Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates Ex-Cons (Episode 17)

Everybody's favorite ex-con, Malvo, is out of prison. He's looking for Chris -- not to get back at Chris for sending him away in the first place. Malvo is interested in turning his life around, and the first step is getting into high school. Not breaking in, but enrolling. As the smartest kid he knows, Chris could tutor him. When Chris asks Malvo why he wouldn't rather just get a GED, Malvo looks askance:

i wanna sit at the desk. I wanna smell the textbooks. I wanna be with the other kids... frolickin'.

Chris, upon learning that Malvo won't harm him if he refuses, goes ahead and says no. But the men of the barbershop convince him to give Malvo a second chance. Chris does, but he still has to convince his family to let him.

Rochelle gets started by pulling Malvo's old school records, which reveal that Malvo still has to pass junior high. Ms. Morello lets Malvo audit her class until the school finds out about Malvo's criminal record. Not a big deal to Chris, but the school (read: whitey!) has a problem. Chris manages to tutor Malvo to a passing grade on the junior high test, but Malvo decides that his adventures in education there. He's grateful for Chris's help and everybody's support, but he's going to back to what he does best. Thanking Chris at Doc's, he pulls a gun and robs the store.

Drew being a Mets fan bothers Julius, who can't believe Drew isn't a fan of the L.A. Dodgers like he is. The Mets are a new team while the Dodgers hired Jackie Robinson, and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He bets Drew a dollar that the Mets won't prevail when the Dodgers come to town for a three-game series. I know -- Julius gambling with his own money! Of course, the Mets sweep the series, so Drew makes $4 -- which he puts toward a Dodgers hat for Julius, "the number 1 fan of the number 2 team". Of course, Julius is touched by the gesture, though he does return the hat for a $5 refund, making a dollar off his son. Nice.

Tonya falls in with LaTrenda, who isn't the innocent girl her mother Alison, a Salt n' Pepa look-a-like played by Shar Jackson, thinks she is. She wears her mother's earrings, which is one thing, but then has the audacity to blame Tonya for dragging her to see an R-rated movie. When she's busted hanging at Black Paul's house, Rochelle and Alison have a bit of a heart to heart on Alison's absenteeism, and maybe dialing down the acid-washed duds. Alison, duly chastened, is grateful to Rochelle. Rochelle is glad to be of help, but that doesn't mean she'll be letting LaTrenda come over again any time soon.