OPINION: Camille is finding out how lonely it can be to do pregnancy without a boo and Quinn gets a shock to the system.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
We get one heck of a time jump in episode 4 of “Harlem”s final season. When Camille found out she was pregnant, she discovered she was already 12 weeks into the game. At the beginning of this episode, we learn that she (and Ian) are at their 32 week appointment. So we’ve fast forwarded a head spinning five months. Camille is showing. Tye and Eva are going strong. Quinn and Seth are going strong. And Angie and Mike are in the throes of wedding planning.
Ian and Camille are at the doctor’s office checking our their daughter on the sonogram and after the appointment concludes, Camille asks Ian if they can go get something to eat and gets gobsmacked with a reminder that they’re not together. Ian needs to get back home to Portia and well, I felt bad for Camille.
But it made me curious about some things about Ian. For starters, he’s talking about putting the nursery together, which I assume means at his house. But maybe at Camille’s house? I need clarification on this. Also, how did Portia take the news that Camille was pregnant. We didn’t get ANY of that smoke and I know there was some smoke.
The little we’ve seen about Portia makes her seem mad chill, and confident about her space and spot in Ian’s life. They live together and the whole nine, but still, I would have liked to see Ian navigate that conversation because he has flubbed MANY conversations with Camille and loves to say, “my bad” as his big Joker. As usual, we’ll get back to them.
Anyway, Seth and Quinn are five months stronger in their non-exclusive exclusive thing, which is also confusing. Seth is a professional baseball player. I don’t know if you know but I know that the baseball season runs from March (spring training) to at least October. The season is 162 games. Oh, and Seth plays for a team in Chicago. Based on the timing of the prior few episodes, Seth should be somewhere in the middle of his season. I mean, folks are rocking coats and sweaters and long sleeves. Bro spends A LOT of time in New York City in his super fly pad. I wonder how their relationship has progressed considering how little time he must have in New York City.
Well, he has been booked for a Black Love shoot with Ebony and asks Quinn to be part of it. The shoot is amazing and Quinn starts thinking about forever with Seth, and ya know, it seems like he’s in that same space. Or so we thought; put a pin in this.
Tye and Eva continue their love story together and I have to say Eva keeps forcing Tye to level up her game as a partner and I’m here for it. Tye is learning a lot about herself and then being forced to grow. I love this for her. They love each other and that made me smile. I’m sure this story will evolve more in the coming episodes, but I think we can leave this storyline here for the moment.
Angie is one of stars of “Girls Trip: The Musical” and the director let her know that a popular theater critic is coming to check out a number from the show. Angie is READY. But Mike thinks that performing the song “Drugs In My Booty” would be a misstep in her career, relegating her to second fiddle status as an actor not to be taken seriously. I’m not saying he’s being controlling — I’m sure he’s thinking about his belief in her best interest — but Angie goes for broke and does the musical number to tremendous results. She loves her job and who she is. Interestingly, Mike is both happy for her and also…disappointed? This thread has potential to be a thing.
Camille is yearning for some male attention. It’s been rough; she’s 8 months pregnant and the father to her kid is in a fully committed long-term relationship. While Ian is probably doing his best, I’m not envious of his situation at all. Anyway, while hanging out at Seth’s place with Quinn, she meets one of Seth’s teammates (who is also supposed to be at spring training or something?) named Sisco who she has tremendous chemistry with. She invites him back to her place where Ian shows up HOT because he’s been calling her and she hasn’t been answering…MUCH like earlier that day when Ian flaked on their couple’s lamaze class, leaving her sad and upset. Ian is also very annoyed that pregnant Camille is hanging with other men because to quote him, “what kind of guy hits on a pregnant lady?”
It turns out that Portia’s father had a stroke which is why he wasn’t available, but Camille has to remind him that while Ian can go ghost because something comes up, she never gets that opportunity. For her, navigating the whole relationship with Ian is hard, too. She knows they’re not together, but she also would like to know that Ian cares about her outside of just being her kid’s mother. It’s a difficult situation for them both but I give them both a lot of credit for doing their best. I’m actually enjoying watching this very real life situation unfurl.
What I WASN’T expecting was Seth getting a phone call in the middle of the night where he tells another woman that he’ll be wherever he’s going next soon….and that he loves her. PLOT TWIST!
It’s going UP in Harlem.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
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