the food money to buy new clothes for himself. Huey, to Riley's surprise and chagrin, doesn't fight Riley, but rather grounds him for his action. Riley's first attempt to leave the house is thwarted when a ready-to-strike Huey compthisingly nails him with a kick as soon as he opens the front door. In another attempt, Riley tries to climb out of his bedroom window with a makeshift rope, but this goes wrong when Huey lights the rope on fire, causing Riley to scramble back up into the house. As Huey explains, Riley made several more attempts to escape and eventually had to be forcibly restrained with duct-tape handcuffs and barred windows (which Huey installed). Huey locked away Riley's guns, retaining only a couple for himself which he used to enforce his "supreme authority." He also dresses Riley in an orange prisoner-like jumpsuit and keeps a domineering eye on him as he makes him do chores. Huey, always with a gun in hand, never takes his eyes off of his brother, even while his brother slept.
Riley, in prisoners' garb, tries to bite through ducttape.
Meanwhile, Robert, after having a rough go at the airport, collapses on his bed upon arriving at the hotel. Later, he goes down to the club and tries to play the room, but the women show little interest in him. Retreating to his hotel room, he is shown doing things like watching a Spanish soap opera and doing crossword puzzles while he hears other, younger vacationers having the times of their lives. Eventually he decides to call home to talk to the kids, but the conversation is cut short when Riley bites through his cuffs and tries to get away. Huey hangs up and runs after him, re-binding his wrists and locking him in the closet as punishment.
Huey thrice has to deal with Tom who, as Robert predicted, comes to ask about Robert. Huey obeys his granddad and continues telling Tom that Granddad is out running errands. While he answers the door and maintains this lie for the third and final time, Riley breaks out of the closet (apparently having picked the lock with a wire-hanger). The boys battle with their airsoft guns, each blaming the other for why Granddad left and may never come back. Things come to a head when both are holding a gun point blank at one another. As Riley pulls out a sub-machine airsoft gun, Huey throws a pillow and varcently kicks him in the face. Riley kicks Huey's gun off his hand and the two grab two remaining airsoft guns as they both shoot each other in the head, knocking themselves out in the process.
Meanwhile Robert, having had a regrettable experience, returns after only a few days of absence. He is not worried about the wrecked house and doesn't ask about Ruckus. He is just happy to see Huey and Riley, and they, recovering, greet him with a hug, relieved that he decided to return. Robert tells the boys that he "did it big," though he did not, and tells Tom that he didn't go to Costa Rica, though he did. The boys, agreeing for the first time in the episode, immediately decide to clean up the house as their granddad goes up to bed. The episode ends with Robert checking messages from Uncle Ruckus and Tom (most of the messages are from Tom), which he deletes.
Trivia
The name is most likely a reference to the movie of the same name.