Greenleaf: Season 2/ Episode 2 “Strange Bedfellows ” – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

As Jacob leaves the house and transitions to becoming a member of the Triumph community, he leaves a church and home still reeling from scandal and seemingly not bouncing back anytime soon. [note]After Legion and The Quad end their season’s, this will likely be posted earlier than Saturday.[/note]

Episode Focus: The Truth About Bishop Skanks/ A Financial Decision (Lady Mae, Grace, Charity, Carlton, Jacob, and James)

With Jacob leaving and becoming Bishop Skanks’ right-hand man, Lady Mae begs of James to reveal what he knows. However, the lack of support over the years has made it where Jacob can’t bring himself to listen to his dad’s theories. So the conversation is never had and James damn near looks like he is ready and willing for his son to learn the truth on his own. A truth which includes questioning if Skanks is Daryl’s son, at least in the traditional sense. For, to James’ knowledge, Daryl only had two daughters.

But while there is drama in the household, which will soon include Jacob trying to recruit Cavalry church members, there are issues in the church as well. With half the board being unsupportive of Carlton and Reggie’s marriage, they still haven’t given any money. So, Lady Mae says Carlton has to be fired and it can be noted as a financial decision vs. a personal one. Charity isn’t happy about it but appreciates Grace telling her before it happens. But, even with her being told, she isn’t ready to start a crusade over Carlton. She already has Jabari who costs the church $50,000. So she is in no position to fight for someone who is costing the church money.

However, Grace is disturbed by how Carlton is handled and while she may not pursue fighting for him or doing much more than telling him how she doesn’t agree with the decision, there is Darius Nash [note]Rick Fox[/note]. He is the reporter who was really digging his heels into the Cavalry scandal and he has the audacity to ask Grace out. Something she later agrees to and seemingly to plant a calculated story he could develop on.

Commentary

Let’s begin with Skanks. Something about Bishop James noting he remembers Daryl only having two daughters leads me to wonder is Skanks is trans. I know, it is far-fetched and it is more likely Skanks is someone who married into Daryl’s family, was a bastard child, or just saw him as a father figure. However, OWN is very LGBT friendly and their newest programs present gay Black characters in ways we haven’t really seen before. So Skanks being trans would be something of interest. Especially since it will make it so Reggie and Carlton won’t sort of feel like tokens characters. For, increasingly, it seems those of the LGBT spectrum are starting to be included in the token formula.

Skanks aside, I find it sad that Charity wasn’t willing to go up to bat for Carlton. This man was so supportive of her and seemed to be someone she was close to. So for her not to “go on a crusade” or at least ask to fire him herself, I thought that was strange. Yet, what can I say, Charity is a bit of a punk. However, I must note that I liked how Grace told her before it all went down. I don’t strongly remember what happened in Season 1 since that was so long ago, but their scene together did trigger the memory of the tantrum Charity had.

Leaving the need to question, what will Carlton do now? He is no longer a staff member of the church but Grace asks him to stay to help change the opinion of its members. Reggie ain’t for it, but Carlton seems he might think about it. What I fear though is that if Skanks is trans, they maybe writing off Carlton out of fear of perhaps making this show a bit too LGBT friendly. Which I know sounds ridiculous but there are those who fear a show seeming too Black still, even after the recent Neilson study could affect ratings.

Subplot 1: The Girl Isiah Wants (Isaiah, Zora, and Sophia)

Sophia has a crush on this gospel Justin Bieber known as Isaiah. Problem is, it seems he likes Zora.

Commentary

I’m noting this storyline solely because these two, mostly, seemed like accessories to their parents in the first season but now have a completely separated storyline. One which, at this point, doesn’t present anything to be in awe of, but things may change. I mean, based on Queen Sugar, it is likely this storyline is going somewhere and the teens won’t be re-regulated to prove their parents had sex.

Subplot 2: Reconciliation (Jacob, Charity, Kevin, and Kerissa)

Though Charity and Kevin aren’t holding hands and swinging them, they are on the path to at least being friends and co-parenting Nathan. She isn’t likely to jump into one of his “Pray the Gay Away” meetings anytime soon, but she can look at him without utter contempt and perhaps feeling like a beard.

As for Kerissa and Kevin, they continue to seem like a united front who love each other. We may not see them sexually intimate, but their partnership seems stronger than ever.

Commentary

I feel we have more than enough shows and movies featuring disintegrating and unhealthy Black relationships. So with these 4 working things out, or trying, it gives me hope. I fully see Kevin finding a man and falling in love, and Charity making sure to her 50 grand is put to good use with Jabari, but Kerissa and Jacob I see remaining strong. I just hope they can get a little cute and affectionate with one another with time.