'Mixed-ish' Season 1 Episode 8: Rainbow takes pride in being a 'science nerd' and inspires a journalist to reveal she is half-black
The 'Black-ish' spinoff, 'Mixed-ish', is about Rainbow Johnson learning to come to terms with and accept her identity. Played by Tracee Ellis Ross on 'Black-ish' and Arica Himmel on 'Mixed-ish', Rainbow has had a complicated history, having spent the first 12 years of her life in a supposedly post-racial commune.
And so, nearly all of the episodes have been about Bow learning that as a biracial person, she was different from her peers, and how she could accept both sides of herself as part of her identity.
But as this week's episode of 'Mixed-ish' suggests, identity is not just about the color of your skin, but also who you are and what you want to become. To that end, as Rainbow outperforms her peers in the math test, she is told to play down her nerdy side -- that girls are to take a backseat to boys so that "they don't end up alone". The central theme of the episode is "code-switching" -- or changing who you are to fit into the accepted narrative.
And so, when career day comes around, instead of going to the Chemical Engineering booth like she wants to, she goes to the News Reporter booth, where Wendy Whiteman, a reputed newswoman, will choose one lucky student to cover a segment for her news program.
Fascinated by Bow's history, Wendy chooses Bow. But unfortunately, Bow isn't so good in front of the camera. When Bow tells Wendy that she is a science nerd, Wendy tells her to be proud of who she is and reveals that Wendy herself is a biracial woman.
But that's not all that happens. Inspired by Bow, Wendy says on national television that she is half-black, much to everyone's surprise and clearly tells the viewers that Bow is the one who prompted her to come out.
This particular sequence was cool for one more reason. As Wendy tells the viewers the truth about her identity, the song playing in the background is 'I'm Coming Out' by Diana Ross -- mother to the actress who plays adult Bow, Tracee Ellis Ross.
Code-switching is something that happens even today, and viewers agreed. One fan tweeted, "As someone who has had to switch it up in job interviews because a woman who is "too confident" is considered bitchy & a woman who is "not confident enough" is considered insecure or modest, I completely feel #mixedish on the code-switching. I know it's not the same, but I get it [sic]."
'Mixed-ish' airs on ABC on Tuesday nights.