This episode begins with Grace pulling up at Desert Hope Work Release Center in Phoenix, AZ. After receiving the call from AJ for financial assistance, Grace decides to come and see about the child she gave up years ago. AJ is not expecting her and I was not expecting their reunion to be like this. AJ comes downstairs. He wants to know what she’s doing here? All he wanted was for her to send the money. That was the deal. Grace is speechless and clearly overwhelmed by seeing her son. AJ is angry. How dare you come here like this? He is not moved by her emotions. All he wanted from her was cash to get on his feet. Dassit. Grace wants to sit and talk, but AJ is already over it. He has nothing to say to her. She didn’t want him when he was born and she didn’t want him when he came looking for her. She doesn’t get to have him now to make herself feel better. Grace refuses to just give him the money. He heads back upstairs and tells the guy at the front desk to not let her back in again. Grace is left in tears. I mean…what did Grace expect? She couldn’t have thought this was going to be rainbows and unicorns. And why didn’t she try calling him and establishing some sort of relationship before popping up on him? I am sure Grace felt compelled to do this to ease her guilty spirit, but it wasn’t fair to AJ.
At the Greenleaf mansion, Bishop wants to know where Gigi has gone. Mae tells him she’s handling some business with Ray in AZ. I guess that’s the cover story. Before Bishop heads out for the day, Mae shares a dream she had with Bishop. It’s a dream the Lord gave her. Oh, Lawd. She was walking in a museum, there were screams, the guard ran out and she followed him into a gallery where people were standing in front of a painting of Christ that was ripped down the middle. Bishop was standing next to it with a bloody knife. Then he drops the knife and apologizes to Mae. That was the dream. Bishop wonders what that dream means. Mae tells him that he has to apologize to the church for EVERYTHING. Say whet? Mae is convinced that the key to getting Calvary back is just as much on him as it is on Grace. Bishop said if he gets a dream from the Lawd, he will give that some thought. Until then, howsoever, Mae needs to keep her dreams to herself. I cackled. Bishop bout tired of Mae. But this whole dynamic shift is interesting. Back in the day, Bishop was the righteous one, but now Lady Mae is really all about doing what God wants. I am with Bishop. I don’t see how confessing all of his sins to the church that had no problems voting him out is going to persuade them to hand the church back. But…I ain’t God either, so there’s that.
At the church, Jacob gets a rundown of his calendar from his assistant. Kerissa comes by to visit. She has news. Someone wants to buy the land – the land that he doesn’t want to sell. Kerissa didn’t put it on the market, but she did ask her friend to put out some feelers. And, since it’s half her land, she feels she had the right to do so. A commercial developer wants to buy it for more than they paid for it. It’s an answer to their prayers. Jacob fills his dad in on Kerissa’s latest shenanigans. The land is right across from Calvary. Bishop wants to know what the developers have planned for it. He doesn’t know. All he knows is that the realtor said it will make money. This is an easy one for Bishop. Jacob needs to tell Kerissa no. Whatever they are willing to pay now, someone will be willing to pay more for 50 years from now. Land is the closest thing to faith a man can have in this life. That’s how the rich stay rich. Plus, indulging Kerissa will not promise him peace. Jacob agrees, but at least it will get him some quiet and he is willing to settle for that. And now…the sermon. Bishop tells Jacob that Kerissa doesn’t want the house. She wants him and she wants to know that she has a home with him – especially after that foolery with Tasha. That’s what this is about, sir. Love your wife. Let her know you love her. And DON’T SELL. Jacob heard what Bishop said and brings Kerissa some flowers. He promises to make her feel loved and his number one priority every day. But…he doesn’t want to sell the land. It’s just land and I’m your wife. What’s it gonna be?
Charity has assumed her role as Minister of Music and is at the church listening to the required H&H music. There’s a song that must be played every Sunday at every H&H church. It was horrific, yall. It had a lullaby-ish quality to it. And it is extremely melanin-deficient. Extremely. Pale. It was pale. Charity says she hates this song more than sin. LOL. Carlton tells Charity they have to know it by next week. Bob and H&H’s head of music, Judy, will be in attendance. Charity calls it the “the whitest piece of ear trash” she has ever heard in her life. That’s a sufficient description. Charity is not having it. What is this lady’s email address? She needs to send her a “Charity Greenleaf special.” Whoa, partnah. Carlton tells Charity she has to go through Grace before sending an email to Judy. Charity says she will talk to Grace, but I promise you she ain’t. And she doesn’t. Later, she sends that email to “Sister Judy.” Judy didn’t waste anytime going to Phil about Charity’s email. Phil came to tell Charity that she doesn’t have the authority to determine what they sing. Judy is Bob’s daughter and that’s H&H’s song. And they will sing the song. And if she wants to be AP, she needs to grow up. Phil is mad, so Charity needs to flip it. Did you know Grace was in Phoenix? He didn’t. Charity just poured her first cup of tea for Phil. SMH. Phil checks in with H&H office. Apparently it’s in AZ, too. Has Grace come by to see Bob? No. She hasn’t.
One of the members of the church leadership, Mrs. Misty Williams, has an appointment with Grace, but Grace is no where to be found. As soon as Phil finds out that she was there to see Grace, and that Misty seemed to be frazzled, he takes it upon himself to handle whatever it is Grace was supposed to be handling. Karine sees this all go down and she immediately phones Lady Mae to fill her in. Mae immediately gets dressed in her First Lady’s finest and comes downstairs ready to fix this. She is headed to Fred and Misty’s house. She explains what’s going down at the church toJacob and Bishop. But why is Jacob at the house in the middle of the day? He needs to get back to his job at the church. Mae tells Jacob that ministry ain’t no remote/telecommute position. Bishop decided to accompany Mae to Misty’s house. Misty tells them that Phil handled everything. It’s good. Mae tells Misty that even though they are not officially in charge, they still care. Mae asks Bishop for some privacy so she can get to the heart of the matter with Misty. Misty finally opens up. Grace was supposed to come to an intervention with her tomorrow night. Her daughter is back on drugs. She was coming to the church to have a pre-intervention meeting with Grace. But since ole girl was no where to be found, Phil stepped in and he will be handling the intervention instead. Clearly Grace didn’t care enough to give her a heads up, so Misty has no issues with relieving Grace of those duties. Now Misty wants to go to the deacons and tell them about Grace’s behavior. Mae offers to go in Grace’s place. Misty declines. She prefers Phil. And then Misty let Mae in on a little secret. When she and her husband voted to join H&H, it wasn’t because they wanted Bishop out, it was because they wanted her gone. The congregation feels like Mae was lying about her lack of knowledge concerning what Mac was doing to Faith and other girls. Mae says she didn’t know. But the church thinks that that’s not possible. Mae is floored.
Back in AZ, Grace has waited for AJ all day long. He finally arrives and his stance hasn’t changed. She needs to go home and leave him alone. She tells him that she will give him the money and she is going back to Memphis tonight, but she wants a chance to explain herself. AJ allows it, and Grace apologizes for her mistakes. She just couldn’t figure out how to make sense of the situation. She was wrong and now she wants to do better. AJ wants to know if she thinks she made the right decision by giving him up. She doesn’t know. Whether AJ wants to get to know her now or not, she will still support him financially and as a co-signor for an apartment. AJ has a spot in mind and they head out. Both Grace and AJ are cool with the apartment, but they refuse to rent it to him because he is an ex-convict. Grace comforts AJ. Don’t worry, they can look at some more places. AJ reminds her that she is leaving tonight and she basically promises to stay until they figure it all out. Finally, Grace and AJ have a real discussion. He tells Grace that he was arrested for robbery. He fell asleep in the house that he was robbing. She promises not leave him until they find a safe place for him. She promised. And I got scared because she doesn’t have too many more times to disappoint this kid.
After Mae’s run in with Misty, Mae is on FIYAH. She calls Grace and tells her to get her azz back home. Jacob is never where he’s supposed to be. Phil is playing pastor to the deacons and nobody is minding the store! Grace tells Mae that she will get back when she can because she is still dealing with Ray. Mae told her that Ray is a dead letter and she better be back in Memphis asaptually. PeriodT. Phil is one “wrinkly-eyed” smile away from taking the whole dayum church – her church!
Welp. Since Lady Mae has spoken, Grace had to go back to AJ and tell him that she had to leave to straighten out things at home. She will leave him with some cash. AJ isn’t having it. She apologizes. AJ tells her to leave and don’t come back. He apologizes for existing.
After giving some thought to Mae’s dream, Bishop comes to apologize for going off about it. Mae tells him that he wasn’t wrong. The dream was for her and she’s sorry for riding his tail about it. The dream was a warning. Mae wants to know…do you think I knew about all of the things Mac was doing. Bishop says he knows she didn’t. Mae tells him that the whole church believes she knew and they think she’s a monster. Did she know? Is it possible to fool yourself and live in a dream? I have never seen Mae this emotional. It seems that every time they get past the hurt of losing Faith, it keeps coming back.
Grace made her way back to Memphis, just in time for a family gathering. Mae in a sentimental mood and they have all the slides out of family pictures out. Grace joins the fam. Charity tries to get more info about the trip. Grace is vague. Charity asks if Grace saw Bob. She didn’t. And the family gets ready to look at the photos and I think this is the first time I have seen them all together like this – besides at the dinner table. Mae pulls Grace aside and asks her if there’s anything going on. Grace doesn’t give any info. The slideshow starts and the first slide is of Faith. Jacob apologizes. He didn’t realize that was the first slide. Mae insists on keeping Faith’s picture up. They all hold hands and honor Faith. And I realized that this family has never really mourned for Faith.
Grace finally makes it up to her room and calls AJ. She wants him to come home. Uh oh…
In other news…
Zora rolled up at the church all dolled up because she knew that Jacob had a meeting with Dante (his mentee.) Zora is ready to catch her a new man. SMH. She did meet Dante, but Dante came with his girl, Nikki. Zora is crushed. Once Dante went to his meeting with Jacob, Nikki and Zora head over to the Greenleaf Estate, at Nikki’s request and without Dante. At the cabin, Zora gives Nikki a lesson in how to lay her edges. Nikki tells Zora she’s a bawse and she needs to know that. I got some lesbian vibes from Nikki…hmmm…and then Dante came to get her. This ain’t over.
So what next…
Jacob is an inch way from being done with Kerissa. She is skating on thin ice and she don’t even know it. She won’t quit until that land is sold. Watch.
It seems Mae has had a true come to Jesus meeting with herself. This new Mae is liable to do anything in the name of righteousness and truth. How will the revelation that the church thinks she was complicit in all of Mac’s dealings impact her?
I am tired of Charity. That’s not a prediction. That’s just a fact.
Did Sophia make it to Hampton safely? Is she adjusting well? We ain’t heard from her.
And Grace wants AJ to come home. All hell is going to break loose. What will Mae say? How will the family react? How long will it take for Charity to go running her mouth to Phil?
Stay tuned…
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