Single Ladies Binge Blitz Recap Pt. 4: Season 4, Season Finale (Episode 6)

"Consequences" (Episode 6, April 22, 2015)
Ro is in Oak jamming while B.O.B. performs. She goes to the bar, and once again, Skip comes up to her. He apologizes for not calling, and this time he gets her to agree to go on a date with him. The date seems to go well, based on how much fun they are having dancing afterwards in her condo. Then a couple of days later they are playing basketball together, all lovey dovey. Then he shows her a gift he brought for her. She gets super excited about his jersey, like she's in high school. I mean...yes, it's sweet and nice. But she was SUPER excited about that jersey. He also gave her court side seats to the game...and she's like.. "you shouldn't have," ...and he's like...it's only D-League. Again...super sweet, and yes excitement about him bringing you into his life and wanting your presence, but she was team too much on those reactions. And she has a gift for him too...she gives him an expensive watch and tells him he won't always be in the D-league. I can support encouraging your man. But I'm expecting something to go wrong...it is Single Ladies, after all. And sure enough, the doorbell rings...Some dude named DeAndre, calling himself her man. He said he spent six months in jail because she couldn't keep her mouth shut. And she tells him she told him she would call the cops if he ever put his hands on her again. He then asks if people wondered how she left Gary so easily without a trace, and said a background check on her would tell them everything. Hmmm...She tells him if he leaves she'll meet him tomorrow first thing in the morning. She goes back in, and Skip is fully dressed and asks who she was talking to. She claims it was nobody, but he points out she went out into the hallway with just her robe and underwear on AND closed the door behind herself. So she tells him it was her ex. Which of course makes him get up to leave, and he even leaves behind the watch. And she's left crying at the door.

Felicia throws the fact that Sharon Love called Triple Threat Omar's group in Omar's face. He pushes back though. And a couple of scenes later, David is trying to convince Omar to come work for his label. Then in a later scene David tells Artie he snagged Omar from Felicia. But then it turns out David just thinks he's snagged Omar, nothing's in writing. Then in random strangeness...Artie has information about Raquel and a picture of her all over his computer screens.

And apparently, Austin is planning a party for Sharon Love now. Given the fact that Sharon Love's random phone call to Austin on the previous episode wasn't tied into Omar trying to get Triple Threat on Sharon's show, I guess it's all a ploy just to have Queen Latifah on the show. Perhaps as compensation for all the original (and semi-original...Raquel) "single ladies" being M.I.A. When Austin goes to meet with Sharon, Sharon shows her online posts about Austin partying with an underage pop star. The two bicker about it, and then Sharon leaves for a conference call.

Back at the club, Austin tells Terrance she never agreed to dissolve the partnership. And they seem to move on. She tells him a contact is coming to discuss having a listening party at the club, and Terrance gets a text to meet someone. He meets with the guy who's supposed to get info on Raquel. He tells Terrance he wants 15% of Oak in exchange for the information. Terrance offers him 10%. Here's what he tells Terrance...a rich guy wanted a girl gone. He put in his offer, but got underbid by someone else. He said no one knows who did it, but he told him Artie Wyatt was the one who paid to have it done.

Meanwhile, Omar tells Triple Threat Felicia is getting honored, and they will be presenting. Then Omar pulls Bri aside to discuss her smoking weed. He tells her she will never be the lead singer if she keeps smoking. She agrees to stop, but follows up by calling him Felicia Jr.

Omar overhears Felicia leaving a voicemail for her ex...apparently his supermodel wife had a baby, and she was 8 months pregnant when he slept with Felicia. When he calls her back, she just says, "Go to hell," and hangs up. Then Omar goes to meet with David and tells him he's ready to work with him. He says he just wants to work without drama.

Later, Artie gets in his car, and realizes Terrance is driving, not his driver!

At the honor ceremony, David is calling Artie to see where he is at. Backstage, Casey suggests Bri should speak for Triple Threat...saying she writes the music, Tara is the lead singer, and Bri should have a role too. You know Tara is not feeling it. So she speaks first, but she just introduces Bri as their spokesperson. Then Bri proceeds to say kind words about Felicia, and then the group performs. Felicia starts her speech and sees Omar standing in the back. She decides to give her speech from her heart, and thanks Omar and her assistant Kierra. But after the speech she sees Omar go sit at the table with David. Also, dude who claimed he could make Bri a star went to get her from her table to introduce her to some people, but she said she belongs where she's at in the group. Then the speaker introduces Artie...

Artie's not there, because he's in a suv with Terrance, and two additional guys Terrance picks up. Artie tells Terrance Raquel was selfish and doesn't love anyone. Terrance elbows him in the mouth, gets out the car, and the guy he got the information from gets in the car and takes off.

Then Terrance goes back to the club, where he finds Austin packed up and planning to leave. He tells her to stop being afraid of staying in one place. They almost kiss, but then Ro calls Austin's phone.

Then we see Omar packing up his things at the office. As he leaves he sees Felicia, but they just exchange a look, no words. Ro is crying at home. Austin is looking at a  framed photo of herself at the club. Ro meets Austin at the club. Then Felicia walks in, and Ro calls her over to the bar with her and Felicia. They toast to "new beginnings."

 But I'm not that interested in their new beginnings as the "single ladies." Not necessarily anything against them and their story lines. I think I just feel played. I mean, why bring the show back knowing the main characters wouldn't really be the focal point of the show? It was basically a completely different show. I kind of appreciate their attempt at dealing with more meaningful situations, and not just hooking up, but it just didn't seem to be a good platform for those issues. It wasn't really conducive to developing them like say a  Being Mary Jane. And maybe it's because the show started off as more of a comedic, light drama. This season was not that at all. In fact, it was pretty dark. I don't even recall laughing. It was a completely different show, with a completely different cast. They needed to switch who they called "guest stars" and who they called "stars," because that was bogus!

Side note - anyone else feel like they were pulling a New York Undercover with the performances at the club serving as a soundtrack. Not saying anything was wrong with that...just what came to my mind.

Singles Ladies Binge Blitz Recap Pt. 3: Season 4, Episode 5

"Truth" (Episode 5, April 15, 2015)

On the Sharon Love Show (Sharon Love is played by Queen Latifah), a musical competition is announced, followed by a discussion on women having love and careers. And of course Felicia is watching. She turns everything off to wallow in what I suppose is sadness over having a career, but no love/family...or maybe it's just a migraine as Omar suggested. Omar comes in, and she instructs him to get Triple Threat on Sharon Love's 500th episode. He suggests she could do it easier, but she claims she really doesn't like Sharon Love.

In the club office, Austin receives a phone call from her father (she only picks up b/c  he called from someone else's phone). He calls to tell her he saw a picture of her in a magazine, same picture she was just on the phone about b/c the designer had her in the same dress as a "kid" (Karrueche's character) who is in the same dress in the pic next to the pic of Austin. But her father didn't call about her wearing the same dress as Samantha Gray, he called to tell her the only thing she has going for herself is how beautiful she is, and then he adds she had nothing to do with that (b/c she was born with beautiful genes). Wow! Sheesh! That was harsh and unnecessary.

Back at her place, Bri has an older man, Rollover, come over. They smoke his weed and discuss how he can make her a star. And what does he want in exchange? A threesome...ummm ok...

Later, a doctor comes to check on Felicia in her office, and apparently she hasn't been taking care of herself. She's not even taking her prescribed medication.

And I guess Austin decided to move in with Ro. She and a young guy go into the condo and start messing around, but Terrance comes in to get his remaining stuff. The guy leaves. Before leaving with his stuff, Terrance tells Austin she needs to grow up and that he is starting to understand why her father thinks so little of her.

Karen goes to Bri's house to talk to her, in an attempt to play Bri against Tara. She tells Bri she has a deal for Casey at another label and can possibly bring in another artist. Bri declines, saying she has her own thing and is only waiting on some cash. Karen suggests maybe she can help her get the cash. Bri bites, and asks how. Karen tells Bri, Casey can only get out of the deal with Felicia if the group disbands. So she asks Bri to help make Felicia fed up with the group, and in exchange she will get money for Bri. Bri agrees. Later, the three girls are meeting at Bri's home, and Casey is the voice of reason...complete opposite from her mother. Bri then tells Casey that her mother was begging her to sabotage the group.

Back at the office, Omar is still trying to get the girls on the Sharon Love show by making calls. Omar goes in to talk to Felicia about it, and she instructs him to get on a plane and fly out to see Sharon! And he does just that. He asks Sharon Love about having Triple Threat on the show, but she says it's a contest. But then he offers to create her a dress (Felicia's dress it turns out). And she agrees to have her producer find Triple Threat a spot on the show, outside of the contest.

When Omar returns to share the news with Felicia, he finds a pamphlet on in vitro fertilization on her desk while waiting for her to come to her office. After he leaves, Felicia gets a call from her doctor saying based on her blood work she isn't a candidate for in vitro.

Austin goes to see her father in the hospital. He tells her she's like her mother, wanting to live a fantasy with no consequences. She tells him to leave her mother out of it, noting that she was a bipolar manic depressive. She then tells him she saw him giving her mother extra medication, and said her mother may have taken her own life but he killed her soul a long time ago.

At the office, Felicia is on a tough call about the label's budget. Her assistant sends everyone home and tries to get Felicia to let her take her home.

Later, Terrance confronts Austin on whether she wants to continue to be his business partner. She calls him out for being judgmental. They leave planning to dissolve the partnership.

Bri has lunch with Karen and tells her she's decided to do the Sharon Love Show. Then when Karen goes to meet with Omar, for what she thinks is a styling meeting for the Sharon Love Show, she finds Casey there with Omar. Casey tells her she knows about what she tried to do to the group. Casey tells her she's not in it for the fame. Then she fires her mother. It's kind of emotional, but I really wish Casey's eyes at least got a little red if they weren't going to water up. C'mon!

Single Ladies Binge Blitz Recap Pt. 2: Season 4, Episode 4

"New" (Episode 4, April 8, 2015)
Omar goes to Ro's place to check on the clothing samples and see what she's done with Raquel's place. The skirt samples hadn't come in, and she shoos him out of her place.

When Omar gets to the office, the temp assisting Felicia tells him Felicia has been trying to get him all morning. His phone had been on silent since his workout at the gym. He goes to see Felicia, who sends him off to run his staff meeting on his own without her there. Initially he's nervous, but the nervousness goes away as soon as he enters the room.

Meanwhile, Austin goes into the club office, where Terrance is working out. He asks about her father, but she doesn't want to talk about it. We learn she's a navy brat, and is living in a hotel.

Then dude who was trying to get Terrance to run a side business in his club goes to meet with Keisha's pastor (or former pastor). She tells him Malcolm needs to do something about Keisha being in prison. He then asks her if she's still running her laundering business through the church. SMH! She says no. Later he sets up a meeting with Terrance. He tells Terrance he'll give him the name of the person who snatched Raquel in exchange for Terrance doing something for him.

Back at the club, Terrance tries to get Austin to drink less by taking her glass and giving her water. But she just gets another glass from the waitress. Later, he finds her knocked out in the club's office. She's pretty intoxicated, so he has to drive her home. She invites him in, and he says he can come in for a little while. She passes out in her bathroom, and he picks her up and lays her in the bed. The show then starts playing this super melodramatic music. He then stays the night, orders her breakfast and tells her to wake up. He tells her to eat, shower, dress, and he'll be back to pick her up for some appointments they have. The appointments turn out to be an apartment search for Austin. Terrance tells her she needs a home, because she's sad and tries to drink away her blues. Austin doesn't take too kindly to that.

At the office, Ro and Omar disagree on whether the fashion line should have jeans. She gives up, signs the paperwork and storms off. Ro comes back to the office, and Omar has runway models in the office. Ro is not feeling the super skinny models. Omar calls her out on her behavior, and she says she just feels like she's trying to be something she's not. Omar tells her to just "lean into the lifestyle." And her mood completely changes.

Then Karen comes into Felicia's office calling Felicia a liar, because she didn't make Casey the lead singer of the group. Felicia tells her if she doesn't want Casey in the group, then go. Karen says she will when she's ready to. Later, Felicia calls Omar in to have him deal with Karen (when he first walks in she is on the phone telling someone April will be back from London eventually...we shall see...).

Ro takes Omar out to Oak. Austin goes to get them and invite them to a VIP section, but when Ro sees the ball player, Skip, from the last episode in VIP she turns away. Omar sees it as a chance for him to leave. Skip goes to speak to Ro, and starts to say he meant to call her, but Austin pulls her away and takes her to a different area to introduce her to someone. In the office, Austin tells her she needs to be done with Skip despite Ro claiming she still likes him. Then Ro ends up inviting Austin to move in with her. So they are the new Keisha and Raquel?!

And guess who makes an appearance, Keisha! She's still in county, and an inmate tells her she's going upstate b/c she has 5 years. Later in the episode, guards wake Keisha up and take her out of her cell. They won't tell her where they are taking her, and the other inmate tells her to drink a margarita for her. Keisha is allowed to take a shower, she has on a robe, and is told she has 40 minutes to get dressed. She has a dress, jewelry, a hat, heels  and makeup laid out for her. When she comes out, the pastor is waiting for her. She tells Keisha there's a car waiting to take her to a private jet that will take her to Venezuela to be with Malcolm. She realizes the inmate knew all along. She then proclaims she still loves him and can't believe she has a chance to be with him...ummm...he was going to let you rot in prison if the pastor didn't do something about it. But I suppose she doesn't know that part. The pastor then tells her once she's gone, she has to be gone, because otherwise she could lead others to Malcolm. And with that, I guess she's officially off the show too, like Raquel and April?

That would explain why opening credits show pictures of Felicia, Ro, and Austin...and not Raquel, Keisha, and April. Interesting...

Single Ladies Binge Blitz Recap Pt. 1, Season 4, Episode 3

"Build" (Episode 3, April 1, 2015)
This episode starts with Felicia telling her assistant to fire her attorney and find her one with a thing for crushing ungrateful exes.

Meanwhile, Ro goes to Raquel's condo to get the keys from Terrance and move in. She feels kind of bad and offers to let Terrance stay and pay rent, but he says he can't because it reminds him of Raquel. Then the two share a brief moment talking about Raquel.

In the next scene, Terrance asks a man known for "playing with fire," if he knows anything about what happened to Raquel. After getting in a fight, he tells Terrance the car was burned at 2 a.m., and Terrance tells him to go find out more information.

Felicia and Casey's mother, Karen, run into Casey while they are meeting. Casey says she just wants to be free to make her music, as opposed to her mother's plan to sell her to the highest bidder.

Omar is working on developing the style for Felicia's new girl group. Tara comes to check out the clothing, and she's not feeling the items. Though neither is Omar, but Tara was a complete diva about it. Later, while recording in the studio, she and April's sister, Bri, get into it. They begin to argue about who's the lead singer. When Casey claims she doesn't care about being the lead singer, Felicia tells her they all do!

And Omar and April seem to be going at it constantly, partially due to his promotion. April discusses it with David, and David tells her she's letting it get her all wound up. She then tells him about a job opportunity in London. He tells her it sounds amazing and she should go for it. And of course she turns the conversation into whether he would ask her to stay, but he completely ignores the question. Later April tells Felicia she's decided to take the job opportunity in London. Omar then walks into Felicia's office, and April shares the news with him.

Why is Ro acting like she's Cinderella and Terrance is Prince Charming, when Omar invites her to the grand opening of Terrance's club, Oak? Their first scene together was almost a little too close. I hope they don't plan on putting these two together. That wouldn't be right!

At the club, Austin tries to calm Terrance's nervousness. Enters Samantha Gray (Karreuche Tran), as a party promoter who comes to check out Oak to see if it's "worthy" of her presence. A guy comes into Oak to see Terrance. Apparently he's taken over the business Terrance used to run, and the guy Terrance beat up earlier in the episode was getting money for said dude when Terrance got in a fight with him. He then asks Terrance to let him put a couple of guys on the list and make some "side money." Terrance tells him he's not on the list, and the guy says it's too bad b/c he might have been able to tell Terrance what happened to Raquel.

The next visit to the club is from Felicia. She asks them to have her new group Triple Threat introduced at their club opening. Austin agrees if she gets to see them first, and Terrance throws in they have first right of refusal to introduce all of Felica's new acts. Felicia agrees.

At the opening of the club, one of the first things we see is Terrance and Ro greeting each other. Side eye...He then introduces her to Austin. He tells Austin to take care of her, and Ro says she makes her own way. He tells her not here, because she's family. Also at the party is Casey's mom, who comes off as EXTRA desperate for youth and attention. Does this foreshadow her trying to live through her daughter? Maybe.

When the bartender is a no show, Omar saves Austin from bartending and shows off some amazing bartending skills. And then we learn Omar is going to London with April, supposedly just for a week, to help her settle in. And we haven't seen Keisha at all this episode. Hmmm...

And then Triple Threat performs. Sure seems like Tara is the lead singer to me. IJS.

Terrance sees that the guy who wanted to make side money with him made it into his club after all.

Meanwhile, Ro hits it off with a pro basketball player she meets at the club, and wakes up at his place. She then gets dressed and sneaks out, but as she's walking down the hallway she runs into Austin doing the same thing. Ro tells her she was with the ball player from the club, and Austin says she doesn't remember the name of the guy she was with. She says she was drinking too much and proceeds to talk about her father, "the Admiral," who also drinks a lot. The two decide to go have breakfast together, until Austin gets a text that her father had a stroke.

Seems like the original "single ladies" are being pushed aside, and the shows trying to get us invested in these new ladies. Interesting...

Single Ladies - Season 4, E. 1 & 2

Who told Single Ladies to make their resurrection the same night as the 2-hour finale of Empire?! #IJS

Bear with me...I'm sleepy after watching and recapping Empire...

So two key people are missing... Raquel (pregnant during filming??)...and Malcolm (filming one of my favorite shows...Suits??). Apparently Raquel was abducted and has now been deemed deceased by the authorities. The detectives are questioning Omar, Keisha, and April...but they are straight up harassing Terrance (who is also taking it the hardest).

Though Keisha denies knowing where Malcolm is to the authorities, she tells her pastor (played by Nicole Ari Parker) they keep in touch via a hashtag. #SexyBabe It's that hashtag that gets her arrested at Raquel's funeral for aiding and abetting a fugitive. Did her pastor talk to authorities?? No clergy privilege?

Ro, Raquel's half-sister, comes to town for the funeral and to meet with Raquel's attorney. She inherits the condo and boutique. After proposing to Felicia they sell the boutique to invest in several discount clothing stores, she decides to stay in Atlanta.

Speaking of sisters, April is trying to get her sister, Bri, to take life a little bit more seriously...but she wants to pursue a music career.

Felicia has April and Omar on the hunt for members for a girl group, and David and his investor from last season are still in the picture trying to start their own label. Felicia continues to deal with her ex-husband trying to get money out of her, including wanting 20% of her company.

Episode 2 (For those of you who watched on Centric...It looks like BET didn't play it.)

Keisha is still locked up. The DA, April, and Omar try to get her to tell the authorities what she knows, but she refuses. Her pastor visits and tells her she thought Keisha would give Malcolm up, not go to jail behind it. But later in the episode it is revealed she really turned Keisha in to get charges for money laundering dismissed. Keisha gets sentenced to 5 years in prison! O...and Malcolm is sending her messages in prison too. SMH.

April and David get back together, but I suspect he's still up to his old ways. Wouldn't be surprised if he signs the artist April told him she was going to be signing. Felicia and her ex also hooked up, but he's still asking for more money. So she asked her assistant to block his number from all of her phones.

Ro and Felicia sell the boutique and will start selling the bargain clothing on a website. Omar is not a fan.

April has her sister sing in front of Felicia, halfway thinking nothing would likely come of it, and Felicia offered her a spot on the girl group they are putting together.

Meanwhile, Terrance is opening up a club with Austin (played by Melissa De Sousa).

Still no Malcolm and no Raquel....