By Team Vain | July 19, 2024

This Article was updated on August 26, 2024 by Erica Vain

Carl Weber’s The Family Business: Season 5, Episode 4 Recap

Y’all, let’s dive right into the chaos that is Carl Weber’s The Family Business, specifically Season 5, Episode 4. I mean, Junior’s still on his bull, Vegas is not letting the Italians take Orlando, and Donna’s doing some dastardly deeds with Mrs. DeVoe.

The Flashback Sequences: A Missed Opportunity

I usually don’t include this kind of stuff within my reviews, but when it’s as jarring as it is, I got to speak on it. The flashback sequences featuring younger versions of Elsie, Zana, and Donna were a letdown. The acting choices were questionable, and I didn’t believe the story. Not a damn thing about it.

The younger Donna gave a Lisa Rae-esque vibe, but the story needed these actors to convincingly portray Elsie falling out of love with Donna and in love with Chippy. The guy who played Elsie was the worst offender. The one who played Donna was a bit more passable, but the dude who played young Elsie, absolutely not.

The flashback sequences could have hit harder in reference to the overall storytelling within this episode, but the performances were lackluster. The actor who played young Chippy did beautifully, she embodied Chippy as a younger person, but you still saw elements of what would be her older self, which made so much sense. But it falls flat if you don’t have the other two people in this love triangle delivering equally compelling performances.

The Duncan Brothers: Vegas and Orlando

We start the episode off with Vegas coming to Orlando’s rescue. Orlando, as we saw at the end of the last episode, wasn’t getting into the car with the Italians. They were like, “Get in the car. We got all these guns on you.” He’s like, “There’s nothing you’re going to do to get me in that car. I know what it means if I get in this car. If I’m outside the car, I got a fighting chance.” Then we see Vegas walk up, two hand grenades in hand. Vegas came out of prison like, “It ain’t nothing for me, bro.”

Orlando lies because all he could do is lie in this moment. Vinny is gone, never to be returned. He didn’t do it, but he knows what happened. But he can’t say what happened because then that would be a problem. They’d be going after Ruby’s ass and Ruby got his son. Orlando, why did you leave Ruby in LA? And then you’re sending the Italians to go look for him in LA. And Ruby is there with your son by her goddamn self. Did we think that one through? Or are we just trying to get them off your case in this moment? Yeah, it’s given that you didn’t think that one through, but that’s fine.

Junior: The Misguided Son

We get it, Junior. You’re struggling with the fact that your mother is not your mother and that Donna is actually your mother. But here’s the thing. You’re ignoring, mistreating, and disrespecting Sonya. And she’s still very much so progressing along in her pregnancy that you know nothing about because you’re too busy going down to the Hellfire Club, pushing up on hoochies and prostitutes. Somebody needs to get to Junior and get to Junior quick because I am over it.

At any given point, Junior, you were enjoying the space that you had. And now all of a sudden you’re mad and you’re holding a grudge and you want the top spot. Meanwhile, heavy is the head that wears the crown. And it’s given that your ass will fumble it if they put it on top of your head.

Donna: The Manipulator

Now over to Donna, who has Junior wrapped around her little finger. She spent the episode shucking and jiving with Marie’s goofy ass. She’s over here conspiring. However, I do believe that whatever Ms. Marie put to her, she put to her about money. She put to her about leveling the Duncans financially. I don’t believe that Donna is on board yet for them actually killing the Duncans and or Elsie.

Donna, I’m praying, I’m hoping, but ultimately Junior is going to start to see who you are for what you are. And when you had the opportunity and you were in his good graces in this moment because you told him first of his paternity, you could have made this a clean slate and been honest with him and not use this as a manipulation tactic or an emotional choke hold, but you chose to do the latter.

LC and Chippy: The Absent Parents

The thing that really stuck out to me in this episode, y’all, is that LC and Chippy are kind of going on about their life as if they don’t care what’s going on with Junior until it’s brought up. And then they say something like, “Oh, it’s so sad and he knows this and he knows that.” Why aren’t you over at Donna’s house beating on the door? Why is everybody going to go talk to Junior except for the people who actually lied and deceived him?

Rio: The Overzealous Brother

And then while y’all are getting y’all asses in the game for Junior, you also need to go reel in Rio’s goofy ass who goes and tracks down the woman’s car that the carjackers used to get away when they stole Chippy’s car. Because he’s still on his tirade of finding these people. You’re going to go looking for this man, which is Roman, and then you’re going to find him, Rio. And then when you find him, you’re going to wish that you had not found his ass because you are not ready for what a man like Roman comes with, Rio.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this episode was full of exposition and more setup. I’m waiting for things to really kick off. What do y’all think? Is Junior going to see through Donna’s manipulation? Will Elsie and Chippy finally step up for their son? And is Rio biting off more than he can chew? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section down below.