S01.E09: Namaste Muthafucka

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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Brandon attempts a reconciliation with Jerrika, but struggles to establish his business. Kevin realizes he can't stop Jake. Emmett reels when Jada is offered a job in another state.

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[SuburbanHangSuite]

I've been waiting for Ronnie to shave since Ep. 1.  Cleanshaven Ronnie looks 15 years younger.

Reg really is an unredeemable piece of shit.  Taunting his brother into fighting and then laughing at the result.   I continue to love Papa.  "I need someplace with healthy options."

So Sarah pops up talking about, "Chef knows about us."  Brandon's response should've been, "That's YOUR problem, not mine.  Remember?  I quit."  

[TrininisaScorp]

Ronnie clean shaven looks like a different dude!  Man, Common really made him think about his choices.  I love his Granny "this one smells like the reefer...don't lie to me". 

Reg is the WORST.  He is just turning his little bro into another version of him.  Poor sweet Kev and Papa deciding to walk home b/c they see their relationship with Jake is going to always be different b/c Jake is different.  Papa's lines continue to kill me.  Nothing tops last week's grocery feminine product discussion, but he has this great Eddie Haskell "Yes, Mrs. Cleaver" thing that never fails to make me laugh.  

I cannot with Sara.  Girl, how is this his problem?!  You, a married woman, slept with your employee.  Now your husband/business partner knows...shit, sucks. 

So, was Trice in the trunk?  I couldn't tell, but that is what they were telegraphing. 

I love seeing Emmett being responsible, but he's walking a tightrope with his baby mama (is he supporting his other kids too?), her bf, and getting paid so little (and the show habit).  I'm afraid that is going to make him do shady stuff with Q.  

I'm 100% buying that Q used to run shit.  There is something about him that commands respect, and you can see that while he clearly isn't a good man (per say), he is a successful one at his chosen hustle. 

[DiabLOL]

Whoa so the murdered basketball player's mom was given to Q by her junkie parent? And that's why Trice is in the trunk! I remember her exchanging a weird look with Q. Maybe during the block party scene?

Reg all proud about spending the day teaching the kids how to be men. I loved Papa and Kevin as always but my heart hurts for Jake.

Edited March 12, 2018 by DiabLOL

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Reg is the worst. He is the last person who should be giving advice about life, women, or ANYTHING, especially to impressionable young men. Thank goodness Kevin and Poppa clearly didn't take anything he said to heart. It was bad enough listening to him be a misogynistic asshole (especially since he was talking about girls who have barely hit puberty) but then pressuring Jake to start shit with some kid in a parking lot? And then pressuring Kevin and Poppa to back him up? I really hope Reggie dies soon. As traumatizing as it would be for Jake to be on his own, he'd be better off without his brother feeding all sorts of ignorant shit into him like that.

Poppa continues to be a delight. His insistence that they need to practice on their own after rehearsal so that they can perfect their parts was so cute. I knew a guy like that - even if he wasn't initially super interested in something, if he committed to doing it, he went at it 100% until it was done. I love that Poppa isn't just reluctantly showing up to rehearsal but actively trying to make the production as good as possible. His commitment to the play is awesome. I also loved that his issue with Kevin wasn't that he shot someone (which is obviously bad) but that he kept it a secret. Just like he worries about Jake, he worries about Kevin too because he loves them.

I'm not sure how much I believe Kevin's not-girlfriend. Did her parents really say she can't date until she's 18? Or did she find out that her cousin has a crush on Kevin? Or is she just no longer interested in him?

Jason is not being smart. Using a fake permit and then showing up to other people's territory is just asking to get caught. I live in the Bay Area and food truck locations are now very regulated. We have a group that organizes multiple locations and rotates trucks so there aren't any turf wars over curb space (also important here because it's hard enough to find a parking space big enough to fit a car, let alone spots that are big enough to fit ten food trucks at a time). Having a fake food truck permit isn't quite as bad as bringing home a gun in a backpack, but it's still a pretty dumb decision.

He should be doing legal pop ups until his real permit is approved. There are so many places to do that (First Friday events, neighborhood events like the block party, etc) that would give him a guaranteed crowd of people (as opposed to whichever random people happen to walk by the overpass where he hasn't been chased off yet) and that in turn would give him a chance to build a following so that when he finally gets his permit, he will already have followers on IG/twitter who will show up when he posts his location for the day.

I know I was supposed to interpret Ethel giving money to Jada as a kind gesture, but all I could think afterward was that if Miss Ethel had bothered to offer Jada some money to buy bandages IN THE FIRST PLACE when she insisted that Jada patch up Ronnie, then Jada wouldn't have gone to work to steal supplies and gotten fired.

4 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

I've been waiting for Ronnie to shave since Ep. 1.  Cleanshaven Ronnie looks 15 years younger.

I said the same thing. Between the facial hair, the hat, the voice, and later the slow shuffling walk due to his gunshot wound, I would have guessed him to be a good two decades older. Once he lost the hat and the beard, I was like damn! In real life, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is 51. He could pass for late 20s/early 30s in the later scenes. The sadness on his face when he had to call in a fake elder abuse report to make sure that his grandmother would be taken care of once he was in jail was terrible.

Loved that they dropped the hint about Quentin being Jason's father in the block party episode, but hearing how it all came about sickened me. Tracy's father was a piece of shit. I guess I'm supposed to think that Quentin is kind and benevolent for agreeing to Tracy's deal, but bitch, please. He thinks it's okay to be a drug dealer. He thinks it's okay to let a junkie hand over his daughter as a sex slave to pay off his debt. He thinks it's okay to rape this poor girl. But abortion is where he draws the line. Abortion's bad, mmmkay?

5 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

So Sarah pops up talking about, "Chef knows about us."  Brandon's response should've been, "That's YOUR problem, not mine.  Remember?  I quit."  

My response for Brandon was, "There is no US." But yeah, that's HER problem, not Brandon's. Obviously Brandon isn't the one who told his former boss, so it must have been Sarah who confessed. I guess I could give her the benefit of the doubt and assume that she wanted Brandon to know that his boss knew so that he didn't try to do anything like get a recommendation from him or say hi if he ran into him at a bar. For what it's worth, I never thought Sarah and the chef guy were married. I think in one of the first episodes, the staff referred to her as "chef's girlfriend." I'm not excusing her behavior at all because they seemed to be in a serious committed relationship, but still. Just wanted to throw that out there.

When Brandon confessed to Jerrika that he'd slept with Sarah, I was waiting for them to have the Ross/Rachel "WE WERE ON A BREAK!" fight, so I'm glad that she said she slept with someone too (heh, how much do you want to bet that it was Cornelius the orthodontist?). They were clearly broken up at the time so neither of them did anything wrong, but since both of them slept with someone else that makes it even better because they're even!

I feel for Emmett because he bonded with EJ and now loves him, but I still see a lot of this from Tiffany's point of view. Emmett wanted nothing to do with that baby for two years, so taking care of him for two weeks and then saying he misses him doesn't get me past the fact that he has done nothing to help Tiffany pay for EJ's expenses all this time (and in the mean time, he was spending his money on expensive shoes). It sucks that her new boyfriend wants a monthly bribe not to be an asshole, but maybe if Emmett had been responsible for the last two years and built a good relationship with Tiffany as EJ's father, he wouldn't have to be paying bribe money to this new guy now.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

In real life, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is 51.

My mind?  Blown.  WHAT?!  

 

2 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Loved that they dropped the hint about Quentin being Jason's father in the block party episode, but hearing how it all came about sickened me. Tracy's father was a piece of shit. I guess I'm supposed to think that Quentin is kind and benevolent for agreeing to Tracy's deal, but bitch, please. He thinks it's okay to be a drug dealer. He thinks it's okay to let a junkie hand over his daughter as a sex slave to pay off his debt. He thinks it's okay to rape this poor girl. But abortion is where he draws the line. Abortion's bad, mmmkay?

Sickened me too.  Because even though Sonny kept insisting that Emmit stay away from Q, deep down I wanted to believe that Q was shady but good-hearted.  That's some vile shit right there.  

Trice coming out of that yoga class?  Priceless.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

2 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

My mind?  Blown.  WHAT?!  

Okay, I slightly misspoke. He will be 51 in May so he's *only* 50 for a few more months. Seems much more plausible now, right?!

[Enigma X]

After the first episode, I looked up the actor who plays Ronnie and knew his age. I was confounded because I was thinking why didn't they make the actress who plays his grandmother his mother but then realized, for me, it was his voice that was aging him (the facial hair did not help).  He actually looks younger than his age.

This episode is the one where I felt the show caught its stride. It was nice to see Emmett cashing his check in a currency exchange. I left Chicago two years ago and there are no currency exchanges (like that) here where I am and there are none where one of my brothers moved to on the east coast.

I agree that Poppa is a delight and Reg is the worst.  I can't help wonder if Reg was once Jake with a "Reg" who got him involved in the life though. Not that I am excusing it, because I am not. Speaking of Jake, where is child services? Why is Reg raising him? Did I miss this explanation. DCFS is not the best but not this openly negligent either.

I have never seen Quentin as a good guy rather just an OG from an era with a different set of rules who came out of retirement. I suspected that he was Jason's father. It seems that many events center around the killing of Jason. So, when he showed back up from his place of "retirement" and then his interaction with Tracy at the block party, it was a big clue that he was back because his son was murdered. I wonder now if he was killed because of who he was.

I applaud Emmett's dedication to EJ, but what about his other kids?

Why would Brandon's boss tell her husband that she slept with Brandon? I am trying to think of how that would come up in casual conversation. Seems odd to me.

I also don't think Andrea (think that is her name) is being straight with Kevin.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

3 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I applaud Emmett's dedication to EJ, but what about his other kids?

Earlier in the season, he said that he was already sending money to the other two kids and he couldn't afford to pay for a third (I think this was the first episode). In another episode, he said that both of the other kids live out of state with their mothers. He never said how much money he's sending to the other two kids or how often.

S1.E1:
Tiffany: You need to start taking care of your responsibilities.
Emmett: I do. Their names are Davante and Cassius, and I can't afford no more.
Tiffany: Well, you're gonna have to start. Emmett Junior is your responsibility, too.
Emmett: Just cause you name him after me don't make him mine.
Shoe store employee: Ma'am, if you're not gonna purchase anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave.
Emmett: She ain't got no fucking money.
Tiffany: Well, I'd have some if you'd pay child support. 
Emmett: He ain't my son! 
Tiffany: The fuck is you talking about? He looks just like you!

S1.E8:
Tiffany's mom: Don't you got two other kids by two different women? Where they at? 
Emmett: What's that got to - They out of state with their mamas. We FaceTime sometimes.
Tiffany's mom: So you mostly a digital daddy then.

Edited March 12, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Enigma X]

@ElectricBoogaloo, thanks. I remember that now.

[Empress1]

"Now go handle your business, player, 'cause we got some choreography to tighten up."

"OK Mr. Reg, but I need a place with healthy options."

I CAN'T with Papa and his shenanigans.

4 hours ago, Enigma X said:

Why would Brandon's boss tell her husband that she slept with Brandon? I am trying to think of how that would come up in casual conversation. Seems odd to me.

It's dumb of her, if she did confess. It appears to have been a one-time thing and Brandon no longer works there. It was over. She could have taken that to the grave. Telling him might have made her feel better but it doesn't do him any good.

[healthnut]

So are we believing Wallace when he said Trice killed Jason? I don’t really see Trice getting his hands that dirty, I’ve always thought Wallace killed Jason. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oh, I don't believe a damn thing that Wallace says to anyone. The only team he's on is his own and he will throw anyone else under the bus to save his ass. We still know very little about Jason so it's hard to know what the motive could have been for anyone to kill him. I've been assuming that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time like Coogie. Jason may have seen Wallace do something and Wallace decided to kill him so there would be no witness to whatever he did.

Edited March 18, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Behind the scenes: Yolanda Ross on Jada's repercussions

 

Clip: just gotta drop off a package

[wanderingstar]

"I'm confused. What's the moral of the story, Mr. Reg."

Why is Papa so awesome.

Seeing Brandon so excited getting his first customer was nice.

I hope Kevin does not take any of Reg's awful dating advice.

So now we know the connection between Tracy and Quentin, as well as why Quentin has been so interested in finding out who killed Jason. Looks like Trice ain't long for this world.

I kinda don't want Jada to take the new job in Seattle, because I don't want to lose the awesome Yolanda Ross.

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So are we believing Wallace when he said Trice killed Jason? I don’t really see Trice getting his hands that dirty, I’ve always thought Wallace killed Jason. 

Good point! Wallace is proven liar, so everything he says should be taken with a grain of salt. 

Edited March 17, 2018 by Gillian Rosh

[Miss chi chi]

Ronnie is hot!