Thursday, July 20, 2017

7 Sweet Lessons in ‘Queen Sugar’ Season 2, Episode 6


By Sharee Silerio

Life is full of contrasting moments – sorrow, joy, peace, anxiety, hurt, healing, lack, abundance. I used to think that life could only be in one of these seasons at a time, but now I see that this isn’t true. Many of these periods exist alongside one another, sometimes at the same time. It is the friction and competition between the extremes that makes things difficult.

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This week’s episode of “Queen Sugar” beautifully captures this tension by showing what it looks like to feel one thing but try to portray another, to live with secrets, to bury our deepest motivations in what we think they’re “supposed” to be.

A major theme in last night’s episode was “live your truth”, no matter how ugly, painful, heavy or destructive it is. Living a lie never helps, you or other people.

Everyone is going through it – Nova, Ralph Angel, Darla, Aunt Vi and Charley – from striving for perfection to dealing with guilt, the past meeting the present and redemption – the Bordelons are experiencing everything it means to be human.

Titled “Line of Our Elders”, this episode starts with Ralph Angel and Nova looking at their family grave headstone, Charley overseeing the grand opening of the Queen Sugar Mill, Nova discovering an interesting piece of mail, and a journalist interviewing Charley.

Here is my “Reel Noire” recap of yesterday’s episode, on the nuggets of wisdom that stood out:

1. Don’t sugarcoat your story. Be real, raw and authentic. Speak your real truth, not the one that “looks good”. People can tell when you’re hiding something. It’s okay for pain to be a driving force.

After making sure everything is running smoothly with the mill opening, Charley goes back to her office, then a journalist shows up to interview her. He isn’t who she expects, which clearly catches her off guard. The journalist promises that he’s great at his job, which eases her suspicions a bit. Their conversation starts off with a bang, as he asks her why she fled Los Angeles to move to Louisiana. She offers a cookie cutter response, but he isn’t buying it. He senses that something deeper, more emotional, is going on with her.



2. Everyone has a break down at some point in life. What’s important is how we put the pieces of our lives back together.

During the grand opening celebration for the Queen Sugar Mill, alarms suddenly sound, and Charley immediately rushes to find out what’s going on. She asks Remy what happened, and he tells her that there’s an issue with the machine so they’ll have to shut things down for a while. She panics and frantically tries to clear the problem up herself. With uncontrollable tears, cries of angst and deep-rooted turmoil, she loses it.



3. Guilt can destroy you. It often holds you hostage to your secrets. Carry them from the darkness into the light. Forgive yourself and move on.

After Charley’s breakdown, Nova helps her to another part of the mill, and they talk about what just happened. She tells her sister that, “Everything was supposed to be perfect, for daddy,” and that the last time she spoke to Ernest he asked her to come help him, but she didn’t. Nova assures her that she made the right choice by dealing with her family troubles amid Davis’ scandal. Charley adds that she was so stuck on his mess that she didn’t get to say goodbye to her dad, and that she thought that she could make it right by putting the mill together. As Nova cleans Charley’s hands with her head wrap, she reveals, “I don’t remember the last time daddy and I spoke. When I got there, he couldn’t talk no more.”




 4. Don’t turn a good day bad, ruin a great experience or taint an accomplishment by focusing on the one negative thing that happened. Acknowledge the good in everything.

Later on, Darla and Charley are at Charley’s house, sitting at the dinner table. Darla says, “Today was good,” and Charley replies, “I don’t know, that choke threw me off, and I lost it.” Darla comforts her by saying, “Everyone does sometimes, it’s okay.” Charley tells Darla that she hasn’t met her mother, and Darla tells Charley that she hasn’t met her dad. Charley then switches gears, adding, “Well, we did it.”


 5. Celebrate your growth. Celebrate what you have overcome. Celebrate who you are becoming.

Charley gets up and grabs a bottle of wine and glasses for her and Darla to celebrate their great work. She forgets that Darla doesn’t drink alcohol, so she apologizes then offers her iced tea. Darla tells Charley, “I’m coming up on two years, clean and sober. There’s going to be a little ceremony. Ralph Angel’s coming. Would you be able to?” Charley agrees to come, then they toast to new beginnings.

6. Respect your legacy. Embrace your legacy. Live your legacy. If you don’t have a legacy, build one from the ground up. Become your legacy.

Aunt Vi, Micah, Hollywood, Blue, Ralph Angel, Nova, Darla and Charley are at Ernest’s grave, having a blessing ceremony. Nova speaks to her dad, telling him, “We will pour our labor, and love, into the land and keep the farm going. You can rest in peace, because we will live out the legacy you left us.”



7. Don’t try to cover up or abandon your problems. Instead, do the work you have to do to learn from them, make them right or resolve them.

After the ceremony in the cemetery, everyone returns to Aunt Vi’s house for dinner. Blue is hiding behind a curtain, when Ralph Angel asks him what’s wrong. He tells him that the doll he has isn’t Kenya, because he placed a birth mark on her leg that’s not on the doll he has. Ralph Angel tells him that Kenya was thrown away, so Blue asks if she or he did something wrong. Ralph Angel tells him no, then gives him a hug.

Earlier in the episode, Blue and Ralph Angel shop at a convenience store when the girl he robbed in the very first episode of season one told him that she lost her job because of him. He tries to act like he doesn’t know her, so she calls him a liar. Blue asks him why the lady called him a liar, and Ralph Angel tells him that he’s not going to lie anymore.

At the dinner table, Aunt Vi asks Ralph Angel to bless the food, and he begins praying. As he’s praying, he reminisces on the man his dad was to him, and decides that it is time to speak his truth. He proceeds to tell his sisters about the letter he found.

Things heat up as Nova, Charley and Ralph Angel argue. Nova stands up and walks to the door, when Aunt Vi and Charley follow to stop her. Aunt Vi says, “No, you are not leaving yet.” Nova tells Aunt Vi that she can’t stop her, then Aunt Vi says, “You’re not leaving. Nobody is leaving until we settle this mess!”







Did you watch the sixth episode of “Queen Sugar”? What were your favorite moments?
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Sharee Silerio is a St. Louis-based freelance writer, Film and TV writer-producer, and blogger. When she isn’t creating content for The Root or The St. Louis American, she enjoys watching drama/sci-fi/comedy movies and TV shows, writing faith and self-love posts for SincerelySharee.com, relaxing with a cup of chai tea, crafting chic DIY event décor, and traveling. Review her freelance portfolio at ShareeSilerio.com then connect with her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.


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