And so, dear friends, we have arrived at a bittersweet place in the world of Queen Sugar: The finale, which finally gave us some closure but also left us wanting more. (Luckily, the OWN team renewed it for a second season, so we will be getting some answers!) The finale kicked off with a steamy opener: Shots of Ralph Angel and Darla sharing a shower — and a bit more than that, we can only assume. But there wasn't much time for romance, because the show had a few storylines to tie up. Here's how things ended up for each of our main Queen Sugar players:
Nova: Now that Too Sweet is free, Nova's sending him off to Montgomery where she's set him up with an apartment and job. "I looked out for you, like good people looked out for me. And you're gonna do the same for somebody else; that's the cycle." I loved this (very Oprah-like) idea of paying it forward.
But as soon as homeboy is out the house, Calvin swoops in for their reunion. He tells her he wants to take her out for dinner and drinks and dancing...in public. During their night out in New Orleans, they can barely keep their hands off each other, and I'm happy to see Nova beaming and happy (especially since Calvin is foine). But then they run into a cop friend of Calvin's, and when he realizes that Nova is the same reporter that's been openly criticizing local law enforcement, all hell breaks loose, ending in a fight between Calvin and Bruce. Our last shot of Nova this season is of her confused and crying, a nod to just how complicated the racial tensions between Black folks and the police have really gotten in this country.
Charley: She's our main protagonist in this episode, still plotting and scheming, trying to convince Davis to play for New Orleans and still blackmailing his old teammate Felix Evans' wife. She sets up a sit-down between Davis and Micah so they can work on their relationship — and coincidentally, Frank, the owner of the New Orleans Stingers, shows up to talk to Davis about signing with the team. And Charley is suspiciously friendly with Davis during this whole thing. But just when we think she might be trying to get Davis back, we see her with Remy, apologizing (while on top of him) for forgetting their date. Remy, however, has to apologize, too: Apparently he slipped up and told Ralph Angel about Charley's mill plan. She sits down with Nova and Ralph Angel to explain her intention to purchase the farm its very own million-dollar cane mill. Nova is for it, but Ralph Angel isn't; he doesn't believe their father would've wanted them to start a huge empire. But Remy points out that a local, Black-owned sugar cane mill could be a game changer for the community. Ralph Angel isn't happy, but as usual, he has no choice but to go along with what his sisters want.
Charley: She's our main protagonist in this episode, still plotting and scheming, trying to convince Davis to play for New Orleans and still blackmailing his old teammate Felix Evans' wife. She sets up a sit-down between Davis and Micah so they can work on their relationship — and coincidentally, Frank, the owner of the New Orleans Stingers, shows up to talk to Davis about signing with the team. And Charley is suspiciously friendly with Davis during this whole thing. But just when we think she might be trying to get Davis back, we see her with Remy, apologizing (while on top of him) for forgetting their date. Remy, however, has to apologize, too: Apparently he slipped up and told Ralph Angel about Charley's mill plan. She sits down with Nova and Ralph Angel to explain her intention to purchase the farm its very own million-dollar cane mill. Nova is for it, but Ralph Angel isn't; he doesn't believe their father would've wanted them to start a huge empire. But Remy points out that a local, Black-owned sugar cane mill could be a game changer for the community. Ralph Angel isn't happy, but as usual, he has no choice but to go along with what his sisters want.
Charley brings together all the local Black farmers and proposes a collaborative where they work together using their upcoming mill, rather than the Landrys'. After an inspiring speech about why they should do this for all those who came before them, the farmers agree. It looks like Charley and Remy are going to celebrate after, but then she receives a call from Davis asking to see her right away. She asks Remy if she can come see him after, but he says no; he's clearly caught on to the fact that Charley's playing games, and he's not having it.
Still, she shows up at Davis's hotel room, and after he tries to kiss her and she doesn't reciprocate, he catches on that she's just been leading him on to try to get him to sign in New Orleans — though he's not sure why (and neither am I, yet). She then leaves and heads to a strip club looking for Felix, (whom she says is so easy to find because he's so predictable, which gave me a chuckle). She names all of the prostitutes Felix has slept with, then threatens to have them all talk to the press if he doesn't sign to New Orleans, convince Davis to do the same, and wire her $5 million. "Oh, and if you ever violate a woman ever again, Felix Evans, I swear to God you will have hell to pay," she throws in at the end.
The next day, she gets a call from the New Orleans team owner confirming that Davis and Felix both signed with him — and that he's also wired her $5 million to her account. She asks him to wire $1 million of that to a sex workers outreach charity in the name of Malina Galoudian. Aha! So this is Charley's revenge she's been working toward the last few seasons: Using Davis to get the money she needs for her sugar cane mill, and also leaving him and his teammate less money in their pockets. I'm halfway between side-eyeing her for her manipulation and applauding her for making those assholes pay for what they did — and helping both women and local Black farmers out at the same time. Our last shot of Charley is her standing in front of her new sugar mill, writing the words "Queen Sugar" in the dirt.
Violet: Sadly I didn't get much closure from my favorite couple of the series, Violet and Hollywood. When Violet asks Ralph Angel where he's been, he hands over Hollywood's divorce papers, which were delivered to the house the day after he moved out. Ralph explains that Hollywood hit the road as soon as he saw Violet "grinding on some man at the juke" (pause for the laugh that I had at how serious Ralph was saying that line). Violet calls Hollywood to ask if they can fix things, but he tells her he needs some time — he's taken a six-month gig down at the rig in Baton Rouge. Damn. Violet's face says it all: She's heartbroken.
Ralph Angel: Now that Ralph Angel and Darla are on better terms, he's had nothing to do the last few episodes but whine about the fact that Charley doesn't respect him (typical baby of the family — sorry, I'm a bitter middle child). Darla reminds him he needs to focus less on her respect and more on respecting himself. And then, the duo finds a lock box hidden on a closet shelf. Ralph opens it and finds an envelope addressed to him — from his father. It turns out it's Ernest's last will and testament, a more recent version than the one his lawyer had read them, which had been written decades before. Turns out Ernest had actually intended for the land to be left to Ralph Angel. Gasp! This is surely going to cause some complications between the siblings. The final words of this season are from Ernest: "Build a good life here, Ralph Angel, so when you get to the end you can look back and be proud of your days on this earth, on this land. It's all yours, son. Do right, I know you can. Until we meet again: Pops." And so, until we meet again, Queen Sugar viewers, it's been great fun watching, crying, and laughing over every episode. I'm so glad I got to share this season with each of you. Until the next go round, if you need more of your QS fix, don't forget to check out our panel with the cast at the Screen Actor's Guild. Otherwise, I'll see you next season for more with the Bordelons! Take care.
Violet: Sadly I didn't get much closure from my favorite couple of the series, Violet and Hollywood. When Violet asks Ralph Angel where he's been, he hands over Hollywood's divorce papers, which were delivered to the house the day after he moved out. Ralph explains that Hollywood hit the road as soon as he saw Violet "grinding on some man at the juke" (pause for the laugh that I had at how serious Ralph was saying that line). Violet calls Hollywood to ask if they can fix things, but he tells her he needs some time — he's taken a six-month gig down at the rig in Baton Rouge. Damn. Violet's face says it all: She's heartbroken.
Ralph Angel: Now that Ralph Angel and Darla are on better terms, he's had nothing to do the last few episodes but whine about the fact that Charley doesn't respect him (typical baby of the family — sorry, I'm a bitter middle child). Darla reminds him he needs to focus less on her respect and more on respecting himself. And then, the duo finds a lock box hidden on a closet shelf. Ralph opens it and finds an envelope addressed to him — from his father. It turns out it's Ernest's last will and testament, a more recent version than the one his lawyer had read them, which had been written decades before. Turns out Ernest had actually intended for the land to be left to Ralph Angel. Gasp! This is surely going to cause some complications between the siblings. The final words of this season are from Ernest: "Build a good life here, Ralph Angel, so when you get to the end you can look back and be proud of your days on this earth, on this land. It's all yours, son. Do right, I know you can. Until we meet again: Pops." And so, until we meet again, Queen Sugar viewers, it's been great fun watching, crying, and laughing over every episode. I'm so glad I got to share this season with each of you. Until the next go round, if you need more of your QS fix, don't forget to check out our panel with the cast at the Screen Actor's Guild. Otherwise, I'll see you next season for more with the Bordelons! Take care.