(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent The Chi episode will be found below.)
The Chi is back!
The series that chronicles the events in the South Side of Chicago returned for its sixth season over the weekend. The show picks up after a dramatic end to season five which concluded in the fall of 2022. Quick run-down: Douda killed Quentin after finding out that he was stealing money from him, Kevin voiced his desire to move to his own apartment to his stepmom and mother, Victor came clean about his fake relationship with Tierra and live out his truth with Fatima, Emmett agreed to let Douda invest in Smokey’s, and lastly, Keisha and Tiffany repaired their relationship. So what happened to kick off season six?
In the inaugural episode of season six, we pick back up with Emmett and the new relationships in his life. Similar to the last five seasons of the show, Emmett’s relationship with the woman in his life — Keisha — isn’t going too smoothly at the moment. The episode starts with an argument over getting the kids ready for school in the morning and the episode ends with them arguing over Emmett’s decision to buy Tiffany a new car without talking to Keisha first. Elsewhere, Emmett sees the darker side of Douda, someone who walks around with an armed bodyguard and kills people over chewing their gum too loud. Through this, it’s clear that Emmett is second-guessing his partnership with Douda, but for now, it seems like he’s content with the money that it brings him.
Elsewhere, Kevin is comfy in his new apartment and even throws a kickback to break it in. After the kickback, he and Maisha share a surprising kiss that could lead to something new now that the two are single. Jemma struggles to accept a new woman in her father’s life and Papa has his eyes set on a new woman who works with him at Smokey’s. Lastly, Victor wins his race for city council by a slim, yet victiorious margin.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season six’s first episode, “New Chi City”:
Kevin’s New Love Will Bring New Problems
Kevin is the epitome of a lover boy, and it’s something that’s been quite clear over the past couple of seasons of The Chi. For the most part, we saw it with his initial interest in Lynae towards the end of season four, but that didn’t amount to a relationship. Instead, Kevin spent most of season five with his astrology-loving girlfriend Simone. That relationship lasted all of three months — as Kevin reveals in the season one opener — after she broke up with him due to not being able to spend more than three months with a Virgo. All of that leads to the season six opener where Kevin and Maisha share a kiss at the end of the episode. It’s a full-circle moment from earlier in the series where Maisha was in full pursuit of Kevin, who did not reciprocate the interested, prior to her relationship with Papa.
Over time, Maisha and Kevin became good friends which is the perfect foundation for their soon-to-be relationship. The thing is, will everyone respond well to it? Kevin and Maisha, if they choose to fully go through with it, can hold their own, but it won’t come as a surprise if her ex-boyfriend Papa or others question or object to it. However, this doesn’t mean that things won’t be stressful for the lives of two kids that already are far from normal. It also doesn’t help that hours before their kiss, Papa made it pretty clear that his feelings for Maisha were still minimally present, and at the bare minimum, he didn’t get the closure he deserved.
Emmett’s Will Have To Redfine Or Double Down On His Values
Everything that Emmett’s wanted in his life has finally come his way. He’s a successful businessman with Smokey’s, a restaurant that’s bringing him plenty of money to support his blended family with his new girlfriend Keisha. Even his romance with Keisha is a new bright spot for him as it’s a relationship that isn’t toxic and problematic like his previous one with Tiffany. Yet, despite all of these positives, there’s a negative large enough to overshadow it all: Douda. Emmett recently took an investment offer from Douda, which has resulted in an abundance of money, a new car, and other nice items. However, as do all things with Douda, it all comes at a price.
Douda commits murder once again in one of the final moments of “New Chi City.” He mercilessly shoots a man for seemingly chewing his gum too loud during a meeting with Emmett. It remains to be seen if this moment is the last straw for Emmett, but it’d be hard to imagine that it would be. Emmett is completely enthralled with his new lifestyle, and he seems willing to deal with the bad as he knows it with Douda. The truth of the matter, however, is Emmett is putting his family at risk through his continued partnership with Douda. If Douda can kill a man over chewing his gum loudly, there’s no telling what could be in store for Emmett. At this point, Emmett has to redefine his values and adjust his life to match that or double down on them as they are, but do more to protect the people he loves.
The Truth Set Victor Free
And free at last is Victor. That is, free from the worry of where life would take him if he failed to win the race for city coucil. Thankfully for him, he won the role by staying true to himself, though that wasn’t the case from the beginning. Victor’s campaign began with a fake relationship with Tierra, as the two were placed together for optics in hopes of appealing to voters in Chicago. Through this, Victor developed a very real relationship with Fatima, a transgender local news journalist. Soon enough, Victor was forced to decide between living a lie with Tierra or living out his truth with Fatima. To close season five, Victor opts for the latter as well as a new campaign team, and it proved to all work out in his favor as he now holds a position on city council. You can only live a lie for so long before things turn out of your control. Victor learned that before things got out of hand, and now, he’ll have to continue living his truth and everything that comes with it — both the good and bad.
Douda Is Never Going To Change
In a world where everyone is trying their best to be the best person they can be, there’s Douda, who continues to wreak havoc in the South Side of Chicago. To start season six, we see him pick up where he left off in his new investment partnership with Emmett and Smokey’s where all signs point to there being somethhing sinister up Douda’s sleeve. This goes together with him enlisting people to have cars stolen to be broken down in exchange for cash as well as killing people for chewing their gum too loud. For someone who said they would lay low after they were exposed for beating up Chicago politician (and Jemma’s dad) Marcus St. John, Douda is doing anything but that. Additionally, he also uses his charm to slither his way back to Tracy whenever he wants a moment of intimacy (Tracy needs to stay disciplined to her achieve her goal of growing out of Douda’s orbit, but that’s a conversation for another day). Case in point, Douda is never going to change, no matter how often he alludes to wanting to better his ways.
New episodes of ‘The Chi’ are available through the Paramount Plus With Showtime plan on Fridays at 3am EST/ 12 pm PST. Weekly episodes also air Sundays on Showtime at 9pm EST/PST.