I Know A Place – As the first episode of The Other Black Girl begins, Kendra Rae Philips (Cassi Maddox) asks Diana if she is almost done in Newark in 1976. Diana Gordon (Shakirah DeMesier) says almost before calling Kendra impatient. Kendra can’t wait until she is in Boston so someone can do her braids without giving her crap. Kendra doesn’t understand why she has to leave. Kendra promises that she is never really going to leave her. Diana urges Kendra to call her every day. Nella Rogers (Sinclair Daniel) walks outside her door and finds a stack of papers with a note saying they saw she forgot this.
Owen (Hunter Parrish) comes out to see what is going on. Nella says she completely forgot about this thing Vera Parini (Bellamy Young) wanted her to read at the office last night. She suspects Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray) just dropped it off. Owen suggests she is overthinking this because Hazel seems nice, but Nella says she seems too nice. At work, Nella confronts Hazel to ask if she came to her apartment last night. Hazel learns she got the manuscript. Nella is surprised she went so far out of her way to do that. Hazel insists it wasn’t a problem because she was at a wine bar in her neighborhood called Olla’s.
Nella admits to going once but argues it is too pricey. Hazel believes it is worth it. Nella thanks her for the manuscript and for standing up for her in the meeting yesterday. Hazel reminds her that she has her back. Vera interrupts to ask if Nella has read the manuscript yet. When Vera asks Nella to get her something for a headache, Hazel offers to help instead of waiting for Maisy. As they head to the break room, Hazel invites Nella to a party tonight. She goes on to say there is a huge fundraiser for MoMa uptown somewhere. People who want to write books tend to go to these events.
Nella knows Vera will never let her leave before six. Hazel says Maisy is leaving early so they just need to get Vera out somehow. Nella begins explaining why Maisy and Vera have always disliked each other. Maisy (Alyshia Ochse) checks on Vera and questions whether she had a rough night. Vera says she wouldn’t understand because she doesn’t have a best-selling author. Anytime one of them succeeds, they feel like it is at the expense of the other. Hazel checks on Vera and offers her assistance. She reveals that Maisy is leaving early to try to poach an author. Hazel eventually tells her that it is the mystery novelist, Kevin McMichaels.
Hazel tells Vera where he has a cocktail at 5 PM. A bit later, Vera tells Nella that she is going out. She apologizes for yesterday before telling Nella to just take off when she is done. Once she leaves, Hazel tells Nella she gave Vera exactly what she wanted. Once they get ready later, Nella is surprised that Hazel made her look like her. Nella worries that they did something messed up with Vera and Maisy. Hazel thinks they should take the wins where they can get them. She wants Nella to promise that she’ll take it as a win. Nella notices she is bleeding so Hazel says she’ll meet her downstairs. At Cambridge in 1977, Kendra and Diana get together and discuss what they should do tonight.
Kendra says it sometimes feels like everyone is looking at her. Diana insists that is just white people. She suggests transferring, but Kendra says she can’t just give up. As they get closer to the party, Hazel tells Nella that she needs to chill. Hazel pretends to know a guy and realizes he just came back from London. She tells Nella that the guy’s hat gave him away. Then, they’re approached by Kate (Sarah Hudson) who says she is the host of the party. Hazel introduces them while explaining they’re editors at Wagner Books. She manages to impress Kate who wants to introduce her to someone. Nella walks over and speaks to Lena Jordan (Milli M.).
She is shocked to be speaking to Lena who works for one of her favorite podcasts with Jesse Watson. Nella says she sent him a DM because she believes he has a book inside him. Lena doesn’t think Wagner is the right place for him because they haven’t had a black editor since Kendra Rae Philips. Nella knows they have a bad reputation, but she is confident they’re going to change that. Lena argues that nothing ever changes. Nella tries to get in touch with Hazel but only gets her voicemail message. She gets a call from an unknown number and it is a woman who laughs at being called Hazel. The unidentified woman says good luck before hanging up.
Hazel checks on Nella after the call. Nella confesses she is starting to feel like she isn’t going anywhere at Wagner. Hazel argues she has all the tools in the toolbox, but she just needs to use them. Nella asks why she is being so nice to her when she wants to be the up-and-coming editor. Hazel explains she doesn’t want to end up like Vera and Maisy. She thinks they can shine together. When Nella goes inside to speak to a woman, she is approached by Richard Wagner (Eric McCormack) who says she hasn’t printed her business cards yet.
In private, Richard tells Nella she didn’t think she’d get caught. She is told she took a big risk by impersonating an editor. Richard calls it the ballsiest thing he has ever seen her do so he urges her to keep going. Nella thinks Wagner should do a rerelease of Burning Heart. She has a whole presentation with P&Ls and art mockups. They can do a new foreword by Diana Gordon or Kendra Rae Philips. Richard says Kendra is not possible. After all this time, Burning Heart is the thing Richard is most proud of in his career. As for Kendra, she is his biggest regret. A couple of weeks after the book came out, they found her bag and ID on a subway platform.
No one ever heard from her again, according to the official story. Richard believes she took her life and it broke his heart. Nella suggests doing a rerelease of the book to honor Kendra. Richard says Nella reminds him of her. He wants to talk about it more tomorrow because there might be something there. In 1985, Diana surprises Kendra by showing up at Wagner Books. Diana confronts Richard to tell him that Kendra is a superstar. She introduces herself and explains that she is a writer. Richard suggests she can show him what she is working on over lunch. Once he leaves, Kendra asks if Diana came to pitch herself to her boss.
Diana argues that she did them both a favor. Kendra agrees before they go to lunch. In the present, Hazel tells Nella that she has so much potential but it needs to be unlocked. Nella thinks it is crazy what he said about Kendra. Hazel thinks she just lost it because she was alone. Nella is glad they’re not alone. They agree to get more food. Richard watches them leave in a taxi. He tells someone on the phone that things have changed so he needs them.
The Other Black Girl Review
The third episode of The Other Black Girl wasn’t bad although the dialogue can be a little cheesy at times. The episode did a good job of delving more into the past events at Wagner Books. These details are likely going to leak out slowly over the next episodes until it finally reaches the climax.
In the present, Hazel has effectively gained Nella’s trust and Richard is up to something. It’ll be interesting to see what happens now that Hazel has befriended Nella. Overall, The Other Black Girl has been very watchable through three episodes. At the very least, the story is compelling enough to keep viewers returning for at least one more episode.
This one scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Other Black Girl are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here.
