I also feel conflicted about how this show deals with race. On one hand, it's one of the more realistic, honest commentaries about race I've seen on television. It acknowledges (and thus, validates) the black experience without being cavalier nor precious, which is all but revolutionary for your average cable show.…

As a designer, this episode was straight up painful to watch. A part of what makes this show so amazing is how true it rings to the industry (at least, the parts that I understand). Because of that, it was just too much of stretch that NO ONE brought up hiring someone to redesign the UI.

Also a black woman — I thought it was nice until her blackness became the punchline.

Just because it doesn't offend you doesn't mean it's not offensive.

I wish I could upvote this 1,000,000 times.

Haha. I wish that being black in America was the difference between being tan and not tan.

I ask you this then: Why was it funny that Phil was attracted to black women in the first place?

I appreciate your thoughtful response! It's nice to hear other people's experiences.

You say it could have just as easily been about red heads or Albanians. And it could have—but it wasn't. It was about black women. And black women occupy a very specific place in date-ability hierarchy…it's the bottom. The joke relies on the audience buying into the implausibility of Phil (aka the dad next door)…

It's possible for racial comedy to be funny; it just requires a level of self awareness that this episode tried and spectacularly failed to meet. The punchline was literally "it's funny because she's black."

I definitely agree that this album lacks the urgency of tracks like Hometown Glory, Rolling in the Deep (obviously), and some of her biggest hits of the past. And honestly, I don't know if that wasn't intentional; at the very least, I don't think it works against the album.