Aahana Swrup
After a relatively calm period of time, chaos inevitably rises in the streets of Chicago, bringing new trouble to ‘The Chi.’ It’s no surprise that this disorder erupts as the summer heat reaches an all-time high. Stuck in a city-wide power outage, brothers Jake and Reg find their relationship reaching a turning point for better or worse. Simultaneously, the oldest brother, Victor, gets closer to Tiff, whose pregnancy and housing situation make her love life infinitely more complicated. Similarly, Alicia’s newfound priorities push her relationship with Shaad into the shadows. Meanwhile, Emmett and Keisha undergo the challenging side of parenthood while the former’s younger brother, Damien, puts himself in a tough bind. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Damien Relapses Into His Gambling Addiction
The various families across the city find themselves strapped in for a difficult time as a power outage takes over almost every house. While people like Alicia can afford to keep the power running through generators, most other folks have to get creative to combat the heat. As such, Emmett and Keisha, with their two kids and one on the way, have a long day ahead of them. During the chaos at home, the former receives a call from his half-brother, Damien, who is looking for a quick loan. Earlier, Darnell warns Emmett about his other son’s gambling addiction, which was severe enough to send him to rehab.
Still, Emmett lends the young man a hefty loan once the latter assures him it’s simply to pay off another debt and that he will return the money soon. However, Damien’s newfound love for card games brings him to a backroom game where the players are clever and the stakes are high. Soon enough, he’s putting the cash he got from Emmett on the table, much to his friend’s disappointment. Expectedly, a risky move leads Damien to lose all his money, including the loan he got from his brother. Therefore, now he’s in hot water with not only his debtor but the expectant father as well. Thus, we can expect this lapse in judgment to lead the young man down some dark roads.
Zeke’s Mistress Pays a Visit to His Church Cookout
While the city residents struggle with the power outage, Zeke’s megachurch hosts a cookout to bring the community together and provide some summer sun. The event has a great rollout, which compels the Pastor and his inner circle, including Charles and Papa, to pitch other activities that the church can use to increase its congregation. Naturally, Charles, who is known for his less-than-holy connections to many ladies of the church, suggests hosting dating/matchmaking events. Even though the Pastor is reluctant about the idea, he still has to relent that it would be a quick and easy way to get more people into the church. Meanwhile, one wrong person finds themselves wandering into the cookout, much to Zeke and Charles’ dismay.
Sarah, Zeke’s secret lover, attends the event to be closer to her partner. However, both the Pastor and his right-hand man agree that her presence would be a catastrophically bad thing for the church. For one, people are bound to talk about Sarah since she’s a white woman who sticks out like a sore thumb in an almost exclusively all-black church. Consequently, this would bring unwanted attention to her, which could lead to the discovery of her relationship with Zeke. Given the previous scandal surrounding his marriage, this would be the last thing the Pastor needs. For the time being, Sarah seems to understand these complications. Yet, it seems like it would only be a matter of time before this becomes a problem for Zeke.
Alicia Becomes Suspicious of Reg
Previously, news of Tiff’s pregnancy sidetracked Alicia from her single-minded focus on exacting revenge for Rob’s murder. Nonetheless, over the past few months, she has started to grow suspicious about Zay’s alleged involvement in her son’s death. She seems convinced that Nuck must’ve lied to her about the event for a number of reasons, including self-preservation. For the same reason, she warns Tiff from starting up a romance of any kind, especially one with someone like Nuck. As all of this unfolds, Shaad, Alicia’s bodyguard and lover, grows antsy about his perpetually unimportant place in the woman’s life. As such, he ends up amicably breaking things off with her, while promising to stay by her side as an employed security personnel.
Shortly afterward, Bakari comes to Alicia with some intriguing information about Rob’s murder. Detective Toussaint, who is looking into Reg’s resurfacing, tracks the young man down to ask him about the former’s return to the city. Furthermore, she seems to be under the impression that the previously assumed to be dead gangster has something to do with Rob’s death. Even though Bakari knows Nuck is really behind the murder of Alicia’s son, he brings Toussaint’s suspicions to the woman, likely to spark an intentional flame. As a result, the crime boss ends up driving down to Reg’s house. However, in her rage-fuelled eagerness, she ends up shooting the wrong person: Jamal, who was making a delivery at the Taylor brothers’ apartment. As such, the wrong person pays the price for Nuck’s actions once again.
