“Far Too Long†is an emotional rollercoaster. Ralph Angel continues to prove himself, but Charley keeps getting in the way. Hollywood and Vi are determined to break all of our hearts, and Nova’s may be healed. Charley makes moves that, once again, will come back to haunt her. Let’s hope she doesn’t cause more harm than good.
As the episode begins, Charley wants to buy an abandoned mill to avoid traveling or giving in to the Landrys and Boudreauxs. She thinks she can get Frank Rovner, the owner of the New Orleans Stingers basketball team, to invest half. Remy calls her out on trying to flex her business savvy to get revenge against the Landrys and Boudreauxs and she doesn’t deny it. She meets with Rovner, once again dangling Davis as a possible signee but Rovner isn’t sure if Charley even has the authorization to be negotiating. Plus Davis needs his fellow teammate Felix. Without Felix on the assist, Davis doesn’t get his shots. Charley thinks Rovner is underestimating her and she plans to use that to her advantage.
She finds out that Felix and his wife, Lena, are in New Orleans, visiting Lena’s sister. Charley bails on her date with Remy to have dinner with Lena, who doesn’t know the full truth of the rape scandal. Soon enough, she makes her move: If Lena doesn’t convince Felix to sign in New Orleans, Charley threatens to leak the tape of Melina’s statement. Later, she lies to Davis and says Micah has fallen in with a bad crowd so that he feels like he has to move to New Orleans to be closer to his son.
Amid all of this scheming, Charley has been ignoring Ralph Angel’s calls to discuss their options about getting the sugar cane milled. Ralph Angel is frustrated because everyone can see he has a head for the business and has stayed out of trouble. Hollywood, Nova, and Darla all praise his progress, telling him how proud they are. Ralph Angel probably thinks Charley can only see him as a criminal, but he’s really coming into his own running the farm. Charley won’t let him make any decisions and it’s only a matter of time before he takes matters into his own hands. They need to talk before they do something to damage the farm and its finances.
Charley is turning into a master manipulator, and perhaps this is part of why she’s a great businesswoman, but all her decisions about the farm turn out poorly. As she points out to Remy, she’s a businesswoman, not a farmer. She keeps trying to make the farm world fit the rules she learned in business school and in the NBA, but those rules don’t apply. Charley is reminiscent of Olivia Pope in that way: Everyone keeps saying how great they are at their jobs, but the audience sees the missteps and the hustle to correct those mistakes. Charley’s need to prove herself and get revenge may lead to serious setbacks for the Bordelon farm.
Ralph Angel and Charley aren’t the only ones with communication issues. Hollywood doesn’t tell Vi he’s been back in town for a few days because he was waiting on his divorce papers to arrive. He wanted to go to her with proof in his hand that he’s serious about his commitment, but before he can explain that, she storms out. After he later sees her at a juke joint dancing with someone, he angrily decides to move back to Baton Rouge to be closer to his job. Hollywood doesn’t think he has a chance with Vi anymore, but if he’d waited at the juke joint a little longer, he would’ve seen her leave her dancing partner and go home solo.
Hollywood doesn’t even try to talk to Vi again. He’s so sure she’s going to shoot him down. This situation is so frustrating because Hollywood and Vi are such a sweet couple. It’s rare to see an older woman with a younger man on television, even though there’s nothing salacious or malicious about their pairing. Hollywood and Vi were good together, despite his attempts to hide his marriage. Was he wrong for lying about it? Yes, of course, but no one could deny he’s been a good man to Vi. She glows under the love they share. I hope they can work things out, but if Hollywood is gone for real, maybe this will lead Vi to grow as her own person. It’s another important lesson: You’re never too old to pursue your dreams or to become your best self. I’m looking forward to seeing Vi bounce back.
While Hollywood and Vi break our hearts, Nova prepares for her own recovery. Melissa Harris-Perry interviews her at Xavier University, an HBCU in New Orleans, and Calvin is in the audience. He hears her message when she says police enforcement was founded on anti-black racism, although hard-working officers are willing to fight against that history. He calls in a favor and gets the charges against Too Sweet dropped, then calls Nova to tell her the news. She can’t believe it and doesn’t know how to repay him, but he doesn’t want repayment. He wants her love. She tells him she still has feelings for him, but can’t share him any more. He drops the bombshell that he left his wife! Nova is speechless.
Will Nova let Calvin back in her life? He’s made a complete reversal from his previous thoughts about the criminal-justice system. Meanwhile, Nova has been advocating for Too Sweet, perhaps because she wasn’t there for Ralph Angel when he needed her the most. By recognizing Nova’s commitment to justice and her community, Calvin realizes he can’t have her love without honoring her work. Time will tell if he’s sincere about his newfound commitment.
With one episode remaining in this striking first season, there’s a lot to tie up. Will the Bordelon siblings be able to harvest their cane and get it to a mill in time for the potential $1.5 million in profit? Will Charley’s famous business acumen finally kick in and keep the farm going? The Landrys won’t go away quietly; what’s their next move? Let’s not even get into the tangled web of relationships. The Bordelons have been through so much in the past dozen episodes. Will the season finale give them a happy ending? It’s all we can hope for.