Ever since the end of last season, I was hyped to watch the latest season of The Quad! Last season ended with the major cliffhanger of former GAMU quarterback and alleged rapist Terrence Berry committing suicide and sure fan favorite Ebony finally having the conversation with Noni about her getting in the band after she was nearly hazed to death. Immediately in the first ten minutes of the episode the Terrence after death storyline picked back up and we finally saw life and karma hit Noni. More on that later!
Let’s start from the beginning of the episode! The first noticeable thing was the fact that they changed the editing of the show. The loud, triumphant theme song with the montage of images was replaced with a red and black notebook type graphic that showed the main characters that would be focal points in the episode. I like it as it brought me back to the style of Soul Food: The Series, my favorite series by Felecia Henderson who is the executive producer on this series. The new editing set the tone for the show as almost a late night soap-opera. In itself, that perfectly describes life at HBCU’s: a soap opera!
Another thing that immediately caught my eye was the first scene in the new season. We finally got a more artsy, full portrayal of the yard at Georgia A&M University. IN the first part of the episode they were having a concert, obviously hosted by Cedric (Peyton Alex Smith). We saw a special appearance by Cyhi The Prynce, performing his song “Nu Africa”. The song was perfect for the tone the series is about to take on: fearless activism.
Imagine if all the rappers were
To get with all the athletes or activists and actors for
A conference in Zaire to meet with all the ambassadors
In the motherland, tell ’em we comin’ back for her
America know if we leave, it’d be a massacre
Zimbabwe would be full of drug dealers and traffickers
(Nu Africa)
Make sure every rapper still got Pro Tools
I’m just sayin’, that’d be a bold move
Huh, make Obama the President
His daddy from Kenya so that make even better sense
Tell Morehouse to bring all the medicine
Botchey got a party out in Ghana, tell ’em let us in
The song itself is almost like the millennial generation’s version of Nas’s “If I Ruled The World”. In the song, Cyhi is presenting an idealistic world where black people from all walks of like are treated fairly and with equality, calling this new world “Nu Africa”. Big shout out to him for shouting out Morehouse School of Medicine too! It was funny to me because he was shouting out Morehouse in the song as they were probably shooting that concert scene at Morehouse!
Tell Morehouse to bring all the medicine!
Right after the performance, they pivoted into introducing one of the dominante storylines of the season. I was excited for this one because HBCU mergers with PWI’s for “financial reasons” is something that legit hits home. As a Fort Valley State University student, I witnessed our rival school Albany State University merge with Darton State College back in 2016. Even “HBCU” was taken out of their mission statement, causing an uproar and protest among Albany students. A part of me wonders if that was part of the inspiration behind this storyline. This has happened numerous times but Albany is the most recent one to my knowledge. When I finally get some free time, I might research that and get back to you!
It was interesting seeing Noni as an activist. I feel as if there’s dimensions of her character that we haven’t seen yet. We already see her as a weasel that sold her battered roommate Ebony out to be a part of the band, only to avenge her by stabbing her the dude that hazed her in the back which put her idol Cecil Diamond in the hospital. Well, now that she isn’t in the band anymore, let’s see if she can become a full-time activist. More on that in a second!
I love how the writers have Sydney rebounding from her assault. They don’t have her as a broken woman that’s a shell of what she once was. You can even see Sydney maturing. She comforted Madison in her time of hurt when her boyfriend smashed and left. Now, I don’t cosign scorned lovers pulling a 2018 Waiting To Exhale moment and smashing the windows out of their ex’s car but I feel as if Sydney pulled that from the therapy that she’s been getting. The proverbial punching bag or sparring partner that we’ve seen Sydney have is equivalent to them smashing Madision’s ex’s car. By the way, let me boldly say that I feel as if Madison and Bryce will start talking soon. Don’t forget you heard it here first! Michelle Defraites and Larry Rhem can co-sign that I called it as well!
Oooooh @Rhemy1 https://t.co/sqZ6IcR46D
— Michelle DeFraites (@MDeFraites) January 24, 2018
Speaking of Bryce, I knew it! He’s about to go Greek! I wonder how they’re gonna play out the storyline of his process to becoming a Sigma Mu Kappa. I’m pretty sure hazing has gone on for a long while at GAMU, seeing that Carlton Pettiway is a member of the fraternity and he probably believes that doing a plege process is the only way to be “made”. Dr. Fletcher has a lot on her plate but a part of me thinks that she’ll have something to say about that. However, I don’t think it’ll get that far. I believe that this will be something that Bryce and Cedric confront. It’s definitely something I know will be confronted in the episode tonight.
Man, there was so much going on that I can’t even write about it all! The life of a student leader is never done for sure! However, I will be ready for tonight’s episode because it looks like a sickness is about to plague GAMU and I definitely want to know how Dr. Fletcher gets around this one. Season 2 is already lit!
