Tag Archives: Basie Skanks

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3: Chain of Command…

Hello World,

I thought a major bomb was dropped in last week, but this week’s bomb, which I will reveal later in this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3, tops last week’s bomb Greenleafers! Yes, I know Lady Mae announced that she was divorcing Bishop last week, but we saw that coming. I did not guess that what was revealed tonight would be revealed tonight and so cavalierly too. But we will get to that later!

Tonight’s episode was entitled “Chain of Command,” and in keeping with that theme, I will proceed…

Ball & Chain…

So many of OWN’s “Greenleaf” episodes start with Lady Mae sitting at a table somewhere in her fabulous home and tonight was no exception. With her this time, however, are her daughter Grace and her granddaughter Sofia. They casually discuss weather. Sofia comments on the rain the night before and Grace says, “Everything was washed clean.” Lady Mae invites her granddaughter, not Grace, to have supper with her. Nothing too out of the ordinary happens until Marisol brings a manila envelope to her. Beware of being brought manila envelopes. I would endeavor to say that very few of them contain happy things. What’s in Lady’s manila envelope are papers asking for the dissolution of marriage between Lady Mae and the Bishop. Yes, Lady Mae threatened divorce last week and Bishop acted on that intention this week! Seeing the shock on Lady Mae’s face, Grace asks her what is in the envelope. Very rarely does Lady Mae having anything nice at all to say to her daughter. And she is true to form tonight! “After the way you spoke to me last night, if you weren’t family, you wouldn’t even be living in this house.” And then she storms off. I can’t say I blame her. She got grimy with her mother last night and then wants to get all in her grill the next day?! Chile please. With her grudge against Grace intact, she leaves the premises, racing off in her car.

Back at Calvary, instead of Bishop looking like he’s scored a victory in serving his ball & chain before she can serve him, he seems nervous. To make matters worse, his baby daughter Charity is waiting for him in his office. He’s got no patience this morning and refuses to coddle her per usual. Now that Charity has quit the tour, she announces to her father that she wants to preach! “If I’m goong to stay here, I want to move forward with my career.” She tells her father that she even has a sermon idea and everything…something about souls are songs and God being our heavenly choir director. Say what Charity?! She needs to stick making melodies because her sermons won’t be saving souls! After Bishop jokes about wanting to be a baker before he became a bishop, he tells her, “The call to preach is not anyone’s plan B.” That will preach Bishop! The chain of command will not be changing anytime soon.

Speaking of the chain of command, the daughter who Bishop believes is called to minister, Grace, meets with a donor to her legal fund for victims of domestic violence. At Rochelle’s urging, the donor gives a sizable amount to Grace in her office. Shortly afterward, Bishop asks Gigi has she seen her mother. After she tells him no, he tells what he has done!

Also on the chain of command, but at another location, is Jacob. Tasha slithers into Jacob’s office to tell him that she has noticed many torn envelopes in the offering. She thinks one of the ushers from the first service is stealing from the offering. Jacob tells her that he will be meeting with the ushers to see if he can sniff out the thief.

Chain of Fools…

Lady Mae is a lot of things, but a fool aine one of them. With the quickness, she consults with a lawyer regarding Bishop’s request for the dissolution of their marriage. This is one of my favorite scenes in tonight’s episode! Lady Mae tells the female lawyer that Bishop, a “shepherd of 4,000 souls,” has cheated on her with her sister and now he is taking up with a woman half of his age in addition to other scandalous secrets! The lawyer says, “Hypocrisy! Abuse of power! Sounds juicy!” The lawyer seems so delighted by the prospect of attacking this soon-to-be-sullied shepherd that Lady Mae is a bit hesitant to proceed. “Are you a Christian?” she asks. She replies, “No, and you’ ll be thanking me later that I’m not.” LOL. With a $10,000 retainer, she can start right now. However, Lady Mae is not the first soon-to-be former First Lady that she has represented in a divorce. She tells her that her expectations must be realistic. Lady Mae says, “I just want what I deserve.” The lawyer lets her know that what she deserves has nothing to do with what she will get. “Once your bishop is done with you, it’s Cinderella time. At midnight, the party is over.”

Well those words were enough to send Lady Mae to the club. At first, I thought it was Mavis’ club, but Mavis wasn’t anywhere in sight. When will Mavis return by the way? At the club, Lady Mae orders a Brandy Alexander. I’m not into alcohol like that but it sounds like a classy drink, so classy and rare that Lady Mae has to instruct the bartender how to mix it. As she sips, her face is aglow in the blue lights of the establishment.

Lady Mae aine no fool but her baby girl Charity can really be foolish. After Jabari hangs up on her last week, that woman calls him up and tells him she misses him. Within a minute or two, Jabari hangs up on her again and continues his conversation with the woman sitting next to him.

Back at Calvary, Grace has to speak with a reporter who was originally scheduled to speak with the missing Lady Mae. Lisa Noland from The Memphis Monarch is working on an article about the rise of women’s leadership in church. Since Grace used to be a journalist (Has she said that before? I don’t remember.) she takes pity on the journalist and decides to be her source. You know that once Lady Mae finds out, she will be hot!

Bishop still hasn’t heard anything from Lady Mae and now he is downright worried. He heads over to Triumph to see if Jacob has seen his mother. When Jacob tells him that he hasn’t seen Lady Mae either, he tells his son that he has filed for divorce from his mother. Bishop tells Jacob this sweet story about when he asked Lady Mae to marry him the first time. She said, “No” because she had “other plans.” To put a fire under her, he told her that he packed up his storefront church to follow her. I guess he wanted to show her that he was serious. Well, that was enough for Lady Mae to accept his proposal after all. “She’s the same woman as she was back then.” Apparently, Bishop thought that filing for divorce would shock Lady Mae into seeing how wrong she was to threaten divorce and back away from that proposition. It looks like his gamble backfired and he will be the one looking foolish in the end.

Unchained Melody…

Charity continues to be a lost soul as this episode unfolds. When she goes to pick up Nate from Kevin’s new apartment, instead of finding Kevin there, Aaron is there. Aaron is playing with Nate and has even bought him a new toy. She asks,”Are you moving in now?” As a matter of fact, since Aaron did receive a job offer, he will be moving into Kevin’s home. In last week’s episode, the prospect of Kevin and Aaron living together was upsetting to her, but in this week’s episode, she was more upset that Aaron has a new job on the horizon. “I’ve got my own things going on too,” she tells Aaron before taking her son and driving to Nashville!

As she enjoys the music, Lady Mae is still drinking at the club. In fact, Vernon the bartender thinks the drinks must be so good, he is considering adding the Brandy Alexander to the menu! Lady Mae even invites two other women to come to her table, telling them she will pay for their drinks! She asks them if they have heard about a famous preaching woman on TV named Maxine Patterson. When they tell her they have heard of her, Lady Mae tells them that Maxine was her college buddy and they once were going to Howard Divinity School together. At that very same bar, Lady Mae told her friend Maxine that she wouldn’t be going to divinity school with her after all. She was in love and had to stay in town. But now she has regrets. “You give your whole life to a man and in one fell swoop, he takes it all away.” Lady Mae sings the blues. And she is drunk. She is so drunk that she decides to stay at a motel next to the bar. “It may not be what you’re used to, but it’s clean,” Vernon tells her when she asks about the conditions. She stumbles to her motel room where she watches her old friend on TV.

Finally at home, Bishop still hasn’t heard from Lady Mae! And then she calls Sofia and tells her that she is sorry she won’t be making it for supper with her. She also asks Sofia to tell everyone that she is fine and will be back in the morning. Bishop hears and takes the phone from her but Lady Mae hangs up without saying a word shortly after hearing Bishop’s voice. Bishop pretends that he has a quick conversation with her although the dial tone is on the other end.

At Darius’ home, Grace reveals her reservations about Rochelle. “I can’t help but think this whole thing is about Rochelle Cross.” Darius offers to have a friend at the police department check out Ms. Cross.

After arriving in Nashville following a seven-hour drive, Charity busts into a rehearsal and tells Jabari she wants to come back on the tour. Jabari aine trying to her at this point. “I thought you loved me,” she says. He says, “I did.” Ouch. “I gave you what you said you wanted,” he says. Charity agrees and reaffirms that she is back. But Jabari says it’s too late and that the woman on stage (the woman he was talking to when Charity called before) has taken Charity’s spot. “Go home. I don’t want you here.”  I say, “Good riddance.” If you don’t want me, I aine beggin’ you to say.

Chain Gang…

Conspiring like some criminals, Rochelle and Tasha meet at a bar. Tasha says, “How did you get the IRS to reopen the case?” I should have known that Rochelle was behind this IRS shakedown. She’s a crafty one, ain’t she? Tasha expresses a bit of remorse about conspiring against Jacob. Tasha asks, “Don’t you ever worry about God?” Rochelle spits out “James Greenleaf killed my father. It wasn’t just Basie’s father. There are two generations making a mockery of religion…We have to stay the course. I have no time for backsliders.” And this is the revelation that we Greenleafers have been waiting for! The caretaker who died in the church fire that Bishop started to get insurance money was the father of Basie and Rochelle!!! I thought she would have revealed that information in some heated argument with an adversary, but it just came out of her mouth like it was nothing.

Remember Rochelle was once a member of Gethsemane Baptist Church and Gethsemane was the garden where Jesus prayed before he died on the cross. If Rochelle Cross has anything to say about it, she will be offering up Bishop for him to atone for his killing her father. And Bishop did remember that the caretaker had a daughter…Is Basie younger or older than Rochelle? Hard to tell…

Although we know that Rochelle is up to no good, Darius tells Grace his contact didn’t find anything on Rochelle, but his contact did discover a list that the IRS is using to come after churches in which the shepherds of the church didn’t pay taxes on their personal income. And Calvary is at the top of the list!

Speaking of criminal behavior, Jacob meets with the ushers to determine who has stolen from the offering, but all along he thinks his daughter is the culprit. She is the only new usher after all. After the meeting, Jacob busts into Zora’s room as Zora insists she did not steal. After turning her room upside down, he discovers bills in a box! “You lied to me,” he screams to his daughter. Kerissa, who didn’t think her troubled daughter was also a thief, is aghast!

On the other hand, Lady Mae, after having sobered up, returns to Calvary as calm as she wants to be. She asks Karine to schedule a flight to Atlanta. “I’m going to visit an old friend.” We know that is Maxine Patterson aka ThePatti.TheLaBelle baby! At Karine’s desk, she notices that Grace is on the front cover of the newspaper. “The reporter had a deadline and Grace handled it,” Karine states. I’m sure that Lady Mae will go off on Grace about this at another time.

And at the very end of the episode, Bishop, dressed in blue, finally sees Lady Mae at Calvary. He tells her his filing for divorce was a “stupid mistake.” “Let’s just start over,” he says. “We can’t, James,” says Lady Mae, who is dressed in black and resolute. AND she thanks him for filing the papers!!! She says it was her mistake to marry him and make their lives together her calling when she was called by God on her own. She’s ready to move on to “anything other than being at the mercy of a man who plucks at the web of my absurdly constructed life!” What a line!!! Regarding the divorce papers, she says her lawyer has begun to work on the case. “It’s time to go,” she says finally.

And sadly, a lone tear slides down Bishop’s downcast face. The chain of command is being broken…Lady Mae wants to head her own church!!! Y’all know when it’s all said and done, they will get back together…eventually…and what a wild ride it will be till then!

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 3: Chain of Command and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

 

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 15: Two By Two…

Hello World,

You.Already.Know!  OWN’s “Greenleaf” is getting gooder and gooder every week! Yes, I know “gooder” is not a word, but this show is beyond good…So I won’t delay no mo….gon head and get comfortable so you can read this “Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 15: Two By Two.”

It Takes Two…

Bishop and his granddaughter Sofia make a precious pair, “poetry in motion,” as she shows off the moves she’s been learning to prepare for the debutante cotillion. He tells Sophia he is willing to dance with her anytime she wants, particularly as the big day is only two weeks away! (Will her cousin Zora’s bruises heal by then?…More on that later…)

The bearer of bad news, Lady Mae says the maid’s husband is in the hospital so she won’t be available to go on the road with Charity and baby Nathan for the concert tour. However, Bishop says that shouldn’t be a roadblock in her plans, as Charity should have the “same access to happiness you’ve taken for yourself over the years.” Wow! Obviously, something is up with these two.

This rift is even more apparent when back at Calvary, Rochelle Cross comes into Bishop’s office and Bishop responds with, “I was praying for a distraction” along with a big smile. He tells her he is working on his sermon. The sermon will be about Noah’s Ark and the flood, but he doesn’t know which part of the story to focus on in his sermon. “You will find something to shake the walls. You always do,” Miss Cross says before handing a check to him. When Bishop asks Miss Cross about the reason she is giving the church another big check, she discloses that she recently had her five-year cancer screening and has go to the doctor’s office to get the results. He offers to accompany her there. These two are becoming quite comfortable with one another. Was she paying Bishop to say a special prayer to God on her behalf? Do you think it’s possible to buy a special prayer? I’ve been going to church all of my life, and it has never occurred to me to give money to the church to get a special prayer. Do some people do that?

Two Dope Boyz In A Cadillac…

Deputy Mayor Skip Leonard is back and hits up his boy Jacob for some support. Apparently, the mayor is stepping down at the end of his term and Skip wants his spot. Basie was supposed to be Skip’s spiritual advisor, but as Basie is MIA, Jacob will have to do. Skip attempts to entice Jacob by pointing out that church and state can often overlap, community development block grants are available and that lots of cash is waiting to be claimed. It comes across as shady as a dope deal…smh…But Jacob, I think, is attempting to least start off on the righteous foot. He asks to see to Skip’s policies to determine if they line up with his beliefs.

At the doctor’s office,  Bishop and Rochelle anxiously await to hear the news about whether Rochelle’s cancer has returned. The ordeal has given Bishop an idea for his sermon. The animals went into Noah’s Ark two by two. Obviously there is strength in numbers and each animal needed a counterpart. This episode’s title illuminates that fact.  “Well, I needed you today,” Rochelle says to Bishop.

Finding that crazy glass bird in her office at Calvary, Grace realizes that Lady Mae has summoned her. (What is that glass bird about anyway?) Lady Mae tells Grace that her maid’s husband is undocumented and was so afraid that he would be “sniffed out” and “deported,” he didn’t go to the hospital until he was very sick. Apparently, he has meningitis. Lady Mae asks Grace to help him. Grace agrees to do so and then asks, “Is something wrong between you and Daddy?” “Yes,” Lady Mae says but that’s all.

Back at the doctor’s office, Rochelle gets some great news! Her cancer has not returned. Rochelle tells Bishop that she is having some kidney issues that need to be monitored, but otherwise everything is “all clear.” “I’m so glad that God decided to put you in my life,” Rochelle says to Bishop.

At the Greenleaf estate, via her laptop, Charity pledges to Jabari that she is going on the tour although she may have to start two weeks later than expected.

Across town at the Triump parsonage, Zora examines her bruises in her bedroom until her mother Kerissa attempts to come in. Since the door is locked, she has time to cover herself with a jacket, but Kerissa senses something is up. Kerissa asks her what is going on, especially as her teacher told Kerissa that Zora is not participating in class like she once did. Zora is such a spunky girl I didn’t expect her to be prone to being abused by that insecure boy Gospel Chris Brown. But I guess the same could be said of Rihanna too.

Just the Two of Us…

“Have you seen my earring?” Grace asks Darius as she is getting dressed. Obviously, Pastor Grace has no qualms about being sexually involved with her boyfriend Darius although the two are unmarried. The two are falling more and more in love, and she wants him to spend some time with her parents although “something is going on with them.”

Speaking of Bishop and Lady Mae, the two have an awkward encounter in the bathroom. (I love it when Bishop has on his do-rag and robe! LOL) Lady Mae asks Bishop about him being with Rochelle Cross earlier in the day. He tells her that she needed “spiritual support” when she went to the doctor. He also tells her that although Lady Mae didn’t ask, Rochelle’s cancer is still in remission. “I would hate to think you were being denied any crucial information.” Ouch.

Thankfully, another Greenleaf couple is getting along although they are confused about what is going on with their daughter. Jacob tells Kerissa that maybe she is getting high. “I was at that age.” That’s all the incentive Kerissa needs to search through Zora’s room until she finds a condom, hidden under her daughter’s pillow.

She confronts Zora about her discovery. “I knew that boy was no good.” Kerissa explains that the fact that she waited until she was married to Jacob to have sex him earned his respect. “Did it?” says Zora with all of the attitude of a teenage girl rude enough to pop off at her mother but too timid to stand up to her “boy”friend. Kerissa slaps that chile. My mama would have done that and den sum…Please…She says that boy can no longer come over and asks her to read 1 Corinthians 7. My mama would have a got a Bible and hit me with it! Forget reading it…

While one Greenleaf daughter is hiding information, another Greenleaf daughter is holding back nothing. Now that Kevin is gone, Charity tells her father that yes, she wants to go on the road, in part, to be with Jabari, but she also wants to sing. “I want to sing to the nations.” After all, Tamela Mann will be singing at Madison Square Garden! “I can’t be the first woman to bring her baby on tour.” Bishop encourages her to go and tells her he will find another worship leader while she is away.

Two Hearts…

Jacob meets with the Triumph staff. He tells them he wants to increase the church attendance by bringing in the homeless members of his former church. He wants to bring them by bus! The treasurer Ms. Weaver does not want to bring in this “less than desirable element” and furthermore money is needed insure the buses and the drivers. Apparently, there is not enough money in the budget for this endeavor, particularly as the church already lost 200 members since Basie’s departure. Jacob has a heart for homeless people, and Ms. Weaver, sadly, doesn’t. “I’m not the one in charge. The money is in charge.”

Across town at the Greenleaf estate, Bishop tells Lady Mae that Charity will be going on tour. “Like everything else in your family, it’s not up for conversation.” One time for Bishop! He’s coming up with one-liners like he is Lady Mae for reals…

Darius comes over to the estate to have dinner with the Greenleafs. He tells Lady Mae that his parents, before they died, were members of First Presbyterian. Apparently, days after his father died, his mother died. “To have a bond like that with another person, I cannot imagine,” Bishop says in front of the family.

Back at Triumph, Tasha gets a call from Basie! He’s somewhere in the great outdoors, looking unkempt, but tells Tasha,”When it comes to the Greenleafs, make them pay.”

Back at Calvary, it seems that Rochelle was able to set up a meeting with an immigration attorney, I guess, in Bishop’s office. Grace is there as well. Rochelle and Bishop tell the attorney about the plight of the maid’s husband who is the personal chef at the Greenleaf estate. (Are there names Marisol and Kiko? Somebody help me out please. I hate to refer to them by just their occupations.). The immigration attorney says of Rochelle and Bishop, “These two are a one-two punch.” Grace is looking at them like, What is going on?

That is not Bishop’s only meeting for the day. He stops by Carlton’s house to ask him to be Calvary’s director of music while Charity is on tour. He says, “I’m not interested in coming back as the exception.” Carlton wants all gay people to be accepted at the church( like they are at Triumph) not just Carlton and his husband. “Two by two,” Bishop says. “The Lord finally gave me my message. The church can still change the world.”

Speaking of greater inclusivity, Jacob tells the church that he wants Triumph to expand its outreach to the homeless and the church can afford to do so as it received a $75,000 grant courtesy of Deputy Mayor Skip Leonard. “Some folks said it couldn’t be done, but they haven’t met my God.” Ms. Weaver has a sour expression on her face at first but eventually stands to join the congregation as they clap following Jacob’s announcement.

Now, members of the Lonely Hearts Club it seems, Bishop and Lady Mae finally get down to business on the balcony. “Are you ready to talk now?” Bishop says. “Are you?” Lady Mae responds. “I know you had an affair with Lionel,” says Bishop. Not even denying it, Lady Mae says,”What matters is that when he asked me to leave you, I didn’t!” She then explains that had Bishop not had an affair with her sister, she would not have retaliated by having an affair with Lionel! Sooooooo…I really didn’t think Bishop and Mavis were each other’s type! But I guess I was wrong! Mind blown! Bishop says, ‘I don’t know if I love you right now or ever will again.” Awwww, he shouldn’t have said that. Bishop and Lady Mae go together like peas and carrots. Both of them have just the right amount of good and evil to make them a powerful pair…Lady Mae says, “I didn’t choose you because you were perfect.” By the end of the confrontation, Bishop’s face begins to contort like he wants to cry but he maintains his composure…

Tasha, who is also now a member of the Lonely Hearts Club, tells Jacob she has moved out of her First Lady Office to make room for the new First Lady. She says, “I believe in you Jacob.” I know that Basie is telling her to scheme against the Greenleafs, but I do think she likes Jacob which could be a problem in the future. Jacob says, “If we both keep believing in Jesus, we will all make it to Heaven together.” Amen…

Check out a snippet of “Two By Two” below…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap, Season 2 Episode 15: Two By Two and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 12: House Rules…

Hello World,

Basie Skanks brought in this eventful episode with a sermon that has got everyone in Memphis talking about it…And you will understand it by and by if you keep reading my “Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 12.”

House of Cards…

While he may no longer be playing poker (for the moment), Basie is still using his pulpit to run game. In his explosive sermon calling out pastors who refuse to address homosexuality and homophobia, Basie says, “It’s not enough to say God is love. It’s time to say God loves gays.” While he may wholeheartedly believe his message, I’m sure we all know by now that Basie has an ulterior motive for everything. Meanwhile, Darius the journalist and Gigi’s boyfriend, is steady scribbling notes in the sanctuary as Basie “spits game.”

At the breakfast table, the Greenleafs dissect Basie’s words via the newspaper article that Darius has written about Basie and the topic of homosexuality and homophobia in the black church. Bishop believes that this article is directed to addressing the city’s bathroom bill. Grace makes sure to tell her parents that she only agrees with Basie on “one issue.” However, it does trouble her that Calvary was mentioned in the article but she knew nothing about the piece beforehand. Lady Mae says, “He’s tugging at the threads that hold this family together” in reference to Basie. Bishop says, “It’s time for me and Jesus to pay a call on Basie Skanks.”

Over at the parsonage, which seems to be held together by threads as well, Kerissa complains about the home’s electrical wiring. “This whole house needs to be rewired.” Jacob tells her he cannot afford to pay for that at the moment and asks her to stop getting so upset about it. She responds with, “I will be done when this house stops twitching like a person possessed.” She ends her tirade with, “Get a job.” She further explains that all pastors with small churches have an additional job. My father has been the pastor of a small church for most of my life and didn’t have a second job most of the time (Sometimes, he worked as a college professor). But on the other hand, my childhood home wasn’t prone to random explosions either. LOL.

Make Yours a Happy Home…

Since Kevin is still MIA, Grace has been named the new director of outreach at Calvary. Grace’s secretary Darlene asks Grace if she will still continue to preach since she has a new position. (When was the last time she preached?) Grace tells her she doesn’t know and says it may be just as well since she doesn’t exactly fit the preacher prototype. Wisely, Darlene says, “Some folks never fit in no matter how hard they try” and explains that may be a good thing anyway. I agree. Too many houses of God seem to have cookie-cutter people.

As he said he would, Bishop pays a visit to Basie’s house of God. He walks into Basie’s office where this big dude in a black leather jacket is telling Basie that he is owed money. Before Bishop is able to hear everything, Basie sees him and rushes the man out of his office. Bishop says,”Stay away from my family.” He specifically mentions Gigi. “I won’t part with her easily.” “You said the judgment is coming. It is. It’s coming for you,” Bishop goes on to say.

Later on, back at Calvary, Bishop boasts it about with Lady Mae. “I called the man a fool in his own church. I told the man he is flailing.” Lady Mae tells Bishop she believes there is more to the story about what went down with Basie and Jacob. They decide to visit Jacob and Kerissa in their home.

Just then, the couple is interrupted by a call from Miss Cross. Of course. Bishop is prepared to not take the call, but Lady Mae tells him to take it as she has a meeting with Jacinta Butler. Bishop asks her what she has going on with Ms. Butler. “Is there no ragged part of the world that you’re not knitting together?” Just as Lady Mae is leaving her husband’s office, Bishop says to Miss Cross. “You were just on my mind. Please call me James.” Something tells me that Miss Cross is well on her way to breaking up a happy home.

After Bishop’s conversation with Miss Cross, Grace confronts her father with news she discovered about Kevin after looking through his files. She discovered that he was attending for Fortitude for Families meetings and referred to the program as “self-flagellation.” She asks Bishop when he is going to address the issue directly in church. He tells her she needs to be patient and not press the issue. ” Only God knows when homosexuals will be as welcome as anyone else, but I’m prepared to practice patience.” Grace is not satisfied with his stance to which Bishop responds he will pray on it.

The House Always Wins…

In another part of Calvary, Charity is applying makeup when Jabari comes into her office. “I’ve never seen a face that needs less powder and paint than yours,” he says. Apparently, they are working together on a song for Nicole Mullen and he brings her some sort of device ( I don’t know what it is exactly) that she can use to make music. “So you don’t want me to come to Nashville anymore,” Charity asks Jabari. He tells her that is not the case…Hmmm….Let’s move on for now…

The eldest “Greenleaf girl” Lady Mae meets with Jacinta Butler, president of the St. Josephine Society from last week’s episode. She runs the debutante program in which Zora and Sophia are now able to participate in courtesy of Rochelle Cross. Speaking of Rochelle, Jacinta reveals that Rochelle is a “wizard with money” and handles Jacinta’s finances. (I guess that is why she was able to make such a large donation to Calvary. Also, I had once thought Rochelle was connected to Basie, but if that was true, wouldn’t Rochelle have helped out the cash-strapped Basie by now?) Lady Mae tells her that Rochelle told her what happened at her previous church, Greater Redeemer. Jacinta seems shocked that Lady Mae knows about what happened and refers to it as a “terrible situation.” “As if the man has to have no self-control.” Say what? That aine what Rochelle said happened at Greater Redeemer. But I’m not worried. Lady Mae wasn’t born yesterday and Rochelle doesn’t know who she’s messing with…but she gon learn…I will bet on Lady Mae over Rochelle any day. Y’all know the house always wins.

Speaking of she gon learn, Zora and her little boyfriend Isaiah or Gospel Chris Brown as I like to call him are up in her bedroom taking “study breaks” when her daddy discovers them. “He’s helping me with biology,” she tells her father. LOL…Sho is…Jacob kicks Isaiah out of the house before telling him he is violating house rules.

Also in violation of house rules, Rochelle is in the house of God continuing to spit game (this time in person) to Bishop. He tells her what happened with Basie. I guess telling all of this to his wife didn’t garner enough stroking of his ego. Men can be so funny this way. Always looking to have their egos stroked. “I told him the next time my name passes his lips, it should be in the context of praise.” Rochelle responds with, “This just reinforces my decision to make Calvary my church home.” Smh…

I’ll House You…

Charity asks Grace to watch Nathan for her while she is on a date with Jabari. Although Grace has a date with Darius as well, she agrees to do so and hopes Darius won’t mind watching her nephew since they will be just be at the Greenleaf estate anyway.

Bishop and Lady Mae, however, ventured from the estate and to Jacob and Kerissa’s home. While there, Bishop tells the couple that as he was building Calvary, he worked a two jobs in addition to being a pastor. He sold Bibles door to door and worked in maintenance and groundskeeping. Bishop also tries to get more information about Basie from Jacob and tells him about the man he saw in Basie’s office. He describes him as “rough-hewn” and the kind of “man that hangs around a pool hall.” “Is he doing prison ministry these days?” Jacob doesn’t reveal the full truth and instead quotes 1 John 2:5. Lady Mae calls Basie “Nebuchadnezzar.” LOL. Kerissa tries to tell Lady Mae and Bishop what is going on with electrical wiring in their home, but Jacob stops her from telling that information too.

Charity is getting nowhere fast either. At the end of her date with Jabari, he kisses her on the cheek after she smacked him on the lips last week! What’s up with that?

And Grace’s date doesn’t turn out much better. She asks him Darius did he interview Carlton for this article and why didn’t he tell her about it. She also mentions that her father wasn’t approached about the article. I agree. As a journalist, you should always strive to get both sides or all sides of every story if possible. Darius blows up and says that Grace is always finding a way to push him away. She responds with asking him why he doesn’t go to church. Before he leaves, he says, “I’ve never gotten so little from someone and stuck around.”

Later on, Charity and Grace discuss their dudes and dates. Charity says, “I don’t think he’s gay. I don’t what he is.” I don’t think Charity should be dating right now anyway. The divorce papers haven’t even cooled down yet, and the father of her child could be anywhere on God’s green earth!

Back at Jacob’s house, Kerissa pushes the electrical wiring issue with Jacob and he blows up. He tells he is finally the man that she prayed for him to be all of those years that he was creeping! (You have to wonder why she stayed with him while he was doing that.) “I have the moral authority that you prayed for me to have. Trust me and trust Him. Wait.” Alright, the man has spoken. I think I agree with him. I think…He also tells her to pay more attention to their daughter, who gets up hung up on by Isaiah later in the episode when she couldn’t take his call because of debutante duties. What a jerk!

Much later on, Darius shows back up at the Greenleaf estate to tell her why he is so salty with the church. Apparently, his wife died in a car accident and when he asked the pastor to help him understand why God would allow that happen, the pastor told him, “It’s best we don’t question God.” So, Darius is suffering from church hurt. “I was holding back and that was why.”

Likely in violation of Jacob’s house rules, Kerissa seems to be like “I’ll house you” or “I’ll show you.” She meets with Bishop and Lady Mae and tells it all – how they used their savings to pay for the Triumph land and parsonage. “We’ve got the land and the house but we should have gotten Triumph .” “That would beat that two-acre soup kitchen you’ve got right now,” Lady Mae says. Leave it Lady Mae with the one-liners! Bwwaaaa! She also tells how Basie still owes over $250,000 of the church’s money! After all of this, she asks them not to tell Jacob. They promise not to do so…

Below is a snippet from “House Rules.”

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap, Season 2 Episode 12 and my other recaps so far.
If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?