Star Season 1 Episode 6 Review: Infamous
Lee Jutton
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Over the course of one episode Star went from being the apple of Jahil's roving, dilated eye to someone he wanted out of the group as quickly as possible. Why the sudden change of heart towards the mirror image of his beloved Mary?
Well, on Star Season 1 Episode 6, Jahil was about to be offed by the traffickers he screwed over. But, Arlene saved the day by paying off his debts in the nick of time.
Arlene wants three things in return for bailing out Jahil. She wants a financial stake in the girl group he is managing, she wants to kick Star out of said group, and she wants Star as far away from her son as possible.
Jahil [on Star's role in the group]: They've got a performance tomorrow night.
Arlene: Good. Make it be her last. No, make her want it to be her last.
I don't blame Arlene for not trusting Star, though to be quite frank, I do blame her for bailing out Jahil. Jahil is nothing but trouble! Trouble that begs for money that disappears in the form of white powder up his nose!
If Arlene really wanted what was best for Hunter, she would not only keep him away from Star, she would also cut off all ties to Jahil. I don't care if he's Hunter's godfather. He's the worst.
Speaking of which: don't you think that the media would have picked up on the fact that this famous athlete's godfather is a burnt -out music manager and drug-addled trainwreck?
After all, this feels like it would be a sleazier story for the paparazzi to seize upon than Hunter's relationship with Star.
You're trending. Not our music.
Alex [to Star]
Star, of course, is too busy scrolling through story after story identifying her as Hunter's sex buddy and smugly informing the other girls how much it will raise the group's profile. However, as Alex rightly points out, it doesn't really raise the group's profile. Only hers.
Star went a step too far in this episode. Her impoverished upbringing is no longer a valid excuse for the way she throws others under the bus for the sake of success.
You and I have very different ideas of nothing. I've had to scratch and claw for everything I've got. So when someone hands me a credit card, that street bitch just comes out.
Star [to Hunter]
Now revealed as truly and utterly ruthless, Star went so far as to hijack the group's charity performance and made it all about her, even though Alex was supposed to sing lead.
I'm not sure why a narcissist like Star even wants to be in a group. She is clearly meant to be a solo singer for a cavalcade of reasons, the primary one being that she cannot abide sharing the spotlight with anyone.
It's also becoming clearer and clearer that despite her natural musical talent, Simone should not be seeking fame right now.
Between her one-on-ones with Pastor Harris and her contemplating joining a recovery group, it's clear Simone has her own priorities straight. It's too bad her sister doesn't see it that way.
Star needs to realize that despite sharing some of the same genes, she and Simone do not share all of the same dreams. She cannot and should not use Simone as a prop in her own quest for fame.
However, I take heart in the way that Simone has totally rejected her sister's selfish behavior. She loves her sister, but she's not allowing that love to blind her to Star's faults.
Will Alex and Simone end up teaming up and freezing out Star? That would be an turn of events that I wouldn't have predicted at the beginning of the season, but I think it's the only way Star could see sense.
Star adores Simone. Not as much as she adores herself, mind you, but close. If Simone abandons her again, so soon after their reunion, will it open Star's eyes to the damage she is doing with her attitude?
Why can't you put your ego on the shelf for a second and think about someone else for a change?
Simone [to Star]
I was totally underwhelmed by Alex as a character when the show first began, but with each episode I have definitely warmed up to her and cooled on Star.
Derek really does bring out Alex's best side. She is feeling less and less like a paragon of privilege and more like a well-rounded human.
With more shootings tearing apart their community, I imagine that Derek and his Black Lives Matter activities will start to play a bigger role in the show. I look forward to seeing how these protests affect Alex, both as a person and as an artist.
Race issues have been simmering beneath the surface of Star since the very beginning, but it appears that those tensions are close to boiling over. Not just in the wider Atlanta community, but within the group.
Just say it. You don't want me here when your holy crush walks in.
Cotton [to Carlotta]
That Star is white, Alex is black and Simone is biracial makes the girls a Pantone palette of skin tones perfect for marketing purposes, but it also leads to conflict.
Star will never understand certain things that Alex and Simone have experienced as women of color, just as Alex will never understand certain things that Star and Simone have experienced as foster kids.
The combination of these different perspectives can lead to great art, full of complex themes if approached with an open mind. Closed-mindedness can only result in misunderstanding and animosity.
Either way, the importance of intersectionality is definitely one of the redeeming qualities of a show that seems to dwindle deeper into the substantial shadow cast by Empire with each passing episode.
In one of the better subplots, Cotton and Carlotta continued to butt heads over Cotton being transgender. Carlotta eventually told Pastor Harris that the lovely daughter he had been so impressed with at dinner had actually been born a boy named Arnold.
Pastor Harris seems like an open-minded guy, but will that remain true now that he knows about Cotton?
Frankly, Cotton could care less. She met herself a mystery man in a bar, and all I want to know is what he whispered in her ear to win her over so quickly!
Simone: Pastor, you drink?
Pastor Harris: I'm allergic.
Cotton: You're allergic?
Pastor Harris: Yeah, I break out in handcuffs.
Amiyah Scott brings equal parts strength and sensitivity to the character of Cotton, making her by far the most likable one on the show. I only hope that this man is truly good for her and not trying to screw her over in some way.
Speaking of being screwed over: our friend Jahil overheard trafficking victim Eva belting out songs in the shower. Not only that, she can clearly speak more English that she initially let on.
So, did Eva show up at Jahil's house the night of the trafficking fiasco because she knew Jahil was a music manager and wanted him to help her launch a career? Seems likely.
One more thing: did you all know the group was called Big Trouble? All this time, I've been thinking of them as the group, not even thinking about their name.
But now that I think about it, obviously they must have mentioned the name of the group before this episode...right?
Anyways, not sure when I missed that, but Big Trouble is obviously the most ideal name possible for this group. Even though the girls are small in stature, they stir up so much trouble that they may as well be giants stomping their way across Atlanta.
Will Atlanta survive the havoc wreaked by Big Trouble? At the approximate halfway point of the season, that remains to be seen.
What did you think of "Infamous"? Do you think the rest of the salon will join Derek in Black Lives Matter following those tragic deaths? Are you as fed up with Star as Alex and Simone? Will the group be able to make it to the end of the contest in one piece?
Remember, you can watch Star online on TV Fanatic.
Lee Jutton was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She went into retirement in July of 2017. Follow her on Twitter.
