"The Fried Chicken Flu" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the Adult Swim original series The Boondocks. It aired on August 1, 2010.
Synopsis[]
A shortage of fried chicken is supposedly linked to a mysterious virus which causes Huey to think that it's the end of the world.
Plot[]
Robert and Riley are in the living room, eagerly watching TV coverage and commercials about the latest special at KFC, a new type of chicken with 13 spices. Meanwhile, Huey and Jazmine are testing out a generator in the Freeman's garage, but a malfunction causes the generator to suddenly explode and turns off all the electricity in the Freeman house, including the TV. Grandad becomes angered and tells Huey that he will not get him anymore supplies for the apocalypse that he is preparing for, because he believes it will not happen and it's a waste of money. After complaining and scolding Huey, Grandad and Riley decided to go to KFC and try the new chicken, while Huey and Jazmine go back into the garage to fix the generator. Jazmine asks Huey what the generator is for and he replies that it could save him and his family's lives one day and that he has a plan that will allow them to survive in their home for as long as possible. While he is fixing the generator, Jazmine asks Huey that if the end of the world really happened would he make plans for her, to which he reluctantly agrees. Jazmine thanks Huey and says that even though people don't listen to him, she believes that he will be smarter than everyone. Meanwhile, Riley and Granddad arrive at KFC only to see that there is a mile long wait for the chicken. After a few hours of waiting, Riley and Grandad finally get to the drive-thru, only to hear that there is no more chicken. Everybody who waited becomes angered; Riley, angrily, calls 911 to tell the police that KFC is out of chicken, and one man even destroys the drive-thru machine and drives his car into the restaurant. A riot quickly forms inside the restaurant and the employees begin to flee.
Back at the Freeman house, Huey watches a news report about violent outrages at KFC over the fried chicken shortage across America. People formed impatient crowds, long drive-thru lines, and fought each other over KFC's new chicken. Robert and Riley come back home and complain about how they couldn't get the chicken, before watching the news with Huey. The reporter goes on to say that a new mysterious virus of unknown origin has appeared and that there are already 400 confirmed cases of it in all 50 states. The CDC warns that the virus could rapidly spread to hundreds of thousands people by the end of the week. Huey deduces the virus came from the fried chicken. Suddenly, Huey and Robert hear Tom and Jazmine knocking out the door, and let them inside when Tom says he didn't eat any chicken. Tom tells Huey that Jazmine is terrified because of him talking about the end of the world, and Jazmine tries to tell him that they're not safe. Tom tells Jazmine that she can stay with Huey to play their "little survival game", (to which he is oblivious to the virus and the fact that Huey is actually preparing), and leaves to pick up Sarah. Back on the news, people finally realize that the fried chicken is the cause of the illness and dub it "The Fried Chicken Flu". Thousands are sick, but most of the infected still go and buy more fried chicken and the riots for chicken are still happening. Jazmine and Robert freak out and Riley is upset that they can't eat chicken anymore, but Huey gives them survival guides he made, already prepared for the collapse of society. Robert and Riley lazily refuse to read it, but Jazmine reads it. Robert asks Huey what the most impotant stuff is and he frustratingly says it is to keep quiet about their emergency supplies and never let anyone else in their home, no matter what. Jazmine asks Huey if her parents can join, but the Freemans say that Tom and Sarah are on their own and that they will most likely die, much to her dismay. President Obama appears on TV and says that he and his family are safe in a underground bunker and that everyone else should work together to survive and that there's no cure for the disease. Robert and Jazmine sadly cry, as Robert repeats that they're going to die.
The next day, Huey awakens to find out that Robert invited an attractive, young woman named Tina to stay in their home until the Fried Chicken flu crisis ends. Huey reminds Robert that the survival plan only included 4 people, but Robert says that if Huey got Jazmine in, why can't he get someone. Huey justifies Jazmine by saying he planned for her to be with them, not for anyone else. Robert tells Huey that his plan sucked and that doesn't want to trapped with kids. Suddenly, someone rings the doorbell and Robert goes to open the door, (ignoring Huey's advice about not opening the front door for anyone unless they know the person's identity and confirm that they aren't infected). Thugnificent then appears at their doorstep and says Riley invited him to stay. Thugnificent convinces Robert to allow him to stay by having Leonard get all of the food on Wendy's menu except the chicken. Huey tells Robert again that he's not following the plan, but Robert ignores his advice because Huey's plan demands that everyone eat Cheerios and green beans. Afterwards, Riley and Thugnificent watch another news report which reveals that at least 3,300,000 people are expected to die and that the virus has possibly spread to other chicken restaurants. Tom and Sarah suddenly appear at the door and beg the Freemans to allow them in. Huey and Robert initially refuse, but are convinced by Jazmine to let them in, however, they refuse to feed them. Hours later, Huey comments on how there's not enough food and water for 9 people. Uncle Ruckus suddenly appears and says he agrees. Everyone questions how he got there and Ruckus says that he was in the attic, replacing the insulation for Robert, but accidentally knocked himself out when the generator malfunctioned at the beginning of the episode and just woke now. Ruckus says that he noticed Obama was on TV and asks what he was talking about. Robert, Huey, Riley and Thugnificent quickly kick Ruckus out of the house, but gave him a gas mask.
Days later, the electricity goes out, so Huey and Jazmine decide to put the generator to work. Huey comments how all of his work and planning was put to waste and wonders why he even tried. Jazmine says that he tried because he is different from everyone else. Huey tells Jazmine to activate the generator and power is restored to the house. Huey returns to the living room to find that everyone is wasting the energy and the generator quickly runs out of energy. Thugnificent says aloud that he is bored after being stuck in the powerless house for a week and a half. Huey reminds him that no one is forcing him to stay, so Thugnificent defensively asks Huey if he is implying that he wants him to leave. Soon a group of white people, called the "Woodcrest Fried Chicken Flu Militia", lead by Betty von Heusen appear. It is revealed that Uncle Ruckus tipped off the residents of Woodcrest that the Freeman house is loaded with emergency supplies and they demand that Robert hand over the supplies and let them in, and they refuse to leave until he does so. Robert doesn't know what to do and Huey says that he would know what to do if anyone read the plan. Jazmine says that she did read it and suggests that they use homemade teargas. The group then makes homemade teargas bombs and drive the militia away.
Afterwards, Jazmine asks Huey about the symptoms of the fried chicken flu. Huey names them all to Jazmine: increased body temperature, excessive sweating, tremendous stomach pain, headache, loss of balance, large amounts of mucus and snot, and projectile vomiting. Tom exhibits all of the symptoms and is quarantined in the guest bedroom. Huey, wearing a hazmat suit, asks Tom how he contracted the flu and he reveals that Leonard accidentally gave him some buffalo wings so he wouldn't starve (Leonard apparently believed that buffalo wings came from actual buffalo meat). Thugnificent and Tina are caught having sex with each other, and are promptly kicked out by Robert, along with Leonard for his incompetence. The remaining five, wearing gas masks, gather in the guest bedroom with Tom. Lacking enough manpower to defend themselves against Betty's militia, the group plans to evacuate the house and put Tom in the trunk of the car so they don't get infected. At the same time, Betty's militia reappears, (this time armed with gas masks, armor, and weapons) ready to attack the group. The group flees in Robert's car and end up in a high-speed chase with the militia driving Uncle Ruckus' school bus. The group loses their supplies and are almost pushed off the road, until Thugnificent and Leonard arrive and crash their UPS truck into the school bus to repay the group. This allows the Freemans and the DuBois to escape.
A news crew is then seen reporting outside a KFC restaurant in Woodcrest, revealing that the entire situation has been exaggerated: no deaths have been reported from the "fried chicken flu" outbreak, which is revealed to have been nothing more than a mild salmonella outbreak. Because there are so many areas that lack power, anybody without electricity wouldn't have known that the crisis had ended. The news report is interrupted when the Freemans' car, having trouble slowing down, coming towards from a distance, accidentally crashes into the KFC. Everyone survives, but they are all exhausted and injured. Robert and Riley finally get to order their food before they pass out, and the episode ends.
Appearances[]
- Riley Freeman
- Robert Freeman
- Huey Freeman
- Jazmine DuBois
- Tom DuBois
- Barack Obama
- Tina (debut/only appearance)
- Thugnificent (last appearance)
- Leonard (last appearance)
- Sarah DuBois
- Betty von Heusen
Continuity[]
- Jazmine DuBois says that fried chicken is murder; she was established to be a vegetarian in "...Or Die Trying."
Trivia[]
- The scene when the lady says, "I want my motherfucking chicken, my babies want motherfucking chicken!", the word "motherfucking" is still bleeped on DVD.
- The scenes about the outage of fried chicken was based off of a 2009 news story where Popeyes ran out of chicken. Unlike the cartoon, there was no riot in the 2009 news story.Video
Cultural references[]
- Robert confused transsexuals and the Trilateral Commission.
- Kernel's Fried Chicken is based on Kentucky Fried Chicken. KFC famously has 11 Herbs and Spices; Kernel's are adding a 12th herb/spice.
- The other chicken restaurants are Bluto's, Temple's Chicken and Chick-le-fait, punning on Popeyes, Church's Chicken and Chick-fil-A.
- The "fried chicken flu" is a reference to Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 ("bird flu" or "chicken flu"); there were several outbreaks in 2006-08.
- Much of the episode is based on various post-apocalyptic films; the final vehicle chase is based on Mad Max II.