Tag Archives: Grace Greenleaf

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Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 1: A House Divided…

Hello World,

Wow, the season opener for OWN’s Greenleaf was more explosive than the season finale ( click on this link to read the recap) with all of the family secrets revealed in this episode!

Well, let’s get into this Greenleaf recap cuz babay, it’s a lot to break down…

Burn Baby, Burn…

Like a good novel, the show starts off with an explosive beginning. The police show up at the Greenleaf estate and announce that the Bishop is under investigation for allegedly burning his first church building down years ago and manslaughter since someone died in the fire! Mac shows up at the same time as the police to gloat in front of the Greenleaf family who are stunned silent except for Gigi aka Grace. Grace follows her uncle as he is about to leave following the police’s announcement that Bishop needs a lawyer and cannot leave town. When she confronts him about his revelation as he is the one who revealed the Bishop’s sin to the police, he replies that he was “forced to pull less holy strings” since Bishop wouldn’t spring him from jail. He then tells her he has more hot secrets where that came from, secrets so hot that he can “walk away with nothing on his back but hot wind.” Yes, hunty…if he’s going down as a sexual offender, he’s burning down the Greenleafs with him!

I Been Drankin’…

Meanwhile, Oprah, I mean Mavis McCready, sister -in-law of Bishop Greenleaf, been drankin’ chile…(So, it’s hard to watch to Oprah in this state because I know I’m looking at the Queen of Talk aka the boss at OWN)…Well, now that she is no longer a club owner (thanks to her brother Mac….Wayment, I just realized that the names of the McCready family all start with M…Mac McCready, Mae (aka Lady Mae) McCready Greenleaf and Mavis McCready…M is for molestation, perhaps? More on that later…) she’s taken to the bottle. She wakes up with a big ole bottle of likka on her night stand…She’s also taken up with a young lover who comes in to the bedroom wearing some black briefs and a guitar hanging from his neck! It’s on a Sunday as she tells her boy toy, “Lonzo, get your behind (that’s not the word she uses though but I’m not cussing here) to church.” Bwwaaa, she sending her man to church like she’s his mama…and maybe she is…even though she will not be in anybody’s sanctuary for Sunday morning services…

Give Until It Hurts…

Pastor Grace is in the pulpit trying to get folk in the congregation to pledge money to support the church as a Fall Revival is coming up. But even Grace cannot get the flock to part with their funds so pledges are down by 40 percent! Lady Mae confronts her arch enemy, I mean her daughter, about her lackadaisical sermons as Grace must be the problem. But Grace tells her the truth and says it’s been three months since the police brought a case against Bishop and he hasn’t said a word about it yet to the congregation. That is the reason that the pledges are down. As usual, instead of receiving the truth, Lady Mae says to her daughter, “Your terrible pride is going to destroy us all.” What is she talking about? Would you continue to give to a church in which the pastor or bishop was brought up on charges but didn’t address the charges in front of the congregation?

Lady Mae does speak to her husband privately about the charges while she is getting ready for breakfast in the bathroom. She tells the Bishop, who walks in as she is applying her lipstick, that she cannot stop thinking about Darryl, the caretaker of the church who died in the fire. Bishop replies, “He wasn’t supposed to be there.” The two are a united front though because in front of the family at breakfast when Lady Mae sees Jacob reading a newspaper, she asks him if there is any “fresh libel” in it and says people love to see the “high brought low.” Also at breakfast, Bishop declares that he will preach again from the book of Ezra, a book about  Jerusalem’s restoration and the building of the second temple following Babylonian exile. Chile…

Living Single…

Charity Greenleaf Satterlee meets with Carlton, the gay choir director at Calvary Fellowship World Ministries and his partner Kyle (Just Kidding! That’s the actor T.C. Carson’s name when he was on “Living Single,” one of my fave shows from the ’90s). Sadly, she tells them that her labor will be induced after she lost one of the twins she is carrying. She lost the baby due to the stress of discovering that her husband is gay or bisexual. Although she is still married to Kevin Satterlee, it’s clear she could end up living single this season as their marriage is still strained.  After her meeting with Nigel and his partner, she meets with Jabari Johnson, a handsome record producer who is interested in producing Charity’s album. He tells her, “it sounds like you went through something. ” So could Jabari be Charity’s new man in the future?

Interrupting their meeting, Kevin says he wants to speak with his wife alone. He pleads with her to come to one of his meetings. She tells him she is skeptical about him attempting to “pray the gay away.” Obviously, he is attending meetings for a gay conversion therapy program.

Backstabbers…

Sleazy ole Pastor Basie Skanks is back and hosting a groundbreaking for the Christian community center he plans to build across the street from Calvary. And as we know from Season 1 of Greenleaf, Jacob is supposed to be running the center after it opens. Although the Greenleafs weren’t too happy with Joseph leaving Calvary for Triumph initially, they apparently got over it as Bishop, Grace, and Sofia show up for the groundbreaking. A concert is held on the site to celebrate the new center. Some slim, light-skinned gospel singer named Isaiah Hambrick has got Sofia in her feelings as she watches him perform. I guess I would have felt that way too at her age. He was spinning around on stage like he was Ricky Martin from Menudo. (Yes, I remember when…) After young Isaiah performs, Pastor Basie announces that a new community center will not be on the site after all. In fact, Triumph’s second location will be there, across the street from Calvary. Most importantly, Jacob will be the new pastor. Bishop and Grace stare at one another in disbelief! And then to demonstrate his Pastor Skanks’ increasing star power, The Kirk Franklin gets up and performs “123 Victory.” Victory, indeed…

Meanwhile, Mac, who is now on the sex offender registry as leaflets bearing his face and criminal status have been placed on car windshields in the church parking lot, approaches his sister Lady Mae. He tells her that in light of Bishop being investigated for arson and manslaughter, he is here for her. She says, “After what you did, we’ll never be family again.” Without hesitation, he replies “Until you need me.”

Across town, Mavis shows up at her old bar with her boy toy Alonzo, whose career she is ‘managing,’ in tow and demands a drink. But the bartender refuses to serve her as its clear she’s getting sloshed on the regular. In fact, Bishop shows up at the bar sometime later and helps her get home safely. She tells him she is trying to find her way after she lost her club. What happened to Alonzo? Bishop is obviously close to Mavis, but I don’t understand why. There is more there than being in-laws. Not a romantic connection mind you, but something…

Grace also finds out another reason the congregation aine coming off the coins anymore. Apparently, church members don’t like the fact that their choir director is married to another man and flaunting it around the church, according to Betty Wilcox, who is on the board. Grace also confronts her father about the allegations. “Did you do it Daddy?” Although he has been silent for three months about the accusations with everyone except for Lady Mae, he finally tells his daughter the truth. He tells her that when he was a young pastor, he bought an old church building that turned into a money pit. So when Mac asked him if he wanted Mac to handle it, he agreed. Obviously, Bishop wanted to get the insurance money after the building burned down. The caretaker Darryl James wasn’t supposed to be in the basement of the church and he died in the fire. And Bishop also tells Grace that he will return to church to preach on Sunday. “I don’t preach perfection. I preach grace.” I guess the Bishop must not know Romans 6:1-2. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?“

Kiss of Death…

Leave it to Lady Mae to save the day when God isn’t working fast enough for the Greenleafs! She goes to see her father who is in hospice care when she wouldn’t even allow the McCready patriarch onto Calvary grounds on Season 1 of Greenleaf! She puts on the charm like it’s her Sunday best and speaks sweetly to him. He tells her, “You always so sweet” and calls her his “yellow, Daisy Mae” before he plants his lips on hers. Yes, he kissed his daughter which makes me think that the McCready family may be keeping yet another secret. Did he molest Mae as a child? I’m thinking that may be the case when Mavis shows at the Greenleaf estate and busts into a party celebrating the birth of Charity and Kevin’s son. Apparently, she’s fighting mad since Alonzo has moved on after the Bishop had a talk with him. During her rant, she reveals that she and Mae have different mothers. Mae’s mother beat Mavis, and she was forced to sleep in a shed…kinda explains her current outside status…Also, Mavis says that Mae was their father’s favorite and accompanied him on trips to Nashville.

Despite the commotion in the Greenleaf estate, the Bishop is feeling pretty good after he learns that the DA is dropping the charges against him. Apparently, Lady Mae’s father is now refusing to testify against the Bishop.  But Lady Mae has another fire to put out as Jacob reveals that he is moving out.

Revelation…

After Bishop preaches on Sunday, Pastor Basie Skanks shows up in his office. “It must be nice going from straight from the prison to the pulpit without skipping a beat,” he tells him. Although Bishop doesn’t like Pastor per se, he doesn’t understand the pastor’s utter contempt for him until he reveals that he is the son of Darryl James, the caretaker who was killed in the fire!!! He tell him, “By the time I’m done with you, the only thing that’s going to rise to heaven from this church is smoke!”

Ooh whee! This is going to be good!

Below is a video about what we can expect in Season 2 of OWN’s “Greenleaf,” which airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST on OWN.

Let me know how you liked this Greenleaf recap in the comments, please and thank you 🙂

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Season 1 of OWN’s “Greenleaf” Will Be Available on Blu-ray & DVD on Dec. 6!

greenleaf season 1

Hello World,

Just in time to be an awesome Christmas gift (yes, it’s coming y’all), “Greenleaf” Season 1 arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD) and DVD (plus Digital) December 6 from Lionsgate! OWN’s biggest series launch in the network’s history, and this summer’s top new cable show, which is executive produced by Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler), and created by Emmy®-nominated writer/producer Craig Wright (TV’s “Lost” and “Six Feet Under”), follows one woman’s return home to her family – the leaders of a megachurch – and the revelation that they don’t always practice what they preach. “Greenleaf”stars Merle Dandridge (TV’s “The Night Shift”), Keith David (TV’s “Community”), Lynn Whitfield (TV’s “The Josephine Baker Story”), Kim Hawthorne (TV’s “Rake”), Lamman Rucker (TV’s “Meet the Browns”), Deborah Joy Winans (TV’s “Whitney”), and Desiree Ross (TV’s “Falling Skies”). The series is currently available on Digital HD.

“Greenleaf”centers on the journey of estranged daughter and disillusioned preacher Grace Greenleaf (Merle Dandridge), who has returned home after 20 years on the occasion of the mysterious death of her sister, Faith. As she reenters the world of Calvary Fellowship World Ministries, the Memphis megachurch run by her powerful parents Bishop James Greenleaf (Keith David) and Lady Mae Greenleaf (Lynn Whitfield), it becomes evident that things are not as virtuous as they seem…and that the family’s outward display of faith hides sin and misdeeds.

The home entertainment release of “Greenleaf” Season 1 includes two behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, and one-on-one conversations between Oprah Winfrey and executive producer/director Clement Virgo and actors Merle Dandridge, Keith David, Lynn Whitfield, and Regina King. “Greenleaf” Season 1 will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for the suggested retail price of $34.97 and $34.98, respectively.

BLU-RAY / DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
  • The Oprah Winfrey Conversations
  • Bloopers
  • “Creating Greenleaf” Featurette
  • “Greenleaf Musicians” Featurette

And below is a trailer about the Blu-ray  and DVD.

And if you missed my interview with Deborah Joy Winans, Charity on “Greenleaf,” and my Greenleaf recaps, check them out HERE & HERE!

Any thoughts?

 

 

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Greenleaf Season Finale Recap, Season 1 Episode 13: What Are You Doing Here?

BISHOP'S SECRETS ARE FINALLY REVEALED!

finale

Hello World,

And just like that OWN’s Greenleaf Season Finale is done! I enjoyed watching every episode of this first season, but I must admit this episode left me wanting more…but maybe that was the point…because I HAVE to know what happens with all of the story lines because clearly all of the story lines did not end with periods….there were more commas than anything…So let’s get into this Greenleaf Season Finale Recap, shall we?

Mac Attack…

Mac summons Bishop Greenleaf to see him in jail. If you can believe it, Mac asks the Bishop to be a character witness at his sentencing hearing! Yes, this unrepentant sinner has asked the father of the child he molested to support him as he is sentenced for what he did to her and other young women. Thankfully, Bishop tells him to go to hell despite Mac threatening to disclose whatever secret he has on Bishop. Apparently, Mac’s elderly father also knows the secret. (Thankfully, that secret at least was revealed by the end of the episode so read on!)

And since Mac is still locked up, he is longer available to be the “caretaker” of his father who shows up at Calvary from time to time when he needs cash from his son. Although Mac is in jail, that doesn’t mean that life on the outside has stopped so Mac’s father decides to hit up his granddaughter Grace for some money. He tells her, “You put my boy jail so you’ve got to take care of my @$$.” From the callous yet careful way they act around each other, it’s obvious they do not have the typical grandfather-granddaughter relationship. I wonder why Grace was kept away from him obviously…

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing…

True to his name Pastor Basie Skanks proves that he is sleazy when he brings Jacob to the site where he wants to build a $40 million Christian community center to include an indoor water park! The center is across the street from Calvary and is the site where Bishop wanted to build a community center and park. (Remember on episode 4 in which the Bishop ultimately rejected the Deputy Mayor’s offer to get the property in exchange for Bishop’s public support of the city’s police officers?) And not only does Skanks want to build the center across from Calvary, he also wants Jacob to run the center. When Jacob questions Skanks about his questionable motives, the pastor says the Lord wants him to do this and he is only a messenger…Wow…

This Woman’s Work…

At long last, Women’s Day has finally arrived! Lady Mae preaches on Proverbs 31:30. Lady Mae tells the women who are decked out in their Sunday best hats and flowery and flouncy dresses that while charm and beauty are weapons, fearing the Lord is the greatest strength a woman possesses. I want to know what First Ladies Lynn Whitfield, who plays Lady Mae, consulted because her First Lady mannerisms are flawless. She imparts Scripture like she is truly the helpmate of a man who has made his living in the Gospel. She explains that the Hebrew word for fear doesn’t mean “cowering” but rather it means awe! While rubbing her belly, she explains that Mary the mother of Jesus was filled with awe about how God’s plan to save the world came through a woman. Then she acknowledged that Calvary was at a crossroads and said that the only way forward for the church is in the footsteps of a virtuous woman!

Although Isabel left town as a virtuous woman, she gives her virtue up to Noah once she is reunited with him following the Women’s Day event that she attended. And that’s all that happened for the Isabel/Noah plus Grace story line. So this is at least one story line that will develop in Season 2!

Speaking of Grace, she meets with her father also following Women’s Day event. Last week, he donned a cream jogging suit and this week in his meeting with Grace, he was wearing another luxurious jogging suit, but this one one was orange. Maybe the orange means he is going to jail…Oops, did I reveal that…uh oh…keep reading! Clearly he is no longer angry at her because he asks her to be a preacher at Calvary. He says, “I know you because I know myself. I’m a preacher. You’re a preacher.” Guilt goes a long way…Although Grace was contemplating moving back to Arizona to be close to Sofia since she will be staying with her father in Phoenix for the summer, she realizes that she is needed more in Memphis…

The Master’s Calling…

Despite Jacob initially being threatened by Grace’s return to Calvary, he shows up to hear her preach. While there, Jacob tells Bishop about Basie’s plan. Rather than get angry, he seems unfazed and tells him that Basie is only trying to get back to him. He also says that Jacob can be his spy and even if the center is built, he will march around the center seven times and it will fall to the ground (Read Joshua 6 if you want to know more about this.). When Jacob questions his father about his motives with allowing Jacob to work for Basie, he says, “It’s not my plan. It’s the Lord’s plan.” Between Basie and the Bishop, I can’t…smh…

Although Charity is supposed to be on bed rest, she shows up at the service to sing her haunting rendition of “The Master’s Calling.” (Check out my interview with Charity aka Deborah Joy Winans HERE.) Although she beautifully delivers the song, you can feel her sadness as she looks to her husband Kevin singing the words, “I don’t walk to walk away from here.” Although Kevin is no longer on the couch and he suggests going to a gay conversion therapy program, it’s clear their marriage may not survive…

After Charity finishes, Grace strides up to the front of the church to do what she is called by the Master to do. She says she will be preaching on Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Yes, Lord….we all have…And rather than cover up the sins all over Calvary, Grace starts off by acknowledging the sins of her uncle followed by a moment of silence for his victims. Then she declares that after that moment of silence, no longer will anyone be silent about abuse. “The silence ends today!” Amen! “Are you ready for a new thing, Calvary?” she says to kick off her official sermon!

Following that scene, Lady Mae goes to see her sister Mavis who spares no words in saying that she was complicit in Mac’s cover up! Lady Mae goes off and calls her a “charmless whore” or was that “childless whore?” I like charmless considering her Women’s Day sermon…Lady Mae is nothing if not articulate, ain’t she? Earlier in the episode, Grace went to see her aunt who told her that she did not want her to end up being a preacher like her father and how he was a different person before he was called to be a preacher. (And being a preacher is not why Grace originally came to to town so she thought. And maybe that is why Grace really came or is here…see title…) Mavis believes that his decision to become a preacher is what led to the family becoming enslaved to being a First Family and all that it entailed i.e. Lady Mae allowing her daughter to be molested while she looked the other way. Lady Mae claims she didn’t know what was going on, but I don’t believe her. Do you?

Return of the Mac…

After Grace realizes that her grandfather is dying, she places him in a hospice. Her grandfather tells her that he would like to see his girls before he dies, but Grace tells him that she doesn’t think that is going to happen. However, she does point out that at least his son cared for him although he is in jail at the moment. Grace’s grandfather says that Mac didn’t care for him either, but only gave him “hush money.” When Grace asks why he was given hush money, he reveals that he knows that Grace’s father burned the First Baptist Church knowing that the caretaker was in the basement. The fire wasn’t an act of God like it was thought to be…Hmm….I wonder if Bishop plans to burn down Basie’s community center rather than march around it to make it come down…

The schism in the Greenleaf family continues when Ray shows up to collect his daughter as Grace and the rest of the family say their goodbyes from the stairs of the plantation-styled home where the Greenleaf family lives. As Ray speeds off with daughter with Grace standing there helplessly, Lady Mae says, “Now you know how I feel every day.” And we still don’t know why Lady Mae hates her daughter Grace. The only thing I can think of is that like Mavis, Grace will not protect the wealth of Calvary and the Greenleaf family at all costs…

And just when you think that is bad enough,  Mac returns to the Greenleaf estate in a police car with the sirens going. All that remain are Lady Mae at the door while Grace is at the bottom of the steps in the same spot she where she stood watching her daughter depart. Like the villain that he is, he walks by Grace, strides up his to his sister and kisses on her on the cheek (Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss no less) before going inside. Meanwhile, from an upstairs window, Bishops looks down at the scene and in his eyes, you can tell he knows the police are there for him…And the finale ends!!! I guess we will find out what happens when Greenleaf returns for Season 2!!!

Below is a video of some of the highlights from tonight’s episode!

So how did you like the Greenleaf Finale and my Greenleaf Season Finale recap? What questions do you still have? What are you looking forward to in Season 2?

Any thoughts?