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Episode 6 “Do The Chi Thing” Details

• Available On: Showtime
• Public Release Date: June 20, 2025
• Director(s): Stacy Pascal Gaspard
• Writer(s): James Rogers III

Episode 6 “Do The Chi Thing” Recap (With Spoilers)

Don’t Think The Nerdy Ones Clean: Hannibal, Damien, Emmett, Darnell

Damien has a serious gambling problem, and with learning how to play spades, it is his new addiction, on top of sports betting. Darnell tries to warn Emmett of this, but with Emmett getting closer to Damien, he decides to lend him money to handle his debt, only for Damien to lose said money.

But, to make matters worse, he loses not only his bet but Hannibal’s money too, and while Hannibal seems rather chill, that doesn’t mean that he or his associates may not put some pressure on Damien.

When You Got A Good Thing: Ezekiel, Sarah, Charles, Darnell, Victor, Tiff, Nuck, Alicia, Shaad

While Victor struggles to get Tiff’s interest, Shaad decides to break up with Alicia. His jealousy, insecurities, and her focusing on becoming a grandmother don’t match well, and she lets the relationship go since she knew the breakup was due. Thankfully for Shaad, though, she keeps him on for protection, for she knows a war is coming and she still trusts him.

But while Shaad is breaking up and Victor is struggling to get a date, Ezekiel and Sarah are in a different situation. She wants to be public with Ezekiel, not hiding and sneaking in kisses, and more, often at the church. Charles is still wary of this, and Ezekiel too. However, Sarah isn’t going to wait forever, and with her dad investing heavily in Ezekiel’s church, who knows how long he may allow his daughter to interact with Ezekiel and not expect him to make an honest woman out of her.

Which leaves one last complicated relationship: Tiff and Alicia. With Tiff in Alicia’s house, enjoying the spoils of her life and work, she exerts her influence and control on Tiff to get her to stop interacting with Nuck. With war brewing and the suspicion that Nuck could have been involved in Rob’s death (he is the one who killed him), Alicia wants him far away from her grandson, her home, and anything connected to her life she cares about. To which Tiff agrees because, how can she give all this up?

Ain’t Nobody Safe Around Reg: Detective Toussaint, Reg, Jake, Victor, Jamal, Alicia, Shaad, Bakari

Detective Toussaint is on the case to hopefully pin Reg with Rob’s murder, and it seems she sees Bakari’s vomit near where Rob’s body was dropped as key to getting him to confess what he knows. Naturally, when confronted, he isn’t keen on talking to a cop at all, and Detective Toussaint isn’t deterred by this for there is also Victor.

After teasing Victor’s fall from City Hall, she asks about Reg, and with this, Victor finds himself getting on Reg about having Jake involved in his nonsense. Reg doesn’t appreciate this, but with Victor finding out and seeing him lit up, it appears that Jake sees this as his chance to escape Reg’s grip. For with Reg stealing a girl from right under his nose, it is clear Reg is all about what he can get more than what he can give as a brother, or family. So, Jake goes to live with Victor and abandons his apartment, Kevin’s former, to Reg to do what he wishes.

Good thing too since, as Alicia catches wind of Reg potentially being involved with the death of her son, she handles the situation worst than she did with Zay’s. She doesn’t ask questions, just has Shaad drive up to where Reg is, and she fires off shots in his direction – not caring about any bystanders which might be there – hence the death of Jamal, who was just delivering food to Reg.

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Review and Commentary

Highlights

Papa’s Influence On Ezekiel’s Decisions [82/100]

While the focus of the recap was Ezekiel and Sarah’s situation and the possible ramifications of that, it is also worth mentioning that, with Ezekiel’s circle being small, Papa has found himself becoming a confidant. Charles is as well, but the history between Charles and Ezekiel will always taint whatever advice Charles presents. Papa, on the other hand, is a new generation, far more genuine, and while he could easily give us insight into how Charles felt too big or mighty for Ezekiel, he isn’t there yet.

As of now, Papa is the kid of a pastor, so he knows the life, and while he has stumbled, he has shown great potential and with good ideas and still being moldable, you can see Ezekiel trusts Papa in ways that hopefully will give Papa, as a character, some much needed direction.

Taking Toussaint Seriously [84/100]

I’d submit that Toussaint is a much-needed presence since The Chi isn’t really operating with a villain right now. Nuck and Alicia might be in roles in which they may do bad or selfish things, but the hole Douda left seemingly won’t be filled by a person. If anything, it feels like cement has been poured into it, and now most people are going to live in the grey. But with Toussaint being a cop, and considering everyone has a notable connection to someone who takes part of the criminal element of the city, she is the universal antagonist or obstacle.

Take note, Nuck is connected to Emmett and Kiesha through his son with Kiesha, and Emmett has been developing a friendship with Nuck. Not one where they hang out much outside of family stuff, but they have gotten to a place where they can be cool. On top of that, Nuck and Tiff do work together and have chemistry that there is a desire to explore.

Add in Nuck being connected to Bakari, Ezekiel, and others, and you see losing him due to death or jail time would be a big deal. Same goes with Alicia, even though she isn’t on Toussaint’s radar right now. But, with how reckless she is, and now two confirmed bodies because of her, who is to say Toussaint may not take up Alicia’s cause, but make it clear Alicia isn’t part of the solution, but a factor in the problem?

Either way, as Toussaint finds themselves having to play the villain in nearly everyone’s story, it should be interesting to see how she survives, never mind if she gets to take anyone down or spends the season frustrated by lacking the evidence she needs.

On The Fence

Alicia and Shaad Breakup [73/100]

Here is my thing, Shaad and Alicia, they had their moments and I get it has run its course since Alicia ain’t thinking about that man. She is more so about finding someone to allow her to feel like a mother again. Be it through mentoring Bakari or experiencing her grandson. So when it comes to Shaad, as much as she was raising a man in some ways, she seems bored or done with that project.

But, the problem with the breakup is now we have Shaad who is on the loose and may not just attach himself to Victor, but needs a storyline of his own. This comes off as a problem for Shaad isn’t that interesting. His storyline is based on him going to jail for a long time and not keeping women who are above his status. Both have become dried and tired, but because of who the actor is behind Shaad, you know Shaad is unlikely to be phased out or just end up Victor’s lackey. So we can only hope this breakup doesn’t mean yet another character who sticks around with little to contribute.

Well, outside of being Alicia’s driver/ security.

Damien’s Gambling Storyline [72/100]

One of our struggles with The Chi, if not shows in general, is when an individual character, part of a large ensemble, gets a storyline, not connected to something bigger, and it doesn’t push that character or actor in a way that makes you feel they needed or deserved to stand out. In the case of Damien, he is still relatively new and honestly hasn’t stood out to us. We appreciate him having something going on, some semblance of a story, but unless this gambling storyline triggers seeing a different side to Hannibal, I’m unsure why Damien was given this time.

I mean, with bringing up Hannibal, one thing I appreciate about him is that, even if he is solely about his money, or the latest thing which could make him money, he has never come off dull, and his appearances are always welcomed. He has his niche on the show, and even when they make minor expansions beyond that, like him knowing Reg was still alive, they don’t decide to throw him fully into the mix.

With Damien, as much as I appreciate seeing how Darnell’s other kids are doing, I feel like Damien’s role has gotten bigger than it needed to be, and his struggles with gambling could have been off-screen and talked about rather than using up valuable and limited screen time.

Jamal’s Death [74/100]

I’m all for killing off characters or them leaving, but the issue with Jamal’s death is that it made Alicia look reckless, and it is one thing for her to bring Zay to a secluded place and kill him on some he said-she said. It is a whole other thing for her to have a drive-by situation, where she is just shooting wildly and killing a bystander.

Now, could this be a sign Alicia may go mad and become a notable, to a point, isolated villain? Honestly, I don’t think so. So with that path removed, what was the point of Jamal’s death beyond removing dead weight, hopefully phasing out Dom next, and maybe Lynae too? Could this season be about removing characters who have been around, popped up occasionally, but were weighing on payroll? Maybe setting us up for a leaner and better season 8?

Honestly, it is hard to say, and I know at least one episode will have to address Jamal’s death. But I’m hoping, in terms of long-term consequences, whether this leads Toussaint to face Alicia, and drag Judge Bradley into this, or Alicia cleaning house, this death can mean something and, again, not just be about getting rid of a character who has run their course.

Overall

Our Overall Rating [77/100]

At this point, I view Season 7 as a transitional season, not just because of Douda’s death, but also because the show is trying to determine its path forward. There aren’t a huge number of Black-predominant shows out there that have seven seasons, especially on a major network like Paramount+/Showtime. So there isn’t really a blueprint to follow, and in many ways, you can see The Chi beholden to its past, and what got it this far, while trying to figure out how it can continue to earn future seasons, which is hard.

Now, will I say it is doing a good job at this? Usually not. But that’s because at times it seems The Chi wants to do in television what Tyler Perry does with his movies – get notable Black talent, whether legendary or not, a job. The unfortunate thing, however, is that The Chi, in collecting actors, rarely seems to have the time to properly dedicate itself to the ones they have, especially those who have proven themselves or are yet to do so, due to the need to have new blood get established.

So while you could submit that The Chi is going in an interesting direction, we’ll only know in retrospect if it the decisions made were ultimately good or the best direction they could have taken, given all that was going on.

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