Trigger Warning with Killer Mike, while bringing up serious, potentially thought-provoking ideas, loses its edge due to how silly it sometimes becomes.
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Episode Plot Summaries
Episode 1: Living Black
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
For approximately three days Killer Mike attempts only to use services owned or created by Black people. The purpose of this exercise is to show how little the Black community reinvests within itself, especially compared to other ethnicities. But, while Killer Mike has trouble with such luxuries as using a cell phone and private transportation, he learns even food, including at Black-owned businesses, makes truly keeping the Black dollar in the community a struggle.
Well, at least in a post-segregation world in which, as soon as segregation ended, it seemed Black-owned businesses and options became scarce. Thus not only ending reinvestment but arguably also the need for a diverse cultural economy.
Episode 2: F**k School
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
Almost piggybacking off the topic before, Killer Mike explores from childhood to adulthood, a means to get people more interested in vocational trades. For ideas like becoming president, the person who cures cancer, or getting into the music industry, he doesn’t see these as viable jobs. To Mike, these are dreams. So, the question becomes, how to get more people thinking about jobs like carpentry, being an electrician, and also plumbing?
For in connection with the first episode, the Black folk we see in this episode, the grown men, they don’t mention these jobs as their first choice. One is knowledgeable about what an HVAC license is, but no one says this is their dream job. So, Killer Mike comes up with a way to get people invested: Porn. He works with a sex therapist and handyman to combine their expertise and for a group of participants, they go from learning little to nothing to having a grasp on what they’re talking about. Now, as for taking it mainstream? Killer Mike finds a technical school which, maybe for the camera, says they’re interested. It isn’t made clear if they did put the plan into action, however.
Episode 3: White Gang Privilege
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
Taking note of many loving cinematic movies like The Godfather and Scarface, as well as how the Hells Angels have created a marketable and commercial brand, Killer Mike ponders why can’t the Crips do the same? So, with that in mind, he helps them make a soda company. Problem is, they can’t get a loan since their day to day business has no books, pays no taxes and is illegal. So, they have to do things without outside investment.
All of this, by the way, is guided by Killer Mike, so they use the trap house to make their cola, work with a design firm, and Mike sets them up with a former Coca Cola representative to help them with marketing. However, there comes the issue of Crips having a name which makes businesses and people uneasy. So, a few things are done. First, a focus group is handled to get the concrete issues down. This is followed by getting the Bloods their own soda, and then a farmer’s market with the two side by side. Thus disproving the two street fraternities, as they call themselves, don’t start acting like wild animals when they see each other on sight.
Episode 4: New Jesus
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
As with all things on Trigger Warning, episode 4 begins with Killer Mike uncomfortable about the way things are being done and him coming up with a solution. The issue this episode is Black folk praising white Jesus and the way religion is playing a role in the Black community in modern times. So, to fix the issue, he decides to create a religion around the persona of his friend Sleepy. Thus creating a church which preaches the benefit of sleep and relaxation.
Episode 5: Outside The Box
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
What begins as Killer Mike trying to expand his audience becomes forming a supergroup. One made up of the returning Mario, who Mike had a verbal altercation with in episode 3; two Black Lives Matter activist, one of which is a Black woman; a Jewish woman, who enjoys being in renaissance attire; a white nationalist, who has no qualms about using the N-word; and a few others. As you can imagine, the song which they produce is a bit all over the place and the episode a bit of a hot mess.
Episode 6: Kill Your Master
| Director(s) | Vikram Gandhi |
“Kill Your Master” is a culmination of all we saw up to this point. Killer Mike decides to start an independent nation populated by those he has encountered throughout the season – including Mario. This means buying land, creating a constitution, a pledge, and the people, sans Killer Mike, working the land. However, in time, the differences of the populace, mostly Mario deciding he has to be different, begin to tear the new nation apart slowly. Thus, elections are done, and Killer Mike forges the votes so someone else wins the presidency. After all, he is fine with investing, but his heart isn’t really into seeing the nation through – he would rather be a performer.
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