Bel-Air: Season 3 Episode 7 – Review/ Recap (Written)

Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.

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Storyline Recap

F Them Kids – Annie, Lamont, Tiana, Caleb, Vivian, Phil

Vivian and Phil, just as their relationship is in recovery, decide to, with Annie and Lamont, LaMarcus’ parents, go on vacation. There they meet Phil’s frat brother Caleb, and his wife Tiana, and they all hang out together and share what keeps their marriage’s alive and spicy. Tiana and Caleb? It is by having a open marriage in which Tiana has a 25 year old and Caleb, with blue pill in hand, gets his whenever he can.

As for Annie and Lamont? They are into some very light BDSM and with hearing all this, Vivian and Phil feel like squares. This tempts them to maybe mess around with Tiana and Caleb but, while they are willing to be seduced, they aren’t willing to go all the way and rather just have sex with each other.

Date Night – Geoffrey, Penelope, Carlton

With Ashley with Hilary, and his parents away, all Carlton has to do for him and Will to have the mansion and its grounds to themselves is handle Geoffrey. Surprisingly, that is rather easy. By pushing him to have a date with Penelope, he ends up out of the way.

The date goes well, to the point of Penelope thinking about staying longer, and Geoffrey showing a softer side of himself.

We Know You’re Messy – Amira, Will, Carlton, Lisa, Jackie, Zaire

Since Carlton was able to get Geoffrey gone, you’d think there would have been a huge party, but that doesn’t come to pass. Instead, Will and Carlton invite their girlfriends, Zaire, and Zaire invited Jackie. With doing so, Will smooths things over since Jackie and Lisa didn’t have the best interaction when they last saw each other.

But, Amira isn’t willing to just let there be peace. She decides to come up with a game where either you speak your truth or pull from a jar containing questions. It’s noted the game sounds messy and it ends up being so – mainly thanks to Amira. She points out when Will doesn’t know what’s going on in Lisa’s life, the game causes Carlton to confess that Lisa was his first, which is eye opening for Zaire and Jackie, and it all culminates with Will and Amira going back and forth over him being a fence straddler, avoiding confrontation, and Carlton being forced to pick between Will and his girlfriend.

Then, to add some icing onto this dramatic cake, Lisa learns Amira has drugs in her bag.

Whose Side Are You On? – Will, Carlton, Jazz, Yolanda

As Jazz and Yolanda plan a protest, Will finds himself unsure of whose side to be on. Carlton thinks it is obvious and that if Jazz couldn’t pay his taxes, and refused a good deal, it’s on him. Mind you, he just did a street race not too long ago to help Jazz, but if it is his father vs. anybody, Carlton is choosing his dad each time.

For Will, however, it is a bit more complicated due to Will seeing Jazz as family. So, initially he joined the protest, and even the late night vandalism, but as it becomes a situation involving arson and more? Will realizes he has stepped in some stuff again.

New Character Descriptions

Nadine Ellis As Annie

Annie is LaMarcus’ mom, and LaMont’s wife.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Our Kind of People.”

Melanie Liburd As Tiana

Tiana is Caleb’s wife who has a 25 year old side piece.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Perpetrator.”

Neil Brown Jr. As Caleb

Caleb is one of Phil’s frat brothers who opens his mind to other ways to keep a marriage fresh.

• The actor is also known for their role in “Sand Castle.”

Review

Highlights

The Men And Women Opening Up About Their Marriages – No Matter How Awkward It Was

Was it weird to hear and see the potential of Aunt Vi and Uncle Phil getting into some swinging? Absolutely. But on the other end of that, we have grown folks talking about couples therapy, needing or using Viagra, open marriages, and even some light BDSM. All of these topics aren’t really the norm when it comes to the depiction of Black couples on television, so even if just for one awkward episode, it is appreciated.

Amira Stirring Up Drama

I don’t mind characters who purely exist to be the catalyst for other people’s stories. With Amira, she triggered Lisa being more than Will’s girlfriend, since her swimming career has gotten no focus. In addition, she reminded us of how far Will and Carlton have come since Will got with Lisa in season 1, and caused a lot of issues. Add in her pushing the development of her own storyline with the reveal she may have relapsed, and while it is hard to pin down how we feel about Amira, I will say she does hold value currently.

The Civil War That Is Upcoming

Just as Will and Carlton have come a long way, so have Will and Uncle Phil, and a part of me does wonder, with his allegiance to Jazz, how this will affect the household? Could Ashley end up joining Will and Jazz, with Vivian torn, Hilary wanting to side with Jazz, and Geoffrey, Carlton, and Phil against their efforts? This could become a major issue and while the season is hastily coming to a end, that doesn’t mean something major can’t happen beyond a fire on Omar’s construction site.

Geoffrey and Penelope In Their Own Little World

Taking note of how Batman’s butler, Alfred, got his own show on Epix, before heading to MAX, it almost feels like we’re getting a backdoor pilot of sorts for seeing Geoffrey outside of the Banks home, and increasingly I’m here for it. The storyline feels so different from what “Bel-Air” is offering, and though that has been a bit of an issue thus far, at this point, I’m really enjoying how this storyline is developing Geoffrey and showing a different side of him.

General Information

Additional Information

1. Previous Episode: Season 3/ Episode 6
2. Series Page

Episode Title

Black Lotus

Release Date

August 29, 2024

Network

Peacock

Director(s)

Mo McRae

Writer(s)

Des Moran, Felicia Pride

The Gist

• Phil and Vivian take a couples trip with Lamont and Annie, and this means Will and Carlton have the house to themselves – at least, after Carlton convinces Geoffrey to take Penelope out on a date.
• Thankfully for Geoffrey, Will and Carlton don’t have anyone over beyond their girlfriends, Jackie, and Zaire, but even that small amount of people there is drama.
• How and why? Amira. She has some truth telling game that leads to Will being called out, Carlton revealing his first was Lisa, while hiding that she is on the verge of a relapse and recently bought drugs.
• Meanwhile, Phil and Vivian are hanging with people who are swingers, and Jazz is committing crimes with his friends since Phil has been shutting down their protests.
• Amira is growing on me. She is stirring up trouble, has issues herself, and yet, there is a part of you that wants to give her grace and learn more about her.
• Plus, for this episode, she made things interesting. Phil and Vivian with their friends was a bit weird and as much as it was good to know things are back in action between them, everything else just felt like sensationalism.
• With that said, I’m glad Geoffrey and Penelope had some time together. Though their storyline feels like it is in their own little world, I’m coming to enjoy their love story.

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