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Greenleaf Finale Recap, Season 3 Episode 13: The New Life…

Hello World,

Happy Thanksgiving! I found myself smiling (although I almost lost it for a second) throughout this season finale despite all of the pain inflicted and promises broken during Season 3, but I’ll stop starting and start this Greenleaf Finale Recap, Season 3 Episode 13: This New Life…

How To Save a Life…

Chile, Karine almost got herself killed when she interrupts Basie holding a gun ready to pull the trigger, sending Bishop on a one-way trip to Heaven’s gates. But Bishop convinces Basie to let her leave and Basie ends up not ending Bishop’s life on this earth after all. “Oh Bishop, you’ve got some amazing faith. Too bad it’s misplaced,” Basie says to Bishop.

Lady Mae and the rest of the church for that matter still have no idea what is going on as Lady Mae brings her sermon to a close. Maxine is pleased as punch with her protégé’s performance. “Girlfriend, not even Peter could deny what happened up there. Girlfriend, you got a church!” But before the balloons can be released, they are quickly deflated when they are informed that Bishop was held up by Basie in his office. Lady Mae rushes to Bishop, grabbing him at the knees like she still has feelings for ex-husband. “That man came to kill you.” “I’m okay,” Bishop says as he sweats in his chair.

“You need to rest,” Lady Mae says tenderly. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you preach, but it sounded like the Spirit showed up. Mae, the church is yours.” Lady Mae cannot believe that finally after all of this time, Bishop finally believes in her calling. “Oh thank you, thank you James,” she says with tears in her eyes. “You’ve earned it,” Bishop says.

Across town at Jacob’s house, Charity calls her brother to tell him what happened. After making sure that his father is alright, Jacob leverages the family crisis to his advantage. “It was just one kiss. Can we stop talking about divorce?” Kerissa seems like she agrees that now especially is not the time to cause any more splits in the Greenleaf family. But unfortunately, there is more bad news to hear. Joseph from Triumph’s accounting department calls and tells Jacob that he is out at Triumph after the FBI raid. “That son of a b**** stole our church.”

After all of that, over lunch, Grace meets with Deaconess Connie and Phillip Demars of Harmony & Hope Ministries. Connie launches into a laundry list of Calvary’s mishaps under the leadership of the Greenleafs. “No one understands my church’s failures better than me,” Grace says. However, Grace points out that Lady Mae showed out at “A Day With Lady Mae.” “My mother raised the roof.” But Connie and Phillip could care less about Lady Mae’s calling. Connie wants the church to join forces with Harmony & Hope and Phillip asks Grace to be the interim pastor for a year while the merger is made. “Can I have a week to pray about it?” Grace asks. The two agree with her request.

Hard Knock Life…

As Grace and Lady Mae take a walk on the Greenleaf estate, Grace uses the moment to tell her what happened with Deaconness Connie. Bishop and Lady Mae will be able to retire will full benefits once Harmony & Hope take over with Grace as the interim pastor. Of course Lady Mae is mad that Grace didn’t reject the offer outright and says that the church was “resurrected only to have it driven back to the grave.” Wayment, Grace says. Well, not literally, but figuratively. “You have beaten me down for decades with for YOUR betrayal.” Lady Mae tries to walk off, but stops when Grace keeps on talking. “Aaron and I took a blood test. Lionel is my father.” Spouting off the poetry she has become known for, she says this news will mean that her “shameful mistake will be memorialized forever.” Lady Mae also says she will tell Bishop he is not Grace’s father and finally, FINALLY an apology. “I’m sorry, and I’m ashamed. I never meant to bring so much shame to so many,” she says before walking away from her daughter.

In the next scene, Jacob goes to see his father at Calvary. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he says to his son. Jacob fills him on the fact that the Triumph board has removed him from the pastorate for being an irresponsible steward of the church’s money. Bishop tells his son to keep his head up though. He’s been watching him preach on TV and believes that his son can actually preach. Does Bishop really mean that or is he just feeling all sentimental and sweet since he almost lost his life? Anywho, Bishop invites Jacob to go with him to the deacon board meeting to watch Lady Mae do some damage. “Your mother is about to put down rebellion in the ranks.”

Lady Mae reminds me Connie of how the church responded to her and while Connie says she has a “convincing case,” the church still would rather be merged with Harmony & Hope. What did she do that for? Lady Mae lets her have it, calling her a “Judas in a bad pants suit” and saying the church should “launch you from the roof in a water cannon.” LOL Connie then brings out some papers. Lady Mae asks her if that is a “list of grievances dating back to Genesis?” “No, it’s a petition signed by 2,000 members,” Connie answers. She says the Greenleafs have dragged the members of the church through their mud for over 40 years. Ouch. “It’s time for a change.” Bishop admits that he needs to step down, but he points out that Lady Mae should be allowed to step up.

But after the meeting, something unexpected again happens. “Are you headed over to Percy’s?” Lady Mae asks Bishop. When he says yes, she says, “Would you like to come over for dinner? I will cook.” “I would love that,” Bishop replies. Awww, sookie, sookie, now…

Another reconciliation is underway at Jacob’s house as well. “Who is going run Calvary?” Kerissa asks Jacob after learning about the Harmony & Hope merger. Kerissa tells Jacob he better make sure that he is on the short list of candidates because she needs her child support money. Then she tells him to forget about getting her child support money because she’s not going anywhere. “You’re not going to seize this opportunity without me to guide you. Harmony & Hope is a gigantic deal.” And this is the Kerissa I remember from Season 1. A real goal digger. And maybe this is why Jacob married her because she can make his dreams come true. And maybe he is recalling their wedding night because the man clears the dinner table and serves himself a helping of Kerissa’s love right then and there. And I’m here for all of it. As the helpmate to her husband, a woman should help her husband’s dreams come true. Now, don’t get me wrong. That should go both ways, but right now we’re talking about Kerissa.

Speaking of culinary confessions, over dinner back at the Greenleaf estate, Lady Mae says, “James, I have something to tell you. Grace is Lionel’s daughter.” Surprisingly calm, Bishop responds with, “Well, now, we’re even.” “That’s all you have to say to me?” says Lady Mae, who is truly stunned. With a smile, he tells her that, “You can’t lose me over it, and you already kicked me out the door.” And that was the final twist of the key that unlocks Lady Mae’s love for Bishop once again. “Would you please come home?” He agrees if Lady Mae agrees to heal her relationship with Grace. “You and your daughter are more alike than you want to admit…It’s no use coming back to this house if we can’t live as a family. Real family.”

Moment 4 Life…

Basie’s back, but’s it’s just for a moment. He calls Tasha trying to lure him into going with him and Rochelle to Cancun. “Stop calling me please,” Tasha says. Basie tells her that Jacob doesn’t want her so she has no reason to stay around Memphis. But it’s clear that Tasha wants a fresh start especially since she was able to make a deal with the FBI. “You need to take the money back, Basie.” “Hasta Luego,” Basie says. He’s talking to her while he is shopping at a gas station convenience store where his bill comes up to $40.17. He puts down $40 and a big guy dressed in black, who is behind him, puts down the 17 cents. Basie says 17 is his “blessed number” and thanks the man although he is skeptical about the man given his appearance. He then hops into a black convertible with his half-sister and the big guy jumps in his black truck and follows them! (He probably owes him some money from his gambling days.) I guess more will be revealed in Season 4!

Speaking of money, but lots of money in this case, Aaron tells Grace that she will be receiving $3 million from Lionel’s estate. Aaron, on the other hand, received nothing given the fact that his father never gave him love nor respect while he was alive anyway. And is it just me or do the two of them actually favor?

Apparently Grace has agreed to be interim pastor while Calvary is merged with Harmony & Hope after all. She meets with Bob Whitmore of Harmony & Hope. Apparently, he will oversee the merger. He tells her that he heard she is a prophet and she needs to be a “voice that can unify this congregation.”

In the next scene, Grace meets with Bishop. She tells him that she wants to help him get out of trouble with the IRS. “Daddy, this is going to sound strange, but I’ve come into some money and I want you to have it.” He seems to gloss over what she has just told him to get to the more important matter. “In this family, we don’t live by the flesh. We live by the Spirit. In the Spirit, you are my daughter, my beloved daughter, and you always will be.” Y’all, I just wanted to hug them both. That moment was one of the best moments this season. Grace is Bishop’s daughter in every way that counts.

On Sunday, Bishop, dressed in his purple robe, reveals the status of Calvary as it stands now to the congregation. “This is my last Sunday preaching.” He reminds them that Moses, who was a man of God but with faults, was not allowed to go into the Promised Land with the people he led there. Watching from a mountain, Moses couldn’t go into the land of milk and honey because he failed to trust in God. “I always thought Moses felt angry and sad… but I know today that Moses felt proud to be on that mountain…He knew that each of them earned their ticket to glory. I know he felt grateful to have been on that adventure at all.” Y’all this was a triumphant moment with the standing ovation, but I did feel sad too. Everything can’t remain the same always, but I feel there is more work for Bishop to do at Calvary. What about you?

But maybe God has something else in mind because Bishop, with his hand raised in the air, gets to swaying and eventually drops to the ground. His family encircles him. “I think it’s my heart,” he manages to say. “God gave me a vision of my death and this is the moment. I love you. I love you so much.” “James, stay with us,” Lady Mae says to Bishop. I would have cried, but I was taking notes so I had to keep it together!

In the next scene, Bishop’s granddaughters who are wearing black are walking with one another on the Greenleaf estate. Zora tells her cousin Sofia that she will be going to therapy to explore why she “wasted so much time on that piece of trash boyfriend” (Amen) and she is thinking of auditioning to go to a school in New York! “Good plan,” Sophia says. They agree to never stop talking to each other again no matter what. Awww…

And then inside the house, Lady Mae, who is also in black, announces that Jacob and family are moving back home. She also tells Grace that she will “make things right between us” from here on out and wants to help her daughter! A miracle in their midst! (Aside: Kerissa announces that she is charge of her family with Jacob, not Jacob, when Zora did something that Kerissa did not agree with beforehand I guess. What’s up with that?! More will be revealed about this in Season 4 as well. I don’t think Jacob and Kerissa are going to make it as a couple after this comment. No man wants to be led by a woman…Get ready for Jacob and Tasha in Season 4…)

Y’all, I thought Bishop was for sure dead then, but then he shows up as the family (including Kevin & Aaron), all of whom are dressed in black, gather around the dinner table. Apparently, he was in the hospital for two weeks and he is now officially retired from the pastorate. “I thought the Lord gave me a vision for my last day on earth…In a sense it was, because I feel like I’m in heaven. He’s given me a new day with my family. It’s the real promised land.”

“Grace would you do the blessing?” Lady Mae asks. What?!! “Pastor?” Bishop says.

“I’d be glad to,” Grace says. She thanks God for “food, family and faith” and asks God that all three would sustain them enough to “take back what is ours!” The battle is over but the war is will still be waged in Season 4!

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Finale Recap, Season 3 Episode 13: This New Life…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 🙂!

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 11: The End is Near…

Hello World,

As the title of tonight’s episode of OWN’s “Greenleaf” suggests, Season 3, with only two episodes left, is coming to an explosive ending soon so keep reading for Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 11: The End is Near…

Is This The End?…

A conversation with Bishop and his daughter (or is she?) Grace begins this episode. While in Bishop’s office, Grace tells Bishop that when Rochelle’s mother went to prison after her father died in a fire, Rochelle and her sister Tara went to live with the Flannery family who took them in as foster children. “Basie Skanks was their half brother,” Grace tells him. When Bishop doesn’t immediately respond to her suspicions about Rochelle’s motives for inserting herself in Bishop’s life, she follows up with, “Why is this so hard for you to believe?” Bishop starts to list reasons why he trusts Rochelle including the fact that she raised money for Grace’s legal defense fund, but before he can continue his ridiculous rationale for his blind trust, the FBI busts into the office! They are on a search and seizure mission as Calvary AND Triumph are being accused of embezzlement of church funds!

Meanwhile, in another part of Calvary, Lady Mae is being interviewed about the upcoming “A Day With Lady Mae.” She says it will be a day of “renewal and rededication.” To Lady Mae’s surprise, the interviewer asks, “Will your daughter be speaking?” and calls Grace the “new face of Calvary.” Lady Mae responds with, “The fabulous roster is full as it is. The Spirit of God will be speaking no matter who is in the pulpit.” I swear Lady Mae stays trying to keep her daughter in the background although it is impossible. But before the interview can be completed, the FBI busts in there too!  As can be expected, Lady Mae runs up on her daughter and asks if the FBI raid has to do with her helping Coralie. Grace says she has nothing to do with what is happening and Lady Mae finds out her name is on the warrant! As the FBI is seizing everything, Lady Mae nearly loses it as her sermon, music and PowerPoint presentation for “A Day with Lady Mae” is on one of the computers that is seized. She goes up to her ex-husband and pounds him on the chest. “Get off the phone,” she says. “They’re taking everything.” While the ruckus continues, Grace calls an attorney. “We need your help,” she says.

Over at Triumph, Jacob learns that he is being accused of transferring $200,000 from the church’s treasury into an account that he shared with Bishop. Supposedly, Bishop was able to withdraw the money and used it as a down payment for the IRS. Still in denial, Bishop swears it was a legit investment account and that he was able to periodically check the balance on an app on his phone. But when he tries to access the account this time, there is nothing to access! “Both of you got played by these women,” Kerissa says to Bishop and her husband about Rochelle and Tasha.

Back at Calvary, as Lady Mae and Maxine meet her in her office, Lady Mae is told that Lionel Jeffries is calling her. She doesn’t take the call but Maxine calls Lady Mae out. “Have you talked to Grace yet?” she asks. Later she goes by Grace’s office but Grace is not there. Her assistant says, “I can let her know that you came by.”

Charity finds herself caught up in the commotion as well. Using the power of her femininity (batting eyes etc.) approaches an FBI agent about some risque pictures that are on her computer that has now been seized. She asks the agent if he has heard the expression “PK.” When he says that he is not familiar with the term, she explain those initials stand for “preacher’s kid” and that to be a PK is to feel like you’re “walking on a tight rope.” And sometimes you do things, silly things, to break free from the mold! Amen to that I must say as a PK myself. She asks if she can get those pictures back somehow since they are unrelated to the investigation. By the looks of things, he seems to be willing to help her.

Also, Darius the journalist shows up at Calvary and Grace goes off on him as he is there to get the story. He tells her that he wants to “confirm a few facts which were going to come out anyway.”

End of the Road…

Now that Jacob knows that Tasha is the one who took the money, he calls her to confront her. “I know that you took the money but I know that you couldn’t have come up with this by yourself. I promise I won’t press charges.” When Tasha remains mum, Kerissa, who is next to Jacob, tells him to tell Tasha that he loves her. Y’all when he says those words, Tasha melts like a hot Popsicle and Basie and Rochelle, the evil Wonder Twins, are right there to see her reaction.

In Atlanta, Jacob and Kerissa’s spawn Zora and her buster boyfriend Isaiah discuss her going to the studio with him. She wants to go, but Isaiah says she will just be bored. Instead, he gives her some money to get her nails done. You already know that is a set up. He is not being nice for no reason…

Apparently a day has gone by but the fallout of the FBI raid continues at Calvary. Grace pulls up on Rochelle as she is on her way to Bishop’s office. “I know you’re Basie’s half sister. You set up my father to make him pay for the death of your father.” Rochelle admits that she is Basie’s half-sister but she says that Grace is “paranoid” and  will not put up with her “PTSD bull****.” Futhermore, she says that she was in Bishop’s bed last night and that they professed their love for one another. “If we decide to marry, you have to let go of this mania.” At that point, Rochelle would have had to marry my fingers but my fist would have kissed her mouth.

In another part of the church, Deaconess Connie meets with Bishop. She tells him she is calling an emergency meeting of the deacon board. She tells him that she will recommend that he step down from the pulpit as Calvary needs a “fresh start” after the IRS scandal. But Bishop disagrees.

At the Skanks household, Basie and Tasha continue their tense reunion. She tries to serve some food to her husband. Basie tells her to stop playing that she is a “good wife.” He says that while they were apart, he was “begging God to put you in my dreams.” Tasha responds with, “You had me thinking you were dead.” He goes to say, “I don’t trust you.”

At Triumph, Kerissa says, “It’s a good thing I didn’t quit my job because we are done.” Just then Tasha calls Jacob. When the call is done, Jacob says. “She wants to meet.” Kerissa has a startling revelation as she watches her husband speak with Tasha. She says, “You care for her. I can see it.” Everyone can see it, but Jacob tries to deny it. “I’m not having this conversation,” he says.

Across town at Calvary, Lady Mae is also startled from a phone conversation. Aaron Jeffries tells her that his father is dead. “He had a bad reaction to a chemo treatment.” Lady Mae offers perfunctory condolences and ends the call. Afterward, Grace shows up at her mother’s office as her assistant told her that her mother wanted to see her. Now that Lionel is dead, he will take a secret with him. Dead men tell no tales. More on this later. Lady Mae says that she wanted to apologize for her behavior around the FBI raid, specifically for accusing Grace of having something to do with it. “I was presumptuous and infantile…” Grace should know her mama by now. If Lady Mae is apologizing to Grace, something is amiss. Still she accepts the apology and leaves.

She tracks down her father in the storage area of the church. “Did you sleep with Rochelle last night and tell her you loved her because that is what she told me?” Eeewww….parents have sex lives?! Yuck…

Meanwhile, Lady Mae goes to the sanctuary where she finds Maxine rehearsing. Maxine stops singing and asks how Grace responded to Lady Mae’s news. Lady Mae says, “I no longer have to talk to Grace. Lionel died.” “You still have to tell Grace. You’re about to ascend. You don’t want to give Satan any hooks to pull you down.” Amen. When you’re about to go high, the devil does want to bring you low so you have to careful. Maxine goes on to say, “The future may be female, but women have to tell the truth.” True…A reference to the #MeToo movement? Quite possibly.

Loose Ends…

For the first time this episode, Sofia makes an appearance but she is STILL in her room. SMH. She sees a video of Isaiah and some girl getting more than friendly and sends it to her cousin. “Have you seen this?” Apparently not. Zora asks Isaiah, “Is she the reason why I couldn’t come to the studio? Are we really together?” Isaiah responds with, “You know you’re my First Lady.” He kisses her then and Zora falls for it. But later on, she watches the video again. Little by little, she is starting to see the light.

Back in Memphis, Charity has gotten through to the FBI agent! After he tells her that he knows there were no scandalous photos as she originally represented, he returns some of the computer files to her anyway as they have nothing to do with the investigation. Among the files are Lady Mae’s PowerPoint presentation and accompanying photos which Charity gives to her mother. Lady Mae is surprised and impressed. Charity is starting to come into her own. As the baby of the family, she is used to being coddled. As a result, her family downplays her contributions. But now she is starting to prove that she is an invaluable part of the family and doesn’t need special treatment.

Unexpectedly, Aaron shows up at Calvary, but he is there to see Grace not Lady Mae. He tells her that his father passed away and Grace expresses her condolences. “I know this is hard,” she says. He responds with, “It’s even harder than you think.”

Speaking of shocking encounters, Basie rather than his wife shows up to meet Jacob. Basie says, “What happened with you and my wife? On the phone you said, ‘I love you.'” Jacob reluctantly tells Basie that it was one kiss and that it meant “nothing.” “One man’s nothing is another man’s everything.”

He goes on to say, “Don’t worry about texting Tasha. I got her on the phone right here.” Apparently, Tasha was listening in via his cell phone. Somehow, I don’t think this is going to stop the affection between Tasha and Jacob, but they only have two more episodes to make something happen on the other hand. We will see, we will see…

Bishop finally catches up with Rochelle to straighten her about lying to Grace. “You told Grace we slept together. That didn’t happen.” In some kind of Jedi mind trick, Rochelle keeps on insisting that the two did sleep together. What’s up with that? Did she drug him or something or is she delusional? He also asks her if she is Daryl James’ daughter? She confirms that she is. At long last, Bishop finally realizes that he has been hoodwinked. Regarding her misdeeds, Bishop says, “You won’t get away with it.” When Bishop walks way, Rochelle says, “B****, I already did.” Yeah, she said that…

Thinking that she averted more than one crisis, Lady Mae, by her lonesome, reviews her PowerPoint presentation in Calvary’s sanctuary which is dark except for the light coming from the screen. But Grace comes into the sanctuary and disturbs her mother’s peace as usual. Lady Mae tells her that Charity saved “A Day With Lady Mae” by returning her PowerPoint presentation to her, but Grace interrupts her to tell her that Aaron Jeffries came by. She says that he told her that Lionel his father is dead. And then Grace asks the question of the episode. “Is Lionel my father?” Lady Mae looks at her straight in the eyes and says, “I don’t know” with the backdrop of the words “She Changes Everything.” And indeed, Lady Mae has and will continue to do so…but maybe the she in this scenario is Grace… (Where is Maury with the paternity test?)

One “loose end” that I’m not sure about: Was Triumph’s new accountant an FBI plant? What y’all think?!

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 11: The End is Near 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 🙂!

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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 8: Dea Abscondita…

Hello World,

Let’s skip the buildup and get right into this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 8: Dea Abscondita! As you can tell by the title of tonight’s episode, which means Hidden Goddess in Latin, it was all about the women stepping up and taking control of their power…

Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves…

Tragically, Zora is still determined more than ever to leave with Isaiah or as I fondly call him Christian Breezy no matter what her mother and especially her father has to say about it…When Jacob tries to get at Christian Breezy because Christian Breezy knows Jacob’s father is not afraid to “lay hands” on the boy, Isaiah pulls out his cell phone, talkin’ ’bout he gon film it all for his followers to see and that he is about to be attacked! At that, Kerissa gives her cell phone to her daughter, but that boy throws it out of the window. Kerissa’s final words to her daughter are “Be careful. Please be careful.” It’s evident in her carriage that Kerissa, not Jacob, will leading the Save Zora Crusade from now on.

Kerissa, Jacob & Lady Mae return to the inside of the Greenleaf home to strategize about their next action to Save Zora. Kerissa calls Isaiah’s parents. Jacob mentions replacing her phone. Kerissa says, “My daughter is gone. I’m not going phone shopping.” For the last season or so, Kerissa has taken care to be deferential in how she speaks to her husband probably to build him up as the man of the house, but babay, she is no longer circumspect. Jacob immediately takes notice. “You can’t just ice me out,” Jacob says to her. Kerissa says, “I won’t let Zora turn into Faith.” She then pushes her hand onto his chest. “Take your phone.”

Over at Percy’s house, although Bishop says he can do it all by himself, his circadian rhythm betrays him.  Dude cannot sleep. He tells his new housemate that he didn’t get to sleep until after 3 a.m. Percy, with his country self, draws from his folksy wisdom and tells him what happened after he split from his THREE wives – Joanne, Luella & Rhonda LOL! He was fine until Rhonda, he says. After Rhonda, he had panic attacks that he felt in his heart. What does that have to do with Bishop? Bishop has only been the husband of one wife…as far as we know anyway…who knows what the writers have up their sleeves…

Grace, ever on her crusade to save the world, has bailed Coralie Hunter out of jail! Along with Rochelle, the two walk out of the jail to a feeding frenzy of journalists. Rochelle tells Coralie, “I can replace that scrawny boy you have with a beast of an attorney.”

Once again, Percy has hired Charity to be the funeral singer, but she arrives a little bit late to the funeral home. She says there was “drama at the house this morning.” Bishop asks her to explain what she means and ends up calling Lady Mae. Lady Mae says, “James, we have everything under control. Resist the urge to make meaningless activity.” Lady Mae is like, “I can do this.” Did y’all notice that Bishop had on some green-framed glasses or were they blue? Either way, they were nice…

Run the World (Girls)…

Thelma & Louise I mean Kerissa & Lady Mae stake out Isaiah’s parents’ home waiting to see if the on-the-run lovers will show up there. While waiting, Lady Mae gets Kerissa straight. “If you think I didn’t do everything I could to get my daughter back, you are mistaken.” She further explains that some children just get away from you no matter what you do. Kerissa says, “I won’t let that happen to Zora.” “You may not have a choice,” Lady Mae says to her daughter-in-law.

Since Jacob’s plan of action is no longer needed, he is at Triumph where he sees Tasha for the first time since that kiss. He tells her that “what happened between us, that kiss was a mistake.”  He tells she will need to stop texting him as well. So I was surprised by Tasha’s reaction. She is genuinely brokenhearted that he doesn’t want to continue down the road to a full-fledged affair. She starts to tear up and says, “Nothing seems to ever work out for me, Jacob.” I mean I can sympathize with her to a certain extent as her husband just up and left her. But that doesn’t mean she can just take someone else’s husband. And I really feel her plot to take down Jacob has fallen by the wayside. What we see now are genuine feelings. And if I’m not mistaken, Jacob is feeling something too. Jacob wants to be righteous but I fear he just can’t be right. Before the conversation can go even deeper though, Bishop stops by for an impromptu visit. He sees Tasha’s tears and feels the tension in the air and says,” Did I interrupt anything?” Jacob says, “Tasha just lost a friend.”

Once Bishop and Jacob are alone, Bishop suggests calling someone to help them retrieve Zora because Bishop seems to have friends everywhere. Jacob blows up at his father and says, “She is an adult. This isn’t something you can fix with a phone call.” Bishop responds with, “Kerissa wasn’t wrong to send you away. That temper of yours is not helpful to anyone especially you. I’m still your father and that girl’s grandfather.” Awww, hush up Bishop. He is feeling left out of Greenleaf business and wants to feel needed.

Back at Calvary, District Attorney Price is waiting for Grace in her office. Grace tells Rochelle to wait for her outside and she goes into her office to meet with the man. He wastes no time in telling her that she has gone against his “strongly worded advice” and lets her know that Coralie Hunter will either be charged with 2nd degree murder for which she will be in jail for 20 years or get a life sentence without parole. Of course, Grace thinks both choices are unacceptable. The D.A. tells her that if she proceeds any further, that she could find herself on trial! He brings up Mac’s murder again and says he has this “funny feeling” that what she did was actually premeditated murder. He says, “You think women should take the law into their own hands and kill men” and how what she did wasn’t even Christian. “Have Ms. Hunter take the deal.”

Coralie lawyer’s echoes what the D.A. says and tells Coralie that if she agrees to the 2nd degree murder charge, she can get parole after 15 years. Grace points out that she is a victim of abuse. The lawyer, who is clearly overworked as he points out that he is working on 12 other cases, is unsympathetic. And apparently so is the judge. “He’s not a fan of this #MeToo movement.” He gives Coralie the option to think about what is being offered and says, “I’ve got to get to places where my work is more appreciated.” In the mean time, Grace has made arrangements for Coralie to see her children.

Rochelle tells Grace that she knows someone at CPS, which I think is Child Protective Services. Grace asks how does she know someone at CPS because like Bishop, Rochelle knows people all over Memphis. She says she met this particular contact through the Big Sisters program where she MENTORED four girls! What? “I got four girls out there running the world,” she says. “I won’t stop till all the folks who try to hold them down are brought low.” Grace remarks that she sounds like she is out for revenge. This all takes place as Coralie is visiting with her children. Once Coralie’s visit is over, she tells Grace and Rochelle that she just can’t go to prison. Rochelle’s interaction with Coralie and her conversation with Grace shows that she does have a soft spot for girls in dire circumstances. It probably reminds her of how she felt after she lost her father in that church fire. Grace better watch out…

I’m Every Woman…

For the first time during this episode, Sophia shows up. As in the last few episodes, she is still in mourning and rightfully so. Marisol delivers a package to her bedroom. When she opens it up, it is a scrapbook that Roberto her boyfriend has made and includes pictures of the two of them. In one of the final pages of the scrapbook, he has placed a picture of them on top of a picture of Rhodes College, a Christian school the two had talked about attending together. She looks through the scrapbook but is unmoved.

Back at the stakeout, Isaiah and Zora finally show up! When Isaiah goes inside of his parents’ house for a moment, Kerissa runs over to the jeep and pleads with Zora to give her a minute to talk to her. Zora hesitantly agrees. Kerissa describes the moment Zora was born. She tells her that she didn’t have word to describe her and was just taken in by her wide, brown eyes. “You were everything,” she tells her daughter. And she explains to Zora that she wanted to give her everything and meet her expectations for her life. She points out that Zora has nothing now except a “boy who beats you up. A ticket to nowhere.” She also warns her that is the last time that she will try to get Zora to change her mind about the course of her life. After this, it will be “you, your bad decisions and God. And God is going to win.” Smh…You do know that you can resist God for only so long before He gives you over to yourself to reap the consequences of your actions without the safety net of His love. Oh what a perilous state is that, Saints! Zora says, “I will take my chances” like she is hard. But when her mama walks away, you can see the formation of a tear. Girl, you’re just a girl trying to be a woman…

Meanwhile Bishop is finally learning what it means to mess with Lady Mae. He returns to gate of the Greenleaf estate and tries to get in but the gate code has been changed! No time was wasted. She aine playin’ with him. Once he finally gets into the home, he discovers Lady Mae working out her frustrations at the piano. Bishop comes in there whining about the gate code and talking ’bout he is still the head of the family. Lady Mae retorts with, “You’re the head of no one” except for maybe Rochelle whom she refers to as a “pile of saggy cornbread and pantyhose you gave my money to.” Tee-hee. Bishop says that he needs Lady Mae’s assistance in “reminding these children that I exist.” Cry me a river, Bishop. Lady Mae goes into her poetry again and refers to herself and Bishop as “two faded stars that went out long ago.” It seems that she is starting to realize that she and Bishop have set things in motion that contributed to why things are the way they are for the Greenleafs. Bishop says, “You can soothe yourself with that poetry.” She tells Bishop that he has her sympathy. “Sympathy is not a currency. It is not to be traded. It is a feeling. If you want a friend, talk to Jesus.” Bishop just needs to realize that he aine runnin nathan no mo…

Upstairs, Sophia finds her mother sitting in a chair in the dark. Grace is obviously exhausted. She announces, “Mom, I don’t want to go to Rhodes.” She notes that Zora isn’t going to college and that she is almost 18 as well. “I don’t want to go to a Christian school. It’s just not where I’m at right now.” I get that. My parents encouraged me to go to a Christian college, but I never had any interest in attending one. I didn’t want to feel cloistered away from erebody and erethang. But in the end, God found me anyway. My first job after college was working at a Christian newspaper! LOL Watch out Sophia, God aine lettin’ you get away that easy 🙂

Now that his talk with his father has come to an end, Jacob can return to his tiff with Tasha. In the interim, Tasha has packed up her essentials in a box and is leaving the premises! She explains to Jacob that after Basie left, she decided to stay on at Triumph because she liked Jacob and now she more than likes Jacob. “You’re married and I’m technically married. Just know that I’m sorry for everything.” He doesn’t quite understand what she means, but he will surely learn.

Once he returns home, he discovers Kerissa wrapped up in a blanket, looking through an album of childhood pictures of Zora. She says, “I didn’t make dinner.” Jacob says, “I don’t care about dinner.” Kerissa says, “Our little girl is gone.” She gets up and leaves Jacob on the couch.

Although Bishop doesn’t believe that Charity has the chops to take over Calvary, his friend Percy believes that he has found a successor for his funeral home business in Charity! He tells her that she has a gift for comforting people. “You know what to say and what not to say…I’ve never met anyone that can take over.” She says, “Thank you. It means a lot to be seen and valued.” And that is what Charity has been seeking all along. She betta think seriously about that offer.

The next morning at Percy’s, Bishop, who is wearing red pajamas, has not gotten any sleep. Percy breaks things down for this friend. He tells him that some people, who have found themselves in a crisis, have forethought while others have hindsight. Some, sadly, discover they have neither. “Jimmy, at least you’ve got one.” I think Bishop has hindsight. He knows he needs to make things right with Lady Mae. The question is, “How?”

Once Percy leaves him on the porch by himself, Bishop whispers a prayer. “Not my will, Thy will be done. Nothing more and nothing less and nothing else.” Somebody pass the offering plate because that should be a sermon preached every day in the heart of a Christian, but we all know it’s easier said (prayed) than done.

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 8: Dea Abscondita 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 🙂!

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