I’m writing this after watching all 10 episodes, and after I viewed episode one this morning, I knew I had to do my best Erik Voss impersonation (IYKYK) in order to break everything down from each episode of this season. I will be making a full season review in a later post because, Felicia Pride, I HAVE THOUGHTS!
So, here we go…
Episode one begins with a generic overview of campus. There are shots strung together of students on campus…being students on campus. We see the football field, the newly opened Gaines Library, the yard, and much more. You can briefly see the ladies of Alpha Delta Rho strolling on campus before we go inside to meet Candace (played by Renee Harrison) who we will later learn is the RA for the newly renovated Whitley Gilbert Hall.
As we will see later in the series, we will see more of the women of Alpha Delta Rho. It was the fictional sorority that Kimberly Reese (at the time of the original series), Whitley Gilbert, and Gina Deveaux crossed. We will see each of these ladies in this series.
This episode is also an homage to the first episode of the original series titled “Reconcilable Differences” where Denise meets her roommates, Jaleesa (played by Dawn Lewis who we will see later in the series). Denise doesn’t quit get along with Jaleesa and so she thinks it best to change roommates. Her new roommate? Whitley. Needless to say, she moves back in with Jaleesa. In this episode, the same could be said for Deborah and Rashida. Dwayne and Whitley also add to this title, and the students being at odds with the school.
This is also where we meet Deborah Wayne (played by Maleah Joi Moon who you may recall from Alicia Keys’ Off-Broadway production “Hell’s Kitchen”) and Amir Rodale (played by Jordan Aaron Hall). Amir mentions he came all the way from the 212 to the 804. Hall is a Harlem native, just like his character, and him saying 804 solidifies that Hillman is in Richmond.
If you’re a freak like me, then you know it’s been a topic of discussion for years as to where Hillman College was located in Virginia. As a Richmond native myself, I am both happy and sad. Happy that I get to walk around and say that Hillman College is in Richmond, VA, and sad that not a single character in this show is from Richmond. I think this is on purpose because I’m sure there is no one on staff that is from the Richmond area as well. There is a HBCU here in Richmond and it is Virginia Union University. You may see it referred to as Union or VUU. And no, Virginia State University is not in Richmond. It is in Petersburg.
Back to the show. Amir finds out that he is homeless as he does not have a housing arrangement on campus. It becomes a running joke on the show as we will hear him mention it using different terminology every time. Deborah sweet talks the aid using the fact that she likes Mary J. Blige (it’s on the back of her laptop). I hate the dialogue here because it’s not clever. It just feels forced.
She runs into her roommate Rashida Duvall (played by Alijah Kai who I affectionately call Tichina and Tisha’s baby. As you watch the series, you understand why). She’s from Compton, and she will later be revealed to be rooming with Deborah.
The next scene is Deborah meeting with Dr. Langhorne (played by the iconic Debbie Allen) and her wig shifting. If you recall, we were introduced to Dr. Langhorne in season four, episode 13. Remember when Whitley was upset about the fact that Julian was engaged but she was with Dwayne? The phrase “Relax, relate, release” (a phrase we all live by) comes back because BOY does Deborah need it.
Rashida walks past Kojo Achebe who is a Ghanaian-Nigerian born student. The RA for the Garvey dorm (which is named in honor of Marcus Garvey) mentions that freshman have a curfew. he foreshadows that students don’t want to end up locked outside when the sprinklers come on. Something that happens to the crew later in this episode.
Enter Shaquille Marlon Johnson in a Lamborghini. We hear, what sounds like the beginning of “Rump Shaker” (which would be fitting because Teddy Riley did a lot of his best work in VA Beach), and see Deborah flip up her glasses like her dad in the original series. Kadeem Harrison actually has a line of glasses which is what I believe he and his daughter’s glasses are. I’ve been meaning to get me a pair. If you recall from the original, Ron’s dad owned a used car business and wanted him to take it over when he was done with college. It’s not mentioned here if he ever did that. I assume the Lambo was because of his investment in Shaquille. He took it upon himself to be his manager.
Coach Coles (Hey, that’s my last name! Played by Cliff “Method Man” Smith) mentions that Shaquille missed summer camp. Darryl Bell returns as Ron Johnson and tells coach that Nike called and they just couldn’t miss it. I don’t understand why Ron is so down on his own college being that it took him 100 years to graduate.
I enjoy that everyone calls him Shaquille and not Shaq. Deborah walks and talks with Shaquille and mentions that she has a big brother and sister. We do not meet them in this season. I hope we meet them soon.
We find out that Deborah and Shaquille used to date which will be the bane of my existence this entire series and I will explain why in another post.
Whitley comes into the girls dorm and reminds us of all of her mother, Marion, when she questions Rashida about her academics. If you recall, Marion asked a lot of questions and was rude to Kim when she first met her as well. I would like to point out that Whitley is always wearing a Chanel pin. Haven’t figured out why yet. Will report back. Whitley tel Deborah that she had asked for her to room with a girl named Kennedy who lives in Connecticut, which wasn’t too far from their residence there.
Whitley goes running to her husband Dwayne Wayne. He wears an interesting blue Yankees’ cap with, what looks like a, Presidential seal patch on the side. For me, this foreshadowed him becoming Interim President and later being led to think he would be in that position permanently. (Still looking for the exact hat and patch) As we all know, Dwayne is from Brooklyn. They reveal that they are separated, and I will be writing Felicia Pride about this because there was no reason for this.
Whitley complains about all her other kids being easy and Deborah looking to take her out. Dwayne’s nickname for Deborah, as we learn, is Deebo. Deebo is also the name of Tiny Lester’s character in the iconic comedy “Friday.” He teases Whitley about Deebo taking her chain which was a joke in the movie between Craig and Smokey when Deebo was coming their way.
Rashida’s mom is revealed to be Alijah’s actual momma, Tichina Arnold. Rashida’s talk with her mom gives Kim vibes. Kim was an overachiever, and at times, didn’t know how to loosen up. She got better as the years passed.
The boys get informed of an “In the Building Party” which reminds me of the time when Ron and Whitley decided to have a rent party because Whitley spent her money shopping instead of on her rent. That was season four, episode 14. In this instance, it’s just a campus party.
The girls think they make it in after the party, but their RA Candace is waiting for them in the dark. This is a callback to season one, episode two when Jalisa and Denise sneak in and Stevie catches them. It is here where the girls learn that Deborah is Whitley and Dwayne’s daughter. You would think this would be something they would know being that her mom is a beauty mogul and they both seem like young women who would research the school. They are both clueless of this information and Rashida is pissed because Candace says she will be writing the girls up which could impact Rashida’s scholarship.
The next scene we see Dean Davenport, now President Davenport (played by Jennifer Lewis) singing….because what else would she being doing. Their new library is named after Lou Myers’ character Mr. Gaines. In the series, the slide says that Mr. Gaines was born on September 24, 1935 and died July 9, 2023. In real life, Myers was born on the 26th and died on February 19, 2013.
Rashida and the freshman class get a notification that some of them have lost their grants, mirroring real students at HBCUs recently who have lost funds because of cuts to their schools.
Rashida, being the resilient young woman she is, finds work at The Pit which is now headed by Nellie who is Gaines’ granddaughter. This means Gaines son, Darnell (you know the one who got on his nerves), had a daughter.
This is close to when Kim got a scholarship from Orange Glow Soda Company and she chose to give it up because they gave money in support of apartheid in South Africa. No fault of her own but she had to stay at The Pit. The Pit seems to be the only place on campus that is hiring. We’ll get to that later.
Deborah riles the entire freshman class into a rendition of “Where is the Money,” a chant that will come back later.
That’s all I found in episode one! Anyone catch anything I missed?
