The Chi - General Discussion

[VintageJ]

This is my first year watching so .... but didn’t the owner/landlord of the restaurant allow Emmit and Dom to take over the lease because Sonny wasn’t pulling the rent or something like that?  It was after they catered his affair and right after that, he and Dim had sex.  

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Yes, he let them take over the lease.  Not sure how they are paying for it.  They seemed to have had a great day one.  Now they have to make it work going forward.  It takes capital to start up a business, even with an existing location that is set up. Emmet may be in for yet another shock on how much effort it takes to be successful.  The whole venture feels very Little Rascals "Let's put on a show!" to me (without the racism inherent in that show, that is). 

[SuprSuprElevated]

19 hours ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

Yes, he let them take over the lease.  Not sure how they are paying for it.  They seemed to have had a great day one.  Now they have to make it work going forward.  It takes capital to start up a business, even with an existing location that is set up. Emmet may be in for yet another shock on how much effort it takes to be successful.  The whole venture feels very Little Rascals "Let's put on a show!" to me (without the racism inherent in that show, that is). 

Yes, another examply of loosy goosy writing for convenience.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

SEASON FINALE!

S3.E10: A Couple, Two, Three

Quote

Ronnie finds absolution; Emmett and Tiff take a step toward their future; Trig plays his final card against Douda; life events mature Kevin, Jake and Papa.

Promo:

You always gonna be my family

Original air date: 8/23/20

[Enigma X]

This show is some 💩!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I knew they weren't going to follow through with Kiesha having an abortion. Even though it's 2020 and abortion has been legal for decades, it's very rare for television characters to have abortions. They might talk about it but either they end up keeping the baby, conveniently miscarrying, or the abortion is retroactively/done completely off screen without any discussion (like the way we found out that Tiff had one way after the fact). I can count on one hand how many tv characters have openly had abortions starting with Maude.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

What a boring season finale.  

I can't believe that Kevin is the only one talking real sense about that pregnancy.  Everyone tip-toeing around Keisha trying to be all supportive about the wrong stuff.  Kevin was speaking facts---Keisha can't have a CRAZY rapist's baby.  No one wants to be real with her about mental illness being genetic??!  

And did Kevin really head back over to Jemma's after nearly being caught by her dad previously??  AND they were up in her bedroom without a care in the world?  Sigh.   It's like the writers are being deliberately lazy with the writing.

 

[SuzieQ]

1 hour ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

What a boring season finale.  

 

DITTO!!    I actually tuned out a couple times and missed nothing!

[Empress1]

9 hours ago, SuburbanHangSuite said:

I can't believe that Kevin is the only one talking real sense about that pregnancy.  Everyone tip-toeing around Keisha trying to be all supportive about the wrong stuff.  Kevin was speaking facts---Keisha can't have a CRAZY rapist's baby.  No one wants to be real with her about mental illness being genetic??!  

Yeah. I’m annoyed that the show didn’t have her go through with the abortion. At least they explained what happened with Tiffany’s pregnancy.

All I see when Kandi is on screen is Real Housewives Kandi. She actually emotes more on that show.

[SuprSuprElevated]

With few exceptions, this entire season made me mourn seasons 1 & 2.  I won't be holding my breath for season 4.  As someone ^ said, lazy writing ruled the day season.

Edited August 24, 2020 by SuprSuprElevated

[SuzieQ]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

With few exceptions, this entire season made me mourn seasons 1 & 2.  I won't be holding my breath for season 4.  As someone ^ said, lazy writing ruled the day season.

Agree!!  It's like watching a different show from 1&2, and not in a good way!

[taanja]

19 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I knew they weren't going to follow through with Kiesha having an abortion. Even though it's 2020 and abortion has been legal for decades, it's very rare for television characters to have abortions. They might talk about it but either they end up keeping the baby, conveniently miscarrying, or the abortion is retroactively/done completely off screen without any discussion (like the way we found out that Tiff had one way after the fact). I can count on one hand how many tv characters have openly had abortions starting with Maude.

Erica - on All My Children--- had the first TV (public) abortion in the early 70's (I think?) but it all got re-conned in later years when we (the audience) learned the "abortion" had been transplanted into some other womb or some such shit.
I call BS!

Like Keisha is gonna keep that nasty rapist's baby?  

 

[DiabLOL]

Seriously ! Only Kevin said anything? How about hey maybe every time you look at your child you'll think of how they were conceived. When your child asks about their das one day what are you going to tell them? That he was a monster who abducted, imprisoned, raped and tortured you for months?

Also why is she even considered this? We don't know anything about hee to make it make any sense at all.

The boring custody fight over Jake was stretched out over the entire season as was the boring Douda vs Lena. 

Normally I hung in there for the kids but even that wasn't working for me anymore. 

The conversation Papa and Maisha had in the last episode? "You see me and uplift me". Do kids their age talk like that? 

Kevin just goes over to his girlfriend's house and they have sex and then lounge around after. He didn't even ask where her parents are? She wasn't even allowed to text him and her dad looked like he was gonna kill him but we're supposed to do the work and fill in the info in our heads about where the parents are?

Also how is Kevin constantly smoking weed in his room without his Mom noticing? Then again how is she smoking weed in the living room without him noticing? Which brings me to the horror of Tiffany's shower. I can't imagine.

 

[Marley]

Keisha having the baby is fucking stupid. You are gonna have this psychos baby? What a fucked up thing to do to the kid. Will be so wonderful when they ask about their dad. It makes no sense. I’m starting to hate this show so much lol.

[DiabLOL]

There's nothing we know about Keisha that makes it make sense. She was pretty independent and ambitious and was about to go to school. Her mom married a woman. She has all the support in the world to get through this but somehow she sees this as meant to be, her destiny.

Also she's going to have to tell her child that she murdered her rapist AKA her child's father?

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Having a baby continues to derail the life Keisha had planned. I agree with you all.  It makes no damn sense at all.  Who cares about going to college, pursuing track, getting a chance to be an independent young woman?  Nope.  There's a baby on the way.  After all, that has worked out swimmingly for Emmett's various baby mamas.  

I am still angry about the hand wave of her scholarship is gone as if that ends all possibilities for her.  Did anyone reach out to the school about what happened? She was gone for two months, not two years.  This whole storyline is garbage.  

[SuprSuprElevated]

12 minutes ago, PrincessPurrsALot said:

This whole storyline is garbage. 

👆

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I know Kevin got some criticism for his behavior this season (and I agree with it), but at the same time I thought that his reactions were pretty realistic for a kid his age. He loves his sister but he and his family were living in a very intense pressure cooker situation while Kiesha was missing. He truly believed that once she came home, things would go back to normal. As an adult, of course I know that Kiesha has a lot of trauma to deal with and that things aren't going to magically go back to the way they were, but Kevin who is, let's be real, an immature teenage boy, never really thought about the situation beyond wanting to find her and bring her home.

Again, as an adult, I was shaking my head and saying, "Kevin, if your recently kidnapped sister asks you to go run with her, YOU JUST DO IT without complaining, you big dummy!" But I know that as a teenager, it's totally realistic that his reaction was, "Ugh, I hate running! I don't want to go!" Teenagers are selfish and immature so even though it was annoying that he initially reacted that way, it seemed perfectly in line for a 14/15 year old kid to say. It really never occurred to him that his sister NEEDED him to go with her.

But the one point in the entire season where his unfiltered reaction was 100% better than everyone else's was when he found out that she was pregnant and intended to keep the baby. His genuine WTF reaction needed to be said by someone, ANYONE. I get that Nina, Jada, and Tiff were trying to be supportive and let Kiesha make her own decision (which I do appreciate) but I loved that Kevin was just like ARE YOU CRAZY? Kiesha had so many plans and she's just going to give up going to college, getting an education, running track, and getting out of her neighborhood so that she can raise her rapist's baby with no job and no money? Maybe she needs to talk to Emmett about how hard it is to pay rent and hustle when you have a baby who requires childcare.

[Marley]

Yea some of Kevin’s reactions annoyed me but his reaction to Keisha keeping her rapists baby was the best out of everyone. I just can’t get over how stupid this whole thing is. Like why is she keeping this baby and ruining her life. This may sound harsh but what if the psycho dads mental illness that makes him fucked up is passed to the baby. Ugh to all of this.

[tennisgurl]

What the hell is this show even doing? Why in the hell is Keisha having this baby? Why is Douda cackling like a damn Bond villain over becoming the mayor? And, possibly a bigger question, how do I always get suckered into watching this? 

This whole plot with Keisha having her rapists baby is just awful and in terrible taste, and its just so weird in how its being portrayed. People are acting like this is a "normal" unplanned pregnancy where she had consensual sex and got pregnant, not that this is the result of rape, which really makes this a different situation than what everyone seemed to be talking about. Everyone is walking on eggshells and dancing around the actual topic, but no one thinks to have Keisha talk to her therapist about this, or to talk about the way this pregnancy happened? I feel like we still dont know what is going on in her head and why she wants to derail all of her plans for her future for this, other than her being concerned about...some kind of higher plan and that maybe this baby will grow up to stop a rapist? Thats why she wont have an abortion, even if that makes way more sense? If she dislikes the idea of abortion, why did no one bring up giving the baby up for adoption as a possible option? Of course, thats because this is television and on television, that option only exists so that the babies mom can change her mind at the last minute to keep the baby to the devastation of the adoptive parents, because  adoption is less melodramatic than abortion or raising the baby I guess, even if keeping the baby makes no sense at all for the character, and this plot is now all about that melodrama. 

This season sucked, like really, really sucked is what I am trying to say. Even the plots I was kind of interested in kind of just petered out, or went off the rails. I dont even know why this is even a thing anymore. 

[SuzieQ]

On 8/25/2020 at 12:25 PM, tennisgurl said:

 

This season sucked, like really, really sucked is what I am trying to say. Even the plots I was kind of interested in kind of just petered out, or went off the rails. I dont even know why this is even a thing anymore. 

It really did!!  It's hard for me to drop a show once I'm into it, but if it comes back, I might give it a pass.

[Queena]

On 8/19/2020 at 1:38 AM, Marley said:

Yea not sure how Emmett just had a spare $500 for that ring.

I don’t know how they are running that business or where they’re getting money.

He started selling weed I thought. I remember a couple of episodes back them going to a weedstore. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

7 hours ago, Queena said:

He started selling weed I thought. I remember a couple of episodes back them going to a weedstore. 

Tiff is the one selling weed. He was just accompanying her to pick up her supply.

[Marley]

Apparently this show has gotten a 4th season. I am undecided if I will watch. Watching a woman raise her Psycho rapists baby doesn’t sound like good tv to me but I am still a little invested in some of the other storylines.

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, Marley said:

Apparently this show has gotten a 4th season. I am undecided if I will watch. Watching a woman raise her Psycho rapists baby doesn’t sound like good tv to me but I am still a little invested in some of the other storylines.

I wasn't thrilled with season 3, will probably check in with season 4 and see where it heads.  As far as Keisha is concerned, I don't know that it's etched in stone that she will bear the child is it?  Never know what's in store.

[Marley]

True but they made such a big deal about her keeping it at the end of last season, but who knows hopefully it changes. I mean from season 2 to 3 a bunch of stuff changed lol. Maybe Dre will run off. Hopefully lol.

Edited September 10, 2020 by Marley

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If the show follows in the footsteps of most other shows where there's an unwanted pregnancy, she will conveniently have a miscarriage so that she doesn't have to be shown choosing to have an abortion. Maybe it will be the stress of her PTSD or maybe she'll fall down a flight of stairs.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Lena Waithe at the Emmys:

 

[SuprSuprElevated]

david-rodriguez-dead-dies-producer-director-the-chi

[PsychoDrone]

I binge-watched the three seasons and the reduction in quality of each season is jarring.  I notice this show has a way of just dropping story lines.  End of 1st season, what happened to the investigation of crooked cop's death? The pursuit of Otis and flipping Brandon at the end of season 2 went nowhere.  Of course, I know what happened there, but that whole story line was dropped.  The two detectives were never even seen in season 3.  No explanation for Kevin's Mom's new girlfriend.  No explanation for Brandon's death.  After Miss Ethel was beat, she was on the verge of being evicted.  Finally, she was, but I think the writers had forgot all about it and then remembered to work it in.

I have to say, I couldn't stand Ronnie.  Him going to jail was the best thing, but then he got out.  As much as I disliked him, killing him off like that was just dumb.  He could have ridden off into the sunset and that would have been it.  But, oh no, YEARS later, random shooter is going to make him pay for Coogie's death.  If anything, he should have been shot when he got out of jail.  That woman that spit in Ronnie's face didn't wait until years later to do it.

Otis had some good moments, but his character had some cringe inducing moments too.  He told Reg, "When you see me on the street, you don't know me."  But, then he's traveling to Reg's house to chastise him, in OPEN DAYLIGHT, with a chaffeur and nice car.  Also, having his gang members delivering his pizzas.  Plus, his restaurant managers are openly acting like thugs.  So much for keeping a low profile.  A blind man could see he was dirty.

The one thing that had me screaming at the TV was Keisha's first escape attempt.  That was straight horror movie stupidity.  Of course, she couldn't escape because the show had to drag out that STUPID story line even longer.  How did the guy get Keisha in the first place?  Ronnie sees her sitting at the bus stop, barely anytime passes, and she's gone.  Since she was wearing the track suit during her abduction, it would have made more sense if it was the coach back for revenge.  Yet, it was some random guy that we never saw before.  Glad she finally escaped, but even the way that was handled was beyond stupid.  Redemption arc #100 for Ronnie to the rescue.  And, of course, she winds up pregnant and decides to keep it.  Funny how no one even mentions putting the baby up for adoption.  Abortion or keeping it aren't the only options.

Finally, the kids were the best part of the show.  The kids were consistent in their characterization.  Jake was irritating.  Papa was the voice of reason and wise beyond his years.  And, Kevin was the glue that held them together.  Kevin and Keisha played well as siblings, especially since they're real brother and sister.  Not true, but they look so much alike and had the same mannerisms, that it's hard not to believe they're not related.

Season 3 was an obvious drop in quality for the show.  I may come back for season 4, but if it continues to follow its downward trend in quality, I won't last long.

 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

The Chi, season 4, episode1, "Soul Food" airs on 2021.05.23.  Let's hope we get back to the quality of season 1.  Maybe it will start with Keisha in the shower and we'll learn that last year's abduction storyline was all a dream.

 

[Marley]

I’m surprised it’s back already. J will watch it but I’m not totally excited. I’m not going to quit watching yet but I hope it’s better this year. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S4 promo:

Another S4 promo:

It takes a village:

Black love litany (performed and written by Dr. Joshua Bennett):

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Behind the scenes: the cast shares coming of age stories

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S4.E1: Soul Food

Quote

Emmett's past threatens his new marriage. Kiesha wrestles with a decision that will affect the life of her unborn child. A run in with law enforcement leaves Kevin, Jake and Papa reeling. Douda tries to walk the line between gangster and mayor. Tiff and Dom go into business together. Marcus petitions to bring the Olympics to Chicago.

Original air date: 5/23/21

Can y'all take that outside?

 

[Brooklynista]

On 5/19/2021 at 11:28 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

S4.E1: Soul Food

Original air date: 5/23/21

Can y'all take that outside?

 

Did Lala have her ass done? It's looking pretty...voluminous. And I mean that in a cheap body work kind of way.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Showtime has posted the season premiere on YouTube!

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I know Kevin was totally freaking out, but dude, your friend just got hauled away by the cops and at no point in the ensuing hours did you think to call his brother to let him know? Thank goodness Maisha had the presence of mind to take out her phone and start recording. It looks like this is going to cause a huge rift between Jake and Kevin. Loved Papa coming to the hospital with his usual cheerfulness.

I know that Otis is not a good guy, but I loved that as soon as he found out about Jake, he left the restaurant and went straight to the hospital. I get why Jake's brother wanted immediate revenge but that is not going to end well. Imani proving once again that she is totally ride or die.

I can't blame Tiff for wanting to find the best home for her baby. It was clear from the beginning that the husband in that couple was very argumentative. I guess it was nice of him to show up to help his soon to be ex-wife try to adopt a kid, but man, you can't keep your cool for five whole minutes? No wonder you're getting a divorce.

It's hard for me to feel bad about Emmett's extended freak out every time he saw Tiff and Dom interacting. Not only did he cheat, but he cheated with his business partner who Tiff knows and then he lied about it. That was just one bad decision after another.

I was cracking up at Jemma's dad watching Kevin climb out of her window on his security cameras. I wonder how long he's going to hold onto that information before dropping it on Kevin and/or Jemma.

[aghst]

I liked the montage, especially Otis being killed.

But they're not getting rid of that character until the end of the season probably.

So they're doubling down on the soap opera elements, including Kiesha keeping the baby conceived when she was abducted as a sex slave.  She interviews potential adoptive parents, sees that the couple doesn't like each other and vetoes letting them adopt.  I was thinking that the people who want to adopt will find out the baby was conceived as a result of a rape and back out.  But no, it's Kiesha who's going to be picky.

So she's given up her track scholarship?  If she ends up keeping the baby, it's kind of typical of stories about the hood, very young single mother, doesn't have much education or job prospects.  The first couple of seasons the show was uplifting.  Then again, she was a minor character, mainly noticed for Emmitt sneaking in and out of her bedroom.

The other big part of the episode was Jake getting beaten up.  So they decide to insert the topic of police brutality in what appears for now like a pretty ham handed way.  Just so obvious to make it happen on the show and then Trig probably makes things a lot worse and Kevin and Jake falling out over it.

Otis sniffing around Tracey as well as Imani while the people in the hood knows he's a thug, apparently nobody else knows about the new mayor's past.  Oh, someone said they suspected Otis had that food truck guy (Brandon) killed but the other one doesn't believe he's really dead.  Are they trying to open the door?

Emmitt still dealing with his player past, now worried about his new bride finding out that he hooked up with what's her name, while his restaurant seems to be starting out well.  Guess they wanted to make sure to have enough drama?

 

I searched for reviews of season 4 but didn't find any.  However, a Google user said The Chi is what you get if the writers are inspired by The Wired but end up creating a combo of Degrassi High and As the World Turns.

Nail on head.

Lena wrote this episode and I think she also wrote or at least had a lot of input on the new Master of None season, since it's mainly about her character on that show.

Should be interesting to see which show is better written and executed.

 

 

[SuburbanHangSuite]

I'm not sure how to feel about this first episode.

One minute, there's 2 feet of snow outside but then we see Jada slip on a flimsy leather jacket over a sundress to go out with her masseuse?  Huh?  And don't get me started on that first wack hairstyle of hers. That horn of braids was crazy looking.

I still can't stand Lala's character.  She's a messy bitch and I feel like it's just a matter of time before she tells Tiff about her tryst with Emmitt.  She enjoyed dropping that bomb on Emmitt's dad just a little too much.  But I swear, he is the best part of the Chi for me now.  Buying that VCR?  Priceless.

So Traci is all suspicious about Douda but he leans in and flirts a lil IN FRONT OF HIS WIFE and all of a sudden, she's hooked?  Got Kandi's stupid character talking about sharing?  Whatev.  But Douda was looking kinda good in that tank top there at the end.

Lena has my sweet Kevin smoking, drinking AND screwing?  I wasn't ready. 

 

[PrincessPurrsALot]

23 hours ago, aghst said:

So they're doubling down on the soap opera elements, including Kiesha keeping the baby conceived when she was abducted as a sex slave.  She interviews potential adoptive parents, sees that the couple doesn't like each other and vetoes letting them adopt.  I was thinking that the people who want to adopt will find out the baby was conceived as a result of a rape and back out.  But no, it's Kiesha who's going to be picky.

So she's given up her track scholarship?  If she ends up keeping the baby, it's kind of typical of stories about the hood, very young single mother, doesn't have much education or job prospects.  The first couple of seasons the show was uplifting.  Then again, she was a minor character, mainly noticed for Emmitt sneaking in and out of her bedroom.

The Keisha storyline is driving me batty.  She decides to have the baby and gives up her scholarship (no talk of deferring a year instead).  Now she doesn't want the baby to grow up in a broken home.  Ugh.  There is a difference between having two parents who get divorced while you are a child and being adopted by a single person.  The baby would not be in a broken home.  They were never in the home that "broke."  If she ends up keeping the baby because she cannot find someone she likes I will be so disappointed.  She has better options and should not have to lose all of her dreams over that ridiculous abduction story.  

[tennisgurl]

We return again, and I don't know why I always expect more from this show. I guess I still like a lot of the ideas they have and the issues they try to bring up, but they can only talk about these real issues in the most over the top weird ways possible, and the good ideas they have are never followed through well. There are always a million stories that are only tangentially connected and often struggle with trying to balance being serious and being soapy. The Keisha story continues to really frustrate me, they actually listened to all of my ranting last season about why no one talks about Keisha giving her child up for adaption even if she didn't want to have an abortion but they had to handle it in the most ridiculous way imaginable. Of course Keisha is going to be super picky about what couple adopts the baby and her family will be all snarky about it, its just so weird that no one will have some real talk with her. I have no idea why she gave up her scholarship either, I would think that she could get a deferment if they knew the circumstances. I did like her scene with Kevin. 

They will definitely hold off on actually killing Otis for as long as possible. I don't like him but the show has really dug in with him. 

[Enigma X]

In the real world, Keisha could have gotten her scholarship deferred.

I promised myself not to come in this forum and be overly critical, even if I am in my head. I just want to say when Tiff and whatever Lala's character's name is were in the kitchen, I realize they were trying to pull off real-life laughter/banter so the viewer can see Emmett's paranoia. It just seemed very rehearsed to me.

I know that of all the things that I could have pointed out that bothered me with the episode that this was minor. Still.

And I like Jada's hairstyle, but it does not fit Jada at all.

[aghst]

IF Keisha takes about a year to have the baby how long would it take to get back into shape for high-level track competitions?

Meanwhile there are other athletes graduating and probably attracting scholarships.

I don't know how cutthroat woman's track at the collegiate level is but maybe they won't wait for her indefinitely.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S4.E2: Cooley High

Quote

Emmett comes clean to Tiff. A college tour forces Kevin and Jake to consider their futures. Douda makes a decision that will change the face of Chicago. Jada gets some unexpected news. Papa starts a podcast. Trig reunites with an old friend.

Promo:

Clip 1:

Clip 2:

Original air date: 5/30/21

Edited June 3, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Ironically, this is the most I've ever liked Douda.

I know Kevin is a teenager so making bad decisions is inevitable, but accepting drugs from a guy you just met right after you just took everyone's money is a terrible idea.

Jemma's complete 180 about going to college annoyed me. It's not like she just learned during the tour that colleges make money. I also hated that she was discouraging Kevin from going to college. It's one thing for her to decide that she doesn't want to go because she still has her dad's money to fall back on. This might be Kevin's only opportunity. And not all colleges are expensive. He can go to a state school, qualify for financial aid, get scholarships, etc. Or he could go to community college for two years to keep the cost down and then transfer. But Jemma completely dismissing it and expecting Kevin to jump right on that train with her really annoyed me.

I usually love Papa's neverending positivity, but interpreting a generic DM response as confirmation that Van Jones is going to show up at your house to be on your podcast is a step too far.

Poor Jada. Not only did she show up to her reunion in costume because her ex is an idiot but her frenemy slept with the massage guy too! I wonder if she's going to try to keep her cancer a secret from Emmett.

Loved that Keisha told Emmett to just tell man up and tell Tiff the truth. But what I hate is that he would have kept it a secret forever if Dom hadn't told his dad. He claimed he didn't want to hurt Tiff but the truth is that he didn't want to deal with the consequences.

 

[aghst]

Emmitt was a player.  He doesn't seem like the type who'd be racked with guilt that he'd finally crumble and tell Tiff, unless he has reasons to distrust his father.

Now that Tiffany has gotten the revenge hookup, guess they're headed for a lot of drama.  Maybe that guy was right, Tiffany didn't sound too excited about being married to Emmitt.

OK, I don't know about Chicago but is the black community generally tolerant of LGBQT? Kevin and Keisha's mother and her wife are one thing but it's kind of surprising that Shaad who got out of prison after apparently a long stint didn't remark on Imani -- maybe that's to come.

I thought that many black people were socially conservative and black male gangsters tend to be homophobic?

The young cast members have really grown out of the cute phase from just a season or two ago.  But still jarring that they have Kevin and Jake be so sexually active this season. Yet makes sense since they're already looking at colleges so they're at least juniors in high school.

Douda is kind of going authoritarian.  Not sure that the Chicago mayor has all these powers.  For one thing, the Aldermen in the city seem to have some power.  But unilaterally firing a cop, instantly, is possible?  You'd think the police union would combat it.  Also questionable if he can make a big budgetary decision like defunding the police on his own.

Seems like the writers want to hit on all the greatest hits on the progressive activists wishlists.  Again are these politics reflective of the South Side or whichever neighborhood or part of the city which this show is representing?

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Didn't Jake's brother get out of prison recently? I thought a blanket condition of probation was not hanging out with other convicts, which means his friend shouldn't be living with them.

I suspect that when this new friend finds out the truth about Imani, the shit is going to hit the fan.

[tennisgurl]

Oh Kevin. He is clearly struggling and needs to open up to someone about everything that has happened, its like terrible things are always happening to everyone surrounding him and he has no clue how to deal with that. Plus he has to deal with Jemma's condescension and judgement while he is trying to figure out what to do with his life, which just seems exhausting. I thought her telling Kevin that he couldn't be on her video because he doesn't have his whole life figured out and wouldn't look "like her equal" was an especially crappy thing to say, they're only in their teens, they don't need to know everything that they ever want to accomplish yet. I also admit to some eye rolling at her going on about how college is a business and was suddenly all against college, and trying to get Kevin to possibly say no to higher ed. Her points are certainly valid, especially about students drowning in debt and needing more and more degrees to get a good job, but its still important to get an education, whether its at a big fancy school or a community college or a trade school or whatever, not many people can be Steve Jobs. Plus, she just realized that college costs money now? With all of her facts and her researching and such? 

I really felt for Keisha when she was saying how she should be at college while Kevin can go to college but is blowing his chance. Of course I have no idea why college isn't still on the table for Keisha, you would think that she could get that deferment or some other financial aid, but I guess she is giving up on college now for whatever reason. Is she also giving up on giving the baby up for adoption? Just because one couple couldn't didn't work out doesn't mean that no couple will work out, this story is just so freaking frustrating. No one seems capable of having an actual conversation about Keisha's options, everyone is just acting like her life is over and that she needs to dedicate herself to her child by rape. Is that good for her OR the baby? Why wont anyone just have a damn talk? 

Can a mayor just have a cop fired or totally change the funding of the police department on his own like this with just a press conference? A mayor certainly has power and I am not an expert, but doesn't he still have to work with other governing bodies and unions? This isn't his own fiefdom where he can make his own rules, he still has rules to follow even as the mayor right?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

S4.E3: Native Son

Quote

Tiff discovers a possible solution to her relationship woes with Emmett. Douda, Tracy, and Trig take community protection into their own hands

Promo:

Clip:

Original air date: 6/6/21