Beauty in Black – Season 1 Episode 4 “Family Affair” Recap & Review

Family Affair

Episode 4 of Beauty in Black begins with Norman demanding to know who ran over Ina. He immediately lashes out at Horace, pointing out his flaws, before Horace points the finger back. Apparently Norman is a chemist and has a PHD so it’s kinda on him that this whole cancer lawsuit has come about.

Norman promises though that if Ina dies, then the Beauty in Black company will burn to the ground. And he’ll be the one to light the match. When he leaves, Olivia speaks to Horace in confidence. She’s worried, given he knows all the dirty details of the company. She wants him to think things through but Horace is having none of it. While he tries to shrug it all off, Norman relies on Jules to help figure out who hit Ina.

Meanwhile, Kimmie rings her mum, who’s still with her abusive partner, Frank, whom we saw a little bit of during the opening flashbacks. Angel shows up at the motel and decides that with Rain, they can head off and steal from Horace’s safe, setting them up for life.

Kimmie is spooked though, given they’ve seen way too much and there’s no way out of this mess now. So for the time being, they head off to work. Kimmie struggles to make money on the pole, but Horace shows up to see her.

Kimmie hands over the watch (where did she stuff that as she’s just in her underwear?) and she’s very standoffish with him. Kimmie is on edge. However, the tables are turned when Charles shows at the club. He immediately finds himself with Angel, so Kimmie manages to play traffic and move the pair from view of the VIP booth. Angel wants to meet Horace that night, so Kimmie sets up the meet at the motel once more.

Olivia tries to shut Norman up, serving him with blackmailed details surrounding the trafficking situation going on. Apparently women have been going missing and she promises to lock him and Jules up for life if he so much as starts this war. She’s happy to keep this buried unless he comes after her boys.

Elsewhere, Malory offers Varney the opportunity to sleep with her. He refuses so she levels him with the bill at the restaurant they’re at. Her attention shifts to her other security detail, Calvin, clearly wanting to get in his pants. However, Gillian happens to be watching from the adjacent car.

In private, Gillian confronts Calvin about the car incident and calls him a fool for messing about.

As the episode closes out, Kimmie shows at the hospital but Rain is gone. According to one of the patients there, she’s died.


The Episode Review

What an absolute mess. When it comes to soapy dramas like this, there’s a fine line between guilty pleasure and narrative messes, and Beauty in Black is right on the line with this.

The amount of familial drama is almost farcical at this point, and there’s not really any likable characters aside from Kimmie. Everyone else is all kinds of mental and to be honest, the company deserves to burn for trying to cover up the lawsuit.

The show is basically an American telenovela and everything is so exaggerated and over the top. It’s definitely going to be a love/hate affair for many people, especially after this episode.

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You can read our full review for Beauty in Black part 1 here!

  • Episode Rating
    (2.5)
2.5

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