Queen Sugar Season 2 Episode 7 Review: I Know My Soul
Christine Orlando
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I don’t believe that Ernest Bordelon had any idea of the damage he would do to his family when he wrote that letter changing his will.
Maybe that’s why he never filed it with his attorney and chose to keep it in an old lock box. Maybe he wanted to talk to his children about it first.
Maybe he knew the time wasn’t right.
But the right time never came, and now everyone had to deal with the fallout on Queen Sugar Season 2 Episode 7.
And that fallout had the siblings pointing fingers at one another.
Ralph Angel was quick to point out that his sisters weren’t around. Charley was off in Los Angeles, while Nova was working in New Orleans.
In their defense, isn’t that how life works? Grown children move off and begin their own lives.
The sisters wasted no time turning the tables on Ralph Angel who wasn’t there either. He was doing time in prison while their father took a secret job as a janitor to help care for Blue.
It made sense that Charley was the first to calm down and begin asking some real questions.
Charley: No disrespect, but how are you going to run the farm if I don't fund it?
Ralph Angel: I'll do what I got to do.
Charley: What's that mean?
Ralph Angel: I'll figure things out, just like Pop did.
Charley: Daddy never figured it all out.
Ralph Angel: Don't talk about Daddy like that.
Charley: I loved him just as much as you. I'm just dealing with what is, not with how I want things to be. I'm talking about specifics. Sooner or later you have to be in the real world.
Ralph Angel: I've been in the real world, Charley.
Charley: I didn't mean…
Ralph Angel: You ain't got to worry about how things are going to get done. I'll do what I need to do. I don't want to be asking you for nothing.
But they should worry. Ernest couldn’t make a go of the farm. He hadn’t worked it in two years.
When Ralph Angel swore he’d do what he had to do, it left me remembering how he thought he had to rob a convenience store to get cash to take care of Blue.
Ralph Angel loves his family fiercely, and his intentions are true, but his judgment has proven to be poor more often than not. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took over the farm and lost it all within a couple of years.
An example of his poor judgment would be his treatment of Darla.
Ralph Angel: When they couldn't stand to look at you, I was there. When they treated you like nothing, I stood by you. Why can't you do the same?
Darla: I'm right here.
Ralph Angel: Running off to the mill to help Charley is the same thing as taking her side.
Darla: It's my job.
Ralph Angel: Look, Charley and me, we ain't seeing eye to eye on this thing and I need you to stand by me, please. I ain't got nobody else but you, Darla. You can't go, Darla.
Darla: I can't go? Listen to yourself.
Ralph Angel: Listen to me.
Darla: I went to work for Charley because we needed money. We needed money because I lost my parking lot job, and I lost that job because I missed work to help scrape flies off of your cane. You can see this as betrayal but I see this as love. I would never do to you what you're doing to me right now. Never.
It astounds me that Ralph Angel can be so open minded when it comes to his son playing with dolls and yet sexist when it comes to his relationship with Darla.
It’s as though Darla's supposed to drop everything whenever he needs her and bow to his wishes just because he thinks she should.
I couldn’t have been prouder of Darla when she stood up to him or when she came back the next day to see Blue. No one has the right to keep her from seeing her son.
The truth was, Ernest's letter wasn’t just about the future of the family farm, but about how their father felt about each of them.
Nova felt she never lived up to her father’s expectations about her settling down and providing him with grandchildren. Perhaps that’s why she didn’t visit often.
Ralph Angel was angry that Nova ran to New Orleans the moment she turned of age. He felt like he lost his mother and his sister, but it’s obvious that Nova was dealing with the loss of their mother too, in her own way.
We also got a glimpse into Charley’s childhood as she got bounced between the two very different worlds of California and Louisiana.
Charley: When I would come down here for the summers, you were the one who made everything okay. I mean, I didn't even have my own room at Daddy's, but you kept one for me here. You always made sure that I felt like I belonged. I wasn't just Daddy's other daughter to you.
Vi: Never.
Charley: That meant a lot. This is the first home that I had here.
Vi: I know that. I remember that.
Charley: But since I got back it's all about Ralph Angel, all day, every day. And no matter what it is, we're just supposed to bend over backwards for him.
Vi: Because you help the people who need help.
Charley: I need help too. Ralph Angel went to prison because he did something to make that happen, but what did I do to deserve what I'm going through, and yet everyone thinks that I'm just…that I should just be okay. I want somebody to fight for me.
Vi: Baby, I'm sorry.
Charley's not completely wrong in her assessment. She and Nova are both the strong ones, so it’s expected that they will take care of themselves.
Ralph Angel is the baby and, to put it bluntly, the screw up, so he gets most of the attention.
But it was difficult not to have sympathy for all three of them.
I felt especially bad for Charley when Remy basically said her father was wrong to think so highly of her.
Yes, Charley can be calculating, but “controlling the narrative” of her divorce in the media was a smart move.
Charley and Davis' divorce will make news, whether they like it or not, and it’s better to get ahead of the story than let the press dictate it.
The one caveat I’ll give to Charley’s decision is that she should have consulted Davis about it first. It is his life too.
I thought Remy was too harsh, perhaps because he was smarting since Charley wouldn’t process Joe’s cane simply on Remy’s word.
I can see both sides there. Remy has certainly proven himself trustworthy, but Charley has millions invested in the mill. Wanting to make sure that everything is done properly isn’t a bad thing.
One of the many highlights of this installment was learning how Aunt Vi ended up with her house, but not the family farm. I always knew there was a story there; it was good to finally hear it.
Will the Bordelon siblings be able to realize that they are a much stronger force together than any of them are apart? Will they take Aunt Vi’s advice from this Queen Sugar quote…
Love always comes first and in the end, choosing the only thing that matters is what matters.
Let’s hope so because the future of the farm depends upon it.
Don’t miss out on next week’s mid-season finale, and 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.
