Luis (Benito Martinez) finds himself sinking into servitude on the farm, while field captain Isaac (Richard Cabral) forms a complicated relationship with Coy (Connor Jessup). Jeanette (Felicity Huffman) comes to realize her family's role in exploiting farm workers.
The show opens with Shae (Ana Mulvoy Ten) sitting at a table with a conversation between Kimara (Regina King) and the Assistant District Attorney, Amanda McKay (Zylan Brooks) discussing the sex trafficking and heroin epidemic in the US. The officer wants Kimara to really put the pressure on Shae to get her to turn against Billy (Trevor Riley).
Kimara takes the challenge and goes in to talk with Shae about Billy. I guess that’s his name, and not Marquis as Ishmael referred to him in episode one.
Kimara assures Shae she won’t be arrested but argues that they need her help to get him off the streets. She tries to get Shae to understand that Billy is not her friend and is not helping her. She asks her where was Billy when the cops came in. Was it right that he left her?
Shae wants to know when the trial will take place. Kimara says about nine months. Shae counters that Kimara has no clue when a trial would take place. They just want her to hang around until whenever.
Jeanette is at a Jewelry store with Carson (Dallas Roberts) when he gets a call that there was a fire and some workers were injured. He seems really upset and assures Jeanette the fire was not on the farm.
Coy is not doing well picking the tomatoes. He’s obviously going through withdrawal. Isaac is upset but trying to cover for him as the other overseers look on. He doesn’t want hiring Coy to reflect negatively on him.
Shae agrees to stay. At the shelter she is given the rundown of the rules. She has to attend chapel, take classes to get her GED, no electronic devices or visitors. She is not allowed to leave the premises. On a tour of the place she asks how many girls to a room and she is told eight. Shae replies that with Billy it is only six to a room.
Shae is going through a health screening and it is pretty intense. She lets the intake specialist know that she uses marijuana and is four weeks pregnant. She also reveals that she was pregnant once before.
The scene goes to training on human trafficking where Abby (Sandra Oh) is the speaker. Kimara is in attendance and the statistics Abby is sharing is overwhelming. Afterwards the two are talking about the differences in how issues are viewed based on ethnicity. Example crack cocaine was seen as a crime problem, whereas, heroin is seen as a public health issue.
Kimara shares with Abby that Shae thinks she is better off with her pimp and Abby asks her if she’s surprised. Kimara admits she is becoming immune to what is happening around her. She says that before, if she was on a bout that held 10 people she would try to save 100. Now, she feels 10 is too many. Abby encourages her to keep fighting.
Luis has a flashback scene to having dinner with his wife and son. It is in Spanish with no subtitles, but the few words I know lead me to believe they were arguing about him coming to America. It is obvious that in Mexico Luis is not poor.
In the fields one of the workers tells Luis he has to cover his face with a bandana because they spray the fields with pesticides, which can be harmful to the workers.
Later that evening at the migrant camp a truck shows up and all of the woman climb into the back. Luis asks the other worker what are they going to do with the women and he tells him what men do with women. This may allude to the women being part of sex trafficking also. The worker then asks why Luis is there because he is obviously not a picker. Luis decides to confide in him and says he is in the US searching for his son, Teo (Andrew Steven Hernandez).
Teo came to North Carolina to work and was sending money home weekly, but the money stopped coming and they have not heard from him. The guy says he doesn’t want to get involved.
The following morning the migrant worker let’s Luis know he found someone who remembers Teo, but it will cost $20. He agrees to pay the money. Later they go to a camp that looks like it is for Haitians. A man named Da'uud (Robert Okumu) says Teo was headed to New York and that he had big dreams.
He says Teo was not good for the fields because he was too talkative. The bosses didn’t like it and when they confronted Teo he wouldn’t back down. Teo was lucky. The bosses simply withheld his pay and told him to move on. Da'uud believes he probably went to another farm, because there are a couple that are desperate for help. He adds that Teo will be easy to find because of his personality and storytelling abilities.
Luis goes back to the migrant camp and packs his things. As he is leaving Matias (Omar Leyva) comes after him and asks where he is going. Luis refuses to get in the truck and asks Matias what he is going to do, call the police. He is boldly speaking in very good English which seems to make Matias think twice, so he lets him leave.
Later that night Isaac gets a lecture from Diego (Clayton Cardenas) on being too soft with Coy. He goes to the barn where Coy is staying to try and plead with him to do better. Coy says he is just trying to get through the day. Isaac tells him he is making him look bad. Coy says he feels good about being there and he text his brother to let him know he had a job. He plays on Issac by saying the brother thought he wanted money but he insisted that he didn’t. Isaac gives him some drugs and then walks away.
Kimara goes to visit a friend named Reggie (Sean Blakemore) and confides in him that she is doing the IVF treatments, but they are expensive. Twelve thousand dollars per cycle and she’s been through two. She details the experience and talks about how lonely it is doing it all on her own.
She says she has decided that she doesn’t want the father to be an anonymous donor, but someone she knows and respects. We learn that Reggie is her ex. He tells her that he would have to talk to his wife, Denise, about the request.
This is really complicated because his son, Jason (Duane Ervin) answered the door and called Kimara, Auntie. It’s been 20 years since their break-up and it appears there are still some feelings.
At the Hesby home, they are having a party. Jeanette notices Laurie Ann (Cherry Jones) is a little distant. She goes to talk to JD (Tim DeKay), a relative who works in the family business. She enquires about the fire and he lets her know 15 people were killed. JD announces he is going to get an Uber and go home.
Jeanette goes to tell Laurie Ann her and Carson are also leaving. She asks if Laurie Ann is okay and mentions everyone is on edge. She asks if there is something she should be doing in regards to the families of the deceased workers. Laurie Ann says all the workers need is there prayers because they are resilient people.
The following day Jeanette searches the internet for a story on the fire and is surprised there is no coverage. She brings it up to Carson and he is very agitated and keeps repeating that it wasn’t on the farm, as if that is all that matters.
Carson suggests that she go visit Raelyn (Janel Moloney), because ever since she went to visit her she has changed. He becomes irate that she wants his family to feel a certain way about the workers who died, and they didn’t know them, but she want deal with how she feels about her own sister.
Jeanette goes to the camp and learns that twenty people live in one trailer and that they sometimes put chicken wire on the windows to keep people from stealing their stuff while they are in the fields. Essentially, the workers were trapped in the trailer when the fire broke-out.
The show ends with the camera panning around the burned out trailer and surrounding area.
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Love & Blessings,
Tracy
Tracy L. Darity is the author of three novels, He Loves Me He Loves Me Not!, Love...Like Snow in Florida on a Hot Summer Day, and The Red Bear Society. Available in print and e-book. To learn more, visit www.TracyLDarity.com or Amazon.com
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