On My Block: Season 3 Episode 6 “Chapter Twenty-Six” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

As Jamal leads the group to who they believe is Lil’ Ricky, we learn why Chuchillos wants to see Lil’ Ricky so bad.

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Directed By		Ryan Shiraki
Written By		Sonia Khakar, Adam Starks
Aired (Netflix)		3/11/2020
Introduced This Episode
Ainsley	Mallory James Mahoney
Father Goose	Chaka Desilva

Plot/ Recap

Should We Or Shouldn’t We?: Ruby, Monse, Cesar, Jasmine

Ruby and Jasmine are in a tizzy over what can or could happen between them. For Ruby, the issue is that he doesn’t want them to end up like Ruby and Cesar and have all their drama. Then, for Jasmine, the problem lies in, despite all we’ve heard her say, she is not only a virgin but has never been chosen. In Jasmine’s life, she is the rejected, and while she likes Ruby, as seen in the last episode, while she wants to be with him, she doesn’t want it to be due to her being accessible. She wants the kind of love girls like Monse, who usually are the rejector, get.

Put Some Respect On My Name: Jamal, Ainsley

With Jamal finding a new lead, he reasserts himself as leader and expects to be treated as such. However, getting to “Father Goose,” who he presumes is Lil’ Ricky, is easier said and planned than done. Especially since his way in is during the video shoot of a brat named Ainsley. Someone who Jamal has to buck up with in order to fool her, and with that, Jamal taps into his dark side. Thus helping him see, in some ways, how terrible of a person he sometimes is.

Taking (Some Form) Of Responsibility: Jamal, Rosé, Father Goose

But, despite him adapting to Ainsley so that she’d accept him long enough to encounter Father Goose, Jamal learns Father Goose isn’t Lil’ Ricky. However, he does point Jamal back towards Rosé’s direction as he reveals Rosé and Lil’ Ricky had something going on. In fact, it explains why Cuchillos, real name Stacey, is after Lil’ Ricky. For while Rosé was her best friend, it is Lil’ Ricky, her ex, who she likely wants to take a knife to. Hence her using these kids who seem to be able to sniff out Lil’ Ricky better than maybe she can.

Characters Introduced This Episode

Ainsley (Mallory James Mahoney)

One of Father Goose’s artist whose “Lunch Money” song has become a viral sensation. But, what people don’t know if Ainsley is a huge brat who plans to follow the path set by other viral sensations – and not in a good way.

Father Goose (Chaka Desilva)

Father Goose is one of the many men the Core 4 believe could be Lil’ Ricky. The reason why Father Goose is chosen is due to his weak rhymes, and the fact he likes investing in people who he thinks has potential. Two traits Lil’ Ricky is known for.

Review/ Commentary

Highlights

The Cesar x Monse Shade

The back and forth between Cesar and Monse has made it where they aren’t so much a cute couple as they are consistent. And with Monse kissing Oscar not being a big deal, it further pushes you to not take much note of them, outside of everyone seemingly trying to avoid developing a relationship like they have.

Jasmine

But, amongst the shade thrown at Monse and Cesar’s relationship, there is also Jasmine expressing why she is so hesitant when it comes to Ruby. For in her revealing she is a virgin, used to being the rejectee, and all she expresses to Monse, more and more it makes you wish Jasmine could get a spin-off or her actress get her own show. Because, at this point, everyone is starting to feel stuck in a loop when it comes to their character, and only Jasmine is continuing to blossom.

Think about it, Cesar and Monse are doing what we’ve seen them do since season 1. Cesar is having issues with Oscar, the Santos, and is treated as the underlying reason everyone has issues. Monse, as the tomboy, is going through her seasonal dose of back and forth with Cesar, with pauses for when a third party, thus far her mother, distract her.

Then with Jamal, with the Kendra thing seemingly on ice, he is back to being the weird Black kid who comes off like the Black sidekick of a Disney or Nickelodeon show, but now with the ability to curse and talk about sex. Leaving Jasmine as the only one who represents a new voice and in this season especially, a consistent one who isn’t given just one episode to speak her truth, but consistently gets to do so from episode to episode.

Jamal Taking Responsibility

It seems Dwayne taking Jamal to task really hit hard. For this fantasy he lives in, and what he can get away with, I think being around Ainsley helped him understand he has been lucky thus far. If not, in finding ways to get lost down the rabbit hole, he has somehow found a way to make himself into an almost Peter Pan-esque persona. What I mean by that is, with Jamal being behind everyone else in terms of maturity, finding the opportunity for romance and more, he has long seem stunted. Which, to a certain degree, has been due to his parents shielding him from the outside world. Yet, it has also been due to Jamal willingly trying to find ways to distract himself.

I’d even say, as Jasmine would be overtly sexual to mask what she wasn’t doing and felt she couldn’t have, Jamal found means to avoid and keep his mind away from what he felt would be a frivolous pursuit. Hence why, when he realizes the time he lost, and maybe a relationship, with Kendra, it hits him hard. Much less why he gripped so tightly to the idea of pursuing a mystery. This, essentially, is what defined his youth and is the highpoint of his juvenile years. Once the whole Lil’ Ricky saga is over, he will firmly be a teenager and life may come at him fast. And while sex with Kendra is fun, is he truly ready for all it means to be in a relationship? Even if the girl is as weird as him?

Low Point

Another Dead End

So how big is the investment into Lil’ Ricky at this point? Should we expect him in the finale? Will he show up on his own? Will we learn that, maybe, the members of 19^th street, or their leader, is his son? What’s going to happen with him? At this point we have had two legit leads end up not being Lil’ Ricky and Chivo is still nowhere to be found. So, is this the final dead end?

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