'Mixed-ish' Season 1: What we know about Bow's childhood from 'Black-ish' and what we hope to see in the spinoff
Rainbow "Bow" Johnson is arguably one of the best sitcom characters on television right now and this could partly be because she is based on the real-life Rainbow Edwards-Harris who was married to Kenya Barris -- the creator of 'Black-ish' (they recently filed for divorce). On the show, Bow (played by Tracee Ellis Ross) is an anesthesiologist, wife to Dre Johnson, and mother of five. Throughout 'black-ish', viewers have seen flashbacks of Bow's childhood or her family members -- her father, Paul's death still lies heavy on our hearts. From the show it's clear that Bow takes her identity very seriously and it was quite a struggle to reconcile her white and African-American sides.
This is what we will see in 'Mixed-ish'. The prequel spinoff will show Bow's experience growing up as a biracial child in the 1980s. Her family was part of a hippie commune, where Bow and her siblings were never subjected to any racial disparities. It is when the elders of the commune are locked up that Bow's family moves in with her grandfather and adjust to their new lives in a society outside of their commune. From the trailer, we see that Bow and her siblings are immediately in focus for being neither black nor white -- the trailer has already sparked mixed reactions before the show's airing.
In one episode of 'black-ish', during a conversation with her younger brother, she reminisces about trying to find which "side" she belonged to, before eventually finding comfort in being herself. This is also notable in Bow's conversation with her father when he tells her he sees her as a "black woman". The two talk about the weird stares they got when in public. This is something we can expect to see in detail in the upcoming prequel. We also meet Bow's sister, Santamonica, played by Rashida Jones, and we know that they are very different (Dre even remarks that the only thing they have in common is that they both have weird names). We can expect to see this play out between the younger versions of the sisters in the prequel -- why they are so different and why they don't get along that well.
One thing is clear: 'Mixed-ish' needs to avoid the trivialization of issues for the sake of comedy like they did on the original show 'Black-ish', which has been accused of resorting to stereotypes and trivializing African-American history for a few laughs. The writers have a big task ahead to get the naysayers on side when the show premieres this month.
'Mixed-ish' will air on ABC starting September 24, 2019.