"Let's Nab Oprah" is the 11th episode of the 1st season of The Boondocks. It originally aired on February 12, 2006.
Riley conspires with Ed III and Gin Rummy to kidnap talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey for ransom. Meanwhile, Huey tries to stop Riley's evil scheme. But all of them will first have to go through Oprah's bodyguard, the karate master Bushido Brown.
Tropes:
- Bank Robbery: Ed and Rummy do a bank heist with Riley's assistance at the beginning.
- Blooper: The BB Glock Riley pulls on Huey becomes a Beretta as soon as Huey gets his hands on it.
- Carnival of Killers: Gin Rummy tells the tale of Bushido Brown fending off a gang of henchmen hired by the Texas beef industry to take out Oprah Winfrey, including pastiches of Walker, Texas Ranger and Billy Jack. Bushido kicked all of their asses and it has been said he took the hand of the last person who managed to reach for the door leading to Oprah. Right after cutting it.
- Cassandra Truth: When Huey arrives to stop Riley, Ed, and Rummy, he encounters Bushido Brown. Huey tries to warn him about the Oprah kidnapping plot to no avail, and during the confusion, Huey gets into a fight with Bushido.
- Conflict Ball: Huey and Riley fighting with swords, knives, pots, furniture, and even [toy?] guns, may seem over the top for two young boys. That said, Huey wants to keep Riley far away from Ed III because of how much of a bad influence he can be.
- Continuity Nod: Huey emphasizes his reasons against Riley hanging out with Ed and Rummy to Granddad, by reminding him of the mini-mart robbery from "A Date with the Health Inspector".
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When Huey finally caches Riley, he drags him home and uses this trope while smacking him on the head with each empasis.Huey: You! Must have lost! Your mind! You do not! Kidnap! Oprah!
- Epic Fail: Ed III and Gin Rummy both go to the wrong bookstore and kidnap Maya Angelou by mistake. Even Riley is smart enough to out that the correct bookstore had a large crowd out front... as well as a sign that said "Welcome Oprah."
- Failed a Spot Check: Ed and Rummy take this to truly impressive levels while trying to kidnap Oprah:
- They assault the wrong bookstore and mistakenly take Maya Angelou, even though one bookstore had a large crowd of people outside, and a large sign saying "Welcome Oprah".
- Later when they assault a studio, they enter Bill Cosby's dressing room by mistake.
- Hammerspace: Subtle but noticeable, during Riley's fight with Huey, Riley pulls a frying pan out of his pants to use as a weapon. The frying pan is noticeably too large to fit in his pants like that.
- Insane Troll Logic: Gin Rummy and Ed III's reasoning for why they should kidnap Oprah is because Oprah controls women, if they kidnap Oprah they get all the women.
- Medium Awareness: This quote:Bushido Brown: (to Huey) Man... you come straight out of a comic strip!
- Never Mess with Granny: Despite being a 78-year-old woman, blindfolded, and Bound and Gagged, Maya Angelou actually manages to seriously threaten Rummy. This may be saying more about Rummy than her, admittedly.
- Pity the Kidnapper: After failing to kidnap Oprah, Ed and Rummy decide to kidnap Bill Cosby instead. They returned him only 15 minutes later, because he was just that annoying.
- Police Are Useless: Because they're on the Wunclers' payroll. A cop even visits Ed III to return something he left behind from the bank robbery.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: It's outright stated that Ed and Rummy get away with their crimes, only because Ed's grandfather owns the police.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Rummy believes they get away with their crimes because he's a criminal mastermind, dismissing the facts that Wuncler's grandfather owns the police and all their crimes are failures due to general incompetence.
- Special Guest: Charlie Murphy as Ed Wuncler III, and Samuel L. Jackson as Gin Rummy.
- Surrounded by Idiots: One of the main gags of the episode is how next to Rummy and Ed - supposed master criminals and special forces - it's Riley, a literal child, who is the only one with a brain. He basically becomes the leader of their gang out of necessity, then spends the story getting increasingly annoyed at their screw ups until he finally has enough and just abandons them towards the end.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Huey opposes Riley's friendship with Ed and Rummy because they're criminals, and Riley likes them for that reason.
