NOTE: My blog is only a recap of the show, in my video recap I share my thoughts on some of the scenes.
The show opens with Grace (Merle Dandridge) rushing to the hospital. Danielle (Carlacia Grant) attempted suicide by taking a handful of pills. Danielle says she feels dumb, but the kids are bullying her in school and on social media after learning about the accusations against Uncle Mac. She says someone broke into her locker and wrote slut on her underwear.
Danielle wants to know why Uncle Mac is not in jail and is feeling as if coming forward was a waste of time. Grace doesn’t really have any answers.
Lady Mae (Lynn Whitfield) is mourning the absence of Jacob (Lammon Rucker) and his family. They took every piece of furniture out of their suite when they moved out. Sh is running her fingers over the height markings on the wall when the Bishop (Keith David) comes in and suggests she paint the suite a new color.
Uncle Mac (Gregory Alan Williams) has had to move from his condominium and is now living in an apartment that looks to be beneath the lifestyle he is accustomed to. He is looking out the window when a mom and her two kids walk by. They are looking at a flyer and then up at him. He smiles at the family but this causes the woman to hurry her kids along.
It turns out the flyer is a copy of his mugshot with the charges leveled against him. Someone, probably Grace) has gone through the trouble of placing the flyers on the windshield of all the cars.
Jacob goes in to see Basie Skanks (Jason Dirden) who is going over graphics for a billboard. Jacob is there to let him know there are issues at the construction site that will cost about $400K to fix. Skanks suggests that Jacob go visit a Calvary member who won the Powerball a few months back, and ask her for the money.
Jacob arrives at the home Clara Jackson (Donna Biscoe) to try and get her to donate, but after she starts to talk about the money being a curse, he has a change of heart. She asks how he is doing at Triumph and states that she hasn’t seen a Greenleaf in a while. She also says there is room for two churches in the area and she isn’t upset that Jacob went to Triumph. After a brief pause she asks Jacob why he decided to visit after so much time has passed. Jacob replies that he just wanted to see her.
Sophia (Desiree Ross) and Zora (Lovie Simone) are having lunch but Zora is receiving text after text after text. Sophia asks who is texting her. When Zora replies “Isaiah (Roshon Fegan),” a sudden sadness comes over Sophia. Zora is totally oblivious to the violation she has committed and to the fact that she has hurt Sophia.
Grace goes to pick-up Sophia from Jacob’s and asks Kerissa (Kim Hawthorne) if she can make some connections to get Danielle into another school. Kerissa doesn’t seem happy to see Grace. When Grace says that the house isn’t that bad, Kerissa tells her to save her pity, because had she not come back to Memphis, they wouldn’t be in this house. They would still be living at the Greenleaf estate.
The following day Zora and Sophia arrive at an event at Triumph. Isaiah is performing and Zora doesn’t try to hide her infatuation. She is totally smitten by Isaiah. Sophia lingers in the background hurt and disappointed. Isaiah asks Zora if she wants to go somewhere with him. She asks Sophia is she wants to tag along. Sophia declines the offer and the two sneak out leaving Sophia to cover for them.
While listening to a female speaker (Kat Logan) a young guy sitting behind Sophia introduces himself as Roberto (Antonio J Bell) and the two engage in conversation about the speech. Tasha Skanks (Asia'h Epperson) comes up looking for Zora and Sophia says she is in the bathroom. Tasha replies that she has been in the bathroom for two hours, to which Sophia replies she is having female issues.
When Kerissa arrives to pick up the girls, she is met by Tasha who asks again if she can help decorate the house. Again Kerissa brushes her off. Tasha tells Kerissa she has plenty of things to keep her busy and just wants to help, but Kerissa is still cold and distant. In response, Tasha decides to let her know that Zora made like Elvis and left the building for several hours, and that Sophia covered for her. There is definitely some tension between these two that probably stems back to Kerissa’s insecurities, coupled with her not wanting to move.
Kerissa goes in to see Grace when she drops Sophia off to let her know that Sophia covered for Zora so she could sneak off. She also lets Grace know she found a spot for Danielle at another school.
At home, Jacob tells Zora she is forbidden from seeing Isaiah again.
Kevin (Tye White) is at his support meeting and he opens up about his mom coming to visit. He sees Charity’s (Deborah Joy Winans) willingness to host his mother as a step in the right direction.
Sidney (Neko Parham), the leader of the group hands all the participants a bottle of Ipecac syrup, a drug that is generally used to induce vomiting. For the purpose of the group, he wants them to take a dose every time they begin to have unwanted feelings or desires. We see Kevin take the medication at least two times.
Kevin’s mom Ethlin (Denise Burse) arrives at the Greenleaf estate and is so happy to see her grandson. When the two are alone she asks Kevin why it took so long for her to be able to visit. She believes the delay is due to Charity suffering from Post-Partum depression. Kevin lets her know that was not the reason. Ethlin tells Kevin she needs to go to the grocery store to get the ingredients for some chicken bouillon stew (guessing that is what she called it), but he lets her know Marisel (Vickie Eng) has gotten everything she needs. His mom is not impressed with the lifestyle the Greenleaf’s have exposed her son to.
Later Ethlin is alone with Charity and it is an awkward moment. She tells Charity with all the help she has, motherhood should come easy.
Grace has lunch with Darius Nash (Rick Fox). They order crab legs from a food truck but its obvious Grace knows nothing about eating crabs. She shares with Darius that Danielle attempted suicide after being bully, and describes her angst with knowing Uncle Mac is still free.
I am wondering when will one or all of these “off the record” comments are going to come back and bite Grace in the behind.
Darius tells her that when she gets down and distraught Mac wins. He then offers to take her to work off some steam. The two end up at a batting cage where he teaches Grace, how to hit. These two are becoming very comfortable and Grace reveals that she feels like she has all this weight on her trying to clean up her family’s mess.
Lady Mae, the Bishop, Darlene (Roxzane T. Mims) and Karine (Chevonne Hughes) are listening to the interview the Bishop did at a local radio station. Lady Mae is upset when she learns that the Bishop’s interview was only a snippet and they will have to go to the internet to hear the entire show. It seems they were bumped by Basis Skanks and Triumph.
As she and the Bishop are in her office planning for a counter-attack, Karine comes in to let them know that Nana Clara called to say hello and to let them know that Jacob came by to visit. The Bishop asks Lady Mae if she is ready to paint the room now.
Lady Mae goes to visit Jacob at the construction site to confront him about going to see Ms. Clara. She lets Jacob know that Basie Skanks is actually Darryl James son and the only reason he hired him was to get back at the Bishop. Jacob lets her know he is 40 years-old and has nothing to show for his life but his kids. Despite why Skanks hired him, he wants to take full advantage of the opportunity to do something with his life.
Lady Mae says she is embarrassed that he would rather stay at Triumph and make things work with Skanks than come back to Calvary. She lets him know that both he and Grace have disappointed her. Jacob responds that he was afraid that in her tirade she wasn’t going to mention Grace.
Before dinner, Grace lectures Sophia about covering for Zora. Sophia is really in funk and snaps at Grace. Grace orders her to get ready for dinner after Sophia says she doesn’t want to go downstairs and eat whatever the cafeteria smelling stuff is that is stinking up the house.
At the dinner table Ethlin gets a few things off her chest. She lets the Bishop know that she had been trying to visit for some time but Kevin wouldn’t give her a due date for the twins. Poor thing, she just wanted to request time off from her job and buy her bus ticket to Memphis.
Ethlin shares that she felt unwanted and that Kevin was ashamed of her. Lady Mae and the Bishop try to calm her spirit after Kevin walks out. Ethlin excuses herself to go see what is going on with her son. Lady Mae turns to Charity who has been quiet the entire time and accuses her of acting as if nothing is amiss. Charity gets upset and leaves the table also.
Upstairs Kevin confesses to his mom that he had been staying in a hotel and only recently moved back into the Greenleaf home. The two have an unspoken conversation and the mother surmises that Kevin has come to terms with being gay.
Ethlin leaves the following day and she seems to be in a better place, she repeats to Kevin that he is her only son and she is proud of him. Inside, Lady Mae has chosen a color for the suite and the painting has begun.
Jacob is leaving the church when Skanks asks him about his visit to Ms. Clara. Jacob lets him know he didn’t ask for the money. When Skanks asks how he plans to cover the shortfall, he says he will figure it out.
Grace let’s Janice (Tonia Jackson), Danielle’s mother, know that they found a school and although she can’t promise the kids will be nicer, she is there is they need her. Later she overhears Darlene on the phone with her daughter. She is trying to calm her down after the daughter ran into Uncle Mac.
The show ends with Grace going to Uncle Mac’s apartment building. She sits in her car waiting for him to arrive home. After he goes upstairs she takes a bat and busts out all the windows in his SUV. Uncle Mac comes down and the two have an intense stare-off.
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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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