If you all remember, we left off with Malachi getting hemmed up on the roof of his building in the middle of a smoke session.
This week we open up with Malachi really hemmed up. I mean, hands are tied, legs are tied, and duck tape over his mouth. I’m waiting for Huck and Quinn to enter the frame at any moment. It’s real out here.
Or so we thought.
It turns out it was just a weed-laced daydream. Perhaps another metaphor for his current reality.
We’ll get to that later.
It also turns out that I was dead wrong about who was snatching Malachi up. It wasn’t Ade or dreadhead Prius man, it was the good ole weed man playing around.
So clearly the weed man is high, too, because his explanation for being childish is because “he grew up without his dad.”
Whatever gets you through the day, bro.
They proceed to have a brief, high ass conversation about the lasting effects of absentee fathers. After which Malachi pays for his tree.
Now Malachi, didn’t your car just get “towed?” I think the last thing you need to be spending money on is bud. But that ain’t none of my business.
During a brief moment of silence between the two of them, Malachi flashes back to his daydream of being restrained by ropes and tape. He then turns to his weed man and says, “Ay man, you feel free?”
And there is where the metaphor comes full circle.
Restrained =/= Freedom
The weed man answers his question of feeling free with “sometimes.” Malachi goes, “So not always?” The weed man replies, “Sometimes. That means some. times.”
Can I just say, I LIVED for that Whitney Houston (RIP) reference. Kudos to the writers for that.
The next scene we see Stranger Danger Tinder Guy (I think his name is Lawrence) in the kitchen making eggs, where he and Malachi have an awkward exchange of “Wass up.”
Malachi immediately goes to Journee’s room. “Who is that man scrambling eggs in my kitchen.” Journee explains that it’s the guy from Tinder, and Malachi proceeds to give her the “Really, bitch? That’s what we doing now?” look.
Stranger Danger takes the eggs back to Journee’s room and they’re eating on her bed. Journee proceeds to give the typical, “I don’t usually do this” speech most people give after they smash after the first date. Normally, from my experience, it’s a bold-faced lie, but I don’t judge.
She goes on to say, “You touched something in me that hadn’t been touched in a really long time.” Which sounds vaguely dirty, but she claims she didn’t mean it in that way. But like a typical nigga, that how Stranger Danger took it.
Here is where the record scratches and the frame freezes for me. Stranger Danger goes, “I like you, and I’m willing to give you all of my energy if you’re willing to do the same in return.”
Look, I know I said I wasn’t judging before, but I definitely am now. Y’all Negros had one (ONE) date, and smashed one (ONE!) time, and already discussing giving each other your “all.” You don’t even know each other.
That’s the problem with dating these days. Everything is so rushed when it doesn’t need to be. Always putting the cart before the horse, as a friend of mine stated. You don’t even know homegirl’s last name. Like I said last week, we have a stage five clinger on our hands people.
Anyway, Journee walks Stranger Danger out and sits on the couch next to Malachi. She tells Malachi, “I knew within the first five minutes of talking to him I could love him.”
Girl, I doubt it.
Journee’s situation isn’t foreign to folks dealing with depression. Using sex and jumping in and out of relationships as a form of escapism ain’t nothing new, and I think that’s what we’re seeing with Journee. But I could be wrong.
There’s a knock at the door, Malachi peaks out the window and immediately jumps to the ground thinking it’s the landlord coming to collect rent. A rent they don’t have. Journee quickly joins him, but it turns out its only ASnack… I mean Ade.
Ade hands Journee a package, where we find that dreadhead Prius guy was a PI (I was wrong, again). He was taking pictures of Journee to prove that she’s an able-bodied worker.
Ade also has new fliers with him for a new class he’s going to be teaching. When he asked Malachi what he thought, Malachi replied that they were whack. Ade agrees and they laugh.
The next scene we see Malachi at the bus stop. With his car M.I.A, Journee taking her one night stand to the airport, and Ade at work, Malachi was forced to take the bus. At the bus stop, he meets a Super Saint.
Super Saints are the mega saved folks. You say, “Good morning” and they reply, “THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LAWD HAS MADE! I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!” Well, Ms. Lady at the bus stop was a Super Saint.
She started talking to Malachi about Jesus. Then she leans in and says, “If you get to know him they’ll stop.” Malachi is confused. She continues, “the dreams…they’ll stop.” Now Malachi is intrigued. He has a look on his face that reads, “How the hell does she know about my dream!?”
After learning his name, she tells him he needs to use the annoting on his tongue. Malachi is Hebrew for “God’s Messenger.” In the Bible, Malachi was a prophet and wrote the last book of the New Testament. This is conflicting, and probably troubling, for Malachi given that he has started to stray away from his Christian roots.
The next scene we see Journee and Stranger Danger on Facetime. They are laughing about the Women’s League episode of Martin, which is my all-time favorite Martin episode, btw! Journee is getting sleepy and instead of letting this girl go to sleep, he tells her to fall asleep together on Facetime.
I’m rolling my eyes real hard right now.
Either I’m heartless or that is the corniest thing I’ve ever seen. Not only corny, but it’s weird. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but something ain’t right with Stranger Danger.
We cut back to Malachi and Ade cooking and spending time together. Malachi asks Ade to grab his laptop and take a look inside. When Ade opens the laptop, he finds a brand new, much better flier for his dance classes that Malachi made for him. Which was so dope of Malachi.
Ade is excited and kind of at a loss for words. Malachi goes, “You don’t have to say nothing. You ma boy, I got you.” Ade gives Malachi a similar look he gave to Malachi while they were in the car in the previous episode. A cross between gratitude and “I think I love my best friend.”
I just want someone to look at me the way Ade looks at Malachi.
Hell, I want Ade to look at ME the way he looks at Malachi!
I loved this episode. I lived for all the cultural references. I really enjoy the dynamic between Malachi, Journee, and Ade. Friendship is so valuable, it’s nice to see it portrayed so genuinely by people that look like me.
I’m interested to see if Malachi will take the Super Saint’s advice. Although I have a feeling that this situation between Journee and Stranger Danger won’t end well, I’m interested to see what goes down between them. I wonder if Ade will ever tell Malachi how he feels about him because it’s clear his feeling for him have exceeded platonic ones. And I wonder how Malachi and Journee are going to get these coins for the rent.
Episode 4 drops today (Wednesday, February 15)!
Avery Ware 