The Kings of Napa: Season 1/ Episode 3 “What’s Port Got To Do With It?” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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As Dana brings in a PI and August, a legendary winemaker, their rivalry heats up as Vanessa finds new targets to kick out of her life and house.

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Aired	1/25/2022
Network	OWN
Directed By	Winnifred Jong
Written By	Michelle Listenbee Brown, Darris Dortch
Introduced This Episode
Quincy	Marc Senior
Grace	Kimberly Huie

Recap

Searching For A Blackmailer – Quincy, Dana, August, Kelvin

With being unable to go to the cops, but the blackmailer constantly watching and even interrupting Kelvin and August’s date, Dana gets a PI who was his frat brother involved. One whose list of suspects includes Otis, someone who sued Reggie for malpractice, and someone named Larry Samuels, who Reggie ended the Ponzi scheme of.

So Much For Sisterhood, Be It Blood Or By Choice – Melanie, Yvette, Dana, Vanessa

Vanessa finds herself unable to get past what Melanie did, and so she seeks more and more details, despite knowing what it’ll do to her. So, when she can’t get into Reggie’s computer, she goes to Melanie’s house for answers. Sadly, Melanie isn’t home, but being that Vanessa is adamant about knowing the whole truth, she breaks in and discovers Reggie took Melanie to the beach.

That is just a small bit, though. The big deal is learning that Yvette knew about Melanie and Reggie, that Yvette is still friends with Melanie, and that Bridgette was likely conceived at Yvette’s home.

This information leads to Vanessa doing to Yvette what she did to Bridgette, sans getting her fired. Which, in trying to defend herself, leads to Dana learning Vanessa wanted to abort him. Thus causing a huge rift between him and his mom.

What About Loyalty? – Bridgette, Rose, Dana, Quincy, August, Grace

While on the same page about handling the blackmailer, Dana and August continue to battle it out when it comes to control over the winery and its next product. Why? Well, while they were a force to be reckoned with together as kids, then the stakes became bigger, and money got in the way. Which is the case with August hiring Grace to handle the creation of the dessert wine, which is costing the company thousands. So, to nip that in the bud, Dana brings his own guy in, who is cheaper, to compete.

This leads to a family-wide thing, which Bridgette gets bestowed the tie-breaking vote, but it ends up Rose, who breaks the tie in August’s favor. How and why? Well, despite how the rest of the family treats Bridgette, she and Rose seem to be cool, and after talking a bit, Rose realizes she lost her voice in becoming consumed in Dana’s world. So, despite Dana being her husband, being that Grace’s wine tasted better, she sided with August.

This leads to Dana deciding to go off on Rose and dig up her origins to try to hurt her and following that up by going to see Quincy in hopes he can dig something up on August he can use against her.

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

The setback is nothing like the comeback.
— August

She’s like a jigsaw puzzle, could break into pieces or be framed at any time.
— Rose

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. What was the specific reason Vanessa was going to have an abortion? Did she not want kids, or was she told Dana could be a dwarf?
2. In the episode, Bridgette interviews for another winery, is she allowed to work for another winery? I feel like her contract wouldn’t allow her to work for the competition for a certain amount of time.
3. Considering August agreed to a payment system that included Bridgette’s job, what becomes of that?
4. How is Yvette running her wig business while being head of sales for the winery?

What Could Happen Next

1. Dana going nuclear and destroying the whole business while secretly financing his side projects so he can survive the fallout
2. Yvette eventually flipping out and no longer trying to be a peacekeeper
3. Hopefully, a flashback of Vanessa, Melanie, and Reggie in their younger years, with Yvette in there too
4. Dana trying to divorce Rose but then her revealing she is pregnant

Review

Highlights

Vanessa & Yvette Being Consistent

Vanessa and Yvette are consistent in being disgustingly wicked and playfully odd, and we love it. It’s nice to watch a show when characters can be relied on to give the same thing episode to episode, yet you don’t get bored of what they deliver. I’d even say they don’t have to escalate much to keep things interesting.

Vanessa’s means of handling Yvette was petty, and how Yvette handled it did undercut Vanessa’s actions a tad but didn’t take away from the things she has said and done. It’s a perfect balance for their comedic double act.

Getting Rose’s Background

Rose truly did get to step out of Dana’s background, and with learning she is a bi-sexual woman who was writing a novel/ her memoirs, it draws you in. Especially considering Dana paints her as poor, and considering you rarely hear about poor English people in American shows, it makes you want to know her whole story. From who her parents are, or were, to how she met Dana, from her point of view, she really broke out this episode, and I hope she continues to stay out of Dana’s shadow.

The Straw Which Broke Dana’s Back

Dana is his mother’s son, and we’re going to see whether he is just the same or will take it further in future episodes. For whether or not he will come for August in a way to get her to resign, or just destroy the whole company, is anyone’s guess. But what is for sure is that with Rose’s betrayal paired with learning his mom wanted to abort him? It’s on, and like Bridgette, Dana doesn’t have much to lose.

On The Fence

Still No Interest In Kelvin and August

The struggle remains real in trying to make Kelvin and August a compelling thing. Though, I mainly blame Kelvin for just being a dull character. One who doesn’t create any real spark or exudes charm. He’s just a handsome man coming onto the lead to me, and while August and Kelvin have history, it doesn’t seem like anything about their future is worth investing in. Outside of maybe him lying about being separated.

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