Hello World,

This is the last episode of OWN’s “Greenleaf” before the mid-season finale episode next Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST, and it feels like it! All of the story lines have sped up so much I can barely keep up! (Except what happened to Mavis McReady, Mac and Lady Mae’s sister? She has only been in one episode so far this season. And her bae Alonzo?) But I tried! Let me know if I did in this Greenleaf Recap Season 2 Episode 7.

Dreamin’…

In a dream, Grace recalls the long trip through the woods that she and Sophia took on the road back to the Greenleaf estate a year ago. Except instead of a nondescript driver, Mac is driving the vehicle to her horror. And then Sophia is gone all of a sudden. The implication of the dream is enough to force Grace awake to escape this nightmare. She sits straight up in her bed, ready to continue her pursuit of her molesting Uncle Mac.

What I enjoyed the most about this episode other than the non-stop action was Grace’s swinging ponytail LOL!  Its movement was the exclamation point to everything she did in this episode. As her ponytail swung across her back like a pendulum, she interrupts her parents’ breakfast to question them about Mac. Apparently, there is an upcoming court proceeding which will allow him to be totally free of the charges against him unless Grace or someone else can scrounge up more evidence. She asks them if there were programs other than the scholarship fund through which Mac was able to pay off his victims in exchange for their silence. Lady Mae, who is still grieving the death of her daughter Faith particularly with her memorial service the next day, has reached her limit when it comes to Grace’s vigilante tactics. She tells her flat out that Mac has used his “worldly power to evade worldly law” as if to imply that this point, vengeance is really the Lord’s as it says in the word and her only option. When that statement doesn’t work, Lady Mae calls her a “thankless child.” Bishop warns his favorite child to “be still” until after her sister’s memorial service the next day. I thought only Jamaicans had a memorial service a year after the funeral. When my maternal grandmother passed away, all of the family gathered for her funeral in Jamaica and the following year, we returned for her memorial service. Having a year in between gave me the opportunity to really contemplate and in some ways to come to grips with my grandmother’s departure to Heaven.

After breakfast, Bishop and Lady Mae get into their vehicle to go somewhere when Lady Mae answers a call. They say if you speak of the devil, he shall appear. So Lady Mae shouldn’t have been surprised to hear Mac the Molester’s voice. He calls about Faith’s memorial service but before he can really get his words out, Lady Mae tells him, “Don’t let my child’s name pass your lips.” After Mac is shut down, his girlfriend Lorraine, who seems to be wearing a Wal-Mart vest complete with her name tag, comforts him. She says, “You’re a good man, Robert. Don’t believe what that old biddy says.” Where did he find this chick who hasn’t heard the news about Mac other than from Grace? And she seems a bit common and old for Mac’s taste, right? I guess she’s his age-appropriate beard.

Grace is now at Calvary where she meets with a police officer ( I believe she is a police officer) about Mac’s case. Unfortunately, Grace learns that she did not just dream that Mac got away without having to pay for his crimes, it looks like Mac will be the victor in the court proceeding. The officer does tell Grace that there may be one lead that Grace can pursue although the police officer cannot do so officially. Remember that 16-year-old girl who lived in the same posh high rise where Mac lived before he was accused of child molestation? Apparently, she hasn’t been questioned about her peculiar friendship with Mac.  Pastor Grace becomes Private Investigator Grace and decides she will interview the girl. Has Grace even preached a single sermon this season?

It doesn’t look like Jacob will pastor either as more money is needed to continue the construction of Triumph 2. Jacob suggests to Pastor Basie that they consider stopping the construction altogether. Basie, bent on revenge, replies, “Never, Not Ever, No.” He tells Jacob that Bass Reaves is in town tonight and he is looking to score a huge jackpot at a game. This pimp in the pulpit pastor must be dreamin’ if he thinks that God is going to bless this mess!

Diamonds…

With two signatures, Charity and Kevin officially divorce, witnessed by their two attorneys, in a Calvary conference room. Once the documents have been signed, Kevin says, “So you happy now?” to which Charity simply responds with, “No.” Back in her office, Bishop brings a special box to Charity. It contains copies of her debut CD “Hold Me Close.” Now that her sister’s memorial service is the next day, she wonders if her picture on the cover of the CD is appropriate. Apparently, she took the picture in front of the lake where Faith drowned herself. She asks her father if should she change the cover. He tells her that her photograph in front of the lake is a “fitting resurrection.” Just before he leaves her office, Charity announces that she is divorced. With love in his eyes, he tells her, “The sparkle depends on the flaws in the diamond. You’ve never been brighter.” Awww, how sweet, right?

In the next scene, Grace and her swinging ponytail swoop down like she’s a superhero onto Mac’s old high rise to speak with 16-year-old Michaela Reese. The front desk attendant nearly shuts down Grace as she is not supposed to provide information about the building’s residents, but after Grace tells her what happened to her sister because of Mac, she reveals the teenager returns from school at 4 in the afternoon. When Grace gets the girl alone in her truck, she believes this is the shining moment when Michaela will reveal that she, too,  is one of Mac’s victims, forcing the authorities to investigate the new angle. But instead, Grace nearly cries when the girl says that Mac was always “cool” with her although she does tell the girl that she’s happy she wasn’t victimized. (Did you believe Grace when she said that? I want to, but I’m not sure if I do.) Despite the teenager’s testimony, Grace does tell her that Mac was convicted for child molestation although he hasn’t served time for his crimes.

Deputy Mayor Baldwin Leonard from Season 1 is back. Apparently, he used his connection to a judge so that Mac wouldn’t serve time and now Mac threatens to blackmail the man if he doesn’t get a job for him. Later on in the episode, when the deputy mayor tells Jacob, who he sees at the poker game, about his plan to hook up his uncle with a job, Jacob lays hands on the man. He tells him that Mac is the reason his little sister killed herself in the lake on the Greenleaf property and he shouldn’t do anything for Mac the molester. If fact, if the deputy mayor even decides to “piss on him if he’s on fire,” he will answer to Jacob.

Although Charity and Kevin are exes, they still have to be peaceable enough to work at Calvary together. To that end, Charity shows up in Kevin’s office and asks him if he will be at Faith’s memorial service. Kevin is still salty and speaks to her in a rough tone. He tells her that he is looking for a place to rent (since he can’t live with Charity at the Greenleaf estate anymore) without luck and that he is reconsidering his employment at Calvary as well. However, Charity doesn’t respond to his anger and instead asks him if he wants to spend time with their son Nathan while she attends the memorial service. He agrees to do so, softening the moment by telling her, he’s just having a bad day. She responds with, “I know.” They still love each other, but relationships need more than love. And even a diamond ring doesn’t shine bright enough to hide the glare of incompatibility.

No Cross, No Crown…

Looking dejected, Grace returns to the Greenleaf estate to find her parents reminiscing about their deceased daughter by looking at photographs of her during the happier times. They try to invite her to look at the photographs with them, but Grace disregards their invitation to focus on her own pain again. “I feel so powerless.” Lady Mae fires off, “Every cross you bear, you built.” She then tells her, “what I endured, what those girls endured” doesn’t compare to Grace’s self-imposed despondence. SO WAS THAT LADY MAE’S CRYPTIC ADMISSION THAT SHE WAS A VICTIM OF CHILD MOLESTATION TOO?! Even Bishop was looking at her sideways after that statement.

Unfortunately, for Bass Reaves aka Pastor Basie, he won’t take home the crown of victory after losing in a poker (I believe) game. He gets teased by the deputy mayor who says, “Where is your Jesus now? He must be on the mountain top praying!” After Jacob and Basie left, Basie says, “The Lord must have something to teach me by having these fools spank me.” Jacob responds with, “Is that the church’s money that you lost tonight?” Basie replies. “Most definitely.” He is so blasphemous!

The other pompous pretender Mac is nearly discovered when he and his girlfriend return from dinner to his modest apartment, and he leaves his phone unattended. Michaela sent Mac a text. I believe it says, “Can I call you tonight?” After Michaela met with Grace, she called Mac to tell him what happened, and now she needs to speak with again for some reason. (Do you believe that he didn’t molest this girl? And if he did, why doesn’t she tell or seem sad  about what happened?) When Lorraine confronts him about the text, he says his niece Sophia sent him the text. Why would he tell her it was Sophia? Now that creeps me out. Maybe that dream Grace had in the beginning of the episode represents something that will happen in the future.

The family finally gathers outside near the lake (I think) for Faith’s memorial service, and Bishop presides over the service as expected. He says if there is anything good that came from Faith’s death is that the family can learn to be more open with one another and that “wordless truths” can be reserved for Heaven. Well, Lady Mae can start because she’s hiding a lot. Back inside the Greenleaf home, a seemingly gargantuan plantation style white home, Kevin, holding baby Nathan, wanders into Aaron’s quarters. Aaron welcomes him, inviting him to watch a Tarheels game. The two sneak looks at one other. So yes, Aaron is gay as well. And Kevin and Aaron will have a moment or moments of some sort in future episodes. Charity is cool with Kevin now but I’m not sure that she will be able to handle Kevin having a relationship with a man who lives in her own house!

As the Greenleafs make their way back to the home, Sophia tries to make up with her cousin Zora, but Zora blows her off. Again, I think Zora, other than being into Isaiah, is jealous that she doesn’t get the perks of being a Greenleaf anymore although she still has the name. Just when Grace has managed to put her anger for her uncle aside for the memorial at least, Mac crosses her again by sending an arrangement of flowers to the Greenleaf estate. After reading the card, which states “In Loving Memory, Uncle Mac,” Grace puts on her superhero cape again and speeds off of the estate. The “G” is Grace is for g because she is a real one.

As always, thank you for reading my Greenleaf Season 2 Episode 7 recap! Check out a snippet of “Born to Trouble” below!

Any thoughts? (Your comments are much appreciated as well 🙂 )

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