Since the June premiere of the Irv Gotti produced Tales, viewers have been mixed on the execution of the show anthology; a series that takes its’ storyline from a different rap hit every episode.

Each episode gives a more theatrical visual to hip hop and shines a bright light on new faces in the Hollywood. In “A Children’s Story’, the fifth installment of Tales first season, we see Empire and The New Edition Story’s Bre-Z as well as Moonlight’s Jharrel Jerome reimagined in Slick Rick’s chart topper about coming up on money fast.

Slick Rick narrates the episode as they truly lived out the the old African proverb, “If you’ll lie, you’ll steal. If you’ll steal, you’ll kill.”

Bre-Z plays Ty, a young woman in the hood living with her sick grandma. The episode immediately pulls us into the past due bills that we recognize fuels later illegal activity. Ty peels through the mail to find a letter from her Uncle Ricky in jail. As she reads the letter, this is where Slick Rick comes in and the story begins.

Roaming the streets with her cousin Deacon, they come across onlookers watching coroners gather a dead body. Deacon tells Ty, they tried to rob a bank. The next scene takes us to Ty and Deacon purchasing guns from a dope fiend in an alley. Ty does not want to do it, but Deacon convinces her despite the many times he has ‘led her wrong’. Once she buys the gun, the film goes black and white.

“Me, Ya, Ty, we gonna make sum cash, robbin’ old folks and makin’ tha dash”

In Ty’s bedroom, Deacon practices his robber stance in the mirror. Ty dismisses his acting and focuses on the plan – rob people at the ATM late in the night. After they finalize the plan for the evening, they talk about the things they will buy with their stolen riches.

Ty joins her grandma for dinner and lies that she got a job. She boasts that this good job will take care of the past due bills and the mortgage so they do not lose their house.

From the first robbery, it’s clear that Ty has the real taste for crime and Deacon is scared. He’s great at pointing out the target but fails to execute the robbery every time. No shooting takes place, but they do beat their victims with guns as they snatch their wallets and valuables.

“But one couldn’t stop, it’s like he had a disease”

Throughout their crime spree, Ty and Deacon rank in a lot of cash. They go on shopping sprees and get grandma back up to date on her bills. After a few weeks, Ty’s stash gets low and a visit to her bank account sets her on a new path.

Ty and Deacon link with Rico, a neighborhood thief, and a school friend from the bank to set plans for robbing the bank’s deposit truck. Ty is adamant about not shooting and focusing on ‘securing the bag’. The plan is in motion when they hit the bank the next day. Ty and Rico act normal as they await the deposit truck inside the bank, yet Deacon becomes a problem. His nerves get the best of him and bank employees notice. When they send a manager his way, he gets the shakes. This begins the downfall of Ty’s plan.

“Straight ‘n narrow or yo’ soul gets cast”

The clock is ticking as Ty and Rico await the deposit truck, not paying attention to Deacon in the corner as he falls apart in front of the manager. Other distractions come into play for Rico and the bank teller, but as soon as the truck arrives, things get heated and shots are fired.

Rico and the truck runner are down, but Ty gets the cash and hands it to Deacon, pushing him to stay focused and take care of grandma if she doesn’t make it out.

As the song goes, there are guns-blazing, a police chase, and a dope fiend that leads to the death of Ty.

Slick Rick narrated the show’s conclusion reiterating that this cautionary tale can be about any of us, even the viewer. The show flashes back to the scene where this all begins, the gun purchase. Under the pressure of purchasing the gun, Ty decides against it and the film flips back to color.

Overall, compared to past episodes, I can appreciate the more genuine reenactment of “A Children’s Story” and how seamless it flowed as a hip hop tale.Upcoming episodes will feature Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” and The Roots “You Got Me”. Both have very visual storytelling music videos, so we can only imagine what’s to come from Irv Gotti on these two.

Upcoming episodes will feature Jay-Z’s “99 Problems” and The Roots “You Got Me.”

Tales airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on BET.