Sam’s dad throws him under a bus.
The episode begins with Egypt and Sam’s parents linking up. Since Sam’s Pepa’s future son-in-law, she wants to get his history. Pepa learns that Sam struggled to find acceptance as a biracial person. Sam’s parents divorcing was a lot on him and he ended up homeless. Things got so bad, according to his dad, Sam’s dad fired him from a job at a Dr. Pepper plant.
After talking to Sam’s dad, Pepa wants to protect Sam more so than ever before. He never really had anyone have his back until Egypt.
Boogie sets up a mediation with Ava and Dame.
Meanwhile, Ava links up with her brother Boogie to talk about their dad. Boogie lets Ava know how Dame went off on him the last time they talked. Ava mentions Dame’s not checking in on her and he’s the reason everyone’s split up. Ava’s not surprised when Boogie tells her Dame got really upset when Boogie called him a liar.
Lastly, Boogie tells Ava that he supports her writing the declaration for their younger sister. Boogie scheduled a meeting with a mediator and Dame.
Chantel makes accusations about Sam to Briana and Troy.
Meanwhile, Briana finally linked up with Troy. After Briana recaps her recent back and forth with Pepa, Troy takes Briana to meet his hair supplier Chantel. She says she knows Sam well. Chantel first says his phrase, “I’m your Joker, you’re my Harley” was a phrase for his previous ex. She also tells Briana that he was homeless while he was with his baby’s mom and would stay in her car while she worked at the salon.
Briana called Sam a drifter. Chantel also says he had to sleep in the car because his baby momma’s parents didn’t allow him into the house. Briana tells Chantel Sam’s story about meeting Egypt at the gym and Chantel says that Sam was supposed to be Egypt’s trainer.
Briana scoffs at Chantel’s opinion that his skills in the bedroom got Egypt hooked. So at this point, Briana decides to head to their engagement party to confront Egypt to warn her about Sam’s supposed opportunist ways.
JoJo argues with Tanice.
At JoJo and Tanice’s house, JoJo’s leaving the studio late and doesn’t get home until after midnight. This is seriously annoying Tanice as she feels JoJo’s not listening to her or Rev Run. She’s sick and wants help looking after their child.
At 1 am, she texts JoJo asking where he is. Finally at 1:45 am, JoJo walks in and is greeted by an angry Tanice. An argument ensues. Things escalate when Tanice seemingly calls off the wedding, saying she doesn’t even know if she wants to get married. She says she doesn’t feel like a priority. She also tells him that they should reschedule the wedding. This angers JoJo and he leaves.
The next day, Master P’s in the studio when Pepa stops by to visit. Pepa asks about Romeo and Master P tells her he’ll be back from filming in a few days and he doesn’t pay attention to rumors about him and Angela.
Then Sam comes up. Master P says Pepa needs to really get to know Sam. But Pepa says she does and has his back, saying he’s misunderstood. They then talk about a business opportunity selling a hot sauce.
Boogie’s mediation gets off to a contested start.
It’s time for Boogie’s family meeting and Dame’s on the way with Rocky. Dame says he misses his kids but he wants them to have accountability. He says the only time Ava and Boogie reach out is for money. Rocky does tell Dame that his tone can come off as quite aggressive, but she knows he’s a good dad with good intentions.
As this goes on, Sam has a meeting with a music executive and plays his music.
Back at the meeting, Ava and Boogie meet with the mediator Gabe and Boogie quizzes him to make sure the mediator won’t fan out on Dame. Once he gains their trust, Ava and Boogie unload their feelings about Dame onto Gabe. They both just want to be heard and respected. Ava also doesn’t want Rocky in the room with them.
When Dame and Rocky arrive, things are immediately tense when Gabe asks if Rocky can be excused. Rocky agrees and Dame is salty. When they begin, the kids say they both want their dad. Dame responds by saying this is the first time he’s seen Ava in months. They don’t come around. He’s also prepared to be triggered if anyone disrespects him again.
Ava says their last conversation about Rachel Roy caused a rift as Ava told him his fractured relationship with Rachel should affect her.
Dame goes off and leaves after being accused of lying by Ava.
Ava asks him why he’s lying and this causes Dame to go off. Dame says both of his kids care about the money and they only come around when the cameras from the show are on. Boogie responds by saying Dame said he can’t come around until he fixes himself. This causes Dame to fly off the handle and Gabe has to stand in between Dame and the kids. They all talk over one another and things deteriorate and Boogie walks away. Dame then gets up, calls Boogie stupid and walks out.
Dame says he’s sick of them and Boogie wants to be done with Dame for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, Gabe chases Dame trying to bring him back in. But this doesn’t work. This whole encounter brings Ava to tears.
What are your thoughts about the episode?
