There’s spoilers in this recap of episode two of Woke, “What Prequels?” so you know, you’ve been warned.
This episode’s TL; DR: “A Tuesday for Black people.”
RELATED: Woke Season Premiere Recap: (S01E01) Rhymes with Broke
Last time on the comedy inspired by co-creator Keith Knight‘s comix, cartoonist Keef (Lamorne Morris) got woke after the SFPD attacked him for being Black in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Now, we open in the apartment where Keef is sleeping soundly until his dreams turn into a nightmare recollection of the events at Golden Con. Most people have alarm clocks. Keef has an anthropomorphic Marker (JB Smoove), who likes, I quote, “f***ing with Keef.” Marker ends up in the garbage.
Meanwhile, Gunther (Blake Anderson) has made a hearty breakfast for Keef: starfruit yes, triggering toast, no. But Keef’s not in the mood for pancakes. He’s off to the Bloom & Hill to plead his case. Clovis (T. Murph) tells Keef that rather than apologize for his breakdown/awakening at Golden Con, best pretend it never happened. Eventually everyone will forget about it. Just like Clovis’s mom forgot about his dad’s other daughter. Gunther strongly disagrees. He points that Clovis most definitely has a sister, Jar Jar Binks happened, and Keef did go “toastal.” Keef looks like he’s barely holding on by a thread.
Next, Keef’s meeting with Cindy (Shannon Chan-Kent) at Bloom & Hill doesn’t go so well. She calls him out on trying to pretend that Golden Con didn’t happen. Keef’s apologizing within 30 seconds. But her anger runs deeper than business. Cindy, as Keef not-so-tactfully points out, is Asian and as a fellow POC, she was rooting for him to make it big. She says all he had to do was play it safe till he was rich and famous—then he could get political. Unfortunately, Keef has lost his syndication deal.
But, not to worry because The Bay Arean has made Keef a legend in his own right. Next, he heads over to meet with Ayana (Sasheer Zamata) to plead with her to remove the video of his “wokedown” from her site. She reminds him how the internet works by showing him that he’s already become a meme. Besides, she’s proud of him and thinks he should buckle up for the ride he’s about to go on.
By the way, throughout all this action, Keef’s been ignoring texts from his girlfriend, Trina (Alvina August).
Later, on the bus, the crying emoji (Jack McBrayer) on a sign advertising therapy bullies Keef about his worth as a human being. Well, that’s one way to drum up clients. Best, most accurate, taunt: you’re gonna be turning tricks in the Haight for vegan sliders. It’s not just the jerk emoji that’s harassing him, it’s a whole litany of cartoon-ated objects. Pinocchio had it easy with the Talking Cricket.
Next, Keef heads to the comic shop for refuge. The proprietor, Nancy (Elizabeth Bowen), is worried he’s going crazy, but does let him use the back room. Keef is determined to draw more Toast -N- Butter but Marker isn’t having it. So, Keef has to fight against him. And ends up with… something.
So, Keef heads back to Bloom & Hill, but is no longer welcome. He tries to convince the security guard (Herbert Duncanson) to let him in by showing him is new piece. He calls it his best work. There’s a literal Parkinson’s joke. Unfortunately, the company has barred Keef from the building. NO ENTRY photo and all. And unlike the publicity shot in which his skin was lightened, they darkened his skin in this one. The song playing at the end of this scene is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Coupled with the circular fade on Keef’s photo, it plays downright funereal.
Later, Trina’s outside of Keef’s apartment. She’s POd that he didn’t trust her enough to let her in on the Hell he’s been going through the last few days. So Keef basically tells her she is the afterthought she feels like. He hasn’t communicated with her in two days, and he tries to laugh it off. Oh, Keef. I love you dude, but, c’mon. #Treef is over. So, Keef mournfully enters the apartment. Clovis offers him a forty… which promptly starts laughing and talking. Keef “nopes” out of the room.
Next, Gunther joins mopey Keef on the balcony. Again, I just have to say the wardrobe department on this show is spectacular. The knee-high socks Gunther is wearing? LOL. But also, perfect. Anyhow. Gunther starts philosophizing about the sky and the stars and destiny. Keef tries to take this moment to tell him that he’s seeing things. But Gunther just misinterprets this to mean he’s seeing things in the sky.
Then, we end with Keef taking Marker out of the trash. He wants to know if Keef is done with his existential crisis. Keef sets to work, drawing something new.
Overall, I enjoyed this episode a lot. The weird thing is, though, it seemed such a tonal shift from the pilot. It was more like a traditional comedy. That’s likely because there was no way to make an episode featuring police brutality “breezy.” But that doesn’t mean “What Prequels?” didn’t take the time to make important points or that it was light, per se.
Are the inanimate animate objects figments of Keef’s imagination? What will Keef do now that he’s unemployed? Will the secondary characters get story lines? Join me next time as I recap Woke here on Geek Girl Authority!
Season One of Woke is streaming on Hulu now.
Check out more Woke recaps here!
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