It’s always sad when someone dies, no matter the circumstances or who they were.
However, all deaths don’t carry the same weight after basic human empathy is exhausted.
Some people’s death becomes the turning point and changes the trajectory of many lives far and wide.
We will discuss everything that went down on The Chi Season 6 Episode 7, so if you’re yet to get caught up, beware of spoilers.
Pastor Jackson was no more.
Sadness descended over Chicago after a community pillar met an unfortunate end to his life, and the reactions varied.
Some people like Bakari had an instinctual reaction which saw him confront Nuck, but since he was too deep with Douda, he couldn’t do anything about it.
Honestly, this was the reaction I had expected from many characters, and Pastor Jackson’s death should have carried more weight than it did.
Everyone knew that it was Douda’s doing, and this was supposed to be the event that changed everything, inspiring the people to remove the lion from their midst once and for all.
It was like everyone was waiting for someone to die under Douda’s instructions, and when it happened, it confirmed the worst fears Keisha had been wrestling with for a while now.
No one gets caught up in Douda’s orbit and makes it out.
While it didn’t trigger many physical reactions, Pastor Jackson’s death forced many characters to self-reflect, and they didn’t like what they discovered about themselves.
Bakari couldn’t help but blame himself for associating with the people who had killed the closest thing he’d ever had to a father.
Pastor Jackson and his family had helped him when he needed it the most. They gave him a taste of what being part of a family felt like.
Seeing the honesty and love that covered Pastor Jackson’s family made him want to become a better person for it.
I said it once, and I’ll reiterate that if anything were to make Bakari want to change for the better, it was everything he had learned while living with the Jackson family all these months. It showed him that there was something better out there, only if he could extend his hand and reach for it.
Keisha had lived carelessly enough to learn a valuable lesson. It is better to treat the symptoms of something fatal before letting it become terminal.
Keisha: If I can’t count on you to protect us, we not staying here. Emmett: What happened is sticking around even when shit gets uncomfortable.
Keisha: This is more than uncomfortable. This could be life or death.
Emmett: I promise I’m not gonna let anything happen to you or my kids.
Keisha: Yeah, what if something happened to you?
And Emmett’s involvement in Douda’s affairs might be their downfall.
So, she took a stand and gave Emmett an ultimatum.
Therapy has been a great outlet for Keisha throughout The Chi Season 6, and while it didn’t provide all the answers (it never does), it clarified some things that she would have never figured out by herself.
In The Chi Season 6 Episode 6, Keisha realized she was becoming more like her mother, which surprised her.
Learning just how much her parents had affected her view of relationships and marriage was shocking to her and me both. It made me want to dig into that for myself, but I doubt I’ll do that since it’s almost guaranteed that I won’t like what I learn.
If there comes a time it’s unavoidable, I’ll do it, but I’m not seeking it.
Keisha and Nina opening up at the therapist’s office was a great moment for them both. It allowed Nina to confront and admit something she had never admitted to herself. It also made Keisha understand that while she was responsible for some things, it wasn’t all on her.
It wasn’t all on Nina, too, as these failures resulted from generations worth of shortcomings.
Nina admitted that she never wanted to have kids or marry, and it exposed her to more mental troubles because she was married and had kids. However, only one of those things was reversible.
I want you to just sit with what you and your daughter have just confessed to each other. You said you felt obligated to be a mother. And your daughter just said that when she was growing up, she felt like an obligation.
Keisha’s Therapist
Will she divorce Dre?
Papa went through everything from brooding, denial, outbursts, pushing people away, and finally acceptance.
It never helps to replay different versions of what one could have done because the moment is never coming back, but that didn’t stop Papa from revisiting his last moments with his father.
Pastor Jackson was not a perfect father, husband, or person by any means. Even if he tried to follow his good book as much as possible, it failed him in certain instances where all he needed was to listen.
My dad challenged me to be better, be stronger, be noble. And now that he’s gone, I have to be all those things for myself. I think we all have to do that. We have to make ourselves proud. We have to write our own moral code and stop living by somebody else’s, even if that someone else is our own father.
Papa
But to his credit, he spoke the truth and tried to live it as much as possible. He also tried to help lost people find their way back as much as possible.
Papa opened up about growing up under such a strict man. He had idolized his father to a fault almost.
Surprisingly, this came up that soon, but it was understandable based on the motions he had gone through those last few days. I’d have expected everything he admitted feeling to be done a while after his father had been buried and he was unburdening at the grave.
Elsewhere, Shaad nearly lost everything he had after an intruder broke into the house. The look on Deja’s face should remain implanted in his mind forever because that was a severe violation of trust.
But Deja had always been more understanding than most because, in her shoes, I’d have kicked someone out.
Sometimes, people need a fire lit under their a** to get them to stand, and a great fire had been lit under Maisha’s.
Jemma: Managers can have multiple clients.
Maisha: She and I are on the same level.
Jemma: She’s further along.
Bakari’s sister was a threat on multiple fronts. Seeing mini-Tierra focus on Bakari’s sister instead of her showed Maisha how serious the situation was.
And so she dropped the bars straight from the heart. It was giving budget Ice Spice. While the flow was okay, Maisha had a lot to improve on.
In Jemma’s life, Bakari’s sister was a blessing and a curse. She might have a star on her hands, but that star threatened her relationship with Jake.
I’ve never pegged Jake for the jealous type, so if he thought she was trouble, she definitely was. We didn’t miss how Jemma blushed after their first interaction.
“Long Live” was eerily sad as everything was set against Pastor Jackson’s death, and all the characters went on an emotional journey.
However, there was something to celebrate because Victor and Fatima were considering starting a family, which was exciting. Seeing them talk about what that meant was encouraging because it was like a blueprint of what couples should do before making enormous decisions.
Extra Thoughts from the Pews
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Douda has balls; you’ve got to give him that. He had a man killed and then showed up at the funeral. That’s another level of messed up.
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I’ve changed my heart about the new guy in Douda’s crew. He is no FBI undercover agent. His casual glee about committing murder goes against everything an FBI agent should be. They can’t commit crimes while undercover.
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Kevin packed. It seems surreal that we won’t be seeing him anymore. I have a feeling the actor is exiting the show.
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Kevin was moving up, and Jake was giving adult advice. They’re all grown y’all.
What did you think?
Was the reaction to Pastor Jackson’s death tame?
Are you hopeful for a bigger community reaction after the dust settles?
Hit the comments section with your thoughts.
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Denis Kimathi is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on Twitter.
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