Colin in Black & White – Episode 5 “Crystal” Recap & Review

Crystal

Episode 5 of Colin in Black & White begins with a look at beauty. Specifically how a German historian Christoph Meiners pedaled the idea that mankind was split into two races; the ugly black race and the beautiful white race. Of course, that’s not true but it’s enough to preface the continued divides that Colin and other black men and women like him are experiencing.

However, there’s a much more difficult and pressing concern in Colin’s mind right now as we cut back to the present. Homecoming dance. Crystal takes his fancy and there’s clearly an attraction, especially when he waves off the suggestion of a leg massage from another girl, Hailey.

This choice is a simple one for Colin, but he fumbles his words in trying to ask Crystal out. She agrees to go with him eventually but Colin’s friends are bemused by this choice, pointing out that Hailey is a dime.

Colin heads over to Crystal’s place, completely dressed up in a gold and black suit. Crystal’s dress is just as pretty, with the pair having their pictures taken before heading out to the dance.

Off the back of this, Teresa exhibits concerns about Crystal’s complexion and passes her off as a “passing craze” for Colin. It’s pretty disappointing to see this from her, especially given the good work she did helping Colin finding a barber, but it reinforces the hurtful stereotypes and racial prejudices that Colin – and other black men and women like him – are suffering from.

With the Winter Formal coming up and relations between Crystal and Colin frosty, the latter meets her and apologizes for not spending more time like they should have. However, this time Colin heads out with Lindsay, a girl he’s been forced to hooked up with by his mother. Only, he very clearly still has feelings for Crystal.

The dance goes ahead but it’s a pretty tepid end to this chapter.

The Episode Review

The penultimate episode to Colin in Black & White takes a break from life on the field to focus on homecoming and romantic relations. It’s something we haven’t seen a lot of across this season and to be honest, it doesn’t quite work as effectively as one may hope.

With very little characterization and a simple message pedaled throughout, the racial divides work well to show the attitudes and behaviors from people at school level but it doesn’t bring anything interesting to this drama. However, the ending delivers a nice nod toward the past and how times have changed, especially with 2019 showing all black beauty queens, which is great to see.

With the finale coming up, it remains to be seen what direction this one takes next.