Queenie – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

She’s Royal

Episode 6 of Queenie season 1 starts with a flashback to September 1979, unveiling the early life of the Jenkins family. At this time, Queenie’s grandparents had recently relocated to America from Jamaica and were grappling with the challenges of settling in. Grandma Veronica, with her only child Maggie, was striving to leave her past behind.

By contrast, Albert was demonstrating his unwavering commitment to his family, working tirelessly to provide for them and helping Veronica come to terms with America as her new home. To help her adjust, he gets her a vinyl player to listen to her favourite songs.

Soon after, Maggie gives birth to Sylvie but under suspicious circumstances. Sadly, Veronica refuses to talk about what happened, and Albert remains a supportive father and husband. Seventeen years later, Sylvie is all grown up and starts dating a man. Maggie is against the relationship as the man is older, and she finds it strange. However, their parents only find out later when Sylvie has Queenie, and the man gets married to another woman. This crushes Sylvie.

Although Queenie’s birth strains Sylvie’s relationship with Veronica, the family remains supportive. A few years later, Sylvie meets Roy and is taken with him. She and Queenie move in with him, and that is when the abuse starts. Queenie witnesses Sylvie being abused many times and tries to talk her mom into escaping. However, Sylvie is scared and says that Roy will change with time.

She instead asks Queenie to keep the abuse a secret and avoid Roy when she can. Soon after, Sylvie chooses Roy and leaves Queenie abandoned in their apartment. She only drops by to bring the girl food. Luckily, after a few months, Maggie realised what was happening and took Queenie in for a while.

Later, Queenie moved in with her grandparents and then her dad. Unfortunately, her dad’s new family was unwelcoming.

Presently, Queenie is with a therapist, talking about her definition of being strong. She argues that means covering things up and pretending to be fine. The therapist digs deeper into how being abandoned and Queenie’s break up with Tommy. Queenie gets defensive, has a panic attack and faints during the session. The therapist calls Veronica to come pick her granddaughter up.

Veronica is angry that Queenie is paying a stranger to air dirty family laundry. However, after talking to Albert, she changes her mind. Albert argues that holding things inside didn’t work out for their generation, and they should try a new method.

In the meantime, Queenie visits Jessica after her therapy session but finds Frank painting the house. She talks to Frank about her therapy session, and he listens to her without judgment. Queenie falls asleep on Jessica’s couch and Frank covers her up with a blanket. Later, Jessica warns Frank not to get carried away with his feelings for Queenie. She is worried that Frank is already vulnerable and that Frank would break her heart.

The Episode Review

This was a heavy episode. It is no surprise that Veronica doesn’t believe in therapy. It is just not in her culture, and she is seen as being weak and vulnerable. For her generation, taking things quietly was a sign of strength and break-down or admitting you need help was a sign of weakness. This explains why she never even talks about Sylvie’s parentage.

It is implied that something bad happened to her, but she had buried it for years. This episode also gave us a newfound respect for Albert. He really held his family down even through the thick of it.

It is a good thing that Queenie is going to therapy and getting help. However, she still has a long way to go. Jessica is right; Queenie is too vulnerable and in no position to date anyone – even Frank. The episode also sheds light on why Queenie is angry at Sylvie. She went through a lot, and we can only hope they will find their path to reconnect as mother and daughter. However, what Sylvie did really hurt Queenie so it might take some time and a few therapy sessions to get there.