Mae gets inspired by her friend Maxine.
The episode begins with Mae at Maxine Patterson’s church. Maxine Patterson’s church is a mega church similar to Calvary. Mae’s waiting outside Maxine’s office when Maxine’s assistant escorts her into the office.
Maxine, played by Patti LeBelle, hugs her like they never skipped a beat. Mae explains that she’s divorcing James, expressing regret for not heading to Howard.
She wants to finally follow the goal and start her own church. However, Maxine’s says she has Calvary already.
“You stay, fix it up, take over, Mae. It’s yours.” – Maxine
James has big plans for their annual Roundtable dinner.
Mae eventually returns to her estate from Maxine’s church in Atlanta. She’s preparing for an event in her home, she thought about canceling. Mae presents a gift of Maxine’s book to Corrine. Those thoughts fire up when she comes across a large photo of her and James hanging on the wall.
Mae gets thrown for a loop when Jacob and the rest of the family were invited by James. Speaking of James, Mae runs into him in the master suite. He reminds her they still don’t have the check from Clara yet, so they need to keep their facade up.
Meanwhile, Jacob and Kerissa are taking the kids to the event. Jacob’s against Kerissa’s idea of sending Zora to a boot camp in Oregon.
Grace has Darius escorting her and Sophia to the event.
Kevin’s panicking about Charity still having their son. He wants to call the police, but Aaron tells him that’s the “nuclear option.”
“She is still his mother.” – Aaron
Mae’s still adamant about divorce.
James’ friend Percy arrives and James is glad he came. He hopes Percy’s presence would help James win back Mae. When Mae comes sees Percy, she surprisingly asks him why he’s at their Usher’s Roundtable gala.
After exchanging pleasantries and heading to the bar, Mae questions James’ motives, reminding him they are done.
“I made up my mind.” – Mae
The event begins and Mae’s making her rounds, introducing herself to guests when she comes across Clara talking to Grace and Darius. Mae grabs her before Grace says anything. Grace notices Kevin and Aaron showed up not dressed for the gala, demanding to know where Charity is.
Grace calls her as she’s sitting by a pool, ordering a drink. Charity says she’s on tour, despite Jabari telling him she’s not there. She confirms what Jabari said, and says she’s doing what she wants.
When Grace hands Kevin the phone, Charity hangs up on Kevin. Kevin says he’s calling the police, but Grace convinces him to do otherwise. She asks Aaron to keep Kevin from calling the police.
Jacob goes to Mae for advice on Zora.
Meanwhile, Jacob and Kerissa still debate sending Zora to a behavior modification camp in Oregon, as Kerissa calls it. Mae walks over and they change the subject, as not to tip-off Mae to Zora’s bad behavior recently.
Mae and Jacob reminisce over family pictures, and Mae pries into Jacob’s problems. Jacob tells her Zora was caught stealing from the offerings and Kerissa wants to send her to a camp in Oregon.
“That girl would not dare disrespect me in my house.” – Mae
James and Percy grab everyone’s attention and James calls Mae to the front of the room with him. During the speech, James thanks the roundtable. He then calls forward his children and grand children to openly praise and woo Mae.
As he speaks, Mae gives him a fake look. She’s still serious about divorcing him, but puts on a good act.
He then toasts to their marriage. At this point, Rochelle walks in and begins clapping.
James and Rochelle clash, in front of Mae and their guests.
Later, with a clearly offended Lady Mae looking on, he approaches Rochelle and suggests that she may want to leave.
“You have to understand what it’d look like if I wasn’t here. James, nothing happened between us. What? Do you expect me to just slink off into the night like some shameful secret?” – Rochelle
“It’s not about secrets.” – James
Rochelle then reminds him that he was the one who called her to meet him at the Biltmore Hotel after Lady Mae kicked him out. When the bishop tries to get a word in, Rochelle continues. “You know I’m in love with you,” she says under her breath.
“Rochelle, please—” the bishop tries to cut in.
“No, you let me finish. I can’t continue to act like you pulling me in and pushing me away doesn’t hurt.” – Rochelle
The bishop attempts to apologize to Rochelle if he hasn’t been “clear” about how he feels about her, but Rochelle isn’t finished.
“Clear? Like the way you held me in your arms like you wanted to kiss me as you told me you loved your wife? Or maybe the way you told me to stay away while looking at me like a man dying of thirst in front of water? Bishop, I’ve been very clear. You’ve been anything but.” – Rochelle
As Rochelle walks off, James follows in with stares zeroing in on him and Mae. Mae reiterates that she and James are done. She then heads back into the party with Clara.
Rochelle gives Clara second thoughts.
Later on, Rochelle runs into Clara and they head off to have a talk. She brings up Grace’s fund to Clara and Clara won’t donate at this time. Rochelle than asks about the donation to James and Mae, and warns her to properly vet it before giving money.
Zora’s cold to Sophia but tells her about her dad accusing her of stealing money from collection plates.
Connie runs into Grace and asks about Kevin no longer showing up to church. Grace says he’s not showing up because he doesn’t feel supported as a gay man. In fact, Grace tries to convince Connie that the church needs to join a coalition of churches that openly support the LGBT community.
“Every underdog is Jesus.” – Grace
Zora gets caught talking to Isaiah by Kerissa and Sophia.
Jacob brings Kerissa a fresh glass of champagne and tells her Mae offered to keep Zora. Kerissa doesn’t like the idea, but Jacob loves it. This angers Kerissa and she’s ready to leave.
Sophia’s with her boyfriend in a car when they start making out. His hands start roaming, and Sophia stops him. She wants to go back inside with him, but he decides to go home.
Sophia heads back inside frustrated, venting to Zora. She tells Zora he wants to have s*x, but she wants to save her virginity for marriage.
An argument begins when Sophia discovers Zora’s still talking to Isaiah. Sophia expresses her disappointment in her cousin for still dealing with him even though he physically and verbally abuses her. Zora gets defensive and claims that Isaiah loves her.
“That is not love, Zora.” – Sophia
“And what do you know about love, Miss Goody Two-Shoes?” Zora asks condescendingly. “And you want to talk about embarrassing? You embarrassed me. You embarrassed me at the cotillion, and you’re embarrassing me now.”
Zora adds insult to injury when she ridicules Sophia’s faith and even goes as far as to question whether Sophia truly believes.
“I’m just happy to be saved, and maybe if you weren’t so distracted by this pile of trash, you’d be happy too. Do you even remember what that feels like?” – Sophia
“Yeah, I do. All I got to do is think of a time before I knew you,” Zora continues. “And ‘pile of trash’? Okay. Is that how God’s little bitch likes to show love to all mankind?” – Zora
Hands are thrown. Kerissa comes into the room, breaks up the altercation, and sees Zora talking to Isaiah on Sophia’s computer.
She tries to scolds Zora, who told Isaiah she’s moving out at 18. However, Zora snaps right back at Kerissa.
At the end of the party, Clara tells Mae she wants to sit with her, James and her money manager to go over her finances one more time before she gives them the $2 million. This news shocks Mae.
Grace gets asked about possibly leading Calvary, replacing James.
The next day, Grace comes across an article about James’ tax issues. Connie stops by Grace’s office to talk about the news with James and Mae. She tells Grace that the Deacons may ask her to take over as head pastor.
Meanwhile, a reluctant Zora moves into Mae’s. Jacob’s happy about this, but Kerissa side-eyes the whole thing.
Charity’s still at her hotel, singing at a piano bar. After the song ends, sheriff officers show up and approach Charity regarding her son.
What are your thoughts of the episode?
