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Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then…

Hello World,

Tonight’s episode was one of those turning point episodes and was aptly titled “That Was Then” so keep reading for this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then…

We’ve Only Just Begun…

The episode begins with Grace reading about the Coralie Hunter murder case on her computer as she is planning to take on the case with the newly created legal defense fund for victims of domestic violence. She takes in some gory images that must have been sent to her by Darius. Photographs with blood strewn about the bed like red paint had been spilled. A bloody hammer was the focus of another one of the photographs. The blood and gore take her back to the night she squared off with uncle in a fight for her very life. She recalls the cracked bottle that she used to sink into his neck, which proved to be a fatal blow. Her daughter Sophia interrupts her thankfully, taking her away from that dark place in her memory. But Sophia is still smarting from being told she is sterile. She wants her mother to tell a pastor at Calvary that she is done teaching the Little Saints class. “I’m never going to talk to them like I used to,” Sophia says. This is a new phase in Sophia’s life, a phase that calls for her to believe in the goodness of God even though her current experience doesn’t feel good. This is not easy.

This is also a new phase in Zora’s life. It’s her 18th birthday! Lest Zora believe that her Bible reading will be postponed for the next day, Lady Mae tells her they will have less time with the text in light of her birthday breakfast but their reading will still be done. Also, to help her celebrate her birthday, Jacob & Kerissa have been invited to breakfast. Kerissa tries to give Zora tickets to a Broadway musical that they can attend together, but Lady Mae says she is not allowed to go because it’s past her curfew! “Actions have consequences,” Lady Mae says in front of Zora’s parents.

Charity and Bishop share a tender moment in her suite. Since Charity doesn’t leave her room very much at this point, Bishop updates her on the goings-on in the estate including that Lady Mae has Zora on a 7 p.m. lockdown even on her birthday! Charity says, “When is she going to get herself together?” in reference to her wayward niece. Bishop responds, “When are you?” Charity changes the subject and asks him when he is leaving, but Bishop doesn’t get offended. Instead he tells her that he misses her. While they hug, she says, “I’m gonna miss you too.”

Plans have begun for “A Day With Lady Mae” but Maxine’s assistant Gloria doesn’t believe the space at the Templeton hotel will be big enough. Karine, Bishop and Lady Mae’s assistant, clearly doesn’t like Gloria (I guess it’s because they are both assistants.), but she agrees that with Maxine Patterson, maybe a bigger venue is needed. Gloria suggests that “A Day With Lady Mae” should be held at Calvary. Lady Mae and Karine like the idea as well. However, Karine checks Bishop’s schedule and as it turns out he will be hosting a “Silver Jubilee” on the same day. Karine worries about having to run the idea of having Lady Mae’s event at Calvary instead of off-site by Bishop. Lady Mae responds by saying, “Let me caution you about overvaluing Bishop’s opinion in this time of rapid evolution.” That woman stays speaking in poetry, doesn’t she?

To make matters worse, Lady Mae tries to enlist Grace’s help in meeting with the Boys & Girls Club of Memphis. She wants this organization to be involved somehow with “A Day With Lady Mae,” but her daughter tells her she cannot meet with the organization’s representative. Instead, she has a meeting scheduled with Coralie Hunter. Lady Mae refers to her as a “murderess” and a “tawdry woman who bludgeoned her husband to death with a hammer while he was sleeping.” She is incensed that Grace is choosing Coralie over the “flagship event for the church” and accuses her of doing so out of “sadism and spite.” Calling her mother’s event a “pep rally” and with sarcasm, Grace says, “You understand me perfectly.” Lady Mae says, “You don’t understand me at all.” Somehow and in some way, these two need to begin their relationship again…

Shake It Off…

From his office, Bishop places a call to his friend, Percy Lee Thompson, the funeral home owner. Just like his name suggests, the man is country. When Percy realizes it is his friend not a business call, he says, “When you call, use your cell phone. You had me talking like white folks for nothing.” Bwaaahhaaa! For my white readers, some black people do change how they speak when they are talking to people of different races…

But before the men can continue their conversation, Lady Mae comes into her soon-to-be ex-husband’s office. Lady Mae tells Bishop that their daughter is sponsoring a murderess like she is a child from Africa! “Is this good pr?” she asks. Behind them is this magnificent cross metal sculpture that is embedded in the wall, but I digress. Speaking of cross, Bishop tells Lady Mae that Rochelle Cross is advising him to invest in crytocurrency and this is how he will get the money to pay the IRS. However, he needs more money than what is in his personal account. He also wants to take money from their shared account. Calling her a “strumpet with a bad reputation,” Lady Mae cautions Bishop about accepting her financial advice. “She’s broken our family in half. Do you have to let her take our money too?” She compares him to the old foolish king in Ecclesiastes 4:13. “Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning.” Lady Mae knows how to rightly divide the word, right?! He needs to shake off Rochelle some kind of way. That’s for sure.

Grace goes to the jail to meet Coralie Hunter, but before she is able to do, the Memphis DA, who I presume is there on official business, stops her. He reminds her that he elected not to try her for manslaughter and warns her not to help Ms. Hunter. “Coralie Hunter is no victim.” She tells him that Ms. Hunter was abused by her husband. He responds with, “There is no shred of admissible evidence that he ever abused her. That pond you are about to step into is deeper than you think.” What does he mean by that? Once Grace is allowed inside of inner sanctum of the jail to actually see Coralie Hunter, she is reminded that the jail is where she could have easily been after what happened with Uncle Mac. She can’t shake those feelings off. Ms. Hunter notices Grace’s demeanor and Grace says, “I was once very close to sitting where you are.” She explains exactly what happened to Grace and how murdering her husband was self defense.

Now we discover why Bishop called Percy. Percy reaches out to Charity after a singer cancelled on singing at a memorial service for a dearly departed grandmother to be held at his funeral home. All he has at this point is “prerecorded music and Spotify.” With an open bottle of something next to her, Charity hesitantly agrees. But once she is there and singing for the grieving relatives, it’s clear that she is in her element. Awww, that was sweet of Bishop — getting his daughter out of the house and singing, what she was born to do.

Across town at Triumph, Jacob and Kerissa are still in disagreement about Zora being discipled and disciplined by Lady Mae. Kerissa thinks Lady Mae is just too strict. Jacob asks, “Isn’t being strict your whole brand?” Kerissa says, “If she knew what she was doing, it wouldn’t have taken me 20 years to get you to straighten up and fly right!” And this line was the best line of the episode. In that once sentence, we now know why Zora is willing to accept abuse. Her own mother did and for 20 years. No, it wasn’t physical abuse, but the end result is still the same. Her mother allowed herself to be devalued. Why should she be any different? Jacob is mad that his wife cannot shake the memories of who he used to be and discusses the matter with Tasha Skanks. As expected, she sympathizes and says she wasn’t always First Lady material and that she used to get her swerve on on Saturday nights and come to church the next morning. And instead of proving that they have changed, the two kiss! We all saw this coming…The thing is I feel like Tasha is truly feeling Jacob but at same time, her last name aine Skanks for nothing! Shake Tasha off Jacob!!!

And back at Calvary, Karine tries to get Bishop to sign some papers. I think she hopes he doesn’t pay attention to what he is signing, but he does. He sees that additional security will be needed to secure “A Day With Lady Mae” to be held at Calvary. He confronts Lady Mae about the additional security and the change of venue. Lady Mae explains that with Maxine Patterson more security and space is a must. He agrees but reminds of their deal. Once “A Day With Lady Mae” is over Lady Mae must leave the building. Lady Mae says, “As for me and my future plans, I will go where the Lord leads me to go.” In other words, she aine going nowhere but Bishop is in her sanctified imagination. Bishop and Lady Mae just can’t shake off where they are in their marriage.

Bye Bye Bye…

Darius and Grace discuss her conversation with the DA. “This DA is going to use my story against her and me.” Darius says she need not worry. “That was self-defense too, right?” She flashes back to the moment Grace could have called someone to save Mac who was bleeding his life out of his neck. “I’m not going to call anybody till you tell me where my daughter is.” Self-defense? Hmmm….Will Grace have to go bye bye bye during season for the death of her Uncle Mac? She returns to the jail to tell Coralie that she is going to bail her out of jail! Coralie is astonished at her generosity. Grace says, “You should have more faith.”

I want to say “Boy Bye” when Bishop meets with Rochelle Cross. He tells her that he has more money to invest. “I trust you and your expertise.” And then they both drink something! Is Bishop actually drinking liquor, and brown likka at that, in the house of God? Where dey do dat at? Lady Mae later discovers that Bishop has emptied their shared account! He assures her that their account will be full again in two weeks. She told him NOT to take money from their account. And now he must say good-bye. “You will leave tonight and this time, you will take every last tie and purple robe and gaudy knickknack!” LOL. Bishop goes to stay with Percy the undertaker at his funeral home, which makes sense because it represents the ultimate death of Bishop’s marriage.

In another part of the house, Sophia is trying to find a way to say good-bye to her faith. She literally tears out sheets from the Bible her grandfather gave her and flushes them down the toilet. “The Bible is all lies,” she says. At the same time, she is crying hysterically when Grace finds her. She wants to flush her faith down the toilet, but she can’t forget how her faith in God made her feel. “I don’t want to love someone who treats me this badly.” (Tell that to Zora.) “Why won’t He just let me go?” Because that’s how God is. Chile, there have been times that I’ve been so mad with God, I just want to shut Him out but where else is there to go but to God, particularly when you’re heartbroken?! Sophia is starting to realize that, but she doesn’t want to. God help her.

Meanwhile, Jacob wants to forget his dalliance with Tasha, but he cannot say good-bye to his guilt just like that. Instead, he tries to make amends somehow, telling Kerissa that Zora can home after all. Kerissa is elated because now that her daughter is 18, she realizes that their parental control is coming to an end. She also apologizes for bringing up Jacob’s past.

But before Zora’s parents can tell her that they are taking her home, Zora decides to emancipate herself from her grandmother’s jail, Lady Mae refers to it as a “grand escape,” now that she is 18 years old! That’s is what she meant when she said, it won’t be much longer in a previous episode. Right in front of Lady Mae, she packs her things and flies out of the Greenleaf home where Christian Breezy aka Isaiah is waiting for her in a black BMW jeep! Bye Bye Bye Zora 🙁

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 7: That Was Then 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 4: The Underdog…

Hello World,

Since the title of tonight’s Greenleaf episode was named “The Underdog,” this Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4 will explore that theme through the titles of some famous movies that featured underdogs!

Facing the Giants…

As indicated by last week’s episode, Lady Mae travels to Atlanta to see her old friend Maxine Patterson, who is now a preacher with a giant following. Her expansive office with gigantic portraits of Maxine along with the soundtrack of her sermons playing on the PA system speaks to the success of her ministry. And as she walks into Maxine’s office, Patti LaBelle’s song “When You’ve Been Blessed” begins to play. That was a perfect use of her song! When Lady Mae’s name is announced as she comes in, Patti I mean Maxine says, “Ms. Greenleaf who? Mae McCready.” That’s the thing about old friends. They knew you before you had your new name and titles! She promptly tells her friend to “sit down before you fall down” and to put away that “first lady facade.” And old friends can see past the masks that we wear too. Knowing that she can trust her friend, Mae tells her why she traveled all that way. “You were right.” She should have gotten her master of divinity instead of her Mrs. degree and that she is divorcing her husband. Now, Mae wants to go back to school, get that degree and start her own church. Maxine says, “Why? You already got a good one.” She says that Mae should not leave her church to start a new one. “Take OVER Mae. It’s yours.”

Since Bishop is Goliath in this scenario and Lady Mae is David, Lady Mae, affirmed by her friend’s counsel, comes back to Memphis and her home where is determined to gain control of Calvary somehow and someway. But first things first. Bishop and Lady Mae are hosting a Bishop’s Round Table party where they are honoring the movers and the shakers of the church. Of course, Clara, their $2 million-dollar benefactor whom they are counting on to bail them out of the IRS situation, is an honored guest.

Lady Mae isn’t the only one with an alternative agenda. Bishop, however, is bringing out his big guns at the Bishop’s Round Table party. He invites the man who introduced Lady Mae and Bishop to one another: Percy Lee Thompson, a local funeral home owner.

Rocky…

Lady Mae suspects that Bishop is up to something, but she tells him that whatever he has in the works will not stop the unraveling of their rocky marriage. In fact, even though Bishop is pleading for Lady Mae to recommit to their marriage (although he is the one who filed for divorce…smh…), Lady Mae just aine tryin’ to hear that yang-yang no mo. “We’re done James so whatever is going on tonight, we’re done.”

Speaking of being done, Kevin is done trying to reach Charity by just calling her, Kevin with Aaron in tow busts into the Greenleaf house and is about to disrupt the festivities. Luckily, Grace heads him off before too much commotion commences. “I’m looking for Charity,” he says. “She is ignoring my phone calls.” Before I get into what happens after that, I must say this: Kevin has some glorified nerve trying to track down Charity like he is a bounty hunter when he disappeared shortly after his son was born. Charity may be a mess but her ex-husband is a hypocrite. Anyhow, Grace offers to call Charity and is able to reach her. Charity is sitting poolside God knows where and has just ordered a Georgia Peach cocktail. (Oh, she’s in Atlanta! LOL) I’ve lived in Georgia nearly all of my life and I didn’t know that was such a thing, but I guess I should have guessed that was a drink. When Grace tells her little sister that Kevin is looking for her, she tells Grace to let him know that she is “taking care of business” although it’s clear she’s not on anyone’s tour. She goes on to say, “Kevin did what he what he wanted and I can do the same.” Charity is cray for running off with Nate like that, but she does have a point. Grace pleads with Aaron to persuade Kevin not to call the cops on Charity.

Bishop and Grace are not the only ones pleading with someone at the party. Kerissa pleads with Jacob to send Zora to Oregon for a behavior modification program for troubled teens, but Jacob doesn’t like the idea. Lady Mae tells Jacob she has another idea. “You all should bring her to me for a while.”

Before that conversation comes to completion, Bishop asks for everyone in the party to gather around for a speech he wants to make. He thanks everyone for coming to the annual Bishop’s Round Table Party, but he also speaks uses the platform to speak publicly about his devotion to Lady Mae. He begins by quoting from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. Saying phrases like “Two are better than one” and “How can one keep warm alone?” he praises Lady Mae by sticking by him for their 40-year marriage. He tells the audience that when he was young, he thought he was destined to be a “lonely creature” because he had had “never met a woman who took her faith as seriously as I took mine.” But that all changed when he met Lady Mae. Since the Lord sent her to Bishop, he says he has never felt “cold, forsaken or unsure.” He goes on to say, “This church, this family, let no man pull asunder.” He wants at least another 40 years with her by his side. He kisses her to seal his words. Despite herself, Lady Mae smiles and seems to soften her stance just a bit. But just like in the Garden of Eden, the snake knows when to show up. Rochelle Cross, shiny in black sequins, steals the air in the room when she appears. For a moment, the sea encompassing Lady Mae’s heart had stilled but the sight of Rochelle set her heart adrift again in rocky waters.  “What is she doing here?” Lady Mae sputters.

The Karate Kid…

Like Daniel, the underdog in “The Karate Kid,” Bishop has to spring into action and protect his turf from the certain destruction that Rochelle Cross will cause if allowed to stay at this party. “Ms. Cross, may I have a word with you?” Bishop says with all of the gentility that he can muster given the urgency of the situation. After he pulls her aside, he says, “I’m trying to repair my relationship with my wife. You shouldn’t be here.” Rochelle declares that “she is still a member of Calvary. I’m not going to slink off into the night like I’m a shameful secret.” At this point, she sounds as dumb as she looks. What does she think she has to offer that Bishop doesn’t already have? I know she is a younger woman, but aside from her relative youth (because she aine all that young) she is not the type of woman who can hold down a shepherd of a flock. How do I know? I was raised by a woman who has stood by a shepherd of a flock. It’s not easy and erebody aine able. Maybe Bishop has that in mind when he says, “If I’ve given you some reason to hope, I’m sorry.” I think his words should have been stronger, but she gets the message…finally. But not soon enough for Lady Mae. When Bishop goes back over to his wife, she says, “Why are you talking to me? Your business is clearly with her and not with me. ” She leaves him alone as he ponders their conversation under a portrait of them in happier times.

Rochelle makes her way to Grace and Darius although she is supposed to be on her way out. She ogles Grace’s man right in front of her. She is like the evil spirit who lives among tombs in the book of Matthew. Restless. And to make matters much worse, she chats up Ms. Clara on her way out as well. “Do you mind if I have a word with you?” When Ms. Clara obliges, she asks, “What does the church have you tied up in?” Ms. Clara, thankfully, doesn’t tell her anything, but Rochelle continues anyway. As a money manager, Rochelle advises that if it has anything to do with money, she should have her money manager vet any decision she makes.

Deaconness Connie is mixing and mingling as well and asks Grace about Kevin, who I guess she saw at the party earlier. She asks why Kevin has stopped coming to church. Grace, ever putting folks on the spot, says that their church should join the open and inclusive coalition which is a coalition of churches that welcome gay, lesbian and transgender church members apparently. Grace tells her Kevin would have to hide who he is at Calvary. In the line of the episode, Connie says she still the “same old Grace… When you are going to outgrow that old habit of agitating for every underdog except Jesus?” Grace retorts with, “Every underdog is Jesus.”

But the drama is ratcheted up when Zora’s issues are center stage. Sophia goes outside to spend some time with her boyfriend Roberto, but when his kisses become more intense, she suggests that they go back inside. Roberto, however, is hot under the collar and doesn’t want to go back inside with Sophia. When Sophia returns, she tells her cousin what happened. “I think he wants to have sex with me.” Zora responds with sarcasm and questions Sophia’s stance on waiting until marriage for sex. When Sophia notices that her cousin was using her computer to communicate with Isaiah, Christian Breezy, their interaction quickly escalates. Zora is tired of Sophia’s Miss Christian way of conducting herself. “It’s Christian this or Bible that.” “Every time I talk to you, you suck the life out of me.” She calls her “God’s little b****!” How disrespectful. Sophia comes back with calling her boyfriend a “pile of trash.” When Zora threatens to hit her, Sophia says she can can “see what he taught you.” And the girls get to scrappin’. Luckily, Kerissa is able to separate them! (As one of my readers suggested, a public awareness announcement about domestic violence between teenagers should be included at the end of the episode. I don’t remember one being showed before, but I could be wrong.)

Cool Runnings…

Although the Greenleaf grandkids were cooled down at least for the moment, there are still more fires to put out at the party. On her way out of the party with her granddaughter Karine, Clara tells Lady Mae that she wants to Bishop and Lady Mae to sit down with her money manager before the $2 million transaction is complete. Lady Mae keeps her cool and says, “Bishop and I would be happy to sit down with your money people.”

After the festivities are over, Deaconness Connie goes to Grace’s office. Concerned that the church may be losing their leaders with Bishop and Lady Mae’s marriage in tatters and news of the IRS scandal spreading on the Internet, she realizes that a Greenleaf still needs to be at the helm of the church. “You may be need to step up and take over as head pastor.” Of course, Lady Mae would lose her cool if that were to happen. Lady Mae needs to watch her back but she has watch Zora’s back for right now at least as Jacob and Kerissa drop off Zora with her. Kerissa isn’t thrilled about the proposition given that what happened with Faith Greenleaf wasn’t exactly a testament to Lady Mae’s parenting skills. But now that Mac is dead, things will be different. Some people think that Zora’s out-of-control behavior is evidence that Mac may have abused Zora too. I don’t know but I thought he preferred young, light-skinned girls. But that is a theory worth exploring. And if that is the case, maybe Lady Mae can reach her since she was abused by her father. Remember?

The episode closes with Charity singing her best rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” accompanied by a pianist in a hotel lounge it seems. (I guess if gospel music aine working for her, secular music may be her next option…I disagree with that option for her though…)I thought it was Atlanta, but maybe it’s Miami since you can see the ocean or a body of water along the skyline of the city. It was a cool vibe until the police showed up!

Well, that’s all I got…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 3 Episode 4: The Underdog 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 Season Premiere Recap, Season 3 Episode 1: Strange Currents…

Hello World,

After a looong wait, OWN’s “Greenleaf” is back &  I’m back with a Greenleaf Season Premiere Recap, Season 3 Episode 10! I must say I hope I’m up to the task at hand because I was out of the country in Cuba for a few days and caught a horrible cold while there so y’all pray for me. Alrighty now…So what I do think of this episode?! I think this episode was laying the groundwork for some major bombs to explode during Season 3 of OWN’s Greenleaf…

So since this episode was titled “Strange Currents,” I went ahead and refreshed myself on the official definition of the word “current.” The word means a few things, but this definition stood out: a flow of electricity which results from the ordered directional movement of electrically charged particles. And we all know that electrical currents lead to bomb explosions so I will breaking up this recap according to these themes…

You Dropped A Bomb on Me…

Lonely but yet resolute Lady Mae is the first person we see on this episode. She sits in the formal dining room, seemingly staring aimlessly into space, but those of us who remember the Greenleaf Finale, Season 2 Episode 16 know what’s up! Lady Mae has discovered that Bishop slept with her sister Mavis not once but several times and dropped a bomb on him by kicking him out of their home as a result. But Bishop quickly rebounds in a way and books a room at the Biltmore Hotel. And that is where the next scene begins with Bishop waking up to the sound of the voice of none other than Rochelle Cross! Bishop says, “I needed that.” Que? (Sorry. Cuba. Remember?) Say what, I meant?! She replies, “You had a stressful day and it’s not even noon.” So what kind of stress reliever did Miss Cross provide?! She follows up with “I wish I could have done more to comfort you,” and Bishop shuts her down with, “I’m still married.” Whew! I was worried for a second!

But y’all know like a spider that has caught its prey in its web, Rochelle aine tryin’ to hear no from Bishop at this point. She’s got him in a hotel room by themselves! She tells him that his wife threw him out of his home…in other words, he would be justified in “relieving stress.” But Bishop, thankfully, still has his wits about himself for now at least. “I’m married to God’s vision of the man I’m meant to be.” He was a little more poetic than he needed to be with his rebuke, but she backs away for the moment.

Also, the moment is disturbed when he gets word that his granddaughter Zora has run off and cannot be found!

Charity Greenleaf hears the news about Zora and heads back to the Greenleaf estate from Nashville where she was on tour with her new bae Jabari. “I’m gone for a day and all of this happens,” she says. “Where’s Daddy?” she says next.

In the next scene, Lady Mae once again finds a reason to lock horns with her eldest daughter. Rather than blame Bishop for his indiscretions, she lays the blame at her daughter’s feet. “When you came home for Faith’s funeral, you promised me that you hadn’t come how to sow discord and now look at us.” “Now, what did I do,” questions Grace. ” Lady Mae tells her she is like a “bull that ran around in a china shop, acting like it’s God’s work.” Lady Mae needs to look no further than in the mirror if she wants to blame somebody for her troubles. The reason she doesn’t like Grace is that her daughter refuses to live a lie…

Lotus Flower Bomb…

The young flower that she is, Zora Greenleaf aka Christian Breezy’s chick has been found! (They ran off together after the cotillion. Remember?) Praise God! But Jacob is laying down the law aka dropping a bomb like never before. When the family arrives at their home, he says he wants her “wallet, ATM card (wow, only grownups had these when I was in high school), phone. From now on, we’re clocking your every step!” When Kerissa, usually the more harsh parent, tries to get him to lighten up, he retorts with, “We found this girl 10 miles shy of the state line in a roach motel. You want to act like a little criminal, we’ll treat you like one.” You know what? I was never into the whole Romeo & Juliet thing where I would be willing to die if my family didn’t allow me to love a certain boy or even stay in a roach motel for one. Naw, I’m going to need heating and air, access to clean sheets, clean water, etc. There is no crazy in love for me. Now, comfortable in love, that I can do. LOL. What about you?

Like the bomb waiting to explode that she is, Rochelle shows up at Calvary and tries to stride past Bishop’s assistant and straight into his office. Bishop’s assistant Karine stops her, but only for a second. As soon as he discovers that Rochelle is on the other side of his door, her access is granted just like that. Rochelle says, “Well, look at me. Just like Moses, parting seas to left and the right.”

I guess after she parts the sea, she will be parting other thangs if she has anything to say about it…

So by this time of the episode, I’m noticing that everyone seems to be wearing shades of gray or black. I’m not sure what that means except to say that this is a dark and gray period for the Greenleaf family.

Anywho, back to Bishop and Rochelle. Thankfully, Bishop has enough sense to draw some boundaries with Rochelle. He tells her that while she is free to worship at Calvary, but they don’t need to spend any more “personal time” together! Hallelujah! In the mean time, Grace comes up to Karine, requesting that she be allowed in to see her father. Wondering if Bishop and Rochelle are doing the horizontal hokey pokey or something similar, Karine instructs Grace to go right in. Grace doesn’t catch them doing anything but her spidey senses are telling her that something is amiss…

Bishop calls his wife a “mad woman” as he describes what has transpired to his daughter…

Electric Avenue…

Britney Weaver, Triumph Church’s treasurer is not here for Jacob for taking over Triumph! “This spending has got to end.” She backs it up telling him that he is going through cash faster than “green grass through a goose.” So I’ve never heard that before, but it’s kinda funny. Living up to her name, Tasha Skanks tries to start some stuff as she overheard the conversation between Jacob and Britney. “I’ve never heard her speak to Basie like that. I would fire her.” In other words, she is trying to get Jacob to tell Britney to hit the road! She’s got too much mouth for a woman whose man left her without leaving a forwarding address.

Meanwhile, Jacob’s baby sister Charity is having to face off with opposition as well. Kevin has returned to the Greenleaf estate in an attempt to reestablish himself as Nate’s father. She should tell him to hit the road, but instead says, “Fatherhood is not a club where you can drop in when you feel like it.” She also reminds him of when he did hit the road in the past. “How do I know you’re not going to write and note and disappear?”

Bishop and Lady Mae finally come face to face again on the grounds of Calvary. She says to him, “You cheated your way out of every good thing that God has ever given to you.” In other words, Lady Mae sees herself as something that God gave to Bishop. But Bishop isn’t feeling too good about the gift that God has given him, particularly since it came with that pedophile of a brother Mac. Apparently, he handled Calvary’s taxes by paying someone off with a bribe. The only problem is that someone has now been caught. They owe $2 million to the IRS and it has to be handed over to the IRS in 90 days or else! Bishop suggests various suggestions including hitting up newly rich member member Clara Jackson for her Powerball money. He also notes that if he were allowed to move back in, they would present a united front to the church as they go through this trial. But Lady Mae tells him they are not yet on the road to recovery as a couple. “There is a thin line between keeping up appearances and flat out hypocrisy.” Just for a moment, when Lady Mae aka Lynn Whitfield says “thin line,” I thought about her 1996 movie “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” Am I the only one? But back to this character. Lady Mae ends her speech with telling her now estranged husband that he needs to “shuck and jive in the street with the trash you seem to love.”

Electric Lady…

Grace, Jacob & Charity meet at Jacob’s home to discuss what is breaking up the Greenleaf’s home. Grace reveals what she knows about their father and Aunt Mavis. Like Lady Mae, Charity, who doesn’t want to be from a broken home even as an adult, blames Grace for the pending breakup. “If you hadn’t come home, none of this would have ever happened.” Wow, they really think that Grace has that much power!

Grace turns to her man Darius for support and asks him to come to church on Sunday. He declines telling her that he will not show up to be a part of the “soap opera with the cross in the background.” Soap opera or not, as a church-going woman, I’m not trying to be with someone who refuses to show up in church, particularly during critical times.

On Sunday morning, Grace notices that Lady Mae is not dressed for church when the service starts in 30 minutes. Lady Me tells her that she, like Darius, will not show up for the show I mean church. Later on, during the church service, Deaconess Sykes inquires about Lady Mae’s whereabouts and Grace allows her to think that Lady Mae is not feeling well. But Grace is caught in a lie of omission when Bishop says from the pulpit that Lady Mae is attending to family matters in Little Rock. He later goes on to speak about the unimaginable courage of Jesus of Nazareth. What is unimaginable is the fact that Bishop has the gall to lie about wife from the pulpit…

Since Charity was able to sidestep Kevin at home, he takes the matter to the church and corners her there. He tells her that if she tries to take their son on tour, he will be taking her to court for kidnapping. I think he should be able to see his son, but he should also understand this since his behavior was questionable, he needs to earn her trust over time…

Meanwhile Lady Mae putters about town from walking in a park to having a salad at a restaurant, eventually ending up at Triumph where she runs into its former First Lady Tasha. Y’all know how Tasha irritates Lady Mae! But in her melancholic state, she willingly gives her a few minutes of her time when she offers to get some refreshments for her. Lady Mae says, “Is that what they have you doing?” Remember that Tasha is a First Lady without a husband and has been allowed to stay on Triumph anyway, although the Greenleafs run the church. While getting her some cookies, Tasha tells Lady Mae about some First Lady in Winston Salem, NC who was left by her husband after 27 years of marriage. Insult was added to injury when the First Lady injured herself when she tripped and fell. The disgraced First Lady now can only see out of one eye! Well, that story was enough for Lady Mae to rethink her stance and leave at once!

But the shenanigans are still unfolding at Triumph! While everyone’s eyes are closed during prayer, Zora swipes a few bills from the offering. Also, in worrying about Zora and rightfully so, Joseph admits to Kerissa that he wasn’t only focused on his sermon that he delivered. Britney has noticed as well and tells him the offering was lacking as result. Right then and there and on a Sunday too, Jacob tells Britney, “You’re fired.”

We also see that Rochelle and Tasha are for sure multiplying their power as a scheming duo attempting to get Bishop and Jacob. We will see precisely what these electric ladies are up to in future episodes I’m sure…

At the close of this episode, Bishop returns to the Greenleaf estate only to get his things. But Lady Mae, the most electric of all of the ladies, has had a change of heart…at least somewhat. She says, “James, you can come home, but only until we figure out this mess with the IRS.” God bless their mess!

As the episode ends, the gospel song “There’s a Leak in This Old Building” comes on. The next line goes, “And my soul has to move.” We’ll see who is moving out in the episodes to come. Some may think it’s gonna be Bishop but it may be Lady Mae. We will see. We will see.

And don’t forget, tomorrow night is part 2 of the Season Premiere!

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Season Premiere Recap, Season 3 Episode 1: Strange Currents 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?