Hello World,
With all that’s going on in this world, I’m so glad that I have a show that that provides an enthralling escape. So let’s get into another exhaustive and entertaining Greenleaf Recap Season 5 Episode 5: The Fifth Day…And be clear on this…Any.Other.Recap just doesn’t compare…
The Fifth Dimension…
This episode begins with Grace opening the door to her suite and heading into Sophia’s room where Sophia is still in bed. “What are you still doing in bed?” Grace asks her daughter. “It’s eight minutes until your grandmother’s service.” It’s the last Sunday before Calvary is demolished into smithereens and Lady Mae plans to honor the occasion with a worship service at home.
Sleepily, Sophia groans and tells her mother she’s been up all night texting with “stupid girls at Hampton.” So glad texting was not available when I was in college, I imagine there would have many more sleepless nights than I experienced at the University of Georgia. Go DAWGS! Sophia is still sour on faith so she says, “I’ll do the family, not the faith.” Grace says, “I’m sorry. You’re a Greenleaf. It’s the same thing.”
Meanwhile in Jacob’s suite, as he puts on a blazer, Kerissa brings up the fact that they plan to tell Zora about their pending divorce after the service. He makes some kind of joke to which Kerissa responds with, “You make jokes while you’re planning to destroy your children’s lives.” Jacob asks her if she and Fernando were looking at pictures of their children while they had their afternoon delights. Touche, Jacob although I still think he is wrong to not forgive Kerissa for her entanglement while he was a straight philanderer. That’s how some men are though…But at the end of the day, I don’t think they make the best couple anyway, but I will move on from that for now.
On the main floor, Charity is leading the family plus Karine in a song entitled “Starting All Over.” Charity is really in her element when she sings which is why I don’t get her desire to preach. Lady Mae praises her daughter telling her, “That was beautiful.” I’m glad that Lady Mae is forgiving Charity for her lack of allegiance to the family at a critical time. I think Charity has learned her lesson. Then, Lady Mae begins. “Good Morning Family. Every day is a gift full of possibilities even a day like today.” All of the family including A.J. and Noah there.
Since the family is worshiping at home, Lady Mae points out that the first friends of Jesus met in home churches following his ascension. Her sermon is appropriately titled “New Beginnings.” Bishop wonders aloud what is going on at Calvary. He concludes that a conjuring must be happening as Phil and Judee are attempting to “breathe unholy life into a corpse.”
As all of this unfolds, Jacob and Kerissa continue to bicker and pick at each other. But when Bishop reminds Kerissa that ever since he met her, she was a woman of impeccable devotion, she calms down for a bit.
Once Lady Mae’s sermon is over, Sophia and Zora attempt to have a private conversation about the fact that Sophia’s topless photos are still circulating on the Internet. That’s why I never post anything on the Internet that I wouldn’t mind being there forever because that is typically what happens. Charity interrupts the clandestine conversation between the cousins. (I was going for a nice alliteration…How’d I do?)
Through her grandmother, Karine is getting updates about what is going on at Calvary and tells Charity. Apparently, Judee is singing “I Believe” which causes the two to cackle.
As it is the last Sunday at Calvary, Noah reminisces about the first Sunday at Calvary, Consecration Sunday. Grace says, “I lost my virginity in that church.” And apparently, it happened on that first Sunday. Talk about consecration…(So I had my first kiss in the parking lot of my father’s former church…chalk it up to being a PK.)
Following the worship service, Lady Mae plans to pay a visit to Tara James herself. She tells Bishop that two Greenleaf men caused problems and that she hopes that, “With the help of God, one Greenleaf woman will solve the problem.”
After everything is over, Bishop and A.J. see that Jacob and Kerissa are back to squabbling. “All of this food and all of this family and they still find a way to be miserable.” A.J. says that he learned in the hospital that “some people like to take things apart and see how things work but they don’t mean anything by it.” That was insightful of A.J., right? Sometimes, he seems to be on another dimension…I’m still convinced though that we don’t know all there is to know about about him…And I wonder if Bishop knows about his grandson’s health condition…
Fifth Harmony…
So Lady Mae goes to see Tara woman to woman at New Revelations Memphis Mission. As she watches Tara conduct her ministry, you can see that Lady Mae reflect on her own ministry. She asks her how many children she is able to feed on a typical Sunday. Tara says 20-30. She also inquires about how long Tara has been in the building and Tara says two years. Apparently, she moves quite a bit due to the increasing costs of rent. Once Lady Mae has the answers to her questions, she says, “It never occurred to you to do something more. Saving 1,000 and feeding 10,000?” Lady Mae loves the Lord, and she is also about leveling up.
Tara tells her that she has a more humble approach. “Jesus never built a temple, never asked for donations. But He helped people who came to him.” “But now you want my house,” Lady Mae throws out. Tara tells her she is not after her home but if Mrs. Davis meant for her father to have the home, she can use it as a shelter or a foster home.” And then it hits Lady Mae. “I should have known better,” she says. “I asked God for a new beginning. Well God, has quite a sense of humor. You’re doing good work.” I get what Tara is thinking to a certain extent, but I just don’t think a shelter or a foster home is the best use of the estate. I know I sound bougie at best and worldly at worst, but I just don’t like the idea. What say you?
A.J.’s statement to Bishop made Bishop remember something. The two of them head to an old garage on the Greenleaf property. They stand near a humongous wooden box which apparently contains a GTO Pontiac, Bishop’s dream car. Bishop tells his grandson that when he was 16 years old, he kept asking his father for a GTO Pontiac. Rather than give him the car, his father told him to pray for the car. Six months later, Bishop’s father said that his prayers were answered. His father had bought his dream car for him. The catch was that the car was in pieces inside of the box. He tells A.J. that he was trying to teach him that faith without works is dead. At the time, Bishop never attempted to put the car together. But the time has finally come for him to exercise his faith. He says to AJ, “If you help me put this together, the car is yours.” I love that Bishop is finding a way to bond with his grandson. It was A.J.’s remark about taking things apart that reminded Bishop of this long overdue project.
It looks like Noah is trying to find a way to bond with Grace beyond the fact that they are A.J.’s parents. But first they do have discuss their son. She asks him how did it go with A.J. at his place the night before. “He’s 24. I don’t feel like his Dad.” Grace understands what he means. They discuss Bob Whitmore and Mrs. Davis potentially leaving the Greenleaf estate to Darryl James. “Why would Mrs. Davis have left the house to Darryl to begin with?” I’ve been wondering that too, but Grace doesn’t know the answer to that question.
Also, Noah sees that Grace is fatigued as she hasn’t slept much in the past few weeks. Ordinarily it’s no bueno to tell a woman she looks tired but in this case, I guess it’s okay. He puts one of the sofa cushions on his lap and invites her to lay down. She says, “This is not Consecration Sunday!” She laughs a little but then she does take him up on his offer.
In another part of the house, Karine tells Charity that Phil and Judee are taking selfies with a wrecking ball that is already on the Calvary campus, although the demolition is scheduled for two days later. Karine’s grandmother, who attended the last service at the church, is telling her everything that is happening. After that, Karine must have gone to the bathroom or something because Charity asks her nieces to watch Nathan for a bit.
But right then, Jacob and Kerissa tell Zora that they need to speak with her. The couple takes her into their suite and breaks the bad news. Zora is hot about it. She blames her father as he was a serial cheater, but Kerissa tries to tell her that she is also at fault. “We both missed the mark,” Kerissa says. But Zora asks what did she do wrong. “Cook too many dinners while waiting for you to come home from Alexa?” Wow. And she even wonders what is going to happen to her mother after the divorce. “Who is she going to get now? Some old dude.”
Zora tries to act hard, but it’s easy to see that the news of her parents’ pending divorce is devastating to her. She storms off, leaving her parents alone. They plan to tell Winkie the next day in a child psychologist’s office. They elected to tell Zora without a child psychologist because she doesn’t like them. Kerissa is on the verge of tears, but she says “I’m still willing to drop this whole thing. But after we tell Winkie tomorrow, it’s over. I will not put him through this for nothing.” She is really, really, really trying to keep them together…
Charity has excused herself to call Marcus DeMars aka Yusef Shabazz. He says, “I told you pastor you’ve got three strikes.” But Charity tells him she is not Grace and was almost Charity DeMars. He tells her that she has two minutes. What’s his deal? Why is he so standoffish?
Bishop and A.J. return to the home. He tells his grandson that some have turned “religion into a rule book” when it isn’t. “It’s an experience. Jesus is real.” I concur. He knows how to reach his grandson. A.J. has had to live by so many rules that a rule-oriented faith wouldn’t appeal to him at all. Smart move Bishop. As they talk, Lady Mae arrives and Bishop asks her how it went. “I think we have to give her the house.” Bishop is stunned.
An hour later, Grace wakes up from her nap on Noah, and she apologizes for sleeping so long. But that time allowed Noah to recall a journal that the caretaker kept in the cabin where Noah once lived. The journal contained plans and sketches that indicated to Noah that maybe the caretaker thought he would one day inherit the house. Also, Mrs. Davis was white and so was the caretaker. However, periodically Darryl James would stop by, and the caretaker referred to him as “That Negro” in the journal. Anywho, Noah thinks the journal could be of use to her. The two seem to be in harmony with one another for a change…
Fifth Avenue…
Since Lady Mae seems to be ready to just hand over the house, Bishop is back on the case. He approaches Grace about using her inheritance money to buy Tara off. She asks him how much does he need. He replies, “How much do you have?”
Charity has been able to keep Yusef Shabazz on the phone for more than two minutes, but she still doesn’t know how his wife was involved with Eden Vale Lending. And Yusef aine trying to share what he knows. “The river only flows one way, and it has nothing to do with the river.” Huh?
Still upset about the topless photos, Sophia discusses her options with her brother. She’s scared to go back to Hampton because she is pretty much the talk of the campus. Having been abandoned by his parents and spending time in jail, A.J. isn’t all that sympathetic about her apprehension. Exasperated, he finally asks her, “What do you want that you can have?” Sophia says that she would like to stay at the Greenleaf estate with him and Zora. But A.J. tells her that it’s weird that grown adults still live with their parents. “People this old don’t live at home.” You know what, living apart from your family even as an adult is overrated. If you have a home that’s big enough (like an estate) to accommodate extended family, what is wrong with that? You can share expenses and responsibility.
Zora, on the other hand, has returned to her cabin where she cries about her parents’ divorce as she sits on her sofa alone. Grace comes into the cabin and tries to comfort her niece but Zora has to be hard. Once Grace tells her that she came to the house to find an old journal, Zora tells her she can find all of the older stuff in a wooden box in another room.
Speaking of older stuff, Lady Mae’s old wounds are opened up again when Bishop tells her that Grace has offered to give him her inheritance money to pay off Tara. She tells Bishop that the money is evidence of her “biggest mistake” and that as a result, she lied every day for 40 years about her affair with Grace’s real father. She says that their new church will be “founded on truth and built sturdy like every well made thing.” She doesn’t want Grace’s money.
As Bishop and Lady Mae discuss whether they will be giving the house to Tara, Charity shows up and asks if they would like to go over to Calvary. At first Lady Mae is apprehensive about her request, but Charity says, “We’re not going to say good-bye. We’re going to say, ‘thank you.'”
The family minus Noah and A.J. go to Calvary and walk through various rooms until they come to the sanctuary. Bishop recalls the first baptism at the church. The woman who had just turned 92 years old danced on stage following her baptism. Bishop expected to be sad to walk through Calvary one last time, but that was not the case. It was like that “awful Friday that can be called good.” “This visit has been a balm to my soul. Let’s seal this tomb and wait for our miracle,” he says. A little while later, he whispers to Lady Mae, “give her the house if you want to.”
A short time later, Bishop and Lady Mae return to the mission and intend to do just that. Lady Mae assures him that the Lord will provide another home for them and they will truly be starting again like they did the first time. They knock on the door and within seconds of Tara answering it, Rochelle appears out of nowhere and with a sly smile says, “I told you these Greenleafs are like a bad penny. You can’t get of rid of them.” I KNEW TARA WAS STILL IN TOUCH WITH HER SISTER! As Rochelle talks, a few cars pull into the mission parking lot. Are they about to be ambushed? Is Basie really dead? See Lady Mae belongs on Fifth Avenue not in the midst of a bad neighborhood at night…
I wonder what’s in store now that Rochelle is back!!! I guess we have to keep on watching…
Thank you sooo much for reading my Greenleaf Recap Season 5 Episode 5: The Fifth Day… 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 
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Any thoughts?
