Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 10: Gratitude…

Hello World,

I guess the number one biggest thing we learned tonight is that OWN’s “Greenleaf” is coming back at some point in 2020! Yay!  The second biggest thing is that Phil DeMars is precisely the self-serving scoundrel we always suspected he was. But more on that later in this Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 10: Gratitude…

Give Thanks & Praises…

This week’s episode begins where last week’s episode ends – with Grace having decided that she is willing to turn her back on the pulpit to protect her son A.J. She walks off of the stage and to A.J., who is standing in the center of a church aisle. He is wearing white and looking angelic which is a stark contrast to an A.J. lookalike, who is wearing all black and shows up at the end of the episode. But let me not get ahead of myself. Grace grabs her son and says, “I’ve been worried sick about you. What are you doing here?” A.J., ever standoffish but for good reason, is confused as to why Grace is confused that he showed up. Both Grace and Sophia have been blowing A.J.’s phone so it’s no wonder that he finally comes back. He then tells Grace the bad news. “I’m going to turn myself in.”

After churchgoers scatter, Bob and his team of Phil and Judee convene in Grace’s former office. “What the he** happened here?” Bob asks them. He reveals that with Grace’s resignation, a key part of his plan has been thwarted. “What about my board?” he says. Bob wants the board to vote on his plans for Calvary as a part of the Harmony & Hope expansion. He’s particularly disappointed that his daughter wasn’t able to carry out his plan. “You’re going back to Phoenix today,” Bob says to Judee. Then he turns to Phil. “Did you have something to do with Grace stepping down?” Phil downplays his part in Grace’s decision, but he does affirm that he is seeing and in love with Charity as Judee blurted that before she stormed out of the office. Phil assures Bob that his relationship with Charity is a “good thing” and that she can be useful to them. However, Bob says, “I’m still not over how you hurt Judee. I think that’s a big part of the reason why things didn’t work out with Ken.”

Finally, Bob says, “What a mess!” Sooo…was Phil using Judee when he was involved with her? I’m inclined to think that he truly loved her because if he had been using Judee, Bob would have kicked him to the curb already…But I don’t know since Bob is an opportunist as well…

After that debacle at Calvary, Lady Mae can only stare out of her window, looking at the grounds on which the Greenleaf home is built. Charity knocks on her door and Lady Mae invites her in. “This house, this land is all we have left now, and I’m so scared,” Lady Mae says to her youngest daughter. Charity fixes her mouth to say, “I had nothing to do with with Phil and how he pressured Gigi.” Chile, please. Lady Mae asks Charity where did Phil get the evidence then? “Did he have confederates in unmarked vans on the property?” Charity says, “I don’t know.” “So you came in here to lie to me,” Lady Mae says. The disappointment she feels is tangible. She knew Charity was less than smart, but she didn’t know she was less than truthful too. She calls Charity, “Phil’s helpless little pawn.” Charity says, “Mama, I never meant to hurt you.” That got Lady Mae. She tells Charity that all of them from Grace to Nathan are connected. “It’s one life. You do damage to one life and the whole life suffers. He’s smart enough to make a big fool of you, and that’s the extent of his genius.”

In Grace suite’s, Grace and Aaron meet with A.J. Aaron explains to A.J. that if he turns himself in, he will probably get 10 years in jail. For whatever reason, A.J. is adamant about wanting to turn himself in although Grace and Aaron try to convince A.J. not to turn himself in. He plans to turn himself in the following day.  Then Aaron tries a different tactic. ” “Why not just go now?” he says. That did the trick because A.J. becomes apprehensive again and then flees the suite. Grace is confused. “There’s something that he’s not saying.” I feel the same way, but for the life of me, I cannot guess what this is…Can you?

Thanking the Good Lord…

Grace runs into Kerissa as she is rushing out to Urgent Care. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Grace tells Kerissa that as her situation has shifted, she can longer buy out Kerissa and Jacob’s share in the estate. Kerissa responds, but she has more important issues that need her attention. At the doctor’s office, Kerissa prays, “Please let it be negative” but God doesn’t answer the prayer in the way that she requested. “You have chlamydia,” a woman, a doctor or nurse perhaps, says to her. The woman attempts to give Kerissa instruction on how to discuss the matter with husband and tells her she can’t have sex with him for 10 days. But Kerissa tells the woman that Jacob did not give chlamydia to her. Isn’t that wild? That’s what she gets for cheating on her husband. The “c” in chlamydia is for cheating…

Later, Lady Mae and two of the board members meet to discuss the upcoming vote. The board plans to vote on dissolving Calvary and merging what’s left with Harmony & Hope.  When Charity’s name comes up, Lady Mae asks, “What has that little idiot done now?” LOL!!! If you’re mama thinks you’re an idiot, it’s safe to say that you are an idiot! LOL. But Charity’s vote is needed to break the tie so the family must find a way to be nice to her.

When Phil and Charity meet, she tells him that her family is breaking up as a result of Phil DeMars. Phil responds with, “Be still and know that I’m the man who loves you.” Charity thought he was going to say, “Be still and know that I’m God” and so did I. I’m so sick of Phil at this point.

Even later that night, Jacob snuggles into his woman. Obviously, the man wants to get down but Kerissa can’t. She says, “Not tonight, Jacob. ” After saying this a couple of times, Jacob asks, “What did I do now?” Kerissa says, “Nothing,” and tells him that she is on her period and doesn’t feel well.

The next day, Bishop goes to Charity to ask her to vote on the side of the Greenleafs. But Charity uses this opportunity to complain about her parents’ preferring Gigi to Charity all of these years. “So now, you two want my help!” she says. It’s clear to Bishop that Charity may end up supporting Phil in the vote to the detriment of her family. Bishop’s parting words to Charity are, “If you take everything your mother and I built and hand it over to Bob Whitmore, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

In Grace’s suite, A.J. and Sofia talk. Sofia tells her brother that she will write to him when he is in jail and that she will put money into his commissary. But A.J. tells Sofia to “just forget that I exist.” What is up with him? I don’t get it.

Back at Calvary, Charity sits outside of the board meeting. After a vote is taken, Phil opens the door and says to Charity, who is sitting in a chair as she looks into the meeting,”You ready to do this?” Obviously, she is needed to break a tie.

Bishop and Lady Mae are at the Greenleaf estate. Bishop gets a call from somebody, but Bob Whitmore calls Lady Mae next. “He wants me to come down to church right now and talk,” she tells Bishop.

In another part of the estate, Jacob is experiencing some physical symptoms and asks Kerissa for the pills she gave to Zora when she had a bladder infection. Without a lot of rumination it seems, Kerissa tells her husband, “You don’t have a bladder infection.” She continues. “First of all, I love you.” Then she detonates the bomb that blows up their marriage. “I have chlamydia,” she says. Jacob correctly guesses that Fernando Amable passed on more than insider information to Kerissa.  They go at it for like a minute and then Jacob says, “Just get out.” Kerissa reminds Jacob that all of his mistakes don’t compare to her one mistake. “I never gave you a disease,” Jacob says. “You are the disease,” says Kerissa back to him. “Go and get yourself a lawyer. This is over,” Jacob says. That’s the funny thing about men. Women can forgive men for cheating on them. But men cannot handle their women cheating. It’s unfair, but it is what it is. And after all of that, Kerissa calls Fernando!

The Grateful Dead…

For whatever reason, Bob wants the Greenleafs to be an integral part of his vision for a new and improved Calvary. In his meeting with Lady Mae, he tells her he wants Calvary to be multicultural and to “break down the walls of racism.” Bob sees himself and Lady Mae at the elm of this new multicultural church. You know as Bob was talking about this multiracial church, it occurred to me that maybe the creator of Greenleaf has been trying to dismantle the “black church” all along in favor of “the church.” “The church” is not confined to a denomination or a race. Lady Mae also uses this time to tattle on Phil.

Across town at Dante’s house, Sofia is no longer the good Christian girl that she once was. As Dante and Sofia continue to a make out, she tells him that she is a virgin. Dante tells her that he is willing to go at her pace and doesn’t pressure her to have sex with him. That’s nice.

Unlike Dante and Sofia, a devious couple with no boundaries – Fernando and Kerissa – meet. Fernando has been doing some digging and discovers a will in which it is revealed that Uncle Mac was the executor of the estate and that a botched burglary led to the Greenleafs getting their home. Weird, huh? And although Fernando has given Kerissa valuable information, she still slaps him after she says, “You gave me chlamydia.”

Grace and A.J. meet on a dock on the Greenleaf estate. She ask him, “Why are you doing this?” I don’t understand why he is choosing to go to jail either, particularly as Grace is willing to stick to her story on A.J.’s behalf. “Stay,” she says. “I wish I could,” A.J. replies. “Can you tell me why?” Grace asks. “You don’t get to know why. Like everything else in this world, you don’t get to know why. It just is.” I’m more confused than ever. I just know that he’s an integral part of this season, and I want to know more…

Lady Mae returns from her meeting with Bob, and she tells Bishop about Bob’s plans. She has agreed to his plans which Bishop is not feeling. “Your cockeyed ambition is making you plain stupid.” But I have to go with Lady Mae on this one.

Charity has sought out the comfort of her man in his home. He tells her that when he was in the third grade, he was so into magic that he flunked the grade. As of now, he still loves magic though and asks Charity to say the magic word in reply to his question. Yes, that fool asked Charity to marry him and foolish Charity agreed to do so. (It was a nice ring though.) And I must say that Phil is too fine. He takes off his shirt as the couple kisses and prepares to do the do after Charity was originally claiming she was “old-fashioned.” I guess that saying that, “It doesn’t mean a thing unless you have a ring” is true.

After he’s got some loving from Charity and has shut down Grace, Phil thinks his future at Calvary is set. But Bob reveals to Phil that he still won’t be in charge during an impromptu meeting at the church. “It’s going to be me and Mae. Mae told me what you did to Grace.” But Phil aine come this far to be turned back ’round now. “What do I have to do to change your mind? Name it.”

Although Kerissa originally wanted out of the Greenleaf estate at any cost, now that she is being kicked out, she is determined to stay. “Have you found a place to live?” Jacob asks Kerissa. “I’m staying put unless you want Bishop to die in jail.”  Something about a woman named Mrs. Davis was killed in order for the Greenleafs to get their home…Not sure I understand, but yes, that heffa is using that crazy will she got from Fernando to blackmail her husband. Smh…I didn’t know Kerissa was that dirty…Did you?

And speaking of dirty, Phil shows up out of the blue. He confronts Lady Mae about her meeting with Phil. “That arrangement you made with Bob is null and void.” He tells her that she and Bishop may want to get any belongings they have in the church because the building will be demolished in a week!

Before he can hardly get the words out, Charity sniffs out her man and shows up. This simpleton thinks he’s there to ask her father for her hand in marriage. When he tells her that he cannot marry her because he is marrying Judee, she dissolves into tears. At least he had the decency to tell her his news privately.

Grace, who visits her sister Faith’s grave, is having a heart to heart talk with God. At first, she laments the condition of the family and their church and her son. But then she she pivots and thanks God for every body in her family and the situation with the church. It’s kind of an eerie speech, but at the same time, it’s a prayer of acceptance. The Word does tell us that we can’t only thank God for the good things, we have to be thankful for the bad things as well as God is sovereign and over it all…

And then a man who could be A.J. doppelganger comes to her. He has dreads and the same complexion, only he is dressed in all black.  (Is A.J. covering for him somehow? Is this the guy who stole the drugs?) He correctly guesses that Faith was her sister. And then he says, “Everything has an expiration date” and calls her “Grace” although I don’t remember her telling him her name. Grace, who figures he somehow wandered onto the property, tells him how to get to main road to be on his way…I know that’s right.

Who is he? I know it must have something to do with A.J., but I guess we won’t know exactly what until 2020.

Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 10: Gratitude… and my other recaps so far. If you would like to keep up with OWN’s “Greenleaf,” and my recaps, please click on this link to subscribe to my blog 🙂!

UPDATE: If you would like get a sneak peak of Season 5 and secrets from the Spinoff directly from OWN “Greenleaf” Creator Craig Wright & Executive Producer Kriss Turner Towner, click on my interview with them HERE!!!

Any thoughts?

 

 

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47 thoughts on “Greenleaf Recap Season 4 Episode 10: Gratitude…”

  1. I believe the fellow dressed in black, that knew the grave headstone was Grace’ sister and who also knew Grace’ name was a divine intervention. He told her, “Everything has an expiration date; everything!” The message I gleaned from this exchange is, sometimes we can hold on to things too tightly, and more tightly than the hold we have on God. We tend to cling to things that never was ours to own to begin with, and once it’s gone we’re all ripped up, because we’ve allowed things to define us or to give us identity. There is a season for everything under the sun, and we cannot lose sight of this. We are to work while we have the opportunity. Do our best at it, for when the change comes, we can let go and let God. JMHO

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  3. Hey Sis. Jackie. I’m still dealing with issues of posting on your site, but I’m trying my best to say something because as usual I enjoy your recaps!

    In the words of unfortunate female character in Dave Chappelle’s skit “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong,” “Take that you CLAP HAVING Jezebel.” I laughed so hard when I saw that Kerissa was diagnosed with Chlamydia, but I wanted something “permanent” more like herpes to really wake her up. Jacob is wrong when he did cheat on her; however, he was ironically a “responsible cheater” by not passing her any disease or getting anybody pregnant. Now the fact that Kerissa allowed Fernando to “raw dog” her is disgusting. As smart as she is, she is pretty ignorant when it comes to protecting herself sexually. She is a grown woman, and we all know that if you’re stepping out of a relationship or starting a new relationship with someone else to protect yourself until both of you get tested. Jacob has every right to be FURIOUS at Kerissa because her transgressions affected his health. As usual Kerissa does the “gaslighting” when she said “You’re the disease BOOOO” Kerissa could’ve left ANYTIME when Jacob was cheating on her but CHOSE to stay with him because she is so obsessed of getting the same position as Lady Mae. That applies a lot of woman who stay with men who are in the higher life status and just want to keep that lifestyle going for them despite their husband’s philandering ways. One thing Tasha Skanks does that Kerissa doesn’t do is actually look up to her Jacob instead of down to Jacob. Maybe Tasha is his rib after alI. Fingers crossed that Kerissa ends up pregnant with Fernando’s baby.

    Charity Charity Charity…..She is officially “Jezebel of the Season” I don’t care what good thing she does in this series, she really screwed her family over in this one. If I was Marisol, I would adopt her son because Charity is such a bad mom, and there wasn’t a moment of her interacting with him this whole season. It’s sad that Charity chose to be stupid despite everybody telling her that she was making the wrong choice along with providing receipts that what she was doing was wrong. So when Bob spoke to Phil about what he needed to do, I automatically knew Phil would break the engagement with Charity. So I was chuckling when Phil stopped by the Greenleaf house and broke off the engagement. I wanted Lady Mae to see it. I have NO sympathy towards her one bit. Charity just doesn’t have any common sense, and the more she accepts that reality, I think she’ll be at peace with herself.

    AJ…Here’s my theory. I think later on in the second half of this Greenleaf season, we will see something similar to the story “The Prince and the Pauper.” I strongly think Grace is dealing with an imposter, and the man in the black outfit is the spirit of her real son who is giving her warnings of what’s to come. They did say that Grace was gifted by God, and I think we saw a true example of it when she possibly saw her real son during her prayer at Faith’s grave. I do think he is an angel despite being in black attire. The way “A.J” has been acting lately towards Grace is proof that he is way in over his head and doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore out of guilt. As for the male in black who is possibly the real A.J., I noticed that he spoke in “cryptic” language which opened my eyes to thinking that he is not of this world. Interestingly, when Grace first saw the young male in black, she said “AJ” because they looked so much alike. When you think about it, there hasn’t been any indications that Grace has taken a test to prove this guy is her real son. So I think the real AJ and the imposter were legit prison mates, and one day the real AJ died in prison. So that was the imposter’s chance to steal his identity and interact with Grace because the authorities don’t have to tell her that the son she put up for adoption is dead. Which will lead to my next topic towards Noah…I believe Noah will come back to Grace with breaking news that their real son is dead, and she was dealing with an “imposter.” Remember what the male in black said “Everything has an expiration date.” In addition, the angel said, “I’ll be back.”

    Isn’t my conspiracy theory crazy or what???

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    • I agree with your theory that the real AJ is dead and that God is revealing this to
      Grace in answer to her prayers. The imposter is nervous because all this will be revealed when and if her turns himself in.

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    • Sis. Ilyssa!!! Great to hear from you!!!

      The comments issue should be fixed now! I spoke with my website maintenance company about the issue and I tested it myself so I’m not sue what’s happening on your end. Yes, God slapped Kerissa before she could do permanent damage to herself, at least in terms of her health. That’s His grace and mercy. Now her marriage is another story. But maybe it wasn’t meant to last anyway. I hope that some Greenleaf writers see my post and incorporate Tasha Skanks back into the equation somehow. Kerissa and Jacob have been mismatched from the story so Tasha is a symptom of the mismatch not the cause of it, if that makes sense.

      Yes, Charity is the Jezebel of the season!!! Maybe now she will realize that she needs God to heal her in her broken places before she expects to have love and happiness with a man. Her picker is just broken. And maybe this incident will show her that her true calling is not preaching. She is a minister, but her ministry is music. And music is a powerful ministry.

      Now as far your AJ theory is concerned, it’s a good one. But “dressed in black” A.J. gave me the creeps and he gave Grace the creeps as well so I think her discernment is telling her that this guy is not one to be all chummy with. I know it’s cliche to think the man in black is not good, but I just didn’t get a good vibe from him…apart from the black…

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    • I won’t judge Kerissa on the STD because Jacob didn’t get one only out of luck, not responsibility.
      That said, two wrongs do not make a right. You decided to stick with your husband, that meant sticking with him.
      AND
      she was already being devious anyway, the money and houses and snooping! I think Jacob was right to say that’s enough.

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  4. I THINK THE GUY WITH GRACE AT FAITHS GRAVE WAS THE REAL GUY WHO STOLE THE DRUGS, AND YES AJ IS COVERING FOR HIM. AND MAYBE THE PERSON WHO HAS COMMITTED ALL THE CRIMES THAT AJ HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF. AND GRACE WILL FIGURE IT ALL OUT!

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      • Yes! I think AJ and he were both in on it, and the other guy told AJ to either take the fall, or his family gets hurt.
        Trespassing onto the property and scaring Grace was a threat, sending a message to AJ, like I can get to your mom, easy.

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  5. im so tired of AJ and his pity party…..it takes somebody like Mae to push him n a corner….he need to get rid of the chip on his shoulder

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  6. I think the A.J doppelgänger is Faith’s son from uncle Mac or the real A.J., Gigi’s son who has been testing her love since she had given him up for adoption. He has been watching her at a distance to see how far she is willing to go to show her love to him!

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    • I don’t think Faith had a son, but then again, it floored me that Bishop isn’t Grace’s father. We will see what happens next year and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later…

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  7. What came to me was, AJ was in a hurry and didn’t want to be around. I think he may owe the guy in black money or something. He told Sophia she couldn’t go take a walk with him and I think the guy in black is the reason why. I think he may have killed AJ. All season long AJ kept needing more money and Grace even said once, I just gave you money. Then he robbed the drug store, maybe to get money to pay his debt. I feel he wanted to turn himself in so he could be safe.

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  8. A.J. told Grace by this time tomorrow she would not have to worry about him so he either died o committed suicide. I think it was his spirit and dressed in black might indicate he was a lost soul.

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      • As a South African I learnt a lot about this big churches… Wish I can meet Gigi, Grace in person – I like her personality ~

        Siblings are dangerous – just like Joseph in the Bible with his brothers

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  9. I believe AJ might be sick. And that he might be innocent. Maybe the drugs he had in his bag were for his medical condition. Cancer? About to die soon so it would’ve been easier if everyone could just let go of him in this life. Stop caring. Maybe the reason to why he pushes them all away. And the mysterious lookalike might be AJs friend who stole the drugs for him.

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  11. I agree with Delphine. I think this was the ghost of A.J. If he was going to turn himself in, why wait until tomorrow? I think he wanted to spend some time with his mom and sister, then go away and do himself in.

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  12. The guy in black is AJ’s boyfriend who really stole the drugs. He has a longer rap sheet than AJ and will get more time if caught. AJ like his mother won’t let that happen and will go to jail in his place. The only problem is the boy in black looks more like Grace than AJ. So I really don’t know smh. A woman should know if she had twin sons right?

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  13. I think AJ committed suicide and before crossing over his ghost came to his mother to giver her a message of comfort as she was in the middle of prayers

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  14. I think the guy at the end of the show was an angel/spirit. I mean he just shows up out of nowhere. They live behind a gate so he couldn’t have just walked in. Not sure what this means but I can’t wait till the next season to find out. I think Charity owes her family an apology. Her selfish ways are destroying not only her sister but her family as well. I don’t get why she hates her sister so much.

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  15. The ending is what got me. The similarity the random young man had to AJ is baffling. I think maybe the AJ we see, is an impersonator . But why would he agree to turn himself in? I don’t know the ending was just too eerie for me .

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  17. I’m not sure what to think about this AJ thing…I’m feeling like Lyric Bender, it has to be 1 of those 4 things!!! Season 5 must hurry…I benged call 10 episodes of Season 4 today!!!

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  18. I follow the incidents in the series with the exception of the will and Mrs. Davis. If anyone can explain who Mrs Davis is and her connection with the Bishop I would appreciate it

    I believe AJ is covering for the dude. Perhaps he is AJ half brother. Thoughts.

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  19. The real A.J. is the young man at the end who has past away. This is my take : Prior, AJ was in jail and told his cellmate his life story. AJ was released from jail , but for some reason died. Then, while this fellow was in the halfway house he needed money and a way out. So, he called Grace using A.J.’s identity. That’s why he told Sofia he was turning himself in and not to correspond or send him any comessary money because the real AJ won’t be there to receive the letter or money. The truth will then come out that he was an imposter.

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  20. He was the messenger sent by God. That was nothing but divine intervention sent by God to Grace as she had made her confession, peace and Thanks with God at her sister’s grave. That is why he said everything has an expiration date. If you know the bible this scene was all biblical. The Book of Romans describes divine intervention. The road to Damascus (the Book of Acts) is a turning point; a life-changing experience, which is why Grace tells him how to get to main road to be on his way.

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  21. Interesting perspectives!! But please don’t call them doppelgängers — other than them both being black and both having dreads they look nothing alike!

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