Caught In The Rapture – Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray) wakes and prepares for her day. She cooks and delivers breakfast to her captive, Shani (Karina Willis), who is reluctant to eat at first. Arriving at Wagner, Nella Rogers (Sinclair Daniel) is greeted by Sophie (Kate Owens) who says everyone is excited that Nella will be running today’s marketing meeting. She goes on to say no one is talking about what happened with Hazel yesterday before saying otherwise. When Nella sees Hazel, she tries to apologize, but Hazel doesn’t give her the chance.

During the meeting, Nella lays out her plan for targeting black-owned businesses with the rerelease of “Burning Hearts” to ensure it is a cultural event. Richard Wagner (Eric McCormack) gives her high praises and attempts to end the meeting. Before he can, Nella intervenes with the suggestion of donating a percentage of the book’s profits to Hazel’s charity, Young, Black, and Lit. Richard agrees to the idea. Once alone, Hazel thanks Nella. She says they need a reset and invites her to a “hair party” on Saturday.

On Saturday, Malaika (Brittany Adebumola) insists on accompanying Nella so she can find proof Hazel is a liar. Nella reluctantly agrees but asks her to not snoop. Before kissing her goodbye, Owen (Hunter Parrish) tells Nella she’s doing the right thing. However, he warns her not to let Hazel get inside her head. Malaika tells Owen to be on standby before using a location-sharing app to link their phones. If she needs him, she’ll text him. Owen worries that Malaika is making Nella paranoid.

When Hazel introduces herself, Camille (Camille Bright) claims they already know all about Nella. Kiara (Amber Reign Smith) says she is jealous of their connection. Ebonee (Rheeqrheeq Chainey) claims that Hazel talks about Nella so much that she feels like she has a new coworker. As they learn more about each other, Hazel mentions they are still waiting on Ruby Cropper (Briana Starks). Malaika recognizes the name and drags Nella aside to reveal Ruby is the ex she cheated on. She suggests the hair party is a setup for Ruby to get revenge on her although Nella doesn’t want to believe that. Seconds later, Ruby shows up and shocks Malaika by being nice to her. Malaika takes Nella to the side again by pretending she needs to go to the bathroom.

Then, she stresses how strange Ruby’s behavior is. Malaika convinces Nella that they should snoop around. Before Nella can find anything, Hazel finds her and takes her back to the party. Malaika and Ruby speak in private. Malaika admits she is freaking her out. Ruby tells Malaika that she has changed thanks to therapy and Hazel. Elsewhere, the others keep telling Nella that she is stunning. When Camille offers to introduce her to her book agent friend, Crystle David, Nella says please before asking why they are being so nice. Camille says they are just happy to have another girl in their sisterhood. They tell her she needs to know when to take a win. Hazel reminds the group that Nella won’t be an official member until she does her hair.

Nella is hesitant to let anyone else touch her hair but eventually says okay because she trusts Hazel. Malaika asks Ruby what Hazel’s deal is, but Ruby insists there is no deal. She claims Hazel is real. Ruby tells Malaika how Hazel helped her including sharing her makeup and clothes. In the bathroom, Malaika leaves Owen a message about the suspicious behavior at the party and asks him to come. As Hazel massages Nella’s scalp, she has a memory of her mother doing her hair. Malaika storms into the party and questions why the hair product she’s using doesn’t have a label or ingredient list. Hazel claims she makes it herself. After Nella says it smells nice, Malaika asks her to join her in the bathroom again. Hazel becomes suspicious and questions why she keeps going to the bathroom.

Malaika blames the spanks and says it is a two-person job. Once alone, Malaika tells Nella how Hazel gave Ruby clothes too. She suspects Hazel could be a cult leader. Nella admits that the party has been strange at times although she feels like a big weight has been lifted from her shoulders for two seconds. Nella suggests Malaika doesn’t understand because she’s used to working with other black women. Malaika says a fancy job and clothes don’t mean those girls understand her better than she does. Malaika asks Nella to spend at least 15 minutes snooping. If she doesn’t find anything strange, she’ll drop it.

Back downstairs, Malaika ignores Hazel’s questions about Nella and attempts to distract everyone by offering to do their eyebrows. Hazel asks Camille and Ruby to go into the hall to get chips while Malaika works on her eyebrows. While searching, Nella finds an envelope that contains before and after photos of the women downstairs. She finds a picture of herself without an after photo. She hears the others so she quickly hides. Nella remains hidden in the closet when Camille and Ruby enter to search the room for her. Nella rushes back to the party with the excuse that she just received a horrible phone call and needs to leave. Before Nella can leave with Malaika, Hazel and the others intervene. Hazel asks for three minutes to share her big surprise. She leads them upstairs to a room full of “swag bags”.

Owen rushes over on a scooter. He’s caught trying to break into Hazel’s front door as Nella and Malaika leave. Hazel questions what is going on so Nella comes up with an awkward story about her dog having cancer. They hurry to the subway where she shows the others the pictures she found. Owen questions what “voluntary” and “involuntary” mean. Nella believes she was wrong about Hazel. Back at the party, the girls realize that Hazel is snippy so they remind her that they tried their best. Hazel tells them they still have one new member to celebrate. Shani comes in seconds later.

 

The Other Black Girl Review

This episode of The Other Black Girl took an unexpected turn by introducing the potential of a cult angle. While that is interesting, the party scene was slightly annoying with Nella and Malaika regularly stepping out to talk in private. The entire party scene was somewhat cliché since something similar happens so often in other suspense thrillers.

Truthfully, the story is starting to become a little farfetched although it may make sense in the end. This was one of the least enjoyable episodes and hopefully not a sign of things to come. The series needs a strong finale to pull everything together and leave a lasting impact on viewers. This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of The Other Black Girl can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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