‘The Chi’: It’s ‘One Of Them Nights’ On The South Side In Season 6, Episode 5

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent The Chi episode will be found below.)

Following a bit of a time jump in The Chi season six, we’re now in prom season for the kids in Chicago’s south side. Kevin & Maisha, Jake & Jemma, Papa & Kenya, and Bakari & Lynae all prepare for their big day, but it doesn’t come without a few issues and/or unexpected occurrences for each of the couples. Kevin was offered a video game opportunity in Los Angeles and he’s left to contemplate whether or not he will leave Chicago to pursue it. Jemma runs into dress issues hours before prom and it forces her to spend time with Tierra, who she doesn’t like too much. Kenya backs out of prom at the last second and it leads to a surprise that Papa was not ready for. Lastly, Bakari finally meets Lynae’s brother Jamal, and while he promises to keep her out of harm’s way, their conclusion to prom night finds him doing the opposite to Jamal’s disappointment.

Elsewhere, Emmett and Keisha reach a breaking point in their relationship as stresses in and outside of it break them down individually. Keisha lost her teaching position and Emmett had a gun pointed at him by Douda after he confronted him about Tiffany’s car being stolen by his street boys. Nina and Dre have a disagreement in their relationship after Dre reconnects with her ex, but only for work reasons as they now work at the same place. Marcus and Tierra have a rift of their own in their growing relationship thanks to comments from Marcus, and lastly, Shaad is drawn back into his old life after Bakari forces him to watch a duffel bag of guns for a short period of time

Here are some of the biggest takeaways that we have after season six’s fifth episode, “One Of Them Nights”:

Kenya’s entrance into Papa’s life was a wonderful surprise for him. He found someone who lives a similar life as he does with similar interests — a love for Anita Baker being one of them. Papa recognized the good in Kenya and pursued her relentlessly and respectfully, and despite her initial hesitations, she finally let her guard down and things seemed to be going well for the two. Considering that the “One Of Them Nights” episode is a time jump from episode four, we can assume that Papa and Kenya have been going steady for a while now. This explains his pure shock as he arrives at Kenya’s house to find out that she’s had a son the entire time that they’ve been dating. Papa is a pretty accepting and nonjudgmental person, but this might prove to be a lot for him. If not his own, the thoughts of others around him — like his judgmental and critical father or his friends — could prove to be a heavy weight on him. Then again, everyone might be as accepting of their situation as they are Emmett and Keisha’s. It all remains to be seen, but Papa will certainly need a second to wrap his mind around everything.

A magical prom day and night took a sharp turn for the worst for Bakari once he and Lynae were pulled over by two police officers and taken into custody. Luckily for them, it seems like Bakari wasn’t charged with anything, but with this, he failed to keep his promise to Lynae’s brother Jamal to not put her in harm’s way. The disappointment is clear in Jamal’s eyes as he looks at Bakari before leaving the police station with Lynae. Right now, despite all the wrong he’s done in his life, Bakari still has people like Lynae, Papa, and Papa’s family in his corner, but if he continues going down this road, he could very well lose it all. What makes it all worse is that he puts these goods things at risk for someone like Douda, who could care less about anything outside of his own interests. I mean, who threatens a kid into making sure a duffle bag of guns is taken care of Douda has no interest in Bakari’s well-being or safety, and while the money he gets from Douda is nice, it’s not worth it if he’s on his way to losing it all.

Kevin has always done things his way. While everyone has or is in pursuit of regular nine-to-five jobs, he looked to video games as his source of income. As most of his friends desired to stay home with their parents, Kevin moved out and found an apartment to call his own. Now, as most of his friends and the adults in his world look to call Chicago home forever, Kevin eyes a move to Los Angeles with the hope of exploring and seeing what else the world has to offer him. Kevin’s ability to go against the grain is admirable. He seems to conclude that maybe breaking away from the expectations of a full life in Chicago is the way to avoid an adult life like the ones of those around him. During a mini argument with Emmett, he notes that he’s considering a move to Los Angeles for a video game career simply to see what else life has to offer him and what life outside of Chicago looks like. Sometimes exploration allows you to see the true heights and depths of your dreams in order to achieve them, and Kevin seems to understand that. At a minimum, he’s curious to see if that can be proven true and as he did with his video game interests and moving into his apartment, he’s not going to let anyone stop him.

After this episode, Emmett is the epitome of the dog from the webcomic Gunshow who sits in a room engulfed in flames. His girlfriend Keisha just lost her job and she feels completely lost in her life while also being frustrated at him for leaning on her so heavily and not giving her the space to breathe and chase her own dreams. His baby mother Tiffany just had the car he bought her broken into and briefly stolen before it was later recovered. Lastly, the investor in his business, Douda, was actually one of the people who was behind the robbery of Tiffany’s car. When Emmett confronted Douda about it, he was threatened with a gun to his neck. Emmett is stressed in more ways than one and while he claims that the group therapy sessions with Victor, Shaad, Darnell, Marcus, Quincy, and Jamal are a help, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be enough for him. The world is on his shoulders and it’s pushing its weight down on him more and more by the day. One-on-one therapy, as Keisha suggested, would be great for Emmett, but that plus a break from the world and finally detaching himself from Douda is what will actually make things better for Emmett. However, with Keisha finding the bag of money that Nuk forced Emmett to hold on to, we know that things are going to get worse for him before they get better.

New episodes of ‘The Chi’ are available through the Paramount Plus With Showtime plan on Fridays at 3am EST/ 12 pm PST. Weekly episodes also air Sundays on Showtime at 9pm EST/PST.