It’s prom night for Micah (Nicholas L. Ashe) and KeKe (Tanyell Waivers). Everyone except for Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) has gathered at Charley’s (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) to send them off–Nova (Rutina Wesley) is even there. (I guess we’ve forgiven her?) Charley is delighted. She’s taking pictures of the young couple with Micah’s camera. Nova toasts her nephew who is headed to Harvard in the fall and his lady love who will be going to Tulane. Everything seems lovely and carefree until Charley receives an unwanted phone call from Jacob Boudreaux–the rival for her City Council seat and a member of her family’s longtime rival family. Though she doesn’t answer the phone, the levity of the moment for Charley has sank. After Hollywood (Omar J. Dorsey) tells Micah to be responsible, he and Aunt Vi (Tina Lifford) head home leaving Charley and Nova alone.

Photo by Skip Bolen © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. / Courtesy of OWN.

Charley begins to fret about the forthcoming town hall against Jacob that is set to be held at Vi’s Prized Pies & Diner. She’s very worried about her position in the polls. Nova, who frankly owes her sister, has a bit of leverage that Charley can use against Jacob. Several episodes ago, Nova went on the Finding Your Roots-type show, Lineages. At the time, one of the show’s producers revealed a hidden secret about the Bordelon family tree. Nova shares that secret with Charley.

Elsewhere, Ralph Angel has dropped his son Blue (Ethan Hutchinson) off at his girlfriend Deesha’s for Blue’s playdate with her daughter, Joi. This is the first time RA has seen Deesha since he stood her up for their date in last week’s episode. Ralph Angel doesn’t offer any explanation except for saying that things are “complicated.” Deesha is understandably frosty with RA. However, she tells him that she will happily look after the kiddos for the day before dismissing him from her presence.

At Vi’s diner, Nova and Charley are prepping for the town hall. Nova is trying to make sure that Charley can control the narrative and not be easily thrown off of her game. Though Charley seems uncertain–Nova urges her to use the secret leverage from Lineages to her advantage. In the midst of their prep work, Nova gets a text from her formerly-married, now-single boo Calvin (Greg Vaughan) and her face lights up. He’s headed her way from Baton Rogue for a belated birthday celebration. Nova and Charley giggle about it together before Nova heads home to prepare for her date. (Okay, so we’re REALLY forgiving her?!) Charley continues practicing for the town hall.

At Nova’s house, she’s just finished freshening up when Calvin knocks on her door. He comes bearing gifts (smart man) which include balloons, a fruit basket and a necklace. Nova is absolutely giddy about it. They even have reservations at her favorite restaurant but then thunder roars and the sky opens up. The two decide to stay in with Calvin cooking dinner instead.

Photo by Skip Bolen © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. / Courtesy of OWN.

Back in St. Josephine, Keke and Micah arrive at the hotel room their friends have booked for their pre-prom pre-game. They crack open a bit of a drink and toast to their friend Anthony who was recently released from prison. (Anthony was charged with arson last season after accidentally burning down a slave home on a plantation.) However, as they settle in, Keke and Micah’s friends bring up the fact that Micah booked an extra hotel room. They goad Micah, humiliating KeKe as Micah tries to calm the situation down. Ugh. High school boys are garbage. Just as Keke seems near tears the sky cracks,  the storm has reached St. Josephine.

Ever the perfectionist, Charley is still at Vi’s diner practicing for the town hall when Jacob Boudreaux comes strolling in. Ugh, the man is like an ingrown toenail that just won’t go away. Charley is obviously not pleased to see his smug face. With his usual arrogance and puffery, Jacob begins to tell Charley she has no chance of winning. Charley isn’t trying to hear it until Jacob basically admits that the election has already been rigged his favor. Whew, chile.

Across town, Vi and Hollywood finally make it home despite flash flood warnings. Hollywood is tickled because he has a box of accessories for his new motorcycle. He has even purchased Vi a helmet much to her disdain. When he jokingly tells his wife she’s no fun Vi tells Alexa to turn on her Vi’s Party Playlist before she begins to seduce her hubby.

Later, Wood sits in a bathtub as Vi scrubs his back. They begin bouncing around ideas for his men’s center, or safe space for guys. It’s something Wood has been thinking about for weeks.

Photo by Skip Bolen © 2019 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. / Courtesy of OWN.

At the hotel, Micah and Keke are alone for the moment. Micah apologizes for not canceling the hotel room even though they agreed sex was no longer on the table. Keke forgives him saying she just has a lot on her mind as a lot is about to change for them. As they slow dance, their friends come back in the room to announce that prom has been canceled due to the rainstorm.

Later, RA has returned to Deesha’s to pick up Blue. As he waits for the little boy he comes clean with Deesha about Darla’s (Bianca Lawson) relapse. He reveals that Darla is the reason he’s been so distant lately. He also confesses that though he loves Deesha’s company he’s still in love with the mother of his son. Deesha takes it all well and she promises not to let the end of their romance affect Blue and Joi’s playdates.

At Nova’s she and Calvin are talking about future plans. However, their schedules don’t seem to mesh. A good chunk of Calvin’s time is spent with his children, while Nova’s work schedule has revved up. As they ponder what to do next, Nova reveals that Calvin’s “unavailability” used to be attractive to her. It kept her from getting too close. In the end, Calvin decides to move back to NOLA from Baton Rouge so that they can have a real chance at a relationship and though Nova seems pleased about it at the moment, something tells me she’s terrified.

Still reeling from Jacob’s revelation about the rigged city council election, Charley does everything she can think of to get him to drop out of the race. She plays him the horrific tape of his mother screaming racist things at her from several weeks ago. Appalled, Jacob says he cannot drop out, but he can make himself unelectable. Charley has just the thing that might make that happen. She shows Jacob some information about his great-great-grandmother. It’s the Lineages family tree information.

RA drops by Darla’s to bring her some soup and to check on her. She looks fragile but better than she did the last episode when she relapsed. Ralph Angel has told Blue that Darla is away visiting her mother in D.C. since Darla isn’t ready to see her son just yet. Ralph Angel holds Darla, they chat about the early days of their relationship and in the midst of their heart-to-heart, RA reveals he’s still in love with Darla. This is a lot.

Rained in at the hotel, Keke, Micah and their friends are talking about their hopes and dreams. While everyone else seems to have aspirations about being Black and excellent, Micah confesses he feels lost. Though he adores photography, he fears he’ll turn out to be something predictable like an investment banker. That seems more Charley than Micah from where we’re sitting.

As the episode closes out, Charley calls Nova to thank her for the Lineages information. As the sisters turn on the TV, Jacob Boudreaux is spilling his guts. He reveals that his company, Landry Enterprises has a bias pricing structure based on race. TRASH. He also claims that he’s calling for a company audit.

However, the real tea is that his great-great-grandmother, Landry, was a member of the Bordelon family. She simply passed for white. Charley seems to think this information will hurt Jacob’s chances at winning a seat on the city council. I’m not so sure.

Queen Sugar airs Wednesdays at 9 PM ET on OWN.

Aramide A. Tinubu is a film critic and entertainment editor. As a journalist, her work has been published in EBONY, JET, ESSENCE, Bustle, The Daily Mail, IndieWire and Blavity. She wrote her master’s thesis on Black Girlhood and Parental Loss in Contemporary Black American Cinema. She’s a cinephile, bookworm, blogger and NYU + Columbia University alum. You can find her reviews on Rotten Tomatoes or A Word With Aramide or tweet her @wordwitharamide