TVSquad

Last night's episode of Everybody Hates Chris focused on a sibling rivalry between Chris and his younger brother Drew, who is better than Chris in everything that matters to young teenage boys, especially fighting and getting girls. Jealous, Chris decides to enroll in a karate class, where his instructor informs the class that karate is about learning ways to kill people, and then not doing it.

I grew up with two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother, and all three of us were so radically different in our personalities and interests that there was never any real jealously between us. I couldn't really empathize with Chris' desire to do something better than his little brother, but I do remember wanting to take karate at a young age. My reason for wanting this, as is the case for most boys, was so I could beat the living crap out of anyone who tried to beat me up at school. I never did take lessons, but I did develop my own form of karate which involved placing one foot in front of the other, and using this motion to propel myself quickly in the opposite direction of my assailant.

Eventually, Chris and Drew get in a fight and Chris "accidentally" tries a move on Drew and breaks his brother's hand. This only serves to get Drew more attention from the girls, but by the end Chris realizes that Drew pretty much thinks he hung the moon. It was a somewhat sappy ending to a really funny episode.

It was also nice to see Imani Hakim, who plays Chris' little sister Tonya, get more screen time in this episode. The "B" story involved her going to the beauty salon with her mother and learning the rules of gossip: only talk about other people, and never talk about your own family. Out of all the kids on the show, her acting impresses me the most. I'd like to see her made a bigger part of the show.