One way to measure the quality of a season finale is to consider how long you were sitting at the edge of your seat. Another option is to count the number of times you were convinced your favorite character(s) were going to die tragically. And then there are the plot twists. When the shift in the storyline makes you say out loud “whoa, I did not see that coming,†then you know the season finale was a good-ass episode. Episode ten leaves us wanting to know what’s going to happen next.
In last week’s episode, Sam decided to be defiant and ignore Marvin’s warning to leave town. This leaves Marvin no choice but to kill him. Sam barely notices Marvin walking up towards him in the crackhouse because he’s getting high. He begs for forgiveness, but in the drug game, forgiveness doesn’t exist. Marvin executes Sam and his friend, but before he does, he honors his wish to get one last hit. We learn that Sam was once a successful accountant who let his addiction to crack cocaine destroy his career and quality of life. The writers’ treatment of Sam humanizes him and reminds us that everyone, regardless of where they sit within the social hierarchy, has a story that matters.
Raq meets with Unique and surprisingly, he gives her an important warning: Sal is coming for Raq and her crew. But Raq isn’t scared. With expansion on her mind, she switches the subject and extends Unique an invitation to join her crew. He respectfully declines and shares his own plans, telling her, “Me and Worrell about to move on to greener pastures and shit anyway.†He then proceeds to flirt with her, and lo and behold, Ms. Raquel Thomas likes it. Her prolonged smile and giggles after he leaves the table tell us that she has a baby crush on Unique. As shocking as this is considering that they were enemies, it makes perfect sense. They understand each other’s lives, and Unique brings the edge and hood-ness that Symphony was lacking.
Back at Famous’ apartment, he and Kanan are down about having no money, so they decide to go back to the corners. With what drugs to sell, you ask? Kanan makes an executive decision to “pick up†(i.e., steal) product from his mother. “That shit mine, it been mine,†he boldly says. He’s reached the peak of his rebellious phase. Raq warned the entire crew, including Kanan, to stay off of the corners a long time ago. When you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.
Standing on the corner lands Kanan in the hot seat with Burke. She “arrests†Kanan and takes him back to Baisley park to question him (totally not police protocol). The intense questioning leads to Kanan mistakenly pushing Burke to the ground after she threatens to take him in on an intent to sell charge, despite not having any evidence. Scared and in search of assistance, Kanan confides in Howard about all that happened with Burke. Howard decides that the three of them — him, Raq, and Kanan — need to sit down and talk.
While Kanan’s training on the corners to be Southside’s next biggest drug dealer, Jukebox runs into Cory, who we now know is a proud homophobic, and gives him a beatdown that he will probably never forget. It was Cory who set Juke up to be targeted by the church. The fight lands Juke a few hours at the precinct’s holding cell before Burke comes to her rescue, but not without hidden motives. Before asking Juke for information on who Kanan’s real daddy is, she reminds Juke of all the times she has bailed her out of sticky situations. Juke doesn’t give her the specific answers that she’s looking for, she actually deflects and reminds a thirsty Burke that DefCon is Kanan’s father. But she warns her that she has a target on her back. This is not a surprise, since Burke has been sticking her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong.
Before assisting Juke with getting released from police custody, Burke goes to a crackhouse looking for Sam. The house is filled with addicts, but Sam isn’t present. They tell her where she could possibly find him, and by the time she arrives at the crackhouse on 107th, with detective Howard accompanying her, they find Sam’s dead body. Burke reads the scene as an execution and blatantly accuses Howard of having something to do with it. The tension between the two partners is no longer hidden.
With the beef between Jersey and Southside still unresolved, Sal goes to visit Stefano Marchetti, the Godfather of NYC’s mafia scene. Marchetti tells Sally (as he calls him affectionately) that he has already heard from Raq and has no interest in getting involved in their drama. “This is your problem, not mine. Our garbage goes out to Jersey, not the other way around. You deal with this quickly and completely,†he tells Sal.
Sal’s crew attacks every corner of Raq’s operation, and even though she was preparing her crew, the attacks catch each spot off guard. First, they hit the stash spot at the 40s projects, interrupting the men finishing up the count for Marvin. Next, Unique’s spot gets hit, and unfortunately Worrell doesn’t make it. Prior to Sal’s men busting down the door of the apartment unit, Nique and Worrell are discussing plans to exit the crack game. “Crack dying, business is changing, we gotta change with it,†Nique tells Worrell. And now his right-hand man is gone. To honor Worrell, Nique puts several bullets in one of Sal’s men.
Sal’s team hits up the studio next. Zisa and Lou-Lou are the only two in the studio, and the attack happens so fast, Zisa most likely didn’t feel the bullet that pierces her chest. Lou-Lou, skilled and equipped with a weapon of his own, is able to kill the two shooters and make it out of the studio alive. When they arrive at Baisley projects, Marvin hears the Italians coming and instructs his team to “throw everything down the chute.†Most of the people in the apartment with Marvin are young, and he immediately goes into protector mode, instructing an injured Born Ready to help him cover everyone else while they escape down the back staircase. Ready and Marvin both get hit, but Ready’s wounds are fatal. Marvin stumbles down the staircase, wounded and in search of safety. It doesn’t help that his gun is also jammed. It is at this moment the writers toy with our emotions. As Marvin knocks on the closest door, begging for help, the tenant who uses a wheelchair — you know, the one Marvin argued with before — opens up his door and invites him in.
The difference between Raq and Sal is that Raq would be right there in the mix with her crew, but while the bloodshed is happening, Sal remains out of the way. He is in leisure mode, enjoying a solo game of pool and smoking a cigar while his Jersey crew and Raq’s Southside crew kill each other.
Raq, meanwhile, has no idea that her spots have been attacked. While alone at the house in Jamaica packing, she’s startled by a knock at the door and grabs her gun. The visitor is none other than Kenya, who came by to talk to Raq “mother to mother.†But there isn’t much time for conversation, because Sal’s men are watching Raq’s house. It takes no time before Raq realizes she and Kenya are in danger — “Wait, where are my guys? They just let you walk up here like this?†She quickly notices that her guys are dead, and before she can warn Kenya to get down, Sal’s men spray more than 10 bullets in her back. With nowhere to run or hide, Raq makes a conscious decision to face whoever is on the other side of her door. She successfully kills the first shooter with three intentional shots, but the second shooter puts a bullet in her shoulder, knocking the gun out of her hand. Is this how Raq’s life ends? Over some bullshit Jersey beef? After all that she built?
Because she is who she says she is, Raq shows no sign of fear when Sal’s guy puts the gun in her face. “Just do what the fuck you came here to do,†she boldly tells him. But before he can pull the trigger, a single bullet pierces his stomach. It’s not until his body falls that we see who saved the day — it’s the camera angles and the acting for me! The storytelling here happens with the direction of the camera just as much as it does in the actual storyline. Unique and Raq stare at each other in silence for what feels like forever, and it only takes one word to break the ice: “Southsideâ€!
If you didn’t know about Southside Jamaica, Queens, now you do! Season three is for sure about to take us on another wild ride.
Other Notes
• Raq telling Lou she owns him is WILD! Raq signing an under-the-table deal with Crown, knowing Lou would eventually kill him, is even wilder (and smart)! Season two solidified that she’s definitely more vicious than Monet Tejada.
• When you think you’re the smartest one in the room it’s easy to get outsmarted. Abraham and Traymount kicking Raq out of the deal with Joaquin is a move equivalent to Raq getting rid of Cartier, except they didn’t kill her.
• Juliana, Juliana, Juliana! We are about to see more of Juliana in season three, and she’s not here for Raq’s shit.
• Juke and Marvin making amends is the perfect ending to their father-daughter relationship this season.
• Raq and Unique, a hood love story. That has a nice ring to it!