It’s finals week and this reminds me of a couple of episodes.
We’ve got season one, episode 12 where Denise is under pressure during her finals week. She’s avoiding writing a huge paper. There’s season four, episode six that’s a parody, of sorts, of “The Twilight Zone.” And we already discussed Kim and her model heart project. That was also during a finals week.
Deborah asks Dr. Langhorne how someone could get tested for a learning disability. If you’ve watched the entire season, you know this is a callback, as we said, to Theo learning he was dyslexic. Season six, episode five is where you can see that unfold. Fun fact, Ennis Cosby, Bill Cosby’s son, was the inspiration for that episode.
Amir says, “And Still I Rise,” which is a Maya Angelou poem. He also scolds Kojo for using AI to answer a question he could have asked him. He mentions saving water which is a hot topic with the rise of data centers powering the rise of AI.
As I rewatch the show, I notice that Nellie speaks much like Mr. Gaines would. This episode she tells Rashida that one burnt biscuit doesn’t spoil the batch. In an episode prior, she says that Rashida has too much dip on her chip. It might also be because I’m an old Black woman, but I love this.
Deborah and Shaquille’s studying reminds me of season three, episode four when Dwayne got a “D’ on a calculus exam because he was spending too much time just staring at Whitley. In this case, it seems like Shaquille might be doing better in school than Deborah.
Also, we find out that Shaquille’s nickname for Deborah is Birdie. Dwayne’s nickname for Whitley was Bunny. We’ll see that name later in relation to Hazel. Also, in the movie “Soul Food,” Bird (played by Nia Long) was the youngest of the Joseph sisters. Deborah is the youngest of her siblings. Whitley calls Dwayne “pookie,” which could have been a reference to “mookie” which was Spike Lee’s character’s name in “Do The Right Thing.”
We start the bomb scare portion of this episode. There was a moment in time in recent years when bomb threats called on HBCU campuses was rampant. According to my Googles, there was a wave of bomb threats in 2022 and in 2025. The wave in 2025 is probably what the show is referencing. Hampton University, Virginia State University, Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta University, Southern University, and Bethune-Cookman University were among the six universities threatened.
Norman tells the students that President Wayne will be on his way to give an update, and while dapping a student up, he tells him, “We gon be aight.” This is the chorus to Kendrick Lamar’s Pharrell produced masterpiece “Alright” from his “To Pimp A Butterfly” album.
The students have a group discussion about Black institutions, the threat on them, and why that might be. We see Candace touch Shaquille’s arm. Reminds me of when Dwayne went out with a math colleague of his and Kim saw them holding hands in season five, episode nine.
One student mentions that Penn would never. In season three, episode 11, one of Dwayne’s old buddies comes down to try and convince that Dwayne would be better at a PWI (Predominately White Institution) than his HBCU.
Kojo badgering Rashida about staying with him over break (probably to try and have sex again) goes back to season four, episode 23 when Dwayne and Whitley had planned to have sex with each other for the first time in their relationship. Josie revealed she had AIDS that episode, and that did not happen.
Rashida and Andre go back to nerd talk. This time they liken to what they’re going through during the lockdown to “Attack on Titan.” I LOVE that show. It is not on Netflix, but you can find it on Crunchyroll and I encourage you to watch it. You will be mad, and you can come back to yell at me. I did that to a friend of mine, too.
Jaylen sparks Amir to think about his full potential. It’s common in the Black community for the men and women who do our hair to be our therapist. I do often wonder how many stylist and/or barbers go into therapy for real.
Deborah starts humming and then starts singing “Can We Talk?”, the 1993 classic by Tevin Campbell. This is the “You don’t gotta go home, but you do gotta get outta here” song when the club is closing. If you’re a fanatic like I am, you know this the 2.0 version of sing-a-longs done on this show. Season three, episode ten is when they do “12 Days of Christmas”—Hillman style.
Deborah’s pink top with the gloves reminds me of an outfit worn by her mom in the original season. It was a white cape of some sort. Can’t recall the season or episode but someone will find it.
I think I first noticed this episode that Deborah enjoys when people rub her ankles and feet. Her mom does it later when she talks with her in her dorm in a later episode. Shaquille does it here after they get the all clear.
Dr. Langhorne meets with Amir who takes Jaylen’s advice to be a counselor. She mentions her second ex-husband. This is a callback to her talking about her ex-husbands in season five, episode 12 when she goes to dinner at the Taylors home.
The episode ends with Ellington kissing Deborah which reminds me again of when Jaleesa and Walter were supposed to get married and they called it off. In that episode, Dwayne and Whitley kiss. (We’ll talk about Freddie and Ron later.)
What y’all got for me?
