Shinin'

Infobox Boondocks Episode
Title = Shinin'


Caption = Riley and the Lethal Interjection crew
Airdate = November 26, 2007
Season no. = 2
Episode no. = 22
Production no. = 208
Writer = Aaron McGruder
Director = Dan Fausett
Guests = Busta Rhymes
Snoop Dogg
Charlie Murphy
Sway
Episode list = Infobox Boondocks Season 2

"Shinin'" is the seventh episode of the second season of the Adult Swim animated television series "The Boondocks" and the twenty-second episode overall. It originally aired on November 26, 2007. This episode guest stars rappers Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes.

Plot

The episode begins with an episode of Cribs being filmed in Thugnificent's (voice of Carl Jones) house, where Thugnificent presents his lifestyle of opulence. When the cameras leave, it becomes apparent a lot of the opulence is more show than real. Nevertheless, Riley asks to join the Lethal Interjection Crew. After three tests (agreeibility, courage & intelligence, respectively) they let him in and Thugnificent gives him a silver and platinum chain. Immensely proud of finally belonging to a crew, Riley shows off the chain to Huey, bragging that it "gets niggas hatin'." Huey points out that valuing the ill will of others isn't a productive form of self esteem and eliciting envy is a good way to get in trouble. Riley (naturally) doesn't listen.

Riley shows off his new bling around Woodcrest. He proudly watches as passer-bys are blinded by the medallion's glare -- until he abruptly gets knocked out by an unseen assailant and his new chain is stolen. When he revives, Riley instantly knows he was robbed by the local bully, Butch Magnus Milosevic (Daryl Sabara) -- a local bully who menaces all children and even adults unfortunate enough to cross his path. Riley seeks advice from Huey, who tells Riley it was only worth what he is willing to give for it, and tells him to let it go. Unsatisifed with this course of action, he asks Granddad, who encourages Riley to stand up to the bully. Riley boldly confronts the bully by the school. Riley finds Butch and picks a fight by calling him "bitch" repeatedly, but is clearly outmatched by the behemoth: Riley is unable to hurt him at all, despite landing several punches. Butch then gives Riley a brutal beating.

He then asks Ed Wuncler III to kidnap Butch Magnus and get the chain back. Unfortunately Ed grabs the wrong kid and tells Riley that he will have to pay him for a second kidnapping, despite Ed's mistake. Butch then appears on the news saying he robbed a member of Lethal Interjection, which Thugnificent sees. He then tells Riley that he should have just told him when the chain had been stolen, as the point in being in a crew is so you never have to handle your own business like a man. Thugnificent then sends Flownominal with Riley to get the chain back. Flonominal and Riley find the bully at the local baseball field, and Flonominal aggressively confronts Butch about the theft. In response, Butch hits Flow's knee with a baseball bat. Flonominal's tough persona quickly evaporates as he collapses, cradles his injured leg and screams in agony. Butch then throws the chain on the ground, as a jeweler's appraisal found out it was fake and not actually worth anything. The bully then storms off, leaving Riley and Flownominal at the field. Riley then picks up the chain and walks off proudly, once again an official member of the Lethal Interjection crew... ignoring Flo's cries for help.

Cultural references

*The opening scene in where Thugnificent describes his lavish lifestyle, and does a walkthrough of his house is a reference to MTV Cribs.
*The mermaid in Thugnificent's fish tank is reminiscent to the music video of The Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Hypnotize".
*Butch Magnus Milosevic's sneer is a similar, albeit exaggerated version of the one that Sylvester Stallone has.
*There are many allusions to Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" throughout the episode. When Thugnificent is asking Riley how good he thinks the song is he says "you got to REALLY think it sounds good" to which Riley responds; "I do" T; "HOW good?" R; "real good". This is much like the conversation Brian has when trying to join the People's Front of Judea. Later Thugnificent grant's Riley a chain and states "there isn't a single member of the Lethal Interjection crew that isn't ready to die for his chain" then there is a voice from the back stating that he wouldn't. This closely parallels the scene in which Brian is inducted into the PFJ.
*When Riley asks Thugnificent to join the Lethal Interjection crew he says "If this rap shit don't work we go and...", like 50 Cent does in his song "Your Life's On The Line" from his 1999 album, Power Of The Dollar.
*Lethal Interjection is reminiscent to Ice Cube's fourth solo album Lethal Injection.
*Granddad states that he fought a guy named Deebo, without a gun that he possessed, and Riley states that it was from the movie "Friday." Granddad's actor, John Witherspoon, had played Craig's father, the person who fought Deebo, in the movie "Friday."
* Butch Magnus Milosovicj shares a very strong resemblance with Russel from the video game Bully.
* One of the people Riley was talking to slightly resembled Mizuiro Kojima from the anime Bleach
* Butch Magnus has the exact one two charge up punch as Jimmy Hopkins in Bully, which is seen when beats up Riley.
* When Ed III plans on torturing the child he kidnapped, another reference is made to his spoofing of George W. Bush when he says "Don't swear to God! I talk to God all the time and He's the one who told me to torture yo' ass, you lyin', stealin' muthafucka!"