Queen Sugar: Season 7/ Episode 4 “Spaces Fill” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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Finding joy and community in the worst of times is the modus operandi as Sam strikes back and Darla is triggered during a trip to DC.

Aired (OWN)	9/27/2022
Director(s)	Stacey Muhammad
Writer(s)	Charles Ray Hamilton

This content contains pertinent spoilers.

Recap

A Trip Down Memory Lane – Toine, Blue, Darla, Ralph Angel, Vince, Billie

Thanks to Blue hacking his school’s computer, due to the lack of diverse history in the classroom, Darla is in DC, and while she doesn’t support the act, she does support her son’s purpose. She even takes him to get ice cream, or frozen yogurt, after, and she runs into a familiar face. One who notes, with Blue being 11, he must be the son of Chase. This name, the one who raped Darla, triggers her and leads her to having a quick exit.

And as she deals with things in DC, Ralph Angel is being a good poppa back in St. Jo and taking Tru to baby classes, where he runs into Toine. Someone who is happy to see their old friend and reveals they are no longer a cop but have a program for trans youth. This is exciting, and while you know we probably won’t see Toine ever again, it is nice to see them again.

Which leaves Vince and Billie. Vince has been in the dark about what happened in St. Jo, but Billie decides to illuminate him. Not with every last detail, but she makes it clear she was taken advantage of and how the narrative everyone placed on her dictated how she reacted until that narrative was removed. So, with that in mind, Vince doesn’t know the full Billie. He knows the persona she made to try to counteract what was said about her, and with that in mind, their future will be based on him getting to know the real her and seeing how he reacts to that person. Someone who, even with being in St. Jo for six months, she is still reacquainting herself with.

Come Together – Joaquin, Aunt Vi, Hollywood, Parthena, Cardale, Sam, Ralph Angel

Cardale, the pessimist of St. Jo, is a hold out in helping Parthena get her land back at an upcoming auction. But can you blame him? The co-op, the Queen Sugar mill, so many of the Bordelon family’s plans have had good intentions and have been major undertakings, but they haven’t necessarily had the proposed results. But, as always, he is guilted for being the only one to ask questions or raise a red flag and ends up joining the gang to keep the peace. However, his pessimism, like it has been many times before, ends up valid since Sam comes in and swoops the land up right from under the co-op’s nose.

But, to end things on a sort of positive note, while both of Joaquin’s parents are now unable to raise him and his little brother due to their status, Aunt Vi swoops in and begins the paperwork for legal guardianship. Naturally, Hollywood isn’t originally consulted but jumps on board. However, with not being allowed to have a felon near the child, it does make Ralph Angel’s situation complicated.

Find Joy, Or Make It If You Have To – Prosper, Sandy, Micah, Zane

Unfortunately for Micah, his social movement photography isn’t selling on the NFT market. He knows this, Zane does, and Zane’s team is starting to ice out Micah for wasting their resources. So, Micah is pushed to put on the market something that embarrasses Charlie, and while Micah is against it at first, as he comes to feel the pressure to have another hit, he pushes it onto the marketplace, for better or worse.

That action is likely to bring Charlie back to St. Jo, alongside everyone’s favorite person, Prosper, proposing to Sandy. You know, to make an honest woman out of her since she and he are doing the hanky panky.

Things To Note

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Is Micah really so desperate for money or clout that he’d sell out his own mother? Who has a whole political campaign going on, so the reminder of Davis cheating on her is ill-timed?
2. How did Blue learn to hack and make websites?

What Could Happen Next

1. Charlie making an appearance, at least in a Blue capacity, to address what her son did
2. Prosper and Sandy’s wedding having more good news than them becoming official in the eyes of the government
3. Sam dying, and there being mixed feelings from all about it

Collected Quote(s)

We all gotta past and we’re all better than our worst day.
— Aunt Vi

Look what I missed punishing myself.
— Billie

If you don’t define you for you, others will.
— Professor

Review

Highlights

A Blue Appearance & Potentially Digging Into Darla’s Past

Can you believe Blue is in the double digits now and even looks like some peach fuzz could be on its way? That aside, it was nice to see him and for a piece of his and Darla’s storyline to be picked up regarding who his father is. Now, whether we’ll meet the man or not, especially since he is running for Congress, is anyone’s guess. But, considering Darla is in a good place, it’s easy to imagine the writers on “Queen Sugar” counting the episodes until they can blow that up.

You know they don’t like Darla being happy for too long.

Aunt Vi Standing Up For Billie

Billie’s reputation wasn’t going to be resolved overnight. However, Vi standing up for her is part of that long-term development that comes from multiple seasons. It, in our mind, is like how her relationship healed with Darla and how she realized her bad-mouthing that girl likely made things harder. It seems with Billie, based on the lessons learned from interacting with Darla, she is trying to be more aggressive in cleaning up the messes she made or that was made seemingly on her behalf.

On The Fence

Joaquin’s Situation

The main benefit of Joaquin’s situation is giving Aunt Vi a storyline outside of whatever is going on with Ralph Angel and Darla. Outside of that, it’s clear that they aren’t going to go too deep into the Latinx experience with ICE, separation, and the trauma that comes with that. There isn’t enough time, and this show mainly focuses on the Black experience. So with that in mind, you have to appreciate the nod but also be on the fence about it being used to give a legacy character a storyline.

Prosper and Sandy Getting Married

Again, this feels like the writers giving a legacy character something to do, and maybe a silver lining amongst all the drama, if not failures experienced by the cast. For while it is always beautiful to see people at Sandy and Prosper’s age find love, since who knows what life will be like for any of us at their age, it does feel forced and hastened.

Mind you, it isn’t like Sandy just appeared this season, and Prosper fell head over heels. But, considering how front and center Prosper is, with him seen in a good part of most episodes now, him being yet another character with a rushed storyline, potentially due to this being the last season, is disappointing.

Micah Betraying His Mom

Has he learned nothing from Nova? Using family to further your own career will get you some level of fame, but take away all the people you’d want to celebrate with. But I guess he has to experience that first hand to understand the lesson.

The Struggles Against Sam

If there is one good thing about this being the last season of “Queen Sugar,” it is the hope, the expectation, that the saga against Sam and his family may end with the Black farmers coming out on top. It doesn’t seem realistic, I’ll give you that, but I think the show could end on wishful thinking considering, every win they got led to Sam making a comeback in a way that washed out whatever joy was momentarily gained.

I mean, Nova’s protest leading the council to change their decision, so Sam buys Parthena’s land? COME ON! The escalation is at the point where I don’t know why, with Sam’s wickedness and how much the Bordelons are a pain in the behind, he hasn’t used the full power of his company and purse to just squash them. Because, sometimes, I think Sam just likes a challenge, hence him not taking things as far as he could until it has to be done to reassert authority.

Vince & Billie’s Relationship

Do we appreciate Vince’s arrival? Yes. However, like so many things this season, there is a feeling that we’re diving into things that deserve more time than the show has to give. Billie’s escape from St. Jo, getting with Vince, and becoming someone new to validate the idea she deserves love and more, is a full-on journey. We’ve only known the before Vince and part of the healing after she left him. So it just feels like this storyline won’t get the justice it deserves.

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