Don’t You Want Me – As the episode opens, Shani (Karina Willis) rises at 5:30am to work out before leaving to spy on Nella Rogers (Sinclair Daniel) walking to work. She repeats the same routine for several days. Nella receives a call from Owen (Hunter Parrish) who informs her of a school cancellation related to asbestos. Refusing to be pulled into the conversation again, she tells him that she is on her way to work. He warns that someone is following her. She says the woman has Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray) mistaken for Eva. Owen warns against going to see the woman.

Nella enters Wagner Books to be bombarded by a frantic Vera Parini (Bellamy Young) who informs her of Owen’s (Hunter Parrish) being leaked. Stunned, Nella asks who leaked it. Vera suggests it was the sensitivity reader. Nella scans a breaking news headline, “Publishing Racism: Wagner Has Few Black Employees and It Shows.” A NewsToday article reveals Jesse Watson condemning Wagner Books. Vera says Wagner is being presented as a racist. She tells her that she was right, Colin’s book is “bad.” Nella questions why she did nothing. Vera claims to have thought she did what was right for Wagner. She says they are calling for Colin to be dropped before asking for her help saving Wagner. Nella urges her to ask Malaika (Brittany Adebumola) but Vera stresses it must be her. While Nella does her makeup, Vera claims to have convinced Colin to save her job. Nella reluctantly agrees to help her.

Sophie (Kate Owens) asks if Wagner employees are at risk of losing their jobs. Nella says yes before asking if she has seen Hazel. Sophie says she called in sick. Nella alerts Trish that Wagner is taking over press until further notice. Bridget (Zele Avradopoulos) tells Nella that she must take Hazel’s place in getting everyone to sign Shannon’s birthday card. Nella agrees to do it when Vera orders her to gather the employees in the conference room.

Nella finds Maisy (Alyshia Ochse) weeping on the stairs. Maisy questions if Hazel calling in sick has to do with her believing she is racist. She claims to have long-time connections with authors who are now disassociating themselves from her. Nella assures her that what is happening has nothing to do with her but she needs to do her job. Maisy snaps her photo while embracing her. Nella grabs her phone to see a hashtag, “support Black women.”

In the conference room, Nella passes out coffee while Vera tells everyone that they are there to compose a public apology. Maisy says Colin has always been a problem. Bridget claims Colin farted by looking her in the eye. Vera contributes his farts to allergies before urging them to focus. Nella receives a call from Malaika who informs her that Richard Wagner (Eric McCormack) and Hazel are together at her favorite restaurant. Nella tells her that Hazel called in sick. In the background, Richard and Hazel leave together. Back at the conference room, Nella suggests the apology be written for Wagner, not Colin who has no idea he did anything wrong. Maisy asks Nella what they should do. Nella urges her to cancel Colin’s book release. Vera reminds everyone that Richard wants it released. Nella reminds her that she doesn’t want the book released. Vera assures her that it is not about her but other people. Nella accuses her of burying the sensitivity read. Vera denies it happened like that. Nella says Vera was too focused on money that she failed to notice Colin’s book was offensive. Vera terminates Nella when Richard intervenes.

Richard announces that Colin’s “Needles and Pins” is being dropped. Vera reminds him that he ordered her to save it. He explains his goals for Wagner in 2023. He terminates Vera. After a rant, Vera gets control of her emotions before ordering Nella to collect her bag. Richard says Nella no longer works for her. He suggests pausing Diana Gordon’s memoir to focus on Nella’s idea, the re-release of “Burning Heart.” He promises Nella to assistant editor. He apologizes for his mistakes.

Colin Franklin (Brian Baumgartner) demands to know where Vera is and why everyone is eating cake. Richard tells Shannon happy birthday while handing her a card. Irate, Colin boasts of his book paying for everything. Richard terminates his contract with Wagner before asking someone to alert security. Nella volunteers.

Hazel confesses to telling Richard about Vera burying the sensitivity read. She claims to feel sorry for anyone who stands in their way of becoming an editor.  She congratulates Nella before leaving. Nella recalls Shani telling her that Hazel is really Eva. Later, Nella is at 742 Perry Street. She calls Owen to claim she is still at work. A Goth chick (Georgia Norman) escorts Nella to Shani’s room. Elsewhere, Shani is abducted by several kidnappers (Darcel Danielle, London Shara). The episode ends.

 

The Other Black Girl Review

The series presents common workplace drama with racial injustice thrown into the mix. Workplace racism is undeniably real but the episode was a bit too preachy for my liking.

Wagner faces public scrutiny for its lack of racial diversity. Richard throws Vera under the bus and promotes Nella to save his own skin. On top of this, he ends his biggest contract by getting rid of Colin.

Richard’s decision to fire Vera and promote Nella to assistant editor could not possibly improve the situation. If anything, it will only intensify the existing issues. It felt a bit rushed. In the meantime, Nella’s biggest problem, Hazel, is staring her in the face. If Hazel can get Vera fired, imagine the threat she poses to Nella.

The show fails to provide solutions that could prove helpful to anyone in a similar situation.

The episode deserves a 5. Get more The Other Black Girl recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our onsite advertising builds brand awareness, click the link to learn more.