She’ll mention it later down the line, but the beginning of this episode is a callback to season two, episode four called “Dream Lover” when Whitley was daydreaming about Dwayne. Remember, when she danced with Dwayne that one night, and then, for the rest of the episode, started to see him romantically everywhere?
Deborah calls Rashida “pookie” which is a callback to her mom’s nickname for her dad. We see Shaquille take Deborah’s feet to rub. Again, we’ll see her mom do that to her later. I’ve seen people mention that one time Dwayne rubbed Whitley’s feet in season six, but it’s not strong enough, for me, to make a correlation between the two.
Rashida walks out with Andre, and I can’t help but notice that she has on Baby Phat. Y2K has been a fashion obsession for these kids recently.
Ron starts fussing with Dwayne and Whitley about not being able to get in touch with Shaquille. They come up with a plan to break them up. Whitley and Ron hatched a similar plan in season four, episode seven when Ron hired Whitley as the maid when HE KNEW Dwayne was confused about his feelings for Whit and Kinu.
Whitley dons a jeweled frog in honor of the celebration for her sorority. Ron rolling up on Shaquille in the gym reminds me of Ron trying to avoid his own father in season four, episode nine. I enjoy how he’s so much like him.
Black Psychology at Hillman is taught by Dr. Brooklyn Boyer (played by Ravin Godwin who I LOVE). She affectionately calls Brooklyn “cuzzo,” which continues the family bond between the gals and the guys.
Kimberly Reese Boyer steps into the room to say she wasn’t going to miss her baby’s first class! We switch to the scene that made me scream in my room. Papa Pope is BACK YALL!! Byron is now a Senator, and on divorce number three. He really packs it on that Whitley left him at the alter in the season five finale. He’s not letting that go.
The OG ladies being out in the club reminds me of season one, episode six of “Living Single.” The girls don’t use fake names here but it’s a similar vibe. Whitley calls Freddie her nickname for her—Freddie La–and when she reveals that she reconnected with Byron, Freddie does her famous vocal stem.
Ron and Dwayne cannot get in the club because they are not dressed for the occasion. Ron mentions having once had a club. That’s a callback to season six, episode 16.
I’ve been noticing that Deborah wears this diamond necklace and has been since maybe episode three. There is no explanation for it, but I’m going to continue to dig into that.
Rashida says the human trafficking case is personal for her. In season two, they have to have her explain that to us.
Whitley and Deborah have a conversation about the very episode I referenced to start this show. While they have their moment, Bryan takes a visit to Dwayne’s office to tell him that Whitely came to him. He jokes that Dwayne is not above begging calling back to everyone’s favorite line—“Baby, please. PLEASE!” Hardison actually improvised this line because he forget his lines. He said he knew Guy would pick up on the fact that he needed her to keep going. He used this line because they both shared the screen in “School Daze.” Spike often used a variation of this exact same cadence in his films.
Deborah tells Shaquille that Ellington kissed her and it turns into Dwayne and Whitley from the season four finale, in a way. You could also argue for their broken engagement in season five, episode ten. In the season four finale, Whitley is leaving for an internship in NY and thinks her and Dwayne cannot handle the distance. He follows her all the way to the train station and proposes. She says yes but still leaves.
The end of this episode likens itself to season five, episode 18 where Dwayne and Whitley have sex with each other while she’s with Byron. He makes breakfast as he sings the song Kim performed at Ron’s club.
What I miss, family?
