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The Chi: Season 7 Details

Number of Episodes: 12
Network: Showtime
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Young Adult
Renewal Status: Renewed

Season 7’s Main Storylines

Life Post Douda

Douda’s death at the end of season 6 presented the possibility for chaos and destruction, but Nuck puts that to bed quickly. While he is pro-killing people on a general principle, for the most part, he has no desire to draw attention to the organization or have it where people must watch over their shoulders. This change means less violence, but for those like Alicia, it isn’t enough.

Due to how she lost her son, she goes on a bit of a rampage, and anyone she thinks was involved either gets killed or shot at. Ultimately making it so, she finds herself in conversation with many about cleaning up the streets, partly due to her wanting revenge, but also because the pain is so much that it is creating an insatiable blood lust.

Back To Basics For Ezekiel

Ezekiel weathers a notable amount of scandals throughout the season, leading to him having to start over, once again, but this time with Papa and Charles by his side. But, the environment he ends up in isn’t new, and his ex-wife, Carolyn, and mother-in-law, Renee, are there for him beyond what he expected, or may think he deserves.

The Return of Reg

Reg having his picture taken by Toussaint - The Chi Season 7 Episode 9 — Reg – The Chi Season 7 Episode 9 – Showtime

Despite the assumption that he died, Reg returns, and Chicago hasn’t known peace since. From tearing up the lives of his brothers, an incident he has with Emmett’s brother Damien, that leads to violence, and him damn near declaring war with Nuck? Reg’s return brings the big time drama of the season, and it gets so bad that The Chi reinstates the police into the show, with Detective Toussaint being seen on a regular basis.

Jada’s Cancer Is Back

Multiple characters leave The Chi this season, either of their own volition or by death, but Jada’s last finale is treated as the big thing. It leads to notable performances for some, pushes some characters out of the funk they were in, and leaves many characters in tears.

Review

Highlight(s)

Papa Slowly But Surely Regaining Prominence [83/100]

Of the legacy characters, those from the first two or three seasons of The Chi, I would submit that Papa was the only one who had something going for him and, by the end of the season, seemed like he was going in the right direction. From Ezekiel’s mentorship, Kenya, and him gaining the type of respect which makes it appear he is coming towards the end of his coming-of-age journey, there is hope, there is promise, and reason to believe, it may no longer be about Papa’s potential but simply what the writers will and are setting out to do.

Darnell’s Storyline Regarding Jada’s Death [84/100]

Jada’s death, as major as it was supposed to be, felt flat for us. I might be in the minority regarding that, but what didn’t help is that Jada has been benched without a storyline of note for multiple seasons.

In fact, the only storyline she really had was getting back with Darnell, who is the sole character to make her death feel like it means something. This isn’t to disregard Emmett’s feelings, but the performance and writing just felt less about emotion and more about what viewers would expect. So while things were delivered adequately, they weren’t delivered in a way that affected us.

Darnell was different, however. He truly got to evolve through the storyline, be it through his scenes of grief counseling, trying to manage being a father to Damien, who was dealing with a gambling addiction, while being there for Jada, or just by giving us a rare depiction of a vulnerable man on this show. Especially in terms of vulnerability, not because they screwed up or their life was threatened, but because they were genuinely helpless in a situation and had to just accept something was inevitable.

Easing Toussaint Back Into The Mix [81/100]

The Chi is one of many shows set in Chicago, and in the beginning, it was very invested in having the police be a notable part of the program. After one or two seasons, the presence of police officers was diminished to nearly nothing, and even politics was introduced and faded out. But Detective Toussaint made recurring appearances, and in season 7, she was a consistent presence.

Now, did they do enough with her to really flesh her out? No. Beyond giving us a scene with her son, and showing getting him out of jail was her motivation, she remained a bit underdeveloped for someone who has been on the show, again off and on, since the beginning. But, easing her back in, especially considering how the show has handled the role of police officers in Chicago, seemingly was for the best, taking note of the struggles listed in the low point below.

Shawnita, Angie, and Jackie [85/100]

One of the major things The Chi has been working on is bringing on more women of note to the show, likely to compensate for how things were early on when women often orbited their sons or partners and didn’t have much of a life or storyline of their own. In some ways, that can still be seen as an issue, but less so, and the introduction of Shawnita, Angie, and Jackie was a welcome change to that.

Angie, admittedly, as Hannibal’s wife, didn’t get a real opportunity to be more than that. However, Jackie and Shawnita had much better opportunities. Granted, Jackie may have been written off by episode 12, but initially, as an associate of Keith, she fit the unfilled role of a female gangster.

Thus far on The Chi, most of the women who have been part of the criminal element of the show have been femme fatale types, like Roselyn or Alicia. So to get a masculine woman like Jackie, who could go toe to toe with Reg and be respected, was a welcome change—especially considering Reg needed her since he appeared to be preparing for war with Nuck.

However, I’d submit Shawnita was next level. For one, Shawnita was presented as playful and funny. Women on The Chi rarely have gotten to be seen as carefree and fun as Shawnita, unless meant to be seen as attractive to a male character. But, Shawnita is queer, and then, on top of having a vibrant personality, she is good at her job. When Emmett isn’t able to manage Smokey’s, Keisha hires Shawnita, and she not only maintains but improves the business.

To me, I know The Chi has become a means to put people on, whether legacy acts or relatively new to the industry, and help them get into SAG or pay their dues, but I want and need Shawnita to stick around. Even if just as the manager of Smokey’s, Punkie Johnson has brought more life to the show than even some of the biggest names cast – and that’s with them having a small part, in the big picture of things.

Dom and Jamal’s Therapy Scenes [80/100]

I’m not a fan of Dom and Jamal’s storyline, and feel their relationship is purely about consolidating two characters, with actors who have name recognition. However, anytime The Chi shows Black people going to therapy and exploring how that works, I’m here for it. Especially in how it handles couples therapy between the two, with one of the main cruxes being Jamal’s desire for children, vs. Dom not wanting to have any.

Are the conversations deep and life-changing, or affirming? No. But, it is one of the many examples of you having to appreciate The Chi, acknowledging that, with so few Black predominant shows out there, just presenting scenes where we see a Black couple, with a Black therapist talking, could trigger someone to want to continue that conversation in their own show or movie. So, even if it doesn’t play out the situation to completion, really live up to its potential, it can at least show how it could be done, and be a reference point.

Low Point(s)

Mismanagement Of Characters and Storylines [63/100]

Grandma Renee (Phylicia Rashad) meeting Papa and inviting Ezekiel for a tense dinner - The Chi Season 7 Episode 8 — Grandma Renee (Phylicia Rashad) – The Chi Season 7 Episode 8 – Showtime/Paramount+

It is undeniable that The Chi is perhaps the most popular show with a predominantly Black cast. From attracting Kyla Pratt, Phylicia Rashad, Lynn Whitfield, and Jason Weaver, the show has had some of the biggest names join in large and small roles, to varying degrees of success. Which is the heart of not just the season, but The Chi as a show: it’s less of an ensemble show and more so it collects actors.

Take note, there aren’t a huge number of dramas anymore that focus on the Black American experience, unlike when The Chi first started. OWN has returned to primarily doing reality television, BET+ doesn’t aim for prestige, and while ALLBLK, Zeus, and other networks do exist, they don’t have the budget to hire the talent, behind or in front of the scenes, to platform shows which could be seen in competition with The Chi.

Because of this, The Chi is put on a higher pedestal. The problem is, it maintains the pedestal more so due to scarcity than because of merit. It’s undeniable that a multitude of the actors on the show are good, but their potential is barely tapped when it comes to the stories given to their characters and long-term planning.

For multiple seasons, Tracy has been a character who has dated the big bad, had a community center, and it seemed someone behind the scenes just didn’t have faith that this character could deliver, so they just would switch her to something new, and often less than. The same goes for Victor. He went from being a reformer in politics to now often seen in a tank top, existing on the show like so many, because his character seems too good to lose, but they just don’t know what to do with him.

Which seems to be the issue for the majority of characters. They don’t know how to make them into individuals, honor their paths, so they usually end up getting paired up, with one going from, in a past season, having notable and engaging storylines, to becoming a supporting character who seems like a shell of their former selves.

Now, some, like Alicia, will thrash and claw to remain prominent, but then comes the issue of consistency. Alicia is supposed to be well-connected, wealthy, and raised amongst Q and the old guard, but is far more sophisticated. Yet, in this season, she becomes less calculated as she has Shaad take her on a drive by. She kills off characters without undisputable evidence, and obsesses over Tiff’s pregnancy to the point that you sometimes find yourself questioning whether Alicia has her own business?

Legitimately, what were the businesses Alicia had to afford her lifestyle? We see nothing of that, and while there is some promise that season 8 could finally give that reveal, it isn’t like Alicia is a new character. But, as shown through Hannibal, being a legacy character doesn’t necessarily have its benefits either, even if you are a male, who often get the better storylines on The Chi.

Hannibal’s character was formerly mysterious. This season, however, they don’t just pull the curtain back but rip it off. We get more than seeing his wife, Angie, but they chip away at him by involving him in Reg’s storyline, making foolish moves. And while we could go on and on, speaking about nearly every character, the point ultimately is that The Chi has such a desire to represent Chicago, and specifically the Black people of Chicago, and prove they aren’t a monolith, that it rarely does justice to what any specific character is going through.

Thus leading to being hesitant to give the show props for while, for a few seasons it was dedicated to showing the LGBT+ community of Chicago, the presence of the queer community almost completely disappears this season – sans minor supporting roles in Jackie and Shawnita. For it seems, just like how The Chi likes to collect notable actors, it also wants to touch on every storyline it can, even if it doesn’t have a well-thought-out plan on how to execute the storyline and have the actors required/involved shine.

Overall

Our Rating (79/100): Mixed (Stick Around)

The Chi is the epitome of good intentions can’t always compensate for execution. For, while by no means a bad show, it is undeniably a bloated one that, in trying to bring every facet of Chicago onto the program, seems unable to handle the weight of the task it has taken on.

There is a reason most shows like this segment out, have storylines built around characters, with a few outliers who interweave between multiple plots. If not, just focus on one aspect, while acknowledging the tighter lead cast is still part of a much larger community.

Unfortunately, though, The Chi has decided to be the type of ensemble without a clear lead, which means anything and everything is happening at once, and the rare opportunity any actor gets to be in the spotlight often isn’t enough to truly stand out. Ultimately pushing the idea this is a story driven show but with most storylines not being consistent, either due to lost interest or inability to pack enough established characters in to justify it, The Chi seems reliant on sensationalism if not the promise of shock, than the type of substance which would make it so, if The Chi had to compete, it could hold its own.

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