Greenleaf: Season 2/ Episode 8 “And the Sparks Fly Upward” [Mid-Season Finale] – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Let me tell you – If you thought this season was a bit too ho-hum and lacked some quality drama? Oh, this episode will compensate for all of that.

Wiping The Blood Off The Cross: Jacob

With Basie betting church money and Jacob finding it harder and harder to deal with Basie’s decisions, he asks of Kerissa to use their wedding gift money to buy the land and make their own church. She agrees, but now Basie has to. Which, with him wanting his vengeance against James, makes it so he feels more so betrayed than relieved.

Commentary

Considering what is happening with Mac this episode, it makes me wonder if the gleeful, almost odd Black leprechaun, known as Basie Skanks we may see the dark side of. For Skanks doesn’t seem to have many friends and while he may be married to Tasha, you rarely seem them interact like any other couple on this show. Hell, Sophia and her new boo Roberto interact more and they just became official. Leading me to wonder, with his brother now becoming his Cain or Abel, I’m not that well-versed on bible stories, will Jacob be added to his crusade or will he see this as a blessing in disguise?

Take Me To The Mountain Top: Kevin, Aaron, Charity

Jabari calls and within 24 hours wishes to see Charity. Not for anything romantic but some people are coming out to Nashville to do some work and he thinks it will be good for her. She works things out with Kevin so off she goes. However, the thing that matters here, is while Kevin is at the house and the baby is resting, he hangs out with Aaron. Someone who he playfully touches the knee of, looks at in a sort of brooding way, and next thing you know Aaron got his arm around Kevin, they kissing, and Aaron is working on Kevin’s pants coming off.

Commentary

So, needless to say, I’m unsure how Charity is going to recover, as a character, when everyone has all these dramatic moments or development as she is being stripped of most of what gives her clout. For while a romance with Jabari is on the horizon, where is the fun in that? Granted, seeing a girl built like Charity, instead of the usual who is built like Grace, does give her some… for a lack of a better term, claim to fame. Since, really, how often you see a big girl, a dark-skinned big girl, be in love on TV? Much less, in what could be a healthy relationship.

That aside, chile… this Aaron and Kevin thing. At first, I thought it would just be kept cute with a kiss, but then Aaron was taking off that man’s belt and my eyes became wide open. If only because, being that Kevin seemingly has barely explored his sexuality, I wasn’t thinking he was ready to do all that, you know? Kevin, to me anyway, seemed like the type who would want a relationship before sleeping with anyone, man or woman. If only because he sort of seemed like the sensitive type. Yet, apparently, whatever happens when you look in Aaron’s eyes throws any of those beliefs out the window.

You Are My Cross to Bear: Sophia, Mac, Grace, Zora

Sophia says at the beginning of the episode how her mom is her cross to bear, and she is right. For little Sophia, who probably isn’t credited enough with being Grace’s rock, ends up bearing the weight of what may become her mom’s biggest mistake.

Let me explain. After Grace’s car accident, while on the way to confront Mac, she and Darius get close again. So close she wants Sophia to formally meet the man. However, on that night Zora gets the Ike Turner-light skinned treatment from Isiah and she calls upon her cousin to pick her up. Her not showing up, it worries Grace and then Mac calls.

Now, I should note, things for Mac were going well for some time. Lorraine was starting to get suspicious and nosy, but shutting down Michaela helped things [note] Her request to maybe spend the night, if not stay with Mac for awhile, stemmed from her mom getting violent with her[/note]. However, upon Deputy Mayor Leonard Skip saying Mac will not have a job, and implying a 3rd party was involved, Mac automatically thinks Grace did something.

So, with him now pissed his power move fell on his face, Lorraine asking him questions pisses him off to the point of telling her off and kicking her out. Then he calls Michaela, gives her a drink, this time, and tries to get fresh with her.

Fast forward to after Michaela leaves, we are back to when Mac called Grace and she thinks Mac has her daughter. So, she leaves Darius, heads to Mac’s, and as she confronts him, asking where is her daughter, they get into a fight. Not an argument, or tussle, I’m talking Mac leaving a dent in the wall, busting tables, and nearly choking Grace to death! But then she used a busted bottle to stab him in the neck and then, rather than call an ambulance, just asks where Sophia is.

Commentary

Poor Sophia. If Grace tells the full story of what happened, I can fully see her blaming herself for what very well maybe Mac’s death. For, from what it seems, Grace got that man somewhere near the jugular and with her dealing with Faith’s death and so much more, I can imagine her letting him bleed out. I mean, they are in the south, Memphis if I recall right. So her right to defend herself I can’t imagine leading to jail time. Now, true, Lorraine may paint a picture of her being crazy, and who knows what Michaela could say, but I think it is a wrap for uncle Mac.

Which leads me to wonder not just how Sophia may react, but James and especially Lady Mae. It is one thing for the man to have been the cause of their daughter’s suicide, but to have one of their kids kill him? Can that be forgiven? Especially after they have provided warning after warning? Heck, even James prophesied her car accident just in the last episode. You know, when he was talking about god driving and her needing to stop trying to take the wheel. But, to sum up my thoughts and feelings on this, I am really looking forward to the ripples this all causes. whether Mac lives or dies.

But, let me just take note, just one more time, Sophia, and the actress who plays her, Desiree Ross, doesn’t get enough credit. This child has pretty much played, before Darius, Grace’s only friend, confidant, and yet she didn’t play Sophia to be some ideal child. You could see how her mom’s actions weighed on her, taught her, and at times led to her feeling the need to distance herself. Yet, like most people raised by a single parent, she couldn’t help but watch, try to understand and try to help as Grace struggled. To the point, you could see she realized their relationship went beyond the normal parent/child dynamic.

Making that scene, after the car accident and when they were alone in their suite, when she pulled away from Grace’s hand while Grace was trying to apologize a bit devastating. For you could tell there was a part of Sophia who didn’t want to be that crutch anymore. She didn’t want to keep being the person who is there for when the chips are down but isn’t listened to when it comes to getting back up and moving on. I mean, so it seems, at the end of the day, Sophia is the sole person who has consistently seen good in her mom, supported her, and didn’t do as James or Lady Mae did whenever she pursued her truth. She may have questioned it, but she didn’t damn her for it. Also, unlike Darius, she never willingly distanced herself from her until that moment. So for her to now pull away, even though I can’t relate fully since I don’t have kids, the idea had me tearing up. To the point I was hoping Ross would have something interesting on the horizon but, alas, it doesn’t seem so. Making me hope they use her talent to the fullest because, while she isn’t at that breakout level yet, she is getting there.