Season 7 | Episode 2
The Good
After six years of holding secrets, playing one card at a time and threatening Sam, it looks like Vi is finally ready to actually do something. The episode opens with Vi furiously searching for Betty’s information. Betty was her best friend, and she believes that there’s no way Betty would condone all this foolery Sam and Parker got going on. So now Vi is on a mission to find Betty. Well, it’s about dayum time.
Mo, the co-op lady is giving the Bordelons encouragement to push on and she brought them seeds from her farm for good luck. She’s Native American so hopefully we will learn more about her culture throughout the season. Nova is supposed to be interviewing her for an article and as they make arrangements to meet up, the energy and flirtation was so thick that everybody excused themselves to let those two talk. Smh.
Both George Washington Carver and Pauli Murray got shout outs.
The Bad
Micah is still very much into photography and in one of his classes he learns about NFTs, which is a new way for artists to make lots of cash with their photography. After class, Micah goes to the professor to see how he can get into this. Turns out, Keke is the plug. She knows a dude named Zane. Per the professor, Zane is “slippery” but he feels like Micah can handle it. I promise you Micah can’t, but let’s see how this goes. Micah meets up with Zane and thee first thing Zane says is that he’s a huge Davis West fan. Then he tells Micah about the NFT operation. You gotta sell and then you gotta keep selling. Micah invited Zane over and Zane complimented him on his apartment decor. Micah credited his mama and Zane was like….ohhhhhhh Charley Bordelon West – she’s hot. Micah gave him a weird look but I think it’s safe to say Zane is a lil obsessed with the West fam. Micah is ready to get to work and show Zane his work, but Zane is checking Micah out. Dude asked Micah if he had a boyfriend. Micah says no. And then Zane approves his work to be a NFT. Micah’s NFT sold for 10K and Zane reminded Micah that he has to keep selling. And I’m wondering if that NFT ever sold at all. Or was this just his way of luring Micah into a situation that he can’t get out of. Somebody get Charley on speed dial.
Parthena is really struggling with paying her bills and it’s all connected to the USDA loans. So…the new freedom fighters in town – Darla and Billie go with her to the USDA office to plead her case. The only advice the USDA guy can give her is to sell the land. We all know that’s the goal anyway. To squeeze the farmers out and snatch up their land. So the USDA guy says that if she can get 25K in 48 hours, all will be well. Darla noticed that the Black guy in the office was listening and knows what’s happening. She asks for help, but it’s not his case and Roy takes ALL the Black farmers cases. He’s well aware that Roy has been slowing down the process on purpose. He did tell Darla that even though Roy said 48 hours, they better get that money faster than that. He heard Roy talking to the sheriff. They need to be careful and give him call later. Charley…they need you girl. Where you at?
And just like that man said, that very night, the sheriff came to evict Parthena. Darla rolled up with the loan extension papers that the USDA claimed they lost but the sheriff said that had nothing to do with him. He’s just following orders. So they are throwing Parthena out and she’s crying and hysterical – as to be expected. Now…this situation is horrible, but it also requires us to take a trip down memory lane. Parthena has been one of the most vocal farmers in St. Jo. I would even say that next to Cardell, she’s one of the most influential as well. She was on board with the Queen Sugar Mill, but when rumors started to spread, instead of finding out what was really going on, she told RA that she just couldn’t gamble on Charley – so she broke her contract and milled with Sam. When the mill was destroyed, the next day, Charley met with the farmers to assure them that everything would be ok and to please hang in there with her. The farmers did not. Parthena was among them and they walked out on Charley after basically accusing her of burning her own dayum establishment – even after all Charley had done for all of them. So…although this is horrible and clearly a plan by the man, I do wonder how this would have played out if they had allowed Charley to lead them to the promised land. What if all the Black farmers had been all in with Queen Sugar from start to finish? What if they had supported Charley instead of the devil they knew? I’m just wondering…
The Ugly
Billie was at the Piggly Wiggy getting some greens when her hubs called. She ignored the call like she has been doing, but somebody was watching her. It’s Parker. Parker in the Pig? I’m shocked. Anywhoooo…Parker inserted herself all in Billie’s business talking bout how she needs to call her man. Billie introduces herself and Parker tells her that her mother calls her Imani. Chiilllllle. Knowing Parker, she knew exactly who Billie was before she stopped to talk to her. I expect nothing less.
The council has a meeting and vote scheduled to overturn the landmark designation and build an outlet mall. Sam looks a little worried because EVERYBODY is at the meeting. Parker isn’t too phased. Vi takes the opportunity to tell Parker that her mama wouldn’t approve of this foolery. Parker was like…you don’t know what my mama wants AND you should have told your nephew to take the deal. He didn’t, it’s my land and now we here. Nova got up in the meeting and talked about the ancestors. I’m happy to see her finally actively involved in these meetings. Nova says that the land is the final resting place for many. It should remain untouched. Then Parker got up and started talking about how her ancestors are there too. And she wants to have the remains disinterred and buried properly. Then she started crying and saying she wants to bring life back to St. Jo. The mall will bring jobs and boost the economy and she’s doing it for her mama. The council voted and of course it was in Sam’s favor. But didn’t we already know that? Remember when Frances told Charley that Sam had the council in his pocket? Yeah. Not much has changed. But on another note, what happened to Charley’s seat? The council votes were always so close. I just kept thinking that if Charlotte had been there she would have turned that meeting TF out.
Other Things
RA, Nova and Micah were chilling at Nova’s place and watching old VCR tapes of Pops, Trudy, RA and Nova. Pops shows RA the Bordelon Bible with the family names and shows RA his name, which is below Nova’s name. My question is why Charlotte Prescott Bordelon West’s name is not recorded in the Bordelon Book of Life. Did Pop not record it? Charley wasn’t a secret. She says she started coming to St. Jo as a small child. I got soooo many questions.
Mo and Nova meet up at the bar. They are talking about seeds, heritage, history, etc. They also flirted. Nova tells Mo that she’s in a relationship. But we both know that doesn’t mean much around here.
Billie finally called her husband and she still needs more time to decide what she’s going to do. Doesn’t she have kids? Where are they and what’s going on with that?
Baby Tru sleeps through her parents talking over and phone ringing. And she snores. LOL. It’s the cutest thing.
Until next week…
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