‘Queen Sugar’ Recap: Charley Makes Things Harder for Ralph Angel + Davis Wants Full Custody

Ralph Angel asks Darla on a date.

RA and Blue drop by on Darla at her job, and RA asks her out on a date. She accepts and RA makes it clear that he wants to show her that he’s serious about their relationship.

Meanwhile, Nova stops by the local barbershop. She is soliciting for donations for the NOLA Community Bail Fund.

Once Nola leaves the barber show, she arrives to Aunt Vi’s house to check in on Micah who is still emotional from his encounter with the police.

She tries to ask Micah how he’s feeling but he is acting quite aloof.

“I don’t know what those police said to you or what they did, but we can talk about it. We can talk about anything.” – Nova

However, Micah just responds saying, “I’m fine. Really.”

Then, she runs into Charley who is on her way to her final divorce mediation with Davis. Charley is resistant to having Nova and Vi going with her and Micah, despite the pleas.

Ralph gets some troubling news.

Ralph Angel and Blue go to the store to buy soybeans. Since it’s late in the planting part of the season, he will have to spend a little bit more. Meanwhile Blue takes to the chicks at Mr. Cyrus’ store. Mr. Cyrus praises RA for the soybean idea and assures him he’s doing great with the farm.

However, when RA gets to the bank, he learns he will need Charley’s permission and signature to withdraw money. Apparently Charley requested the changes on the account, without consulting him.

Upset about Charley’s sneaky move, Ralph Angel heads over to see Aunt Vi at the restaurant. She tells him that although she’s not sure what’s going on between him and Charley, she needs him to be peaceful since Charley has her last divorce mediation.

RA then sees Remy, who tells him that it’s just business between him and Charley. RA tells Remy that he’s tired of going through Charley for farm money. Remy tells him to go get a micro-loan and assures him that being on probation won’t hurt his chances.

Ralph goes to apply for the micro-loan, however, he still needs Charley to get the loan approved since income verification via the employer is a requirement. This disappoints Ralph Angel.

Nova comes in to promote the fundraiser and a frustrated Ralph turns down her invite of participation.

Charley tries not to crumble under the weight of her divorce.

Charley and Davis are in their divorce mediation when he asks for a private moment with just her. The lawyers and arbitrator reluctantly agree and give them space.

Once alone, Davis begins telling Charley, “We built something incredible together, you know that? And we did it together.”

Clearly not here for the antics, Charley presses Davis to let her know what else he wants.

He responds that the property or other assets don’t matter, “ Well, here. Here you go, Charley.”

However, Micah is another story. Davis wants joint custody.

“I want to revisit the arrangement. I want joint custody.” – Davis

This causes the two of them to argue. Charley responds with a stern no, which Davis counters, “The reason I signed with the Stingers is so that I can spend more time with Micah.”

“You don’t need joint custody to spend time with your son. You simply need to make it a priority.” – Charley

“I don’t want to just see him. I want to raise him. After what happened with the police, its important that I’m in his life, his father. – Davis

“You ain’t s***, Davis. You know that? You’re the last thing Micah needs.” – Charley

When Davis tells Charley he talked about this with Micah and Micah is in support of joint custody, she yells, “You a d*** lie!”

After a brief pause, she gathers her thoughts and storms out of the mediation. She calls Micah when she gets to his school and realizes he’s not there. However, Micah is wandering around New Orleans for clarity about what happened, and needing space from school and Charley. He tells her he doesn’t feel like talking and he needs time to himself.

Charley breaks down crying when they hang up.

When she gets home, Charley tries to call her mom but she doesn’t pick up. She was hoping her mother could lift her spirits as she’s been able to do in the past.

Later, she goes to Remy’s housr. He reveals that it is the anniversary of his wife Shauna’s death. He breaks down crying telling Charley how she was killed in Afghanistan during an attack. This story seems to calm Charley down from the distress she had earlier from the mediation hearing.

She offers to leave but Remy wants her to stay. She stays put as they talk more.

Nova is not ready for anything serious with any man.

Back at the barbershop, Nova goes back to pickup the donations for the Bail fund. She runs into D, the barber who she selected to gather the donations. Although the can is full and she’s happy about that, she really isn’t all that responsive to D.

It turns out D and Nova had a fling and D is trying to convince Nova that they need to see more of each other. However, Nova is not biting.

“D’Andre, about the other night… what happened between us… Listen. It was cool, but, uh, its… Lets just leave it at that.” – Nova

D accepts the turn-down. He says, “Can’t blame a brother for trying, would you? All I’m saying is you can call me. Don’t matter what time of day, you hear me?”

Aunt Vi receives terrible news.

Later on, Aunt Vi runs into a spooked Roberta back at the restaurant. “Roberta, you look like you done seen a ghost.”

As Roberta stares her down, Vi responds, “What is it,” noticing the distress isn’t playful.

Roberta tells Vi that the oil rig Hollywood is on called the “Octa Oleum” had a serious explosion and is being evacuated. She then calls Hollywood but the call goes straight to voicemail. This spooks Vi and she immediately heads out to the place where the oil rig workers are picked up.

When she gets there, she sees Hollywood getting off the transport bus. He sees her too and they run into each others arms.

Micah finds comfort.

Micah is walking around New Orleans experiencing the city. He tries to catch the bus but doesn’t have the proper fare so he begins to walk around and during a montage, he sees various items around the neighborhood he is in.

As the day turns to night, Micah ends up walking towards Nova’s fund raiser for the Bail Fund. As the presenters and Nova speak, Micah seems to be really moved by the message. When Nova finishes her speech, she sees Micah. She goes towards him and they hug and embrace one another. They shed tears and Nova tells Micah that he can talk to her about his time in jail or anything else.

Ralph Angel and Darla bond during their date.

Darla and Blue are taken out by Ralph Angel to a restaurant. Darla mentions that the two haven’t been out on a date since before Blue’s birth. While they are trying to talk, Darla suddenly gets very stern with Blue at the table, who’s playing with his doll loudly. She says, “I don’t want him disturbing other people eating.”

This surprises RA who tells Blue, “this is new to you, huh?”

RA reminds Darla that going out on dates is new for all of them and there’s no need for her to feel uncomfortable.

Later on, their waiter comes over and ask them if they want dessert. The waiter sees Blue playing with his doll Kenya and tells Blue, “You know, you should get a Transformer. Those are really cool.” This angers RA who sternly orders dessert.

“We gonna get two ice cream sundaes, all the toppings y’all got. One for my son, and one for his doll.” – RA

When they are paying for dinner, Ralph Angel counts his money and places it on the table for the waiter. Darla checks out how much he left he waiter and sees he didn’t leave a tip. She then questions RA about it.  She says, “We have to leave him a little something. Show him we’re not on his level. Don’t you want to set an example for blue?”

RA is still hesitant on this, especially since he bought the two sundaes. “I wasn’t planning on this extra desserts but the waiter got me.” Darla shrugs it off and leaves the tip. RA tries to insist he’s taking them out and trying to do this right, she responds, “You are doing this right. Ralph Angel. You don’t have to play a role for me. We are so beyond that. Let’s just be us. Who we are, honest with each other.”

This puts a smile on Ralph Angel’s face and they leave happy.

What are your thoughts on the episode?