[car horns honking]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[hip-hop music]
♪ ♪
- I got a bad feeling
about this.
GUNTHER: Oh, I love this.
You kidding me?
We shop online way too much.
This is the Amazon
of the streets.
CLOVIS: All right, man,
can you both chill, bro?
Just relax and act
like you've been here before.
KEEF: I could be drawing
right now.
What are we doing?
- Ah-ah!
Caw-caw!
- What are you doing?
♪ ♪
- What up?
You got my sh*t?
- You got my money?
- The f*ck I look like,
Boo-Boo the fool?
I already paid you, man.
I Venmoed you.
- Did he really just say Venmo?
What, apps are taking over
the black market now?
Geez.
- Why don't we just go
to a store?
- Okay, first of all,
we can't go to a store.
These sneakers are exclusive.
Stores sell out.
Stores have lines.
I come here,
I get multiple pairs,
I flip 'em later on, right,
for more money,
keep all the profit.
Get it?
All right.
Let me make sure
that's that good sh*t
that's pure.
The f*ck is this?
- It's a flyer, man.
Climate change walkout
next week.
Drew it myself.
- Don't give a f*ck
about climate change, n*gga.
Hey, stop putting that sh*t
in my box, man.
- One leaf at a time, man.
Save the air, man.
You gotta care.
You too, Curly.
You gotta come down.
CLOVIS: I gotta get
a new connect.
I don't talk to crackpots.
- Have a good one, you guys.
Mr. Clovis, I'll see you
next week, dawg.
[laidback music]
♪ ♪
[rock music]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
- Bro.
- [indistinct singing]
- Keef Knight.
- Hey! Ayana.
AYANA: Hey.
You scrub
the Internet clean yet?
- Actually, that's funny.
But I do wanna
show you something.
Check this out.
Toast -N- Butter . .
TOAST: I knead to kneel.
BUTTER: Whoa.
That's some sour dough.
- Ah, "Breakfast of champions."
Nice.
I like you again.
- I might start liking you
again if you run my stuff.
- Oh, okay.
- Okay.
- Ah, you know
I built his desk, right?
- 'Scuse me?
- No, I'm saying,
if you ever need anything done,
I'm your man.
I can do that, you know?
- Yeah.
If I need anything, I'm my man.
- Yo, 'sup?
- Oh.
- Hey, what the f*ck?
- Uh...
- Oh, boy.
Oh, damn!
Sorry, I, uh--
I actually just sold my shirt
to some pop-up bro over there.
bucks.
Can you believe it?
- Wow.
There's more of them.
Uh, do you know
any normal people?
- Define "normal."
- Oh.
Define "people."
- Okay.
What?
"Sold out"?
I've been waiting
for three hours.
- Ay, so you know
what's crazy?
Um, I actually sell shoes.
You know, we just came
from picking up some joints.
- No promises,
but send me your new stuff.
- Okay.
- Yes, of course, thank you.
- Bye, Keef.
- All right, take it easy.
- See you later.
- Wow.
- Bye.
See you later, baby.
Hey, who was that?
KEEF: Never gonna happen.
[funky music]
But she actually done it.
- But she do, though.
- And that's
the interesting part.
- Hey.
Keef Knight.
KEEF: Yeah.
- Toast -N- Butter.
- Yes.
- Hey, man, I'm a fan.
- Yes.
Aw, thank you, man.
I appreciate that.
- Hey, do you think you could
sign something for me?
- Sure, yeah.
CLOVIS: Who this person again?
- You've been served.
- What?
Bloom & Hill?
- f*ck.
KEEF: It's a cease and desist
from Bloom & Hill.
It says here
that they own the rights
to Toast -N- Butter,
and that if I post
any more comics,
they will sue.
GUNTHER: What?
But they're yours!
Like, you, like, birthed them.
- Mm-hmm.
- I know, but I also gave away
those rights when I signed.
- You are a terrible mother.
CLOVIS: Ooh, sh*t.
- What?
What?
And don't say
"woke equals broke."
What is it?
- Well, in your case, it does.
Yeah, they say they want
their advance back, my brother.
- Let me see that.
- Oh, f*ck.
- I spent all of this money.
GUNTHER: f*ck that.
Fight it.
Go to court.
CLOVIS: Mm-hmm.
- How am I gonna go to court?
I have no money.
I can't afford an attorney.
- You better figure
something out.
Mrs. Chang
would've let you slide,
but as your temporary landlord,
I'm gonna be coming
for that rent check real soon,
and I'm coming in hot.
CLOVIS: Don't even worry
about what he talking about.
It's the gig economy, right?
Think about it.
There's a lot of stuff
you can do for money.
You can drop off
somebody groceries,
deliver somebody weed,
hell, you can drop off
somebody step-kids at school.
- Well, why does it have
to be step-kids?
- Because who gonna send
their real kids with Keef?
- Hmm.
CLOVIS: Hey, real talk though?
You gotta do something.
♪ ♪
- One week, max.
- One week, max.
- Because I'm an artist.
Look, I'll be fine.
I don't wanna do this forever.
It's temporary.
It really is.
You know, I get in, I get out.
Two weeks, max.
- Two weeks, max.
KEEF: Because this is
the gig economy.
Right?
That's why it exists.
For folks like me to--
to bridge that gap
and, it sounds cliché,
but turn my dreams
into a reality.
♪ ♪
Six weeks, max.
♪ ♪
[sighs]
MARKER: Rideshare?
You didn't think
this whole thing through.
The gig economy
is a hamster wheel
that smothers revolt.
You should be starting
a revolution,
not a Ford Fusion!
- Okay now.
MARKER: Here's an idea.
Just say no to the bullshit
and draw some new sh*t.
Here's another idea.
Make sure the new sh*t
ain't about that bullshit!
- You done?
Can I work, please?
MARKER: Nah, buddy.
Rideshare is not the move.
It only leads to v*olence.
Didn't you see Taxi Driver?
KEEF: Shut the f*ck up!
- Yeah.
I got you, baby.
- Man, I'm feeling Chinese.
Wanna hit Gain Wah?
- Yeah, gimme one second, bro.
I'm low-key
cyber-stalking Ayana.
- What's the difference
between low-key cyber-stalking
and then just, I don't know,
plain old cyber-stalking?
- One sounds less creepy.
- Oh.
No, no.
That's not true at all.
- Mm-hmm, yes, it does.
- So Gain Wah?
- I'll probably just
Postmate it.
That's cool?
- No, no, no, no, no.
We're going
to the brick-and-mortar.
- Bro, we can watch
Rick and Morty right here.
Just take a seat, brother.
Come on.
- No, the brick-and-mortar.
An actual store.
A place of business.
A destination
where there's humans
cooking food for you.
- Right.
That's like
where Postmates goes, right,
and humans still cook the food,
and they pick it up
and bring it to me and you.
- This is the reason
we're losing our humanity.
There's no personal connection.
Not to mention,
you are lining the pockets of--
- Tech bros?
Big business?
Blah, blah, blah.
You make friendship hard.
Dude, I am sick of
this secondhand woke sh*t.
It is "white boy wasted,"
not "white boy woke."
Let's go.
- So is that low-key
or high-key stalking?
- First of all,
this is regular-key.
Look, sneakers her weakness.
That's what your boy
is about to exploit.
- Gunther Morris.
You are a temporary landlord.
Temporary.
Which means
you can't just come in here
and change
the way we do things.
We've always paid the rent
with Zelle, Venmo, PayPal,
any of the other apps
that I could name right now.
- I may be temporary,
but Mrs. Chang put me
in charge, all right?
And I plan to wield that power
like a w*apon
because it pleases me.
- Okay, well,
I'm not paying by check,
so I hope that pleases you.
- Mm, yeah, you are, okay?
If I can't fold your rent
into origami,
I ain't taking it.
- Why would you fold my rent?
That makes no sense.
- Good day, sir.
Step aside?
A landlord wishes to pass
through his hallway.
Clovis?
Onward.
Our meal awaits.
[upbeat music]
♪ ♪
- Can't believe you made me
walk down all them stairs.
We could've Postmated
this sh*t.
- Your landlord is buying.
- Nah, it's just been
a crazy day, you know?
I had a--I had a mom throw
three kids in the backseat
and say, "Take them to school!"
You ever heard
of Toast -N- Butter?
You ever hear of a comic strip?
Had a guy give me an envelope,
drove it across town,
slid it under a door,
so pretty sure
I did a drug deal.
[phone chimes]
[tense music]
♪ ♪
Oh.
[Kari Kimmel's "Good Life"]
KIMMEL: ♪ Oh, I'm living
the good life ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Yeah, that's the way
I want it ♪
[moaning]
♪ Oh, I'm living
the good, good, good life ♪
♪ Yeah, that's the way
I want it ♪
♪ Oh, I'm living
the good life ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Yeah, that's the way
I want it ♪
[upbeat pop-rock]
♪ ♪
- Okay, this is good.
This is good.
I can, um...
nope, this sucks.
♪ ♪
KIMMEL: ♪ Something amazing
gonna happen ♪
[all moaning]
- Can we not do that with the--
with the sauce and stuff?
KIMMEL: ♪ I'm living
the good life, oh ♪
- [gagging]
- Are you okay?
- No, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no.
What are you doing?
BOTH: Eat more chicken.
KEEF: No, no, no,
that's not the way to go.
- She's fine!
She's fine.
[siren wailing]
- I didn't even do anything.
I didn't even--
[siren stops]
Oh.
[groans]
[phone chimes]
Okay.
♪ ♪
Ah.
Let's see here.
All right, where am I going?
...
Martodd.
All right.
GPS: All right.
Let's go.
Turn right on Balboa.
KEEF: Right.
GPS: Then turn left
on Arguello.
Or not.
- What?
GPS: This is not the type
of guidance I usually give,
but pull the plug on me.
On the app.
- Oh, come on.
GPS: Seriously,
I'm trying to help you here.
What are you waiting for?
- [sighs]
GPS: Do the right thing
and drop this
Driving Miss Daisy shtick.
- Well, you know,
I would if I could,
but unfortunately,
I have to pay back an advance.
Eat.
You know, food?
And then I have to buy OxiClean
so I can remove whatever stains
are in my backseat.
GPS: Have you even finished
a comic?
How much did you make today?
Hmm?
- $ ?
- $ .
CLOVIS: I could've made
more than that
in minutes on OnlyFans
eating my Reese's.
sh*t, people love watching me
eat my Reese's.
- Honestly, you make them look
like they taste so good.
- Mm-hmm.
- I mean, seriously, guys.
What the hell?
People don't survive on $ .
- Worldwide?
Man, that sh*t
global upper-middle class.
- Oh, sh*t.
Somebody's been watching
Frontline.
- True, true.
I be learning.
[laughs]
- I'm so screwed.
I'm so screwed.
You know how much
this car costs?
If I quit now,
I literally lose money.
- See, that's because you're on
the hamster wheel.
That's why I only work
for myself.
I'll be damned
if I get out there
and ride-sharecrop.
- You're the one who told me
to do it in the first place.
- Yeah, and you f*cked it up.
[phone chimes]
Oh, sh*t.
[phone pops]
Yaphet Kottos are in.
Ayana size.
[phone chimes]
- Good news.
Got a job.
[sighs]
I think.
Mm...
[phone pops]
Wait.
[phone pops]
Are you FourLeafClovis?
- Mm-hmm.
KEEF: Did you just hire me
to drive to Milpitas?
Sorry.
It's too much traffic, man.
I just--there's no way.
I'm not doing it.
I'm not doing it.
- Do you talk back
to all your customers?
- I'm just saying,
I just can't--
that's too f--that--no.
- Look, why don't you
just give blood
or donate sperm?
I mean, that's what I do.
- Nope.
I can't do needles
and I don't masturbate
in public anymore.
- Well, I mean,
I can masturbate anywhere.
It's one of my gifts.
- Okay.
Because I don't have
that particular set of skills,
I have to go and drive
miles through traffic
to pick up shoes for someone
because they don't have
their learner's permit.
- Mm-hmm.
See ya.
- You better tip me.
[tense hip-hop music]
- Psst.
I'm not tipping him.
- How's your day going?
- Mm.
Look, I can't draw.
I can't sleep.
Every day, I wake up
and I stare
at six different apps
that I'm working,
trying to see
if I'm gonna come out ahead
at the end of the night
or behind.
You know, I'm talking too much.
I'm gonna stop talking
right now.
- You draw?
Are you an artist?
- A cartoonist, technically.
- Mm.
- Toast -N- Butter.
It's a little strip
I used to do.
- [laughs]
I know Toast -N- Butter.
From the newspaper, right?
KEEF: Yeah.
- Wow.
- So now I've just been
driving around, you know,
doing this,
trying to find inspiration
for my next thing, you know.
- I'm throwing a party later.
Some of my friends are in
the art world.
Grants and commissions mostly.
I think you'd be
a lovely addition.
- Oh.
Wow.
Thank you.
Uh...
it's--oh, I have to work.
Otherwise, I'd--sure, I'd be...
- How about if I paid you?
- Hmm.
That's not weird.
Is it weird?
I mean, it is good money.
- Hold up.
So she giving you--
you--
$ to go to a party?
- Yeah.
[laughs]
- Uh, to do what?
- To draw, you know?
Well, according to her,
I'm capturing the essence
of the party.
- How do you capture
an essence, right?
Isn't, like, the whole thing
about a essence
is that it's inherently,
like, uncapturable?
- Yeah, she trying to capture
that d*ck.
- Oh.
- No.
Look, I don't have to drive
for money, you know,
or masturbate into a cup.
I can just draw.
- All right, well, make sure
you get paid in cash,
'cause escorts get paid
in cash.
- Hey.
Come on.
You can tell me, man.
It's a sex party, right?
Dude, I've been
to some weird sex parties.
There's this one
where these old ladies
used to make me and my homies
dress up like babies.
- What?
GUNTHER: Yeah, that's not
the weird part, though.
They would suck our titties.
- Okay.
- Yeah, man.
All right.
Whatever.
Judge me.
[refined piano music]
[soft indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
PERSON: Excuse me.
- Keef.
[laughing] Hi!
- Hi.
- You made it.
- Yes.
Oh, hey.
- [laughs]
- Okay.
Two of 'em.
[laughs]
- Welcome.
- Uh, so where do you want me
to set up?
- Well, look at you.
All about the business.
- Oh, sorry.
[both laugh]
- Relax.
Meet some people.
- Mm.
- Hang out.
KEEF: Wow, this is some party
you got going on.
- Just a few
of my closest friends.
But there are a couple
of art buyers here tonight
who were interested
in meeting you.
KEEF: Oh, nice.
HENSCHKE: Like these two.
Patience.
Marigold.
Here is the artist
I was telling you about.
- [squeals]
HENSCHKE: [laughs]
They're very excited
to meet you.
- I can tell.
[laughter]
- Hello.
KEEF: Hello.
- I'm Patience.
- Patience?
That's, uh--
that's my favorite virtue.
[laughter]
- You are so funny!
Do me.
Do me.
- Do you?
Oh.
Oh.
Uh, what's your name?
- Marigold.
- That's my third favorite
flower.
[laughter]
- I told you he was fabulous.
Let's get you a drink.
- Absolutely.
HENSCHKE: Excellent.
Come with me.
I promise
I will bring him back.
PATIENCE: Yes, come back soon.
[both giggling]
HENSCHKE:
Now would you prefer red...
[Shopping's "Wind Up"]
SINGER: ♪ I see you staring ♪
♪ Straight over me ♪
GUEST:
He's probably a musician.
GUEST: A cartoonist?
No way.
GUEST: He looks articulate.
GUEST: He's a very funny man.
GUEST: I heard he knows Kamala.
GUEST: Why is he dressed
like a cat burglar?
♪ ♪
SINGER: ♪ I hear you talking ♪
SINGER: ♪ Talking ♪
SINGER: ♪ So quietly ♪
SINGER: ♪ Quietly ♪
SINGER: ♪ I hear you talking ♪
SINGER: ♪ Talking ♪
- You're a cartoonist?
SINGER: ♪ Unnecessarily ♪
- I love The Boondocks.
- They should've made
Wakanda Land,
not Star Wars Land.
♪ ♪
- You'll love this.
I was just in Uganda.
- Parliament or Funkadelic?
SINGER: ♪ So quietly ♪
SINGER: ♪ Quietly ♪
- I don't think OJ did it.
- So what's your opinion
on reparations?
♪ ♪
- Excuse me.
Clovis.
I am the only Black dude
at this party.
CLOVIS:
Man, this is San Francisco.
You always the only
Black person in the party.
- Yeah, but it didn't
used to bother me before,
and it's bothering me now.
- n*gga, whatever.
Hey, just save me a spot
when the orgy kick off.
[phone beeps]
- Hello?
Clovis!
[chill music]
♪ ♪
- Ayana?
That's crazy.
What a coincidence.
Wow!
- Hi...uh...
- Clovis.
You met me with Keef
the other day.
- Yes.
You were one of the, um...
yeah, I remember.
- Ha!
[laughs]
Um...but wow, McClaren's.
Wow, that's crazy.
You know, this my spot.
I'm always in here.
- Really? Weird.
CLOVIS: Yeah.
- This is my spot,
and I never see you.
- Word?
- Have you been creeping
on my IG page?
- [laughs]
You know what, I could lie.
- Mm-hmm.
CLOVIS: But why do that, right?
- Right.
CLOVIS:
You know what I did see?
I saw you also,
uh, were looking
for those restocked Kottos,
and would you look...
what I have here?
[chuckles]
- Okay.
This is some fuckboy sh*t.
No thank you.
CLOVIS: No, no, no, no, no.
Hey, listen, baby, no.
This ain't no fuckboy sh*t.
This is me
pursuing a woman
that I'm interested in, right?
- Pursuing, stalking.
Women don't wanna be chased.
We wanna be respected.
- And I respect you, baby.
I respect you.
Come on.
Hey, I Ubered
all the way to Milpitas
just to get these Kottos.
That's respect in itself.
- If you're ever
asking yourself,
"What can I do to get
this woman to sleep with me?"
- Mm-hmm?
AYANA: You're already wrong.
If a woman wants
to sleep with you,
she'll let you know.
- But will she, though?
[laughs]
AYANA: Okay, good-bye.
- Okay, wait, wait, wait.
Hey, hey, hey,
look, look, look.
All right, all right,
all right, you right, right?
My bad.
Look, what I'm saying is,
I get it.
You think you got it tough.
But try being a man, though.
I'm just saying.
If we wanna get some,
we gotta chase you.
But then you say
you don't wanna be chased.
Now, what kinda sense
that make, baby?
- Wow, okay.
Give me the Kottos.
I'll Venmo you.
[bluesy organ music]
♪ ♪
- What the f*ck just happened?
LATASHA: ♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Poker face on
and I fear there's trouble ♪
♪ Running out of steam
so my feet get double ♪
♪ I don't get weak
so the boys get subtle ♪
♪ I don't make time
for the hate that's bubble ♪
♪ I don't even gotta explain
what I gotta do to maintain ♪
ADRIENNE: Hey.
I'd say you have
about minutes
till they trap you
in the Sunken Place.
- Well, it feels like
I'm already there.
ADRIENNE: Do you want a drink?
KEEF: Um...
cool.
Thanks.
♪ ♪
- Why do people keep
bringing up The Boondocks?
- Uh, well, I'm a cartoonist.
Thank you.
Um, a cartoonist who is Black.
- Mm-hmm.
- So there you go.
And you would think they would
know other Black comic strips,
but apparently not.
- Well, to be fair,
I don't know any comic strips,
Black or otherwise.
- Oh.
So you're color-blind?
- No, I just don't see
cartoonists.
- Mm.
ADRIENNE:
So why are you here, really?
- Well, I was paid to be here.
- Hmm?
KEEF: Yeah.
Apparently,
I'm the cool Black dude
hired to give this party
some street cred.
- You're the cool Black guy?
- The cool and the only here.
[both laugh]
Yes.
What about you?
What are you doing here?
- Well, I'm bringing
my own cred.
I'm an artist, so I'm just here
to do, like, artist things.
- Mm.
Yeah, how artsy.
- I'm Adrienne.
- [as Rocky]
Adrienne.
I'm Keef.
- Why do people keep
doing that?
- The--from Rocky.
Italian Stallion?
The prequel to Creed?
- Oh, I love Creed.
- Oh.
[both laugh]
There we go.
PATIENCE: Keef!
- Oh, sh*t.
This woman has been following
me around the whole party.
- Is everything okay?
You need to be saved?
- Well, she keeps wanting
to touch my hair
and, like, grab my--
- Keef!
[giggling]
Chocolate bear!
LATASHA: ♪ Coming from my chest
and my go-go wine ♪
♪ Coming from my chest
and my go-go wine ♪
♪ Coming from my chest
and my go-go wine ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
[meditative music]
- [whispering]
Jesus.
Hey, you know how much
Ayana paid me for them Kottos?
. .
Dude, what the f*ck
I look like, Foot Locker?
- I told you
she wasn't gonna fall
for that sinister sneaker game.
- No, you didn't--
[knocking on door]
And what the f*ck are you
doing right now?
- [exhales]
Can you get the door please?
- No, I'm going
through something.
- Come on, dude.
I'm Zen as f*ck!
- You ain't even doing nothing.
You laying down.
I'm not getting
the f*cking door.
- God damn it.
Thanks.
[slow, persistent knocking]
Yeah, yeah.
I'm coming.
Hey--oh.
ADAM: So, Mr. Luddite,
as per
our previous conversation,
I've been SurveyMonkeying
the other tenants,
and I've come across
an interesting bit of data.
Are you aware that I pay
considerably higher rent
than everyone else
in this building?
- Yeah.
I know.
Mrs. Chang doesn't like you.
She doesn't like your kind.
Neither do I.
- You want me to apologize
for being born on third base?
I'm not gonna do that.
That's just the way it is.
What I am going to do, though,
is call my lawyer
and sue Mrs. Chang
and yourself.
Or you can avoid all of this
and just let me pay my rent
with a f*cking app.
- Fine.
- Nice.
[watch chimes]
Ooh, gotta get those steps.
Nice seeing you.
- I bet.
Piece of sh*t.
- Ooh, you have got
to forgive me.
I am a literally
a starving artist,
both for food
and also for inspiration.
- For inspiration?
KEEF: Mm-hmm.
- I always found
that the best inspiration
was when my back was
against the wall
and I was willing to do
literally anything for money,
like accept an invitation
from some crazy white woman
to be the cool Black guy
at her bougie party.
- Well, it's only
slightly more demeaning
than driving people around
for a living.
- But I bet it pays better.
- Oh, anybody can drive a car.
But can anybody do
what I am doing here right now?
- I sense
a business opportunity.
- Ooh.
Black People for Rent.
[both laugh]
- This has been fun.
I will see you around.
- Okay.
- [laughs]
[funky music]
♪ ♪
GREGORY: ♪ Mm-hmm-mm ♪
[ding]
♪ Mm-hmm-mm ♪
♪ I try to run ♪
[Gregory Porter's "Revival"]
♪ And I grow weary ♪
♪ I try to walk ♪
♪ And I grow faint ♪
♪ Oh, I long to soar ♪
♪ On the wings like an eagle ♪
♪ But I look down ♪
♪ And I'm afraid ♪
♪ I'm afraid ♪
♪ But you lift me higher ♪
♪ Out of the fire ♪
♪ Out of the flames ♪
♪ I lost the feeling ♪
♪ But you give me meaning
again ♪
♪ I'm singing revival ♪
CHOIR: ♪ Revival ♪
GREGORY: ♪ Revival song ♪
CHOIR: ♪ Revival ♪
GREGORY:
♪ I'm singing revival ♪
CHOIR: ♪ Revival ♪
GREGORY: ♪ Revival song ♪
CHOIR: ♪ Revival ♪
GREGORY:
♪ I'm trying to find you ♪
♪ Lost my way ♪
♪ Walk in the darkness ♪
♪ In search of day ♪
♪ I followed your footsteps ♪
♪ To the gates of the city ♪
♪ I saw your face ♪
♪ Oh, I'm not afraid ♪
♪ I'm not afraid, oh ♪
♪ You lift me higher ♪
♪ Out of the fire ♪
♪ Out of the flames ♪
♪ Oh, I lost the feeling ♪
♪ But you give me meaning
again ♪
♪ Oh, my revival ♪
01x03 - Gig E. Smalls
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Keef is a cartoonist on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected event changes his life.
Keef is a cartoonist on the verge of mainstream success when an unexpected event changes his life.