Shinin'

The episode begins with an episode of Cribs being filmed in Thugnificent's house. After they leave Riley trys to join the Lethal Interjection Crew. After three tests they let him in and Thugnificent gives him a silver and platinum chain. As Riley is walking down the street showing off his new bling he gets knocked out and his new chain is stolen. Riley instantly knows he was robbed by the local bully, Butch Magnus Milosevic. Riley seeks advice from Huey, who advises him to let it go. Unsatisifed with this course of action, he asks Grandad, who encourages Riley to stand up to the bully. Riley boldly confronts the bully by the school. Riley attacks, but is clearly outmatched by the behemoth: Riley is unable to hurt him at all, despite landing several punches. Butch then give Riley a brutal beating.

He then asks Ed Wuncler III, to kidnap Butch Magnus and get the chain back. Unfortunaly Ed grabs the wrong kid and tells Riley that he will have to pay him for a second kidnapping, despite the fact it was the wrong person. 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. Flownominal and Riley find the bully at the local baseball field, and Flownominal aggressively confronts Butch about the theft. In response, Butch hits Flow's knee with a baseball bat. Flownominal'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 jeweller's appraisal found out it was fake and not actually worth anything. The bully then storms off, leaving Riley and Flownominal at the diamond. Riley then picks up the chain and walks off proudly, once again an official member of the Lethal Interjection crew... ignoring his crew brother's cries for help.

Trivia

• This is the second episode that Riley narrates, The Story of Gangstalicious being the first.

• A joke early in the episode involves Thugnificent so blinded by the sun's reflection on his platinum watch that he can't even read the time. This may be a subtle wordplay joke: he's so blinded by "bling" that he doesn't know "what time it is."

• Eds' rant about God telling him to kidnap the kid is a reference to George W. Bush saying God told him to invade Iraq. Similarly, Ed's kidnapping and torture methods are concurrent with George W. Bush's regime and the "legalized" torture that they administer (that is, waterboarding).

• The episode can also be seen as an allegory to how phony the rap lifestyle is:
  • Flonominal and Macktastic, the core members of Thugnificents crew, met through the label (presumably after they had sold out to the industry), instead of "coming up" together in Terra Belle.
  • The sexy women are for appearance and not necessarily at their beck and call: Macktastic fails to pick up on a girl who is late for a date with her (far less successful) boyfriend (who works at Kinkos)
  • Despite apparently throwing money around without care, Thugnificent is mindful of expenses and turns off the waterslides when the cameras leave.
  • Even the chain, which identifies the wearer as a member of Lethal Interjection, is a worthless sham piece of jewellery -- it's all about looks, not actual value.

• The kid that Ed kidnaps is also seen being beaten up by Butch for his sandwich.

• This is the second episode that Ed III appears in without Gin Rummy, The Garden Party being the first.

• The "Tests" prove little:
  • The "Agreeability Test" just verifies that Riley can suck up.
  • The "Bravery Test" just verifies Riley can act overtly stupid at great risk to his safety.
  • The "Intelligence Test" just verifies Riley can use the Internet.

• This is the second time Ed is seen wearing armbands, Let's Nab Oprah being the first.
  • Oddly, Ed is shown using the waterslide, even though the Oprah episode shows he can't swim.

• During the agreeability test a chair is thrown without a fight breaking out. This goes against the continuity of a fight breaking out whenever a chair is thrown which was first seen in Granddad's Fight and has occurred many times since.

• This is the first episode in Season 2 that has a chair thrown and is also the first episode in Season 2 that does not feature a member of the DuBois family.

• Riley attacks with a flurry of utterly ineffective blows to Butch's large belly which the bully seems to not even notice, before Butch smashes Riley over the head. This may be an obscure reference to the movie "Popeye" where Castor Oyl does the exact same thing (with the same results) against Oxblood Oxheart.

• This the third time the movie Friday has been referenced in the series (first being in The Passion of Ruckus, the second in The Story of Thugnificent). John Witherspoon, who voices Robert Freeman, starred in Friday.

• The first test that Riley is given has a beat similar to "Bring 'Em Out" by T.I.

• During the first test, Thugnificent kicks a member out his crew. He is shown again, during the second initiation.