‘Greenleaf’ Recap: Mae Clashes with Tasha Skanks + Zora Makes Life Changing Decision with Isaiah

Mae finds out her granddaughters weren’t selected for the cotillion.

Grace and Mae are sitting at the table discussing Grace’s interview in the paper regarding Mac’s death. Sophia comes in telling them how she wasn’t selected for the St. Josephine’s debutante ball. Grace feels they didn’t select her because of the altercation she had with Mac.

James comes in to grab Grace for the meeting hosted by Basie Skanks. When they leave, Mae asks her maid Marisol to grab a wooden box in it, telling her to be careful. Marisol asks what is in the box, and Mae replies, “A gun.”

Kerissa and Zora are talking about the cotillion. Zora is disappointed that she didn’t get selected for cotillion. To make it up to Zora, Kerissa invites her to New York to see the play, “Hamilton.” Zora is shocked by this, mentioning she asked to see the play, but her mom said it was too expensive to go to New York. Kerissa reassures Zora that they can afford this.

Mae discovers who could be behind her granddaughters not being selected; Tasha Skanks

Mae meets with Jacinta, the president over the St. Josephine Society. She brings the gun as a gift for Jacinta, who happens to be a gun lover. As Mae grabs a yearbook of the year Charity joined, Jacinta tells her she regrets Mae not signing up Sophia or Zora. Mae scoffs at this and tells Jacinta that she sent in applications early. She then asks who the recording secretary is this year.

Jacinta tells them that Tasha Skanks is the recording secretary.

James and Grace arrive to the meeting for the Memphis Metropolitan Council of Churches at Triumph and are greeted by Jacob. Skanks arrived late and greets Jacob, then starts the meeting. Jacob speaks shortly after and announces that he and Kerissa founded the Real Church of Memphis.

Charity is working on material for Church. She is distracted by Kevin. However, she calls Carlton to stop by because she is struggling with her current task, and her assistant reminds her of how Carlton would get the choirs into shape for Sundays.

First Lady Mae confronts First Lady Tasha, but Tasha is ready for her.

Mae confronts Tasha Skanks about Sophia and Zora for their nomination packets going missing, but Tasha denies ever receiving them. Mae is adamant that she sent the email to her. She then tells Tasha that she talked to the president Jacinta, who told her that their names weren’t anywhere near the nomination list.

Tasha is still adamant about not receiving the emails, calling them “phantom emails,” to the dismay of Mae. Tasha then gets up and walks towards Mae, and gets a little feisty.

“First Lady, you come to my office and step to me…” – Tasha

Mae throws it right back at her.

“What about my granddaughters? What have they ever done to deserve this?” – Mae

Tasha is adamant about not having anything against Sophia or Zora. Mae replies, “But your husband does.”

“And don’t deny it. He has it out for me, my family, my son, my husband. He said so. So it’s no use in you lying about it.” – Mae

Tasha did admit that Basie does have a bone to pick with the Greenleafs and Calvary Church.

“But they’re good bones. They’re well-earned.” – Tasha

This really angers Mae, who then questions Tasha’s integrity.

“So you’re just gonna stand there and just lie in my face? Don’t you have any self-respect?” – Mae

At this point, Tasha is done with this conversation, and asks Mae to leave.

However, Mae doesn’t leave and asks, “Is that a Mickalene Casteel,” referring to the painting behind Tasha’s desk. Tasha says it is, and she only got it after seeing one in Mae’s home in her magazine feature. However, this doesn’t move Mae, who delivers a threat before she leaves.

“I’m gonna find those emails. And when I do, You’re gonna find yourself pinned like a butterfly to a display case of justice.” – Mae

Grace begins to find common ground with Pastor Skanks.

At the meeting, the Catholic priest is speaking about a child who tried to kill himself for being gay. This speech causes rumblings among the preachers at the meeting. Grace asks how the kid is doing, and the priest tells them that he is brain-dead due to fumes from a car. Pastor Skanks speaks next, telling everyone that they need to do something about this. Meanwhile, Grace and James share eye contact with Jacob, as the other members at the meeting seem to look uncomfortable with Basie’s call to action.

At the end of the meeting, Grace asks James and Jacob about how they feel about joining in with Skanks on shedding light on this story, and they both agree that they shouldn’t get their churches involve. However, Grace feels like there is something more they can do.

Carlton stops by the church, and expresses how he feels for Charity not having his back.

At the church, Carlton stops by to see Charity. He’s now teaching lessons part-time now. He then criticizes her for not having his back when he was fired. She responds by telling them that she was getting divorced.

She then tells Carlton that they divorced because Kevin is gay.

Carlton is surprised at all the news.

When they leave the Council of Churches meeting, Grace hugs Jacob and tells him that she’s proud of him. James then invites him and Kerissa over for dinner, and makes it clear that he was moved by Jacob’s speech at the meeting.

Mae meets Rochelle and learns about her relationship with Jacinta.

Mae is meeting with their secretary to look for the nomination emails she sent. The secretary is able to find the emails as she finds files opened from two years ago. Mae gets two copies printed for her, and she thanks Jesus.

Rochelle stopped by to bring James a baked pineapple upside-down cake. Mae walks in to James’ office and is surprised to see Rochelle sitting on his desk. Mae’s mood changes towards Rochelle, when James admits she baked the cake for him. James then asks if she got to the bottom of the cotillion situation.

Rochelle the says that Jacinta is a friend of hers and says she is willing to help in any way.

When Mae leaves, Rochelle asks if she did anything wrong. James tells her, “You were perfect.”

Grace meets with Basie to talk about doing more to help the LGBT community.

Grace calls Basie asking meet to talk about his call to action. When she asks if they can meet soon. He replies, “We can now.” – Basie

Grace gets over to Basie’s office and they talk about the call to action. Basie admits it wasn’t his idea to talk about that, but was moved by his partner in Christ, Miguel and the boy’s story.

“I know you know how it is. The Lord moves when he moves. We just do our best to follow at speed.” – Basie

Grace asks what he is going to do about the call to action, and Basie admits he doesn’t have a plan.

Basie goes into an elaborate speech of how he found God when he was younger. He says he had to learn how to make friends with people bigger than him to survive. He calls God, “The biggest friend he could find.”

Zora makes a big decision. 

Zora and Isaiah are hanging out and she’s disappointed for not getting selected by St. Josephine’s. Isaiah tells her he didn’t want her wearing a “poofy” dress anyway. They begin making out. She stops them from going further. She’s still a virgin and Isaiah persuades her to go all the way.

To end their meeting, Basie tells Grace that, “She’s the one with the vision.” He smiles as she walks out.

Isaiah is getting Zora undressed, when she stops them. She admits she is nervous about losing her virginity. She asks if he has everything needed, like protection, and Isaiah replies, “I got it. I got everything you need.”

She decides to go all the way with Isiah.

Charity and Carlton bond over Charity’s recent drama.

Charity then tells Carlton about Kevin leaving without telling her. She also tells him about the pain of losing her daughter. She spent so much time dealing with the divorce, their son and making music, she hasn’t had time to grieve the loss of their daughter.

“I feel she’s out there, like a kite. Just out there in the stars alone.” – Charity

Carlton consoles her as she cries. He lets her know that her daughter is always around and safe in heaven.

Mae confronts Tasha about the email, but learns she made a mistake.

Mae returns to Tasha’s office to confront her about the emails, using the copies as verifiable proof that Tasha purposely kept Sophia and Zora’s name of the nomination list. When she hands Tasha the copies, she examines them.

Tasha notices that the email Mae sent the applications is the wrong one. Mae’s jaw drops to the ground as Tasha tells her, “It’s supposed to be .org, not .com.” When Mae says she sent them ahead of the deadline, Tasha says, “Yeah, well, you sent it to somebody, not me.”

Tasha then gets petty.

“You know Dr. Butler’s a lot more peeved at you right now than I am right? I told her what you did posing all over my shag rug like some entitled white woman, and she apologized to me. Now… I may not be on the pages of Southern Decor yet, but I will be. And as for you, Mrs. Greenleaf, you will never be featured on there again.

Mae arrives to James’ office and tells him to invite Ms. Cross to dinner. James asks why and Mae tells him, “I need her help.”

Rochelle has dinner with the Greenleafs.

Later that night, Rochelle is at the dinner table with Grace, Jacob and Kerissa. They ask about her former church home and why she left. Rochelle tells them that she had breast cancer and she felt the reverend wasn’t there for her.

Mae says she won’t have to worry about that now. Rochelle then says does feel supported.

Charity is rocking her son, talking to him about his sister.

“You would’ve been her best, best friend.” – Charity

Zora tells Sophia about what she did with Isaiah. 

Meanwhile, Zora tells Sophia that Isaiah came over. Sophia gets mad about the fact that Zora is still in communication with Isiah, but Zora snaps at her quickly.

“Just because granddad put you in a tub of water doesn’t mean you know what’s best for me.” – Zora

Zora then tells her that she gave Isaiah her virginity.

The conversation gets intense at the dinner table about Pastor Skanks.

The conversation switches to Pastor Skanks. Rochelle tells them that although she was moved by Basie’s sermons, something seem off about him. James brings up how Grace became enamored by Basie’s speech about the boy who attempted a suicide attempt.

Grace explains that she was moved by his speech about using the church to fight against homophobia. Mae and James scoff at this notion.

Grace then apologizes to Rochelle for everything that had been discussed at the dinner table, while Mae makes it clear that she thinks Basie is just using the boy’s suicide attempt as a means to advance himself.

“Is that the donkey he’s gonna use to ride into Jerusalem now?” – Mae

A debate ensues over the church and homosexuality, and Grace almost brings up how Mae had Carlton fired over his sexual orientation. They also talked about Kevin divorcing Charity and leaving the church because of his sexuality.

Kerissa then brings up how it’s Grace’s fault Sophia and Zora weren’t picked for cotillion, due to the stigma surrounding Grace killing Mac.

Sophia FaceTimes her boyfriend and asks if he is still a virgin. He says yes, and she replies she is one too. When he asks why, she just says she is just curious.

James and Mae escort Rochelle out of the house. Mae apologizes to Rochelle for her behavior earlier at Calvary. She then asks Rochelle to speak to Jacinta about her granddaughters’ applications. Rochelle calls Jacinta a client that she can call “a true friend.” She promises to talk to Jacinta about the situation.

Mae is prepared to take on Rochelle and Charity shares an unexpected moment with Jabari. 

The next morning, Grace and Mae sit down for breakfast. Mae tells Grace that it wasn’t her fault Zora and Sophia didn’t make the cotillion. Mae also tells her that she sent the email to the wrong account. She also tells her that Rochelle will talk to Jacinta about the girls. Sophia runs in excited because she is got into the Catillion after the mix up occurred.

Mae smiles and hugs her, telling he that she’s very deserving.

Grace thanks Mae for having her back in everything. She also express concern about Rochelle, but Mae lets her know not to worry about her, for now.

“We’ll fight that fight when it comes.” – Mae

Mae then asks Marisol to take down all the paintings from Mickalene Casteel and send all of them to the gallery.

Charity is playing a new song to Jabari at the church in her office. At the end of the song, he tells her that it’s a hit and she kisses him. The episode ends with the two of them staring at each other confused about what just happened.

What are your thoughts on the episode?