- The Chi explores shifting alliances, dangerous relationships, and the legacy of the long-running Black drama.
- Nuck’s complicated history and questionable actions may finally catch up to him before the series ends.
- The panel praises the show’s nuanced storytelling on masculinity, queerness, community, and chosen family.
The Chi has officially returned for its eighth and final season, and Lena Waithe’s deliciously diabolical southside series isn’t holding back.
The latest episode of BOSSIP and CASSIUS’ editorial series The Black Watch unpacked the opening chapters of the Showtime drama’s farewell season before shifting gears to review RZA’s revenge thriller One Spoon of Chocolate. Joining BOSSIP Managing Editor Dani Canada were executive producer Serita Wesley, iONE Digital Director of Content for the Men’s Division Alvin Blanco, and comedian-writer Richard Jones for a lively discussion about love triangles, looming deaths, and the legacy of one of television’s most enduring Black dramas.
Season 8 picks up with Emmett, Keisha, Victor, Tiff, Bakari, Papa, and the rest of the South Side crew navigating shifting alliances, mounting danger, and increasingly complicated relationships. While the panel agreed the premiere delivered plenty of drama, they couldn’t help but laugh at just how intertwined everyone’s lives have become.
Richard joked before comparing the show’s ever-growing web of romances to square dance partners. Dani also compared the shocking series to the soap opera, Beyond The Gates.
One character who drew plenty of conversation was Nuck, whose complicated history with several of the show’s central characters has made him one of the season’s biggest wild cards. This season, Nuck is dating Tiffany despite killing her boyfriend, Rob, and having her mother-figure, Alicia, killed for the murder of Douda, someone else he killed.
“Nuck is an awful human being,” Dani said about the character played by Cortez Smith. “Looks great. Awful human being.”
Despite his charm, the panel agreed his actions over the years have left a trail of destruction that may finally catch up with him before the series concludes. Several predicted Tiff could be the one to kill him, while Serita floated the idea of Papa abandoning his moral compass and embracing the streets after years of trying to remain holy.
Beyond the relationship drama, the conversation also turned to what has made The Chi resonate for nearly a decade. Dani praised Lena’s continued exploration of masculinity, queerness, community, and chosen family, pointing to Victor’s emotional prison visit with his former girlfriend, a transwoman, as one example of the show’s nuanced storytelling.
By the end of the discussion, the panel agreed they were fully invested in seeing how the story ends.
The episode’s second half shifted from Chicago to small-town Ohio as the panel reviewed RZA’s One Spoon of Chocolate, the revenge thriller starring Shameik Moore and presented by Quentin Tarantino.
While opinions were mixed, the group praised Shameik’s committed performance and several of the film’s revenge sequences, even as they questioned its lengthy runtime and heavy-handed social commentary.
“It was definitely spaghetti Western,” Richard said, while Alvin argued the film “could have been 30 minutes shorter.”
Dani agreed that the film delivered some satisfying moments, particularly when Shameik’s character finally turned the tables on the town’s racist antagonists, but acknowledged the movie’s ambitious themes occasionally overwhelmed its storytelling.
Watch the latest episode of The Black Watch below.
