Tag Archives: own

Lady Mae cans choir director, tension between cousins begins burble

First of all, Lady Mae is going after Carlton. But it’s not because he’s gay.   That doesn’t mean she’s on the right side of wrong, though.

Meanwhile, I predict some boy-related tension is about to go down between Sofia and Cousin Zora. Sofia likes this young singer at Triumph Church, and Zora’s coaching her on ways to get his attention. But when they go watch Isiah Hambrick rehearse, he bores his attention into Zora as if awkward Sofia doesn’t exist.

Continue reading Lady Mae cans choir director, tension between cousins begins burble

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Lawd, them Greenleaves are back with tawdry church drama to boot!

At the final scene of season 1, Uncle Mac’s still a cad. And he’s fresh out of jail. Poppa Greenleaf is still struggling with his disease and trying to hide it… I think it’s Parkinson’s. But the cops come for his ass as they drop Uncle Mac off at the mansion doorstep. They warn Pastor to stick around town. Why? Because he’s accused of being complicit in the death of a church caretaker who died in a fire at an early church Bishop ran during the 1980s. Lady Mae’s father (who is also a cad we’re learning) told Grace that fire wasn’t an act of God as had been previously thought. Some Johnny struck a match but the match DIDN’T go out.

Continue reading Lawd, them Greenleaves are back with tawdry church drama to boot!

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Greenleaf Raptured… one taken, the others left

Which way did they go?

Looks like OWN-TV’s done raptured all the season 1 Greenleaf episodes back to glory. Serves me right for waiting until the first season’s end of days to start with these recaps.

Thankfully, Queen Sugar’s still here, along with Super Soul Sunday. Iyanla’s also around to keep fixing up the lives of folks who got left behind.

She’s trying to help me process this Greenleaf loss.

Greenleaf didn’t get snatched like a thief in the night. I knew they’d be removed from on-demand access, but I let time slip away and didn’t check the expiration dates. That show was temporarily taken, but some on other networks are left.

via GIPHY

In the words of the homie,  Forest Gump:

“That’s all I have to say about that…”  (for now).

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More questions, more answers. Thanks Greenleaf episode 13.

This mess has left me with more questions than answers, which is why I can’t wait until the new season! Darn you OWN!!!! Bring on Queen Sugar to fill in the gaps. Hope they did this staggered programming on purpose.

Grace finally speaks about sexual assault in the pulpit:

Continue reading More questions, more answers. Thanks Greenleaf episode 13.

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Preachers, swingers & mama-daughter drama: Greenleaf episode 6

So Grace finally agrees to preach while Bishop is out of town. Bishop is the king of Planet Greenleaf, so he simply, more like outright, told her she ain’t got a choice since he’ll be out of town. Gracie’s not feeling it, but brokers a deal in the process…. She agrees to take the pulpit the coming Sunday IF she can start a support group for sexual abuse survivors.  Lady Mae thinks the group is an affront to her and to Bishop. One survivor who joined the Sisters of Tamar group is also being physically abused by her husband. Grace tries to get her to leave him but the woman, Stacy, grew up without a father and refuses to let her daughters to grow up without theirs.


Jacob attempts to salvage his self-worth after Bishop told him he has no place


Meanwhile, Jacob attempts to salvage his self-worth after his daddy told him he has no place at the church. [Hot dang… that still stings to me, and Jacob ain’t even real!] So he links up with a man who is part of a Christian network to see about getting Bishop some television airtime.  And guess who’s coming to dinner? The exec and his wife. This couple hints (not so subtly) their enjoyment of swings… and not of moods or playground equipment.   They invite Jacob and Kerissa for a romp at their rustic pad in the woods. Looks like this other couple has a thought-out arrangement.  Who knows, they may even have real swings to swang at their little cabin in the woods.

Lady Mae continues to bat for Jacob, asking Bishop to reinstate him. She hints at some past indiscretion of his, but doesn’t go into it.

Cut to Kevin as he swipes through photos of men on a smartphone dating app, while Charity is struggling over a stack of resumes–candidates to fill the minister of music slot.  After a difference of artistic opinion, the previous director hinted that he’d have more artistic freedom at Triumph Church. So Charity encouraged him to bounce.

Back to the resume pile.  Kevvie tells Charity  not to think too hard about it. Just put the “maybes” in one pile, the “nevers” into another and keep it moving. “Like one of those dating apps?” Charity asks. Only she doesn’t know her hubby’s looking at such an app right under her nose.

Charity’s hire is excited about the job, but reveals he’s openly gay. Carlton informs her up front because he didn’t want anyone to be surprised because he’s planning to bring his partner to church. He says he wasn’t up front with his previous employer and trouble found him when they found out about his partner.  Charity is in his corner from the start.


Lady Mae’s interactions with Grace are the sweetest acid


So…Lady Mae visits Grace’s suite in the mansion… I could tell the interaction would be laced with drama. Her mom’s look toward her daughter is always steely—smiling yes, but no tenderness carried with it. Lady Mae told her she’s putting her trust in Grace as she preps for the big day in the pulpit… followed by her hopes that Grace would use the opportunity for “institutional purposes” and not to verbally chastise the family in public…. maybe she suspects Grace will blast them about Uncle Mac molesting  Faith?

To that,  Gracie replies, “Momma…Do you love me at all?”  [I’ve been wondering that myself]. All Lady Mae’s interactions with Grace are the sweetest acid. Lady Mae always has an agenda… her interactions never seem to be straightforward when dealing with folks, especially Grace. I’m trying to figure out why. She did say she loves Grace, and Bishop and the church. Maybe she’s just trying to protect everyone from scandal. But it still seems she has a beef against her oldest child that seems to go beyond abuse accusations against Uncle Mac.

Episodic observations:
The church has real, live gay people attending each week who LOVE Jesus. Let me repeat—Christian churches have real, live gay congregants who LOVE Jesus.  Greenleaf, I think, is subtly showing  how progressive some minds can be–even in some Christian churches, some which aren’t always known as receptive to openly gay individuals and/or couples.  But some of those same churches will gladly suction up the time and talent of gay musicians, as long as they ensconce their gayness in a corner, alcove… or closet.

Loving the one you’re with

In addition to the physical abuse/domestic abuse storyline in this episode, is another thread about spousal appreciation and the idea of ownership. When Jacob learned Kerissa would be willing to swing to advance Jacob’s status at Calvary, all of a sudden he again became interested in her as a sexual being. His reason? He doesn’t want another man touching her. “Because you’re mine,” he says.

I was tempted to be like “Awwww… Jacob’s come back around to wifey!” But that didn’t last for long because I noticed no love in that statement of ownership. He just didn’t want another man fiddling with his wife. Now that someone else is interested, he’s all in again.  Funny thing… seems he’s treating Kerissa like a body. Didn’t he just complain about that in a previous episode?  Wack, Jacob. You got one point for  un-cheating on your wife, but I snatch-eth it  back, homie.

*Don’t count on catching Greenleaf full episodes. They’ve been raptured to OWN’s glory.  Not sure when they’ll be available again online or on demand.

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More than promised: Charley learns the real deal about Davis in Queen Sugar episode 6

Nova’s been getting media traction after her article hit the front page. This episode opens with her and a local activist being interviewed by a couple of morning shock-jocks. Of course, the jocks keep bending attention to Charely and the messy allegations against Davis West. If you haven’t peeped Queen Sugar, Davis is a star player with a Los Angeles basketball team. I’m a bad viewer, ‘cause I don’t even remember the team name. It ain’t the Lakers… And I’m only a fair-weather fan for them, so whatever.


She caught Nova’s response and jumped from zero to pissed a nanosecond flat.


Poor Nova kept trying to keep attention on the injustices her article pointed out, but jokers be jokers. Somewhere in the segment, they asked Nova’s point of view about the Davis West mess. She didn’t get down into Charley and Davis’ biz-nizz, but she DID ask one question: When it comes to rape cases, why is the victim always assumed to be guilty or at fault somehow?

Somewhere on the other side of them-there airwaves, Auntie Vi was listening when Charley moseyed back in after a run. And, of course, she caught Nova’s response and jumped from zero to pissed a nanosecond flat.

Unrelated side note: Auntie Vi changed her hair to a more homely marm-bob. She actually looks like she could be their aunt.

Continue reading More than promised: Charley learns the real deal about Davis in Queen Sugar episode 6

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Hard-Headed Charley bumps her head in Queen Sugar episode 5

I’ve had it with Charley Bordelon.

She’s showing all her flaws in this episode. The main one: she doesn’t LISTEN.

Ol-girl visits Davis’ accuser in Houston to up the sit down and shut up price of $500,000 to make the rape case against Davis go away. His accuser asks a valid question. “How do you un-rape someone?” Sex worker or not, that’s a good question. Rape is rape. And there’s a rape kit. No idea if it contains damning evidence against Davis, but sources are saying the kit exists.


Snap, what was that? Oh, it’s big sister Charley snipping off baby Ralph’s cojones.


But Charley also has a good point, too. Sex workers do what they do to get paid. She wants her husband’s accuser to call her when she determines her price.

Well dang. If she’s lying, I’m sure she’ll come up with a figure. If she isn’t lying, she should take this thing through the courts. Famous or not, rape is rape and all-lem fools should go to prison if they did it.

But she calls a figure, $3 million bucks, a face to face with Davis. She wants him to admit what he did. But his accuser says she’ll slide out their lives for good of they agree to her terms. Davis is looking more rapey by the episode. Maybe he’s just a serial liar. Maybe they were all down for the get-down, but his accuser didn’t give explicit consent. I don’t know what to do with this storyline, but I do know what it’s like to have explicit consent circumvented. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Anyway, Davis’ lawyer wasn’t too thrilled Charley went behind her back to see Davis’ accuser.

So Charley finds out about Ralph-Angel’s cane sugar debacle, and says she’s going to take over all farm business.

*Snip, snip, snip* Snap, what was that? Oh, it’s big sister Charley snipping off baby Ralph’s cojones.

Ralph confronts his coworker about the bad seed cane and asks for his money back. No can do, his coworker says.

*Snip, snip, snip* Snap, what was that? Oh, it’s… wait… what else is there to cut? Ralph’s cojones are already gone. Thankfully this is fiction, and in my world—cojones can regenerate faster than starfish arms if allowed.

More snippage in the works for poor Ralph. He picks up his check and finds it’s lacking some ducats. He’s short 8 hours. Ralph confronts the guy passing out checks, and this fool has the nerve to tell Ralph that he’s “been inside so maybe you forgot, freedom ain’t free, bro.”

Continue reading Hard-Headed Charley bumps her head in Queen Sugar episode 5

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Smut and sordid dirty-dealings exposed in Queen Sugar episode 4

Charley’s back in Los Angeles getting checked out for every living STD known to mankind. Meanwhile, Ralph Angel’s in charge of getting seed cane for the farm. They’re only going to farm 300 acres of the 800 their daddy left in his will.


Failure. Seems that’s what Nova and Charley expect from Ralph-Angel 


Nova’s back pursuing stories—this one exposes the dirty dealings that target young, mostly black, youth in New Orleans’ Ninth ward… A sordid trysting between the police force, the courts and private prisons.

The prisons make money per inmate, which they can lend out to businesses in the area for money. The prisons skim money off the top and funnel it to law enforcement agencies. Seems the courts come in by sentencing the young folks who were brought in on excessive, trumped-up charges and who were also encouraged to take plea deals.

Her story makes the front page.

Ralph Angel goes to buy seed cane for the farm. Meantime, Charley and Nova keep on him to make sure he’s going to get things done. Of course he wants to be the man, to show he’s capable. A co-worker covers for him while he runs to get the seed cane. He learns when he sees Remy Newell in passing that he has to register with the sate before he gets his cane. Ralph Angel seemed a tad bothered, as if Remy’s words were a revelation that he forgot a step. The man who sold the seed cane said it was all out. So since it wasn’t explicitly stated that Ralph Angel didn’t register with the state, it isn’t crystal clear if Ralph Angel really forgot to register with the state or if Sam Landry pulled his snake-like strings to make sure the Bordelons don’t farm their land this planting season.

Failure. Seems that’s what Nova and Charley expect from Ralph-Angel at the end of the day, when hope tuckers out.  But he’s also holding hope they’ll do better, too.

A co-worker at Ralph Angel’s job learns what happened and says his cousin knows farming, but won’t be planting this season. He has a bunch of seed cane to get off his hands. So Ralph drops $15-thousand and buys it.

The catch is—it’s worthless. Remy Newell looks it over and shows Ralph it’s infected with smut. No good.

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Queen Sugar episode 3: gun pulls, cheap offers, southern (dis)courtesy

This episode opens with a reading of Ernest Bordelon’s will. Ralph Angel, Nova, Aunt Vi and Charley are present.

Aunt Vi gets the boat. The kids get the land, and Ernest wants them to farm it. Charley and Nova want no part of it. First order of business is to take care of business (i.e., sell the land) so Charley can return to her mess of a marriage in Los Angeles, and Nova can to back to her life in NOLA.

Ralph Angel gets upset because his sisters don’t want it. He’s looking at this inheritance as a chance to start fresh.

As the siblings tiff it out, Charley calls Sam Landry, who says he’ll make them an offer in person.


Vi didn’t purposely shut the door… she just didn’t expend the energy to leave it open for him.


Back at Vi’s house, Davis shows up. Vi ain’t feeling his tail, not even enough for the perfunctory response when Davis says “Hello.” She turns around, puts her watering can down and walks into the house. Davis follows her… and meets a screen door slam. Vi didn’t purposely shut the door… she just didn’t expend the energy to leave it open for him.

Inside, Hollywood offers Davis some coffee. Auntie Vi let everyone know all the coffee is gone… and the sweet tea. She kind of sounds like the cafeteria lady from Cedric The Entertainer’s short-lived sketch comedy show.

Charley walks into the room, basically seeps from her pores that she doesn’t want anything to do with the air that liar breathes.

Continue reading Queen Sugar episode 3: gun pulls, cheap offers, southern (dis)courtesy

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No matter what’s visible, there’s always another story

If something happens in public, best believe there is another story that’s playing out… behind closed doors.


Episode 4 figures a way to address current events such as reactions to police shootings of unarmed black people and the Black Lives Matter movement.


The mayors office approaches Bishop Greenleaf about hosting a “Back the Blue” tribute during church one Sunday. Bishop isn’t inclined to speak out for or against the shooting of an unarmed teen boy, so the mayor’s rep sweetened the deal. With land…

Episode 4 figures a way to address and weave current events such as police shootings of unarmed black people and the Black Lives Matter movement and weaves it into the fabric of the Greenleaf family’s lives and political dealings.

So back to the land, which could be on the table for Calvary…  If they publicly show support for the local police department, it’s implied the land would be made available for purchase.  Bishop hasn’t seen enough of a compelling reason to jump into the controversy surrounding Officer David Nelson, even though Nelson is one of his congregants. But adding land to expand and build a community center? That’s a different story, so Bishop considers being the one black church in Memphis to declare support for the police department. Basie Skanks of Triumph church has outspoken against the shooting and police brutality while Calvary church remains silent.  Should they or shouldn’t they back the blue? Uncle Mac reminds Bishop “Basie Skanks ain’t got no pool.”


So therapy dollars aren’t being wasted, exactly. Jacob is being more open. Just not with his wife.


Cheater and the Shrew

Kerissa and Jacob go to therapy… Kerissa doesn’t want a divorce. Jacob doesn’t answer that question when the therapist asked him if he wants a divorce. A communicative one, he is. Therapist gathers Jacob still wants to stay married but they need to figure out how they will relate to each other. So they start getting to the nitty-gritty… Jacob’s other women.  But Jacob’s expressive words are all folded and put away deep in his mental drawers.  The therapist asked why he cheats… that fool don’t even know. Or maybe he does, but we sure don’t find out.

Continue reading No matter what’s visible, there’s always another story

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