Queen Sugar Season 1 Episode 5 Review: By Any Chance
Christine Orlando
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The Bordelon clan struggled through Queen Sugar Season 1 Episode 5, as this epic family drama continued to test their resilience and their limits.
Nova and Calvin had the blowout we all knew was coming. Calvin felt used after sneaking Nova in to see Too Sweet while he was injured, but Nova stood her ground.
Calvin spoke of the men and women who are police officers whose families simply hope that they make it home at the end of the day. Nova shot back that every parent of a black child says that same prayer. Despite everyone’s differences, it seems we’re all just trying to survive.
I love you but you are such a hypocrite. You peddle drugs to people you claim to want to save.
Calvin
Whose to blame here? There’s plenty of it to go around. Nova’s not wrong. If finding ways to send more people to prison is a for-profit system, then that system is easily corrupted.
But Too Sweet did have drugs on him, and Nova’s the one who sold them. You can argue the semantics about weed, but if it’s illegal in the state of Louisiana, then he did break the law, and Nova facilitated that and made her own profit doing it.
I was a little surprised that neither Calvin nor Nova fought harder to save their relationship; not that I’m sorry it’s over. He’s married, and the three of them – Calvin’s wife included – deserve better.
The funniest moment, and Queen Sugar quotes, came when Violet accepted the joint from Nova after a horrible day at work and the three women talked sex and love, including how Nova had a girlfriend in college.
Nova: It's what's within, not the package.
Violet: I ain't gonna lie, I love Hollywood's package.
Oh Hollywood! Damn it, I knew he was too good to be true. I understand that he thinks he’s doing the right thing, but lying to the person you love is never right, and married is married, even if you say it’s just on paper.
Between her brother’s death, being humiliated in front of her friends by her manager, and losing her job, I don’t know how much more Violet can take. That woman is strong as steel but when this revelation comes out, it’s going to hurt like hell.
Elsewhere, Ralph Angel was caught between a rock and a hard place. When you’re down, there’s always someone happy to keep you there or even knock you a little deeper into the hole. The job that seemed so great has turned out to be a nightmare that could land Ralph Angel back in prison if he’s not careful.
Seems to me there’s an easy fix to this dilemma. If Charley has Ralph Angel work full time on the farm and cuts him a regular check, shouldn’t that placate his parole officer? I’m hoping that’s the solution that we get to soon because it could solve a lot of problems.
After Charley berated Ralph Angel for buying infected cane, I hope she now sees that he’s not the only one in over his head.
Sam Landry: All that fuss in California, most ladies couldn't get out of bed.
Charley: I'm not most ladies.
Charley is intelligent and resourceful, but she forgot something very important; she doesn’t know anything about farming in rural Louisiana. Even though she was smart enough to get help from Remy and Prospect, she ended up blowing off their advice and putting the family business into an ever bigger financial hole.
Thankfully, Remy appears to be not only level headed and quick thinking, but prone to forgiveness and second chances.
But the farm was far from Charley’s only concern.
Nothing moves papers and clicks more than a superstar being led out in cuffs. Davis is O.J. without the knife.
Estelle
Melina reminded Charley that just because she was a prostitute, that didn’t mean she couldn’t be raped. Taking this to court will be a media circus for everyone involved.
I wasn’t completely surprised when Melina called back asking for $3 million, but I can’t imagine that Davis’ attorney will allow him to admit to any wrongdoing if they’re paying out such a sum. So will Melina turn down the cash and take this to court, or accept the payday and move on? I just don’t know.
On the upside, Micah decided that getting out of L.A. and joining his mother in St. Josephine was the best idea. Let's face, it, Micah's a teenager, and as much as he loves his father, his real motivation for getting back home was his girlfriend.
Charley looked shocked but delighted when Micah agreed to the move. She hasn’t had much to smile about lately. Hopefully that will change.
Check back on Monday to see what our Queen Sugar round table team has to say and then next week for my review of Queen Sugar Season 1 Episode 6.
If you need to catch up, you can watch Queen Sugar online here at TV Fanatic.
C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.
