Category: Television Shows

Charley – Charley needs to sit down. She has endured numerous challenges since moving to St. Josephine and Queen Sugar mill being burned down was the icing on the cake. Charley might have a nervous breakdown. Understandably so. I can’t even count how many challenges she ran into regarding the mill – from renovating it, to getting funding to open, to hosting her own St. Josephine Sugar Bowl, to operating the business despite the Landrys’ sabotage attempts and getting local farmers to grind their cane at Queen Sugar.

My girl needs a vacation. She should go on a cruise or to an exotic resort in the Caribbean with her mother, Lorna. Charley needs to decompress and refresh. Plus, Charley has options. She could return to Los Angeles, restart her sports management company and still advocate for underrepresented and underserved communities. Hell, she could even combine the two by convincing her clients to invest in minority-focused initiatives.

Charley has no obligation to the sugarcane industry, to St. Josephine or to running for city councilwoman. It would not be her giving up. It would be her starting anew and doing what she’s excellent at in a less stressful environment without threats against Micah’s life.

Micah – I am proud of Micah. He confronted Nova about her relationship with Calvin and questioned whether her former cop boyfriend watched his colleagues brutalize black men. For once, the so-called activist was speechless. There were no excuses she could pull out of her self-righteous ass. Finally, someone prompted Nova to think about her actions.

Nova – She wore a decent outfit this episode. Typically, her outfits look like trash bags. Any who, she asked Calvin if he abused black men he arrested. He said no but admitted to being a bystander to police brutality was easier than trying to stop it.

Ralph Angel and Darla – Understanding Darla needs a comrade, Ralph Angel cannot be her go-to 24/7. I hope Darla asks her Mom to visit for a few weeks. Despite people’s criticisms of Darlene Sutton, she is a loving and supportive mother. I want Darla to have a friend. She deserves goodness in her life.

Ralph Angel and Deesha – Though Deesha has been extremely supportive, her and Ralph Angel should not enter a romantic relationship. Deesha is a strong, resilient, and confident woman who has been self-sufficient for a long time. She balances her law career while raising her young daughter as a single mother. Understanding Deesha and Ralph Angel share similarities of being single parents and navigating adversities while pursuing their respective careers, viewers only see how she uplifts him. Their budding relationship has not been reciprocal. There have been too many instances in reality TV and fictional television where healthy, black heterosexual relationships are depicted as the man loving what the woman does for him and the woman accepting her partner as he is while raising him which is highly dysfunctional. Though Ralph Angel has experienced tremendous growth, he has not been self-sufficient for long.

Prosper – I love Prosper. He’s such an adorable, wise elderly man. He politely corrected Nova regarding watching Ernest bury a white man’s body on the family land. Prosper revealed Ernest brutally beat a white man who came to hurt Nova. He also revealed Ernest almost killed him until he heard True’s voice, buried the man’s bloody clothes and took him to the hospital. Essentially, Nova’s recollection of the story was false.

Aunt Vi and Sam Landry – What the hell was that meeting at Vi’s Pies about? Their interaction felt like they played more than footsies in grade school. It reminded me of something Francis Boudreaux revealed to Charley this episode.

“Just like Sam and all the other men in our family. They risk diluting our bloodlines but they always come home in the end.’’  – Francis Boudreaux

Essentially, she implied Landry-Boudreaux men dated outside of their race but married white women in the end.

Though Sam claimed he did not burn down the mill, I would imagine he knows who did. Since season one, every interaction Sam had with the Bordelons has been unpleasant. There was an arrogant and sinister air to him. So why is he being kind to Aunt Vi? What does Sam owe Aunt Vi?

I would image nobody knows about their interaction or alleged previous relationship including Hollywood. But I’m okay with it. If Nova knew, her ass would have included it in her book.

What are your thoughts on the episode?

Darla has undergone a beautiful transformation from a fragile, untrustworthy recovering addict to a strong, resilient woman. During the entire series, she has been trying to redeem herself from her past drug addiction. Darla Sutton went from being my least favorite character to one of my favorite characters on Queen Sugar. Here’s how.

Season 1 

When Darla got sober and expressed interest in reentering Blue’s life, she was met with resistance by the Bordelon family. Understandably so. During season one, it was revealed Hollywood found her in a compromising position with a john and Blue sitting in the room. As a result, Hollywood rescued Blue and Aunt Vi got full custody of him. I could imagine the Bordelons thought only an unstable human being would put their child in danger. For this reason, I thought, “Okay. It’s unforgivable. She’s an addict. She’ll relapse sooner or later.”

Season 2 

However, the writers did an excellent job expanding Darla’s storyline in season two. We saw Darla committed to making an honest living, committed to being a present and responsible mother to Blue and a good companion to Ralph Angel. She is excited about the future of her family and upcoming marriage to Ralph Angel. When Darla’s parents visit, it is revealed Blue’s paternity is speculative. Darla’s father encourages her to tell Ralph Angel. Though she was afraid of shattering the picture-perfect family she was building with Ralph Angel, Darla tells him the truth. It was a courageous move. Was it wrong to lie? Yes. However, Darla knew she would enter the marriage with a guilty conscious thus dooming their union. As predicted, Ralph Angel ended their relationship and the newfound trust the Bordelons built for Darla was broken permanently.

When Darla recalls the party she attended in DC and what took place, she described it as, “It just kept happening.” This statement made me believe Darla was repeatedly raped while under the influence of drugs thus explaining the uncertainty regarding Blue’s paternity. Though the truth costs her important relationships and her job, the season two finale marked a new journey for Darla: a life fully redeemed without lies – a clean slate.

Season 3 

During season three, Darla returns after a few months of living with her parents in DC. She comes back to St. Josephine with a new look, new attitude, new car and a new house. Darla remains sober and dedicated to being the best mother to Blue. But when a resentful Ralph Angel deliberately keeps Blue away from her, Darla takes matters into her own hands by fighting for custody. She becomes unapologetic for her new life and stands up to Ralph Angel. Unfortunately, this leads to an intense custody battle which later results in them agreeing to spend an equal amount of time with Blue.

Season 4 

Now Darla is in a new relationship with a tall, nice guy she enjoys. But when she reads Blessings and Blood, she discovers Nova wrote about her addiction and used her street name Star – which all the johns in St. Josephine called Darla. She shows up at Nova’s doorstep and confronts her says, “You’re worse than I ever was.”

When I saw that I said, “Oh shoot.” First of all, I never knew Darla knew Nova’s address. Secondly, when Nova opened the door, Darla looked like she was ready to fight and could actually win. There was so much rage and fury in her eyes for good reason. Nova violated her and Blue’s privacy. Their altercation represented a pivotal moment in Darla’s evolution. She has become more confident in how she respects herself and how she demands respect from others.

My Hopes for Darla

I hope Darla does not relapse. Though she may get ridiculed or harassed by St. Josephine residents, I hope Darla perceives the situation as an opportunity to continue to live unapologetically for her past and current decisions.

Can we live unapologetically despite the people who knew us at our lowest points? Can we truly let go of our pasts? Comment below.

When Charley confronts Nova about Blessings and Blood, she reads a book excerpt which states, “My sister, born to privilege, raised in wealth and half-bathed in whiteness used her light skin as her shield and her sword. Weapons in every room she entered, in every deal she made, in every woman she sacrificed and for every man she protected. Her honey skin kept her safe. All the while keeping her complicit in the continued oppression of black bodies.”

This statement confirms my theory since season 1. Nova hates her sister and is jealous of Charley’s light-skinned privilege. During season 1, Nova said, “Charley has had sugar coated on top of shit her whole life.” How would you know, Nova? It is likely Nova  carried deep resentment for Charley since childhood. Oddly enough, it makes sense. Her sister is a constant reminder of Ernest leaving True and Nova for Lorna, Charley’s mother.

I will take a moment to empathize with the broken little girl in Nova Bordelon. I could not imagine watching my Dad leave my mother and I to start another family.  I could only imagine how incredibly painful, confusing and angering it was for a little girl to experience this. Consequently, Nova felt abandoned and neglected by Ernest.

However, Charley is not her pain. Charley can not help how she came into the world. Nova Bordelon made assumptions Charley lived a wealthy, privileged life as a half-black woman. I believe Nova thought about Charley’s clothes, boarding school, expensive lifestyle, the prestigious universities she attended, and assumed it was handed to her. In Nova’s mind, Charley got the better end of the stick.

I understand why a child would make those assumptions. When I was a teenager, I was jealous of a friend. Everybody liked her because of her bubbly and kind personality. Numerous boys vied for her affection in grade school. One of those boys talked to me and then tried to date my friend. She was pretty, light-skinned, curvy and had rich parents.  I thought she had the dream life.

I was brown-skinned, not curvaceous and from a middle class family. I never felt accepted by other kids. I wanted boys to find me attractive. I wanted to have tons of friends. Honestly, I sought self-acceptance and self-love in the wrong ways. Yet, I took my self-hatred out on my friend.

As an adult, I realized my wrongdoings, took accountability for my actions and took steps to love myself versus comparing myself to others. However, Nova’s brokenness does not excuse her constant disrespect towards the Bordelon clan. In Blessings and Blood, Nova claims Charley promotes rape culture by sacrificing women. This implies Charley lacks respect for women. But what about Nova’s lack of respect for women?

She continued her relationship with Calvin, a married man and father of two. She took $10,000 out of her siblings’ joint business account, an account created solely for business purposes such as agricultural tools needed for the sugar cane. In addition, Charley carried the financial responsibility of the account. Though the funds were used to pay the bail of Too Sweet, a young man abused in prison for a small possession of marijuana, Nova did not ask permission. When Charley confronted Nova, she became defensive and attacked Charley for her decision to pay a settlement to Davis’s mistress. She took no accountability for her actions.

I look forward to the next episode. More importantly, I look forward to seeing flashbacks of Nova’s childhood including her and Ernest’s father-daughter dynamic, mother-daughter dynamic, the day Ernest and True ended their relationship and the day he left St. Josephine. Maybe “it will all make sense,” as Nova says.

Until next time, let me know your thoughts below.