Girlfriends: 8.12 ‘What’s Black-A-Lackin’?’ Recap

Original Air Date: February 11, 2008

Series star Tracee Ellis Ross directed this episode, her first time in the director’s seat.

The episode opens with everyone gathered together for movie night. JOAN starts pestering MONICA about the gender of her baby in order to know what kind of gift to buy. Monica insists she doesn’t want to know because she wants to break the curse in her family. It started when her mother was sure she would be a boy before she was born, which caused their relationship to go downhill after she turned out to be a girl.

MAYA claims she can tell the baby is a girl by how high Monica’s baby bump is. But, on the other side of the room, WILLIAM reveals to DARNELL that he asked the doctor, who told him the child is a boy. He doesn’t want Monica to discover he knows, however.

Later at Dirty Girl Records, JASON introduces LYNN to new artist CHRISETTE MICHELE. When the two are alone, she tries to give the newcomer some tips, including the fact that she shouldn’t let the wait to work with hot producers Marco and Joe get to her.

Chrisette reveals she’s already scheduled to work with the production team the very next day, which causes Lynn to question Jason about why she’s still waiting when she’s been signed with the label longer. He informs her that the reason is the president of the label doesn’t know how to market her because she and her music don’t come across as black enough.

After a pickup basketball game, Darnell and William return to Maya’s house, where it becomes clear William has told just about everyone the gender of his baby except his mother and Monica. He goes to text the information to his mom, but mistakenly sends it to Monica instead. He then calls Joan, who’s at the spa with Monica, to ask her to steal Monica’s phone before she can read the text and kill him.

Joan fails in the mission and quickly reveals what she’s up to when Monica catches her red-handed trying to steal the locker key. Meanwhile, Lynn shows up in the studio during Chrisette Michele’s recording session and disrupts everything by dropping numerous comments regarding how black things are and are not.

Angry, Chrisette eventually asks everyone to leave. The two singers soon bond, though, when Chrisette reveals she gets hassled about her weight, just like Lynn gets hassled about not being sufficiently black. They both vow to stay in the music business to change things for black women from the inside.

Lynn finally manages to corner the company president, and she reveals her decision to move on since the label doesn’t know how to market her and she’s getting too old to wait around. The president replies that Lynn signed a contract; thus, the only choice she has is to honor its terms for the next two years, the implication being that if she doesn’t, she’ll be in a world of legal trouble.

RESOURCES

• Girlfriends Episode Guide
• Girlfriends Website