Dangerous secrets are revealed as Famous unburdens himself to Kanan, and Raq finally tries to make amends with Lou. Marvin struggles with his role as stage dad, and Howard attempts to get closer to the Task Force.
This week’s episode began with Raq getting a surprise visit from Pernessa. Not only was she pounding on Raq’s front door, when Raq opened it, Pernessa was pointing a gun at her. She asked Raq where Unique was and of course Raq had no clue. After Pernessa continued accusing Raq of doing soemthing to Unique and confessing her love for him, Raq was able to take the gun from her possession. Raq explained that the only reason she didn’t kill her was because she knows Unique wouldn’t want her to. After Pernessa calmed down, Raq again emphasized that she didn’t do anything to Unique. Raq then brought up Ronnie, who Pernessa didn’t think would do such a thing to his younger brother. Speaking of murders, the one Famous committed is still weighing heavily on his conscious. On a new track, Famous explains how he feels and has felt since killing Freddy. In a deep conversation, Lou tells Famous that he has to let out all of the poison inside of him on the mic. He made it clear that if you say things out loud, they get lighter. He ended by telling him to let his truth save him. This is advice that played a key part in what happened during the rest of the episode.
After Agent Tanner shares that he doesn’t believe Crown had anything to do with all the recent crime, Howard asks him if they have any other suspects in mind. Tanner responds by telling him that he can’t share that information with anyone who isn’t on the team. Juke’s team had a rehearsal for some record executives that didn’t necessarily go as planned. Once the girls finished performing, Marvin began pleading his case for the record executives to rock with the girls and for Juke to be the lead. This immediately upset Juke, causing her to kick her father out, despite him apologizing and trying to explain his actions. Famous got back to the crib and decided to explain some things too. Remembering what Lou told him, Famous finally admitted to knowing how the gun got in Kanan’s bag. Kanan was enraged after hearing what his best friend had been keeping from him. He was so angry that he kicked Famous out of his own house. Apparently Marvin didn’t mess things up for the girls. The record executives thought that there might be something there. Ironically enough, N’Kiyah didn’t and had a lot of complaints. She stated that the girls choreography was sloppy, their chemistry was nonexistent and no one has stepped up to be the leader. She challenged all three girls to prove that they were the best. Raq was on to something when she mentioned Ronnie’s name to Pernessa. When Unique’s baby mother returned home, she walked in on Ronnie taking Unique’s jewelry. When she tried to stop him, Ronnie threw Pernessa to the floor before grabbing a bag and leaving without saying a word. At Raq’s house, a lot of words were being said. Ms. Walsh made another surprise visit right as Kanan and Raq were in the heat of an argument about the gun incident. The person who saved Kanan from getting in trouble for that was trying to do the same for himself. Howard visited Captain Baptiste and asked him if he could get moved to Narcotics since there was about to be an opening. He promised that if he could have the gig, he’d get the task force off of Baptiste’s back. With his brother out the way, Ronnie again visited Juliana in hopes of doing business. She explained that their business is between them two only and there we saw the beginning of a new partnership. As we might’ve expected, Kanan held it down when talking to Ms. Walsh. She told them that she was satisfied with how things stood at the moment and although she would be back, she was encouraged by what she seen. Upon Ms. Walsh’s departure, Kanan and Raq picked their argument right back up. Raq told Kanan that once he got older he’d understand why she did everything that she did. Before he walks off, he declared that he would never understood any of it, especially not her.
At Cafe Vous, Shirley pours Marvin up a drink once she notices he’s not feeling too hot. Lou comes over and can tell that something is bothering his brother. Marvin shares what happened with Juke earlier in the day. Lou encourages his older brother to keep trying because “the family sh-t” isn’t easy. Something that seems to have become easy for Kanan is moving his weed. Part of that has to be due to the fact that Kanan has a lot of delivery boys, most of which he got from Paul. Paul once again approaches Kanan and complains about the couriers not working for him as much because they’re with Kanan. Kanan explains that he pays them more and that’s why they come back to him. After Kanan puts his foot down, Paul rescinds his threat to call the cops and snitch on him. The two meet in the middle and Kanan gives Paul two delivery guys to use for the day. The whole interaction between Kanan and Paul was being watched by none other than Ronnie himself. Surprisingly, Ronnie only came to invite Kanan to a party that he was throwing later that night. Kanan’s parents met up in a secret location to discuss Unique. Although he didn’t have much, Howard confirmed Unique’s death to Raq. In the midst of their conversation, Raq broke down the difference between someone who’s aware and someone who is scared. She emphasized that she’s aware. Back at their crib, Juke is looking at her test results (it said “Congrats, You qualified”) when Marvin walks in. He apologizes for how he acted the day before at the rehearsal. Understanding what he was trying to do, Juke also apologizes to her father for yelling at him. She shares that he might’ve been on to something when it comes to her being the leader of the group. In yet another heartwarming moment, Marvin admits that he needs Juke’s help with understanding how to be a good father. Obviously, the whole Thomas family needs help at this point, especially Raq and Lou. The matriarch of the family came and apologized to her younger brother for missing his club opening. Raq tried to offer her brother love, support and respect but Lou doesn’t want to hear it at all. Lou brings up that there is nowhere for the two of them to go. He angrily mentions how she always used him. He continues by mentioning that if he would’ve told her no in the past, D-Wiz, Scrap and Zisa all might be alive. Before he can finish his statement, Raq reminds him that he has bodies all on his own and he needs to take responsibility for them. The heavy conversation caused Lou to pick up the bottle and drink once Raq left, something we haven’t seen him do in two episodes.
As they sat at the park and discussed their daughters, Gerald told Marvin that he thought about it and writing a story about Juke might make sense for him at The Voice. After Marvin thanks Gerald, a guy who worked at Lanes and knew Toni Deep (Marvin’s ex fling from Seasons 1 and 2) approached them. Marvin played it smooth and acted as if he didn’t know him or Toni. Unfortunately for him, Gerald seemed to be hip that he was definitely hiding something. Kanan still was hiding a lot from Juke also. He brought her and Iesha to the party later that night and Juke was a bit shocked to see that it was Ronnie’s party. After she brings up Unique missing, and Ronnie says that he’s taking a break and he’ll be back, they’re interrupted. Snaps and Pop introduce themselves to Kanan and mention that Ronnie’s been telling them that business is boomin’ for him. Kanan responds that he’s just making ends when Juke asks him what business. Then she asks Kanan what happened between him and Famous, to which he pretty much ignores stating that they’re at a party. Feeling jealous and uneasy, Juke steps in between Kanan and Iesha while they’re dancing. She says it’s because her and Iesha had practice in the morning. Although that might have been part of the reason, it wasn’t the main one. Kanan reluctantly agrees to leave with the girls until Ronnie comes up and lets him know that some old heads want to meet him. Juke tries to stop Kanan by telling Ronnie that they’re leaving and Kanan doesn’t need to be talking to any “thugsters” anyways. After Ronnie claims that they aren’t thugs, Juke shows how observant and knowledgeable she is by pointing out all the players that are present at the party. Kanan ends up deciding to stay. Juke tells Kanan that Raq wouldn’t want him there to which he responds and says he doesn’t care what his mother wants. Back at the studio, all Lou wanted to do was clear his head. We once again see him having a hallucination of Scrappy (this time he’s playing a video game). A distraught Lou continues drinking, as he fights his demons. Later at the club, Ronnie came out and told Kanan that they wanted to work with him. Pop and Snaps explained that they flirted in different work, stuff with a higher upside and that was easier to move. Kanan was confused on why they needed him if all he had was people on bikes. They continued their pitch by making the point that he’s already up and running. Kanan responded by letting them know that his business was just him and had nothing to do with his mother. After Pop confirmed that they already knew that, Ronnie seamlessly said “F-ck Raq.” Snaps also said it after him as Kanan sat there soaking up everything that was going on.
At Raq’s property (where one of the pipes in a building bursted), her and Marvin had a talk that will change the trajectory of the season. Raq expressed her frustration with the fact that it seemed like everyone was trying her at the moment. Interestingly enough, the cops that have been harrassing her all season drove past at the same time. Next, Marvin brought up Unique. Raq confirmed that he was dead. Raq continued venting by telling her brother that she only really left the game because she felt like it was the right thing to do and it was an easy choice considering how her business was going at the time. She finally admitted that being a landlord wasn’t for her. She emphasized to Marvin that she was put on Earth to move weight and she needed to stop trying so hard not to be herself. Back at the club, all the old heads were getting ready to take a picture. Before they did, Snaps called Kanan over and made sure he was in it. The next day, Raq and Marvin made their way to see Stefano, who was delighted to see them. After Stefano offered his apologies about Unique, Raq told him that she wanted to step into what Unique had started with him. Stefano noted that Raq’s coming and goings made him hesitant and that he needed someone he could count on. Marvin quickly chimed in and reminded Stefano that he knew he could count on Raq when he needed Sal Boselli taken out. This proved to be the final thing Stefano needed to hear to agree to get in business with the Thomas family. Stefano made it clear that now that Raq is back in, there’s only one way out. Speaking of being in, Kanan is all the way in now. He was awaken by Ronnie banging on his door. Once Ronnie entered, he started pulling bricks out of his bag and told Kanan it was time to go to work. It looks like they’re officially partners now. At the police station, Tanner brings Howard in and asks him what he knows about a specific somebody then hands him a file of the person. Howard responds by telling him that the guy previously did time on distribution and he’s always into something. Tanner then goes on to tell him that the person was implicated in a cocaine operation by a witness who was later murdered (Toni Deep). Tanner said that a first grader could put the pieces together as we see the person of interest just so happens to be Marvin. The episode ended with Lou taking the same advice that he gave Famous earlier in the episode. A drunken Lou went to Scrappy’s mother’s house and spilled all the beans about what happened to her son. He apologized and took blame for what happened, as Scrappy’s mother sat there in total shock and disbelief. How will Lou’s confession impact the rest of the family? What will Scrappy’s mom do with the information? How will Kanan, Ronnie, Snaps and Pops business venture work out? When will Juke tell Raq about Kanan? What can we expect from Raq now that she’s back in the game? Will Marvin end up back in jail? There are so many questions we still have left with only four episodes left in the season. Let us know what you thought about this episode and what you think will happen on the next one in the comments!