(WARNING: Spoilers for The Chi season 6 will be found below.)
Jake, Papa, and Bakari are all seated together at Kenya’s dad’s megachurch — one repeatedly ridiculed by the late Pastor Jackson — in the opening scene of “Saints & Sinners.” The eleventh episode in season six of The Chi once again revisits a question explored time and time in the history of the series: What is good and bad, and how do the two coexist in the same ecosystem? “Saints & Sinners” takes this a bit further and asks, how, if at all, are we effected by interactions with a saint or sinner? Is a saint truly a saint, or just a sinner in disguise? Is a sinner truly a sinner, or merely a man or woman forever bound by a mistakes from their past? Though Jake, Papa, and Bakari enter this megachurch together, the trio leave it with different mindsets on how they will move forward.
As a man of faith, we can assume that Papa has these thoughts constantly running through his mind. Since Pastor Jackson’s murder in the first half of season six, Papa has tried to continue his father’s legacy by honoring the wishes he had before his death. He broke up with Kenya for this exact reason and it’s also why, among other reasons, that he’s stayed in heavily involved church. Yet, at the same time, Papa also wants to begin his own journey as a man and make decisions for himself, rather than for the satisfaction of others. So it’s really no surprise that Papa took interest in New Hope On Zion megachurch, one led by Kenya’s dad Pastor Ezekiel.
‘The Chi’ 611 ‘Saints and Sinners’ Pastor Ezekiel
Pastor Ezekiel, played by Daniel J. Watts (Werewolf By Night), makes his first appearances in “Saints & Sinners” with a sermon about how we as humans will be gifted with all types of riches, glitter, and gold if we pay our dues — that is, tithes — to the church. Pastor Jackson was vocal critic of Pastor Ezekiel’s preachings which seemingly prioritized riches over righteousness. Pastor Ezekiel calls it “preaching prosperity,” but Pastor Jackson’s wife says it’s a “crime” that he’s “stealing from the congregation.” Still, as Papa sits among the congregation at Pastor Ezekiel’s church, he can’t help but be marveled at the Pastor Ezekiel’s sermon. Pastor Ezekiel has also taken a liking to Papa, for reasons we don’t know yet, but we can assuming its tied to his past with Kenya. He goes as far as to seemingly extend an olive branch from to the Jacksons with a gift basket for Mrs. Jackson and new audio mixer for Papa to use for recording his podcast.
As Euripides, a tragedian of classical Athens, once said, “The gift of a bad man can bring no good,” and it’s a sentiment Mrs. Jackson agrees with. Thanks to Pastor Ezekiel’s visit, Mrs. Jackson learns that Papa is skipping out on the family’s church to attend Pastor Ezekiel’s megachurch. “Your father would probably roll over in his grave right now,” Mrs. Jackson says after Papa connects his attendance at the megachuhrch his desire to walk his own path. “I just hope the path your on is about being righteous, and not being rich.”
These are harsh words from a grieving mother who is merely trying to keep her family together during tough times, but she may have some good reasoning for her disdain for Pastor Ezekiel. Scenes later in “Saints & Sinners,” Pastor Ezekiel makes a clear attempt to woo Papa away from his family’s church and bring him into the New Hope On Zion community. “How would you feel about being my assistant,” he says to Papa while also noting that he will have to “quit you part time job at Smokey’s” if he accepts the role. Papa contemplates change in his life, and Pastor Ezekiel notes, “Change is when new journeys begins.”
‘The Chi’ 611 ‘Saints and Sinners’ Jake, Bakari & Papa
If there’s anyone who’s on a new journey, it’s Bakari who, after a couple of seasons on the show, finally seems ready to break free from the streets and create a promising future for himself. After sitting in a lecture led by Professor Gardner, played by Kadeem Hardison (A Different World) with his girlfriend Lynae, Bakari more motivated to improve his life, so much so that he took up office hours with Professor Gardner. In their first meeting, Professor Gardner gifted Bakari a journal and he seemingly uses it for the first time in “Saints & Sinners.” His thoughts arrvive with no filter, to the point that he’s initially shocked at the honesty and admissions that appear on the page before him.
He admits Lynae makes him “want to be a better man” and that he wants to be the man Pastor Jackson believed he can be. Bakari goes on to write that he no longer aspires to be like Douda and he wishes he Pastor Jackson was still alive and that he could kill the person that murdered him. Yet, he remembers the emptiness he felt after getting revenge for Coogi’s death and knows doing the same for Pastor Jackson won’t bring the solace he desperately sicks. Its seems like a true turning point for Bakari, but it remains to be seen if he continues down this path or takes a u-turn to erase the progress.
Someone that could use bit of a u-turn is Jake as he’s veered into a bit of a carefree lifestyle. It starts during the opening scene at New Hope On Zion as Jake, who is initially bored with the service at the church, has his interest peaked by Pastor Ezekiel’s wife. Jake thinks she’s a beautiful woman, and after she compliments his hair, Jake is sure that she is also interested in him. His assumptions is nearly confirmed when Pastor Ezekiel’s wife follows him on Instagram, and just a few scenes later, she appears at his apartment where the two have sex.
Later on in “Saints & Sinner,” Jake’s girlfriend Jemma becomes suspicious of Jake after he gets a text while she lays with him. It leads to Jake’s brute confession of infidelity to Jemma without “softening the blow,” as Jemma says with a tear falling down her face. Jake isn’t buying her emotions and points to Jemma obvious feelings toward Britney. Jake pours salt in the wound and says he isn’t sure if he wants to be in a monogamous relationship with Jenna “forever.” Jemma criticizes him for wanting his cake and eating it too, and Jake replies with quite the f*ckboy line: “What’s the point of having cake if you can’t eat it?”
‘The Chi’ 611 ‘Saints and Sinners’ Damien
Their conversation ends with Jake suggesting that they “keep their options open.” In the very slight defense of Jake, Jemma has certainly taken an interest in Britney, something that her father Marcus notices, especially after Britney crashes Jemma’s dinner with her dad and his girlfriend Tierra. Britney and Marcus’ first meeting doesn’t get off to the greatest start as Britney shows up to Jemma’s door with a bag of weed in her hand, but Marcus warms up to her after Britney plays him some of the music she’s worked on with Jemma. During a visit to her father’s home, Marcus asks Jemma if her relationship with Britney is “strictly business.” Jemma assures her father that their relationship is indeed just business despite his repeated inquires. Despite this, he reminds her not to “sh*t where you eat.”
The family drama is also alive and well with Emmett and his father Darnell. A game of laser tag that was initially intended for just Emmett and Darnell is crashed by the surprise appearance Darnell’s other son Damien, played by Brett Grey (I’m A Virgo), a brother that Emmett didn’t know existed prior to “Saints & Sinners.” Emmett is frustrated with his dad’s approach to introducing Damien and things get worse when Darnell invites Damien over to family dinner at Emmett’s. Emmett is very annoyed with both Darnell and Damien, but after a conversation with his mother Jada, she reminds him that Kiesha is around Emmett’s children that aren’t hers and that if she can accept and welcome them, Emmett can do the same for Damien.
A reluctant Emmett drops the issue with Damien, and warms up to him a bit after Damien shows his appreciation to everyone at the dinner table, including Emmett. Just when you think Emmett is ready to accept Damien, Darnell throws a wrench in the cycle of progress and asks Emmett to give Damien a job at Smokey’s (put a pin in this for a future episode as Papa is gearing up to leave Smokey’s to be Pastor Ezekiel’s assistant). Emmett shuts down the idea at first, but changes his mind and says he’ll “think about it.”
‘The Chi’ 611 ‘Saints and Sinners’ Alicia & Alonzo
That’s enough family drama for an episode, right? Nope. Weeks after getting out of the hospital for his shooting injuries, Rob gets a surprise visit from his father Alonzo, played by Leon (Swarm). Alonzo wasn’t present for much of Rob’s childhood, and though he masks his visit as a checkup on his son, the real reason gets revealed moments later. Alonzo, who we are first introduced to in last week’s episode “Want This Smoke,” is Victor’s lawyer in the impending murder case against him.
Alonzo tells Rob’s mother Alicia that a case is unfolding against Victor for the murder of Alicia’s brother Q, who was actually killed by Douda. Alicia objects to Alonzo working the case, but he’s unmoved by her concerns and lets her know that he will still be Victor’s lawyer. We are then brought to a conversation between Alonzo and Rob over drinks. Alonzo interrogates Rob over his knowledge of Douda’s alleged murder of Q before asking if he’d be willing to testifies in Victor’s defense over Q’s death. Rob turns down Alonzo’s request without hesitation, but Alonzo asks Rob to think about it, adding that he needs a “favor.” However, Rob shuts it down and notes that he “needed a father” all of these years, but didn’t get one. In other words, to hell with your favor Alonzo.
That leaves us with Shaad and Alicia who have surprisingly struck up some romance this season. In “Saints & Sinners,” we reconnect with the duo after their first night together. Alicia, seemingly high off life after her night with Shaad, offers her new boo a nice leather coat that “belonged to a guy I used to know.” Shaad initially rejects the gift because he doesn’t want to wear another man’s “hand-me-downs.” Alicia pushes him to accept it and then offers him something even better: a job as her head of security. She promises great pay, “plenty of benefits,” and some strings pulled in order to get him a gun license despite the fact that Shaad is a convicted felon. With that, it looks like Shaad will play a big part in Alicia’s brewing war against Douda.
This week’s episode title of “Saints & Sinners” is a fitting one because it highlights the internal questions each of the characters have after their recent actions. Is Papa’s desire to join Pastor Ezekiel’s church leave his family’s own a sin? Is following Pastor’s Ezekiel’s preaching of abundance a sin? Is Jake wrong for accepting the advances of a married woman? Is he wrong for possibly doing in spite of Jemma’s feelings for Britney? Is Jemma wrong for pursing Britney after Jake’s infidelity? Is Emmett wrong for his anger towards to Darnell and Damien despite putting his loved ones in the same position? Is it too late for Bakari to right his wrongs and get his life together? Truly, the answer is what each of these characters make of it, something we’ll see in future episodes of The Chi.
‘The Chi’ season 6, part 2 is now streaming on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. Seasons 1-5 as well as season 6, part 1 are available now to stream on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME