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Best friends Camille, Tye, Quinn, and Angie deal with new challenges in their life, career and relationships in the second season of the Harlem-set comedy series.

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The fantastic foursome is back, bigger, brighter, and more lovable than ever. The dynamic duos lead each episode thinking about their future. Harlem brings you comedy and drama wrapped in the arms of today’s social issues. Season 2 brings old love back together again, the pain and agony of divorce, discovery of sexual orientation, fertility, and potential parenthood (which is something Ian and Camille do not necessarily align on). 

 

Thus far, the entire season, does an excellent job of tackling modern romantic relationships, work and friendships in a way that are relatable and resonates with the audience. Season 2 gives you a little more depth of each character, each storyline keeps you engaged and never overshadows each other.

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You are introduced to new characters, Jasmine Guy and Sherri Shepard playing the roles of mothers to Quinn and Angie respectfully. Through their mothers, you get a glimpse and more in-depth look at who they are through the eyes of their families. The joy of Black women, is one of the major themes of the season, and it is a delight to take part in.

WTH!! What the heck just happened???? A major figure was written off of All American Season 5, episode 11. the hit CW series has officially retired Taye Diggs's, most significant role, Billy Baker, husband, father, friend, Principal, and most importantly our beloved Coach. During the show's Feb. 13 episode, the actor's character was killed off, ending his remarkable five-season run. Fans everywhere were devastated, in disbelief and heartbroken. For me, it was like reliving the death of the Black culture, beloved James Evans from Good Times, all over again.

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Everything was running too easily, flawless, almost perfect. So, what followed should have been expected. After rewatching events in the episode leading up to his death, it all made sense, it was right there in our faces but we failed to see it. The dead giveaway was his heart-felt interaction with each character. The most touching was the bus scene where Asher wrote his list of uncertainties about fatherhood. Baker helped him to understand that fatherhood is a vibe that men grow into.

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Nkechi Okoro Carroll, showrunner for the hit series, spoke about Diggs's departure in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, saying, "It has been an honor to work with Taye over these last five seasons and to watch him bring such incredible life to the role of Billy Baker. It has truly been a gift for me and my fellow writers to write a character that was equally flawed and heroic. Billy was all of us and what a joy it was to watch this character grow as he raised his kids and his football players as one big family."

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Taye Diggs felt the time was right to leave the series and it was truly an honor to watch him, bring Billy Baker to life, he will truly be missed.

Jada Pinkett Smith, the star executive produces and narrates this phenomenal and beautiful series about the iconic Queen Njinga, the 17th-century leader of Ndongo and Matamba, which is known today as Angola.  I must admit I was a bit thrown off by the commentary interruptions. The series contains a combination of expert interviews and extensive scripted drama reenactments. I thought I had accidentally clicked on the trailer. After a few clicks and returning to the homepage, I realized this was a part of the docuseries. The minor shortcoming of this style is that the series doesn’t dig as deeply as one would hope for or expect from a docuseries of this magnitude.

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In the first episode, we’re introduced to Njinga (Adesuwa Oni), who is being trained by her father, King Ngola (Thabo Bopape), who teaches her about battle.  When the King goes to put an end to one of the revolts by his noblemen, he is killed, throwing the line of succession into chaos. Eventually, his son Mbande (Philips Nortey) takes over after killing anyone who he thinks could challenge his throne — including Njinga’s infant son.  It was gut-wrenching to watch Njinga having to still love on, encourage and protect Mbande, after knowing her own brother killed her son, to protect his reign as King. The dynamics of their relationship, reveal the power struggles within her own family that she had to accept and endure, much like modern-day struggles within families where female offspring are struggling with being in their brother's shadow.

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The Netflix series is a documentary that plays out like an epic drama, In the history of African Queens, Njinga succeeds at becoming a monarch that was able to push back against the increasing slave trade in Central Africa. I was excited to learn about this beautiful and powerful story.