Tag Archives: Phil DeMars

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 6: The Stranger…

Hello World,

Will Charity ever stop choosing the wrong man? That question and more will be answered in this Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 6: The Stranger…

Stranger Things…

It still strikes me as strange that after three seasons of functioning more as sworn enemies than mother and daughter, Lady Mae and Grace are kind to and understanding of one another this season. This is never more apparent than it is when Grace finally confesses to her mother that she has a son.

This week’s episode picks up after Grace’s confession. “Don’t you have anything to say?” says Grace. “I just told you that I have a grown son.” Had this been last season, Lady Mae would have probably accused Grace of trying to destroy the family and launched into one of her dramatic monologues. But this is a new day. At this point, Lady Mae only asks to see a picture of A.J. She follows up with asking Grace if she has prayed about the matter. She ends with, “So may I meet my new grandson?” Grace says she wants the family to meet him, but she is unsure of where he is as they recently argued. She also tells Lady Mae that her son has a prison record.

Just then, Charity walks into the kitchen and senses the tension. “What happened now?” she says. Lady Mae says, “This has to be kept in the family.” Charity says, “Who else would I tell?” We know that Phil DeMars is going to find out about all of this just as soon as she can leave the kitchen.

In the next scene, Grace calls A.J. again but has to leave a message. “I know you’re upset about the money. I told the family about you. They want to meet you. Tonight if possible.”

Later, Lady Mae and Bishop discuss the strange turn of events. “What has you so so transfixed?” Lady Mae asks Bishop. Bishop reflects on a conversation he had with Gigi 25 years ago. She had left home and called him from somewhere in Chicago. “She called, needing money. I thought she was obstinate, righteous and proud, but she was really pregnant, scared and lonely.”

Lady Mae wants to make things right with Grace and A.J. as well. “We need to graft him into the family and put him where the sun would do him some good.” I like that metaphor. (a plant metaphor for the Greenleafs)

At Calvary, Jacob walks up on Karine looking at a video of that strange fight that Jacob had with all of the Memphis Red Devils. She tells him he is now known as, “Pastor Holyfield.”  But he laughs it off despite the fact that the altercation cost him his job.

Strange Bedfellows…

As predicted, Charity runs to Phil DeMars to blab about Grace’s new son. “Stand up,” she tells him. Once he stands, she says, “You’re going to need to sit down. Grace has a secret son. She gave him up for adoption. She’s supposed to be the good one,” she says with glee. But Phil doesn’t immediately respond the way she had anticipated he would. “It’s not like she had an abortion,” Phil says. “He’s an ex-con and was in jail for five years for burglary,” she offers. “But that’s more about him than her,” says Phil in response. These two, not-so-strange bedfellows I’m afraid. They are just thirsty, I swear! She tells him that she hopes to meet A.J. that night as the family wants him to come over for dinner. Before she leaves to snoop for more dirt, Phil tells her that her hair looks nice. I must admit that it does. It is swept to one side and very curly.

Jacob sees Charity leave Phil’s office and asks, “Are you in trouble with Phil too?” Charity has to come up with a cover quick. “I called Judy Whitmore and told her we weren’t singing that song anymore.” “But I heard Carlton practicing that song with the choir,” Jacob says. Charity keeps it moving to keep from answering more questions.

Speaking of answering more questions, Grace realizes why she was unable to get in touch with A.J. for a while. “Hey, it’s A.J. I’ve been arrested,” he says once she answers the phone. She takes off for the Memphis police station. A.J. pleads with his mother to be his alibi. Apparently, he was arrested for a pharmacy robbery, but he wants Grace to say she was with him at his apartment the previous evening. He remembers that Aaron the attorney said that Grace was very kind, even to a stranger. “Pretend I’m a stranger. I can’t go back to jail.”

You can see that Grace is struggling with his request, but in the end, she decides to stick out her neck for her son for once. The police officer, who makes her sign a sworn statement, also makes sure that she knows that “lying to a police officer is a crime.”

Back at Calvary, Phil and Jacob finally meet regarding Jacob’s fight. “I was breaking up a fight,” Jacob explains. But y’all know Phil aine tryin’ to hear his explanation. Basically, Phil says it’s above him now as Bob saw the fight on television. Jacob wants to fight Phil, but he keeps it together although he is tempted to give him a taste of what Phil saw on television.  “You better leave before I do something I regret.” So Jacob is officially and completely unemployed.

Kerissa has a meeting as well. She meets with the buyer of their land. She confronts him about his connection to Harmony & Hope Ministries. In an effort to extort him for more money, she tells him that she will tell her husband about that connection. Kerissa wants out of the Greenleaf estate and NOW! “This check isn’t even half enough of what we need.” The buyer doesn’t seem all that fazed by her threat, but he does give her more money. He also tells her that she has to keep quiet now. But after the business is over, he makes a move on Kerissa! He tells her that her husband is only giving her “half of what you need. I would make sure that you were always taken care of.” Y’all know that got Kerissa excited, but she keeps her wits about herself for the time being. She tells him she may just take him up on his offer  but only”after the check clears.”

And Kerissa ain’t the only one who contemplates stepping outside of the marriage. In the next scene, Jacob holds his cell phone in his hand as he stares at the top contact: Tasha Skanks…(I think Tasha is a better match for Jacob actually. Yes, I’m saying this again…)

Hey Stranger…

But before Jacob can act on his thought, Kerissa walks into his office. “Hello Handsome, I was just thinking about you,” she says to him. She tells him that she managed to scrape up a few more dollars to put an offer on their dream home. They plan to go out to dinner to celebrate, but Lady Mae calls.

“I think you should come home.” She tells him that Grace has a son and he needs to meet him tonight. But Kerissa aine tryin’ to be second, even to Grace’s secret son, especially since Lady Mae delivered the news. “Can you put me first?” she asks. “Can you man up and be my husband for once.” She reminds him that he has lost several jobs lately and she hasn’t made a big deal of the sad situation. She has a point there. But Jacob has made up his mind. “Are you coming or not?” he says. “Does it look like I’m coming?” Kerissa responds bitterly. Well, Jacob’s rejection was the incentive she need to call the buyer back. “The check cleared,” she says.

At the Greenleaf estate, A.J. finally gets the opportunity to meet his family. “Welcome to the family,” Lady Mae says. (Did y’all catch when she asked to Marisol to put up all of the valuables before he arrived though? LOL) Lady Mae and Bishop agree that he’s a “perfect mix” of Grace and Noah. If you say so…”How would you like to meet your cousin?” Lady Mae asks. She explains that Zora lives in the “hippie bungalow.” (If Kerissa and Jacob ever move, will Zora willingly move with them? Hmmm…I wouldn’t…) She takes him to Zora’s spot and Zora is Zora after her grandmother leaves. “So A.J., you wanna get high?” He says, “I thought you were a Christian.” Zora comes back with, “I’m Christian, not crazy.” Smh…

Unfortunately, an uninvited person shows up at this overdue family reunion. A detective wants to see Grace. He tells her that he doubts what she said about A.J. and his alibi and accuses her of concocting the story with him. Apparently, security footage  at the police station shows Grace having a serious conversation with her son. Grace accuses the police officer of trying to pin something on her son.

But Lady Mae is not unconvinced that her grandson is not guilty of robbing the pharmacy. “Did you do it or not?” she asks A.J. after she tells Zora to make herself scarce.

“Could you please answer the question?” But before he can answer, Charity shows up with a baby blue balloon with the words “It’s a Boy” on it. This chick…

Lady Mae is only momentarily interrupted but gets back to her interrogation. “A.J., would you answer the question?” A.J. still says nothing. That sets Lady Mae off and she goes into one of her signature speeches. She says,”You’ve never met anyone more formidable than me. I’m a formidable adversary and I’m even more formidable as a friend…I’m more useful to you than riches.” Worried that the family’s last remaining connection to Calvary could be tarnished, she advises Grace to get right with God. “As a Christian and as a member of your church, I’m imploring you. You go down to that station and tell them the truth.” A.J., who still hasn’t answered any of Lady Mae’s questions, leaves.

As all of this was unfolding, Kerissa was with that buyer, a white gentleman. She complains to him about Jacob. “I found the house, I found the money. He can’t even tell his mom no for one night.” He takes her rant as an opportunity to comfort her. “What are you doing?” Kerissa says. “You know what I’m doing,” he says just before he kisses her. She collapses into his arms like the morals she claims to have…

Once she gets home, Jacob asks, “Where have you been?” Of course, she lies about her whereabouts. But Jacob doesn’t seem all that concerned at the moment. He was just waiting for her to come home to be with Winkie as he has to return to Calvary for some business.

Grace also leaves the estate to follow her son back to his apartment where she finds him packing. “Don’t you want a family after all this time? If you leave like this, they’re going to think you’re guilty.” Despite Grace trying dissuade him from leaving, A.J. doesn’t want to chance being locked up again. (Why didn’t he answer Lady Mae’s question?) She gives him her car keys. “Take good are of yourself,” she says. “You do the same,” he says before throwing the keys back to her. I didn’t expect that…(Did y’all see when he packed those pills in his bag? He did hit up that pharmacy…But maybe not for money…Maybe he’s sick…He could be on drugs but he wasn’t all that excited when his cousin tried to get him to get high with her..)

Now that Charity has more information on A.J., she rushes back over to Calvary where Phil is still working. She tells him that A.J. is a robbery suspect and that Grace offered herself as an alibi. “She’s lying.” Charity says. And she tells Phil that she has recorded Grace saying she’s lying. That bit of information gets Phil hot and bothered. They begin kissing as if she has told him the most romantic sweet nothings. Why can’t she see that Phil is using her?

Speaking of romance, for the first time since season 2, I think, we see Bishop and Lady Mae in bed together. They are just lounging, but it shows that they are getting closer. He tells her a story about a girl that he was told about before he met the girl. “You’re going to love her,” he was told. He said that stranger was more wonderful than he had ever imagined. “What’s to come is just like that girl. It may be better than you think.” Bishop tells Lady Mae that she was that stranger. He’s trying to get Lady Mae to continue to hope that they will get Calvary back although their situation continues to deteriorate.

Finally, at Calvary, as Jacob goes to his office, he hears a couple laughing together in Phil’s office. He peeks into the glass door and sees his sister Charity all up in Phil’s arms as they passionately kiss…Just a Judas…betraying her family with a kiss…Unless Charity gets some intense therapy, I think her men picker is just broken…Until next week, y’all…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 6: The Stranger… and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 5: Unwanted…

Hello World,

So y’all, this episode has been the BEST episode of Season 4 and let me explain why in this Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 5: Unwanted…

Everything She Wants…

This explosive and yet internally rich episode begins with the baby of the family Charity explaining to her baby Nathan why he will be seeing less of his mama. I will be preaching soon, she says to her son who has nothing to say (because he can’t talk yet!LOL) about her nonsensical statement. This poor chile (not Nathan her son) thinks that everything she wants she will get…Grace busts into Charity’s suite and breaks up the mother and son bonding time. She confronts her sister about leaving that reckless message on the voicemail of Noah and Isabel. “She kicked him out and now he’s moving in with his folks. You broke up a marriage.”

As Grace interrogates Charity, she tries to act her like phone call was innocent but when she is by herself, she knows that she has invited God’s judgment on her. She watches a television preacher preach, “Judge not that you not be judged…When you go messing with other people, you’re playing with fire.” We all know that what you sow, you shall reap. Charity has sown duplicity to serve her own goals so she shouldn’t be surprised when she reaps duplicity to serve someone else’s goals. (Phil DeMars, anyone?)

The newly named associate pastor Jacob starts off this episode with a noble cause unlike his baby sister. The first time we see him, he is sitting on his bed, praying that God will use him to serve the homeless in the city of Memphis. “Use me mightily on their behalf,” Jacob says. In other words, he wants what God wants and Charity wants what she wants without seeking God’s will.

Grace, Jacob and Charity’s mother’s, Lady Mae, who readily goes after what she wants and seeks what God wants (at least some of the time anyway), is searching through Bob Whitmore’s book. She tells Kerissa, “I’m looking through his book for clues about why he set up camp here.” After she explains what she is doing, she still feels Kerissa staring at her. She asks her what does she want. “I can feel a need stalking me from a mile away.” Kerissa asks if she and Jacob can take their furniture in their suit to furnish their new home. But Lady Mae denies her request, reminding her that the first time they left for the “flimsy parsonage,” they took furniture then. And then when they were run out of the parsonage, they left the furniture there for that “Nigerian to sell on Ebay.” She tells her daughter-in-law that this time the couple has to buy their own furniture. I’m with Lady Mae. This is not a newly married couple who needs a head start. It’s not Lady Mae’s fault that Basie, Tasha and Rochelle tricked them like they were toddlers playing Peekaboo. Jacob and Kerissa need to grow up, at least financially anyway…(And had they kept their land and sacrificed short-term gain for long-term wealth, they would be able to achieve this…)

Bishop is occupied as well. Bishop and his former assistant Karine are uploading all of his sermons onto a hard drive. Apparently, he’s doing research for a speaking engagement in Atlanta. “I can’t tell you how much I miss preaching.” As you may remember, Lady Mae doesn’t think Bishop should venture away from Calvary, even for one Sunday. “Nero did stay in town while Rome was burning,” she says.

Although Charity is pretty much a spoiled brat, after she’s had some time to think, she realizes her action was flat out wrong. What she wants isn’t worth what it costs. She unburdens herself by telling Carlton the choir director what happened with Noah and Isabel.  Carlton tells Charity, “Hell is for those folks who don’t want to turn to God.” Although Charity wants to do right, a part of her still wants to wrong. “I haven’t fully turned away from the sin that got me into this mess.”

Any Way You Want It…

Also at Calvary, Phil DeMars, with his shady self, walks up on Grace and tells her to take Jacob’s proposal for a homeless outreach program off of the board agenda. But Grace continues to let Phil know that he’s not the boss of her. After she gets him straight, she walks into her office where she finds her son! “Did anyone see you come in here?” she asks A.J. He assures her that his arrival was under the radar. While in her office, he takes the opportunity to gaze at photographs of his extended family including Bishop and Lady Mae. “They look like good people.” Grace gets a bit nervous, probably thinking about the fact that A.J. is closer than ever to meeting them. But A.J. reassures her. “I’m not here to blow up your spot.”

He then pivots to the reason for his risky visit. “Are you going to give me money or not, and it’s not like you don’t have it.” See…So I know this kid wasn’t exactly raised, but he needs some on-the-spot home training. What you are not gonna do is talk to me like we are on the same level. Although she abandoned him, she was the one who brought him into this world. At least, he can speak to her in a respectful tone. And then when Grace asks him about how his job search is going and offers to get him a job, he says, “I’m not a d**** charity case.” Grace wants to have a relationship with her son finally, but I’m sure this is not the way she wants it to be.

But before A.J. can continue hitting up his mother like she’s his personal ATM machine, Phil busts in on the meeting. He senses he has interrupted something important but asks about the whereabouts of Karine. Grace tells him that she is with Bishop. “Oh, she’s taking a sick day,” Phil says after noting that Bishop doesn’t work for Calvary anymore. But Grace tells him Karine is on the clock and her meeting with Bishop is really helping Grace. When it comes to Phil, Grace is determined to have it any way she wants it.  After Phil leaves, A.J. gets up to walk out the way he comes in, but Grace directs him to a different door. She explains this it is the door that is used in case of a fire. A.J. says, “I guess I’m fire.”

Speaking of fire, Nicki, the girlfriend of Memphis Red Devils’ b-ball star Dante Saunders, calls up Zora to invite her to a “super lit” soire (party) at Dante’s house. Y’all know Zora is ’bout that life.

Following Grace’s meeting with A.J., she meets with her attorney and half-brother Aaron. He explains that with the help of Grace’s inheritance from their father, Bishop’s IRS bill has been paid in full. “The worst is behind you,” he says. Not so counselor, from where I’m sitting. Grace must agree with me because she asks her brother if he could employ a young man at the church. She explains that “he’s got a record” and “needs a routine.” Aaron agrees to do so and asks Grace to send the young man to his office later that day.

While Grace is still keeping her secret a secret, Charity realizes she is not willing to get to Grace’s secret on behalf of Phil DeMars. “Phil, I can’t do this anymore.” She explains that her phone call to Noah’s house led to his wife’s decision to kick him out of their home. “I wan’t to be AP,” she says,”but I don’t want to mess up people’s lives to get there.” Phil DeMars tries to convince her to continue spying for him. “Uncovering evil is not evil,” he says. But Charity says, “If a thing doesn’t want to be seen, I’m not going to lift up a rock. I’m not like you.” (That almost sounds like a Lady Mae line, right?)  Thank God Charity is coming to her senses!

I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party…

Lady Mae and Bishop always find a way spoil the party and have discord. “Give them the furniture,” Bishop says to his ex-wife. “Bless them as they leave.” Lady Mae says that she wants her son in her house, but she does have a way to make a deal. “Don’t go to Atlanta.” “Quid pro quo,” Bishop states. (Where have a heard that term lately?) “I’ve already told Desiree yes,” he says. She responds with, “I’ve already told Kerissa no.” Lady Mae says, “The fire of loyalty to the Greenleaf name is dying and it needs tending.”

Grace’s fire a.k.a. A.J. shows up at his Uncle Aaron’s office. Once the two introduce their selves to one another, as much as they can anyway with Aaron not knowing that he is meeting his nephew, A.J. lauds the virtues of his half-sister. He calls her the “real deal,” recounts how she has been known to give the shoes off of her feet to strangers and explains how she feels life more deeply than others. He finishes his praise with, “She’s special.” A.J. doesn’t know what to say so he asks about the location of the bathroom. As they say, when you have nothing good to say, say nothing. Aaron was having a praise Grace party and A.J. didn’t want to spoil it.

Phil DeMars doesn’t want to spoil his personal connection to the Greenleaf estate. So he approaches Charity again. She promptly tells, “Get behind me Satan.” LOL

But Phil is persistent, telling her that she really doesn’t know the real him. He invites her to dinner for her to get to know him better. Oh Charity. If a man is asking you to turn on your own family, then no amount of getting to know him is gonna make him a good dude.

Back at the Greenleaf estate, Bishop and Lady Mae are still at it. She tells him that Bob Whitmore invited her to speak at the National Women’s Gathering for the Harmony & Hope churches to be held in D.C. But she politely declined the invitation in order to maintain her “presence” at Calvary. She hopes that Bishop will realize that he needs to follow suit. But Bishop is an Alpha male to her Alpha female. “Do you know what it feels like to be ignored and unwanted?” he says. “You’ve never been unwanted ever. All I want is one more Sunday.” Not being in the pulpit is starting to get to Bishop. Lady Mae reveals that when Bishop was following behind Lady Mae’s sister Mavis and Rochelle Cross, that made her feel ignored and unwanted. “I want to be respected and heard,” she says. “I think you mean obeyed,” says Bishop. “I haven’t once mentioned Lionel and how that made me feel.” Lady Mae spits out, “If it’s that important to you, go to Atlanta.”

Phil DeMars wants Charity to feel like he wants her. At dinner, he explains that he ghostwrites all of Bob Whitmore’s sermons and books. “I”m Bob Whitmore.” He also says how he would like to be the pastor of Calvary as it is the only black in the Harmony & Hope churches. (There’s your clue, Lady Mae.) She starts to feel like they have something in common as he has been forced to be in the background although their gifts have made the church shine, much like Charity I will admit…

Although Jacob isn’t exactly wanted at Calvary, he does work there. He presents his proposal to help the homeless in front of the board. His presentation actually goes over well, but an emergency call from Zora causes him to rush out of the meeting like his pants are on fire. Zora warns him that Dante, whom Jacob is supposed to be supervising, is having a wild party at his house and it’s getting out of control. Dante is threatening to burn the confederate flag and when a white team member bucks on Dante, a blaze of a fight is ignited. Jacob tries to stop the fight even as partygoers document the mess on their cell phones.

I Want To Be Loved…

When Grace hears that A.J. blew off the interview with Aaron by excusing himself to go to the bathroom and never coming back, she confronts him about it. A.J. explains how Aaron’s praise of Grace made him uncomfortable given how he was treated by Grace. “He thinks you’re so good.” A.J. explains that because she thinks she is good, she cannot be trusted. Given the fact that he was shuttled from foster home to foster home and obviously endured abusive conditions all because his mother chose not to raise him, he knows that Grace is not what she and others think she is. “It’s the ones who think they’re good that you have to worry about.” Finally, he says, “Grace we’re done.” And then he takes it a step further. “And the next person who asks me who I am, I’m telling them.”

Back at the Greenleaf estate, now that Bishop’s sermons have been stored on a hard drive, he watches one of his old sermons in which he is reminded of a message that he preached. The message that he preached actually spoke back to him. “God is longing to sit with you and talk it all out…When you’re life is too hard, we’ve got to have a talk with God.”

Two people that are having a tough time talking in this episode are Lady Mae and Kerissa. Before she can plead her case again, Lady Mae criticizes her daughter-in-law for enlisting Bishop in her request to take the furniture with the family when they leave. And since Kerissa is leaving, she decides to let Lady Mae have it in her own bedroom no less. She tells her that “no one has ever hurt me the way you hurt me.” She explains that the reason that she sought the approval of Lady Mae was that her own mother was always in a competition with her. (But Kerissa always seems like she is competing against all of the Greenleaf women, right? Name one woman that she truly gets along with…I am glad that we’re getting some backstory on Kerissa though…) She blames Lady Mae for everything and calls Lady Mae an “old rusted jalopy with a corpse in the trunk.” Wow! If this is her way of getting the love she wants, this is not the way to do it. Obviously Lady Mae agrees with me because she slaps her daughter in a way that reminds me of those old-time night soap operas like “Dynasty.” Those slaps reverberated like gun shots fired!

Bishop walks in on them and for some reason believes the two have made peace?! But Lady Mae does say, “We’ve come to an understanding.” After Kerissa leaves, he tells her that he is not going to Atlanta after all. “God is trying to get me to slow down and see myself, see Him.” I guess this is what God told him once he decided to speak with God about his dilemmas – missing preaching and regaining control of Calvary the right way. You can’t escape your pain. You have to face it, Bishop…

Kerissa is gonna need to talk with Jesus now. Jacob comes home and tells her what happened with Dante. As a result, he has lost his job with the Memphis Red Devils. “You’re going to have to wait on that house.” Bwaaaahaaa…As crazy as that moment is, it’s not THE moment of the episode. That happens next.

The next morning, Grace walks in on her mother, who is studying Hebrews in the kitchen in preparation for her Bible study with Zora. She tells Grace that the book “mystifies her.” Grace explains that she is little mystified herself and needs her help with something. Lady Mae says, “What is it?” Grace replies, “My son.”

And scene…A mic drop moment for reals…What we gon do? What we gon do? When Lady Mae gets involved, the drama will be on 10…And from the preview, I can tell that even a newfound grandson is not gonna stop Lady Mae from reaching her destiny…You reach for Lady Mae, you will be left looking at a nub…convict or not…A.J. thinks he wants to be loved but not like this…

So the reason I LOVED this episode and think it’s the best one so far this season is that we finally got to see into Kerissa after three seasons of not knowing anything about her background, we got to see a good old-fashioned soap opera slap between two divas and we got to see Lady Mae realize that Grace is her daughter in more ways than one…What say you?

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 5: Unwanted… and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

Any thoughts?

 

 

Posted on

Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 1: Original Sin…

Hello World,

The wait for the return of OWN’s “Greenleaf” is OVER!!! So I won’t make you wait to get this Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 1: Original Sin …

O.G. Original Gangster

Like the original gangster that he is, Bob Whitmore is front and center on the stage between his henchman Phil DeMars and Grace as Calvary’s praise and worship (led by a woman who is not Charity) ushers in Sunday morning service. Once the praise and worship is complete, Bob strides up to the podium and says, “Good Morning Calvary.” He delivers his cheery greeting with all of the sincerity of a snake. “Wasn’t that a wonderful performance? So much energy.” He then proceeds to compliment the congregation on all of the “beautiful hats” he sees in the church. First of all, praise and worship is not a performance. It’s praise to and worship of the Lord. And secondly, he sounds like an original neophyte instead of an O.G. making a comment about church hats. A hat in a church is almost as common as a Bible in a church.

Whitmore goes on with his speech over a podium where the Harmony & Hope moniker is now clearly displayed. “Welcome to the family,” he says before introducing Phil, who is the southeast conference leader of the church stealing conglomerate.  He also said that he was so glad that Deaconness Connie Sykes approached him about taking over Calvary as he had been eyeing the church from afar. He recalls that he said, “I’d like to get in on that.”

Looking on from the audience, Bishop tells Lady Mae that what Bob really meant to say is that he would like to “get in on that money.” It’s so disconcerting to see all of the Greenleafs except Grace in the audience rather than on stage as they were before. And even Grace is not getting her respect as Bob whispers to Grace to keep her sermon short after he introduces her as the interim pastor.  Once the service is over, the Greenleafs critique the service as well as the overall feel of the church now that they are simply parishioners rather in the pulpit. Bishop says he feels like a “ghost moving unseen in a house that I built” while Lady Mae says Grace’s sermon was “concise.” But Grace reminds her parents that they must remain cool if they are to reclaim their church.

Lady Mae agrees but then she approaches Bob anyway. She tells Bob that her daughter’s sermon was more like a “minister’s minute.” When Bob says something to the effect that time is money, she points that “money shouldn’t be a metric when measuring things of the spirit.” Bob points out that a shorter service would pave the way for a third service and that congregants want to know what to expect when coming to a Harmony & Hope church service similarly to a McDonald’s. (I guess this episode was shot before the Chick-fil-A/Popeye’s war teehee.) And then Lady Mae delivers one of her zingers. “There are two things that human beings do together that are best done when done slowly and preaching is one of them.” LOL. I will let you guess the other thing…

Grace meets with Phil to discuss hiring Jacob and Charity as associate pastors. But Phil shuts her down by reminding her about what happened at Triumph although Basie Skanks framed Jacob and what happened with Charity being nearly accused of kidnapping her child. She tells him that they don’t have to be officially associate pastors. They can even be called assistants, but Phil says, “It’s never going to happen.”

You’re An Original…

Although Bob is at Bishop’s desk when Bishop charges into his vacated office, it’s clear that there will never be another like Bishop. In his walk and talk and overall presence, he’s got the ingredients of a beloved shepherd. Bob is just fooling himself if he thinks he is going to erase Bishop’s legacy and steal the flock for himself. Bishop tells Bob that he knows what the man is up to and his reputation has preceded him. Apparently, a pastor friend of his, Mike Evans, who was the shepherd over Jericho Faith Fellowship, was pushed out of his own church due to Harmony & Hope Ministries. The organization hired a private investigator to drum up some dirt on him and discovered that Pastor Mike got addicted to painkillers after injuring himself while helping Katrina survivors. Bob and his gang shared that intel with Jericho’s board and Pastor Mike was pushed out. Harmony & Hope brought down the wall around Jericho and took it over as a result.

Bishop says, “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I’m going to find out.” He then tells Bob that his “magic carpet of a denomination is going to dissolve like smoke” when he’s through with him. Yaaas, Bishop! Tell him! “Your days are numbered,” are Bishop’s final benediction. Bob says he hopes the Lord releases him from the “spirit of resentment.” And then he really sticks it to him by telling Bishop that he met Bishop’s ex-wife. “She’s a spitfire! How did you let her get away?” I guess that was Bob’s way of saying that if he let his beloved wife get away and then it’s no wonder that his church is being stolen from him. That’s alright, Bishop. You made some mistakes, but you can make up for those mistakes. That’s what repentance is all about.

Speaking of mistakes, since it was revealed last season that Lady Mae’s indiscretion resulted in the birth of Grace, Aaron is as much her brother as Jacob is. And so he calls his big sister and for the first time, she refers to him as her “little brother.” Was I the only one who was a little “weirded out” by their conversation? I know they are related, but I still only see Jacob as her only brother.

Original Prankster…

Zora Greenleaf, our favorite juvenile delinquent, has moved along with her parents back to the Greenleaf home on the estate. But her little brother, who is finally growing up a little, is annoying her as he is always passing gas. She tells her parents that she is a “grown-a$$ woman” and she should be allowed to move into Noah’s old cabin for the sake of her sense of smell and overall sanity. This woman-child is beyond bold. I mean the girl caused her parents to go through hell last season and now she wants to rewarded with her own place rent-free?! I think she should be forced to sleep with her stinky brother.

And speaking of things that stink…When Jacob gets a voicemail from a Dora Saunders, Kerissa is paranoid that Dora is really Tasha Skanks. “How come I’ve never met her?” Kerissa asks Jacob. She wonders aloud if Basie, Tasha and Rochelle, three pranksters for real, are still conspiring to further damage Jacob and Kerissa. She says to Jacob, “Don’t call back.”

Meanwhile back at Calvary, the two new pranksters of Season 4, Bob and Phil, discuss their plan to completely conquer Calvary. Bob is concerned that although the Greenleafs seem to be reasonably compliant, they are likely concocting a scheme as they speak. And Bob is right. Back at the estate, at the family dining room table, Grace reveals to her family that her request to get Jacob and Charity put on as associate pastors has resulted in “dookie” in Charity’s words. (I think she’s still dranking…and she’s  not the only one as you will find out later…)

And Kerissa goes on to say that the Greenleafs have been on a “swift slide down” ever since the prodigal daughter Grace returned. She tells her in-laws that they can “side eye me all you want.” And furthermore, she tells that the family that she is not at all happy that she is living under the Greenleaf roof again before she stomps out of the room. Bishop says to Jacob, “You need to handle your business and keep her out of the wine.”

And then top all of that off, Charity screeches that she should be an associate pastor before she also stomps out of the room like the petulant last child that she is. Lady Mae says, “The sins and stupidity that this poor table has seen. I’m surprised it doesn’t just crash to the floor.” You’ve got to love Lady Mae and her language! Once the room has cleared, Lady Mae goes to Grace. She tells her daughter that she did nothing wrong. Wow! I hope Grace burns her mother’s words in her memory because she may never hear those words slip from mother’s lips ever again.

Grace wants to tell Jacob and Charity that she is really their half-sister, but Lady Mae says, “We will tell them once we have won our church back.” I agree. Right now, their efforts need to be laser-focused and if they find out that Grace is their mother’s love child, they family would be splintered, in more ways than one, in their efforts. She then tells her daughter that she should not ask that her brother and sister be hired. She should tell them they will. And she kisses Grace on the cheek!!!

Per usual, Jacob defies his wife’s instruction and calls Dora Saunders back. Apparently, her son plays NBA basketball for the Memphis Red Devils and needs a spiritual adviser and or life coach. The team’s name alone should get Jacob running not walking in the opposite direction, but the man is without a job so the devil’s offer beckons him.

Later on that evening, Bishop, with his sly self, sees Lady Mae slip off her clothes to reveal lingerie. It’s been all last season since those two became one so to speak and Bishop wants to move back into their bedroom. “When do you see me moving back in here?” Lady Mae replies, “When we’re in love.” Bishop is surprised that Lady Mae didn’t just fall back in love with him and asks her if flowers and a ring will do the trick. Lady Mae levels with him. “You are courting a woman who has had everything. You will have to sweep me off my feet…in ways that I can’t even imagine.” Wow. Although the Greenleafs have to win their church back, Bishop has to win Lady Mae back too.

And even later that evening, in the middle of the night actually, Grace gets a call from some inmate…Is this a prank call?

Get Original…

You must know that Lady Mae is an original. When you think you are getting something that you want from her, you realize that she will always get what she wants first and foremost. She allows Zora to live in Noah’s abandoned cabin. (Remember Noah from Season 1? He was Grace’s original love.) But in exchange for her more free living arrangements, she will resume meeting with her grandmother for their early morning Bible study sessions.  Speaking of Noah, he calls Grace and asks her to call him back per her voicemail…Hmmm…

Charity decides to come up with an original plan to regain Calvary. She, by her lonesome, meets with Phil. She tells him she is better than Grace. Phil picks up on Charity’s frustration and asks her to be his “eyes and ears” among the Greenleafs in exchange for a position.

Speaking of a position, Jacob meets with a member of the Memphis Red Devils management team. He is told he is more likely to get the job as a spiritual adviser and or life coach if he is already on staff at a church, especially after what happened at Triumph. Unlike Charity, he still believes that his sister is working on his behalf to secure a position at Calvary. And Grace is. She tells Bob that she is willing to walk away from Calvary if he doesn’t hire her brother and sister. Bob tells her that he has been following her since her days as a television reporter in Arizona. Uh-oh. You know this means that Bob has dirt on her just like he did on Bishop’s friend Pastor Mike. He tells Grace that “putting family first is a mistake” although he does agree to bring on Jacob as an associate pastor.

Now that Grace has secured Jacob’s position at Calvary, his position as the spiritual adviser and or life coach for Dante Saunders of the Memphis Red Devils is set and Zora tells her cousin that she wants to be Daunte’s love coach. Sophia points out that Zora is always falling for the bad boy. Apparently, this dude drove over a Confederate statue or something while drunk.

But Charity is not satisfied that at least her brother was hired as an associate pastor. When she hears the news, she calls Phil and tells him, “I’m in.”

Grace has more to worry about than her spying little sister though. Noah calls her again and finally reaches her. He says, “Why haven’t you called me back? An inmate from Arizona called me and he says he’s our son!” Well, close my Bible and call Grace a sinner. Lady Mae isn’t the only one with a love child. What we thought was an original sin in the Greenleaf family is actually a legacy sin. Like mother, like daughter…Wow…More will be revealed I’m sure.

In the voice of the incomparable Bishop T.D. Jakes, “Get ready, Get ready, Get ready.” In fact, Saints, cash app me your tithe because I’m about to put in work this Season 4 I can already tell…LOL…

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 1: Original Sin 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?