Star Season 1 Episode 10 Review: Boy Trouble
Lee Jutton
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Star might have forced Jahil's hand and made him choose her over Eva when it came to Big Trouble, but it turns out, that decision only led to even more trouble for the embattled group.
On Star Season 1 Episode 10, the girls learned that because Jahil signed them up for the next round of the Atlanta Next Fest competition as a foursome, they cannot go ahead and perform unless they find a fourth girl to join them.
So, they have little choice but to approach the girl that Jahil wanted to be their fourth in the first place, much to Star's chagrin: Eva.
Star is so desperate to make it to the next round of the competition that she reluctantly agrees to accept Eva into the group, as long as Eva doesn't attempt to have any creative control or input into Big Trouble.
However, this is easier said than done, as Eva is possibly an even more wily woman than Star.
Oh, here comes that little Latin girl that don't do nothing.
Miss Bruce [on Eva]
Eva manages to convince superstar producer Pumpkin (Missy Elliott, embracing her gourd alter ego once again) to give her the bridge vocal on their new song, and pushes Star over the edge when she repeatedly bumps into her while dancing.
In the end, the girls reconcile their differences long enough to perform, and are selected as one of five acts to proceed to the next round of the competition. But, naturally, their elation was short lived, eclipsed by more drama.
After the show, Simone overheard Jahil and Eva congratulating themselves on tricking the girls into thinking they needed Eva in order to perform.
Eva may be gorgeous and talented, with a sultry set of pipes that is only accentuated by her frequent interjections of Spanish into the group's song lyrics, but she's also an incredible scumbag, entirely the equal of Jahil.
Eva manages to succeed where few other characters possibly could and makes Star much more sympathetic by comparison. I was actively rooting for Star to rip out Eva's long shiny hair by the roots and use it to strangle her so she could never sing again.
I'm sure you're going to spend all night trying to convince her, Uncle Jahil.
Star [to Jahil]
We all know Star can be a pretty selfish person, especially where her dreams of musical stardom are concerned. But, even Star manages to occasionally put her ego aside, albeit for very brief moments, to be there for Simone, Alex and Cotton in their times of need.
Eva, on the other hand, seems to be entirely without a thought for anyone but herself. She must be incredibly hot in the sack with Jahil, because she has definitely cast a spell over him. Eva has more control over him than the cocaine at this point, which is no small feat!
Even though I hate both Eva and Jahil and am totally rooting for them to get a proper comeuppance at the hands of Star, I do appreciate that Jahil is basically a woman's puppet now. It is the fate he deserves, and one he has succumbed to over and over.
Powerful and ambitious women are all too capable of manipulating helpless, hapless Jahil. Arlene, Maggie and Eva have all had him wrapped around their little fingers for one reason or another. And of course, before them, he was obsessed with Mary.
But, in one of this relatively lackluster episode's more shocking moments, we also learned the depths of Jahil's relationship with Carlotta. Turns out, Jahil is Cotton's father.
Poor Cotton. She deserves so much better than all of the terrible people who surround her. If she had more support, she would probably be less likely to self-sabotage with drugs.
Star: Why are you laughing, Alex?
Alex: I've never been in a fight before!
As usual, Amiyah Scott and Queen Latifah brought the mother-daughter drama in a big way. Their scenes together are always so complicated and yet still so heartfelt.
Latifah is the show's standout performer; she truly sells Carlotta's conflicted feelings towards her son-turned-daughter and manages to make the audience simultaneously angry with her and sympathetic for her.
Turns out, having an Oscar nominee in your cast can go a long way towards adding some class to the proceedings! Not to mention, she can still throw down a verse like nobody's business.
Apart from these scenes, the main reason why I found this hour of Star to be relatively boring was that it was so predictable.
Of course Star and Eva were going to butt heads. Of course they were going to put their issues aside to perform. Of course they were going to make it to the next round of the competition.
And not only that, I found their climatic performance to be rather dull as well. Apart from the impressive four-part harmony that ended the song, it was a pretty forgettable tune, the kind you'd leave the dance floor during so that you could take your bathroom break.
I was also incredibly disappointed with their costumes, as so much of the styling on this show has been top notch so far.
From each individual character's street style to their coordinated ensembles for performances, taking in all of the fashion choices on Star has been one of my favorite parts of the show. That is, until tonight.
Clearly Cotton's drug problem is even worse than we all thought if she is sending these girls onstage in baggy, unflattering denim boiler suits over gold leotards. Who thought that was a good idea?
Based on that song and that look, I"m not sure how Big Trouble made it to the next round of the competition. But, it doesn't matter. All that matters right now is that Star gets her sweet revenge on Eva and Jahil for screwing her over.
I get it. Y'all are close. It's Norman Bates creepy, but I get it.
Star [to Hunter]
In other news, Hunter bought Star a house. Considering that he is a temperamental child who disrespects women, there is no way this won't turn out bad for Star despite the apparent generosity of the gesture.
Hunter accuses Star of taking advantage of him, but then he buys her a house. I imagine he'll now lord this over her and use it to make her feel guilty and beholden to him whenever he wants.
I'd like to think that Star wouldn't fall for that act, but this is a girl who has never had her own home, who has never had anyone do anything so seemingly nice for her before. I could very easily see that street-smart girl being blinded by this big house.
The episode ended with Alex and Derek in a big car crash. Once again, the cast of Star is going to be camping out in the hospital.
Personally, I think Derek and Alex's storyline has enough drama as is, what with the trial and timely political issues being discussed. Not sure why we needed a car crash on top of all that. It feels like an unnecessary distraction.
My first thought was that the car that smashed into them was driven by the cop seeking revenge after Derek went to the media about his past indiscretions. We'll see if that theory pans out, or if this was just a random accident.
We still don't know who killed Otis, even though at the beginning of this episode both Simone and Star had confessed to the crime and Carlotta was about to be arrested for it.
I'm just going to assume Jahil did it because he has no morals whatsoever. Killing Otis would be his one redeeming act in life.
Anyways, what did you think of "Boy Trouble"? Did you guess that Jahil and Eva lied to the girls about needing the group to be a foursome? How badly do you want to see Star get her vengeance on them? And will Carlotta and Cotton eventually reconcile?
Remember, you can watch Star online via TV Fanatic.
Lee Jutton was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. She went into retirement in July of 2017. Follow her on Twitter.
