On the heels of extending Black-ish’s reign for a six season, ABC announced they’ll be picking up the show’s spinoff, Mixed-ish.
Now we have a trailer for said spin-off. As a-ha’s catchy classic “Take On Me” reverberates in the background, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross)—lovingly known as Bow—reflects on the fact that her evolving family doesn’t really know her story. And neither do we.
“What are you weirdos mixed with?” asks one of the students during lunch period.
“What’s mixed?” asks Bow.
When exploring plot lines for biracial characters, the ongoing trope is the old “I was never black enough for the black folks nor white enough for the white folks” brand of identity issues. American literature dubs this phenomenon the “tragic mulatto,” an archetypical mixed-race person who lives in the confusing and frustrating space between “black and white.”
From the looks of this trailer, some of that will be explored, but I’m more interested in the show hopefully taking a unique stance on this trope and focusing on how Bow’s cult commune upbringing truly sets her apart from her peers. We shall see ...
And there’d better be an entire segment dedicated to exploring the fact that Bow’s mother is portrayed by Tika Sumpter and somehow obtains an Infinity Gauntlet, turning half of her melanin to dust—and the “endgame” is Anna Deavere Smith.
Speaking of casting, I spy the super adorable girl who wanted to be like Serena Williams in that 2015 viral video, Mykal-Michelle Harris! Harris will portray Bow’s younger sister, Santamonica.
I also think it’s important to note that I am currently and impatiently tapping my foot for the announcement of a Diane (Marsai Martin) spinoff (I see The Root’s witty Staff Writer Anne Branigin is expecting this, as well). If something like that is in the works, I bet Martin will also executive produce it like the astute young lady she is.
As of now, “coming soon” is all we know about the debut of Mixed-Ish, but we’ll keep you posted.