Round Two: The Chi

The Chi: Season 1, Episode 2 “Alee” (B+)

I’m still debating whether I’m going to continue to watch this show, which was created by Lena Waithe, who I didn’t see in person but saw on screen advocating for change at the Sundance Film Festival. There were three films, “Blindspotting,” “Monster,” and “Monsters and Men” that all dealt with the arrest rate and incarceration of African-Americans in the United States today, and while this show approaches it from a different and more stylized angle (well, not quite as stylized as “Blindspotting”), it’s definitely good that it’s on television these days as this is a hot topic. The most memorable scene of this hour was Detective Cruz showed up and told Brandon that he took his brother’s advice to get new shoes, a comment that Brandon found entirely inappropriate and useless. Cruz seems to know that Ronnie was involved in the shooting if not the one directly responsible for it, and I think that his show and his investigation is much less about who pulled the trigger than who or what is really to blame for Coogie’s death. It was great to see the dependable Steven Williams, who I first got to know on “The X-Files,” as Quentin, who made quite an impression just handing Emmett money to put his son in day care and stay focused on his job. On a more humorous note, it was fun to see Kevin meet Maisha, Andrea’s cousin, who wasn’t going to have anyone talking about getting with her cousin since they’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, who then tackled him and apologized for doing the un-Christian thing.