The Other Black Girl – Episode 6 “Fake Smile” Recap & Review

Fake Smile

Episode 6 of The Other Black Girl begins with Nella arriving home later than usual and is met by Owen and Malaika, who are worried about her. Nella admits that she had gone to meet with Shani, who did not show. Nella is unsure whether she trusts Hazel, but she is her colleague and cannot start acting crazy at work. Later that night, Nella can hardly sleep and tries to search for information about Eva on the internet, failing to do so. 

Nella dives into her new tasks as assistant editor and has some ideas to run by Richard. Suddenly, Richard asks about Jesse Watson, and Nella is surprised since Jesse cancelled Wagner online. Richard asks Nella to get Jesse. The board is prepared to put all its resources into Diana’s imprint, and Jesse can write his check. Nella thinks that Jesse cannot be bought, but Richard wants Nella to be the imprint’s biggest champion. Convincing Jesse Watson will not be hard if she believes Wagner can make a difference. Eventually, Nella agrees to try. 

Diana Gordon arrives at the office and looks through some covers, but she thinks they do not capture her vision. Nella gets distracted during the meeting, and Diana says she and Hazel will decide on the book cover. Hazel checks up on Nella and convinces her that she deserves the position. 

Hazel visits Owen at his school to ask for his help. She tells him about a charity called Young, Black, and Lit that tutors kids who do book fairs and poetry readings, and she thinks the school could be a great fit. Owen says she could have just emailed, and she has something else to discuss about Nella, who has been acting weird lately. She asks Owen to check on Nella and ensure she is doing okay. 

Later, at home, Owen tells Nella about Hazel dropping by his school and asking if Nella has been feeling okay. Nella gets worked up because Owen discusses her mental wealth with someone else, but someone knocks on the door before they can argue. It is a messenger with a package for Nella. There is no sender, and Nella is shocked to realize it is an original manuscript of Burning Heart. She thinks Diana sent it to her. She spends the rest of the night looking through the manuscript and even drifts to sleep on the subway on her way to work. Lena Jordan agrees to meet with Nella.

Meanwhile, Owen and Malaika take a deep dive, searching for information about Hazel. She is not listed on the charity website she works for, and her Instagram goes back one year. Malaika is convinced that Hazel is shady. Malaika notices that Hazel keeps tagging someone in her Instagram posts, and she suggests they go to his barber shop to investigate. 

Nella thanks Diana for trusting her with the original manuscript and says she thought it could inspire her. Nella feels they should use the original ending in the rerelease as it brings a new perspective to book and pulls in a new audience. Diana says she will think about it. 

Malaika and Owen arrive at the barbershop while Nella meets with Jesse Watson. Jesse turns down Wagner’s offer and, recognizing Nella’s potential, offers her a job at the podcast. Jesse knows that Nella set up the meeting even if she knew Jesse would say no. She will embarrass herself for the company, but would they do the same for her? He asks her how long she is ready to compromise for a paycheck. He asks her to call him when she has climbed out of Wagner and grown spine. 

Elsewhere, Manny tells Owen he is ready for him. Malaika asks Manny if he has a lady in his life, and he says they have been together for a year. Malaika mentions that Manny might have known her when she was in Boston, which spooks him, and he starts to stutter, saying he never lived in Boston. He also asks if they are with Shani and wants them to leave.

Nella shows Diana the note she found earlier and asks if it is about the ending. Diana doesn’t want to talk about it though. Nella insists, and Diana says she wrote the original end long before she knew Burning Heart would ever get published. Kendra and Diana liked the original ending, but Richard did not. He thought it was too dark for white people. Kendra was unhappy about changing the book ending, but Diana convinced herself she was doing it for all the black writers who would come after her. Kendra hated Richard for changing the ending; after seeing what Burning Heart became, she does not entirely regret it. 

Nella holds that they need to stop compromising. After reading Burning Heart, she tells Diana her experience and says that rereleasing the book with a more genuine and complicated ending would touch many people. Although Nella says she believes in Wagner, she believes in books that make an impact. Diana agrees to it and tells Richard about it. 

Malaika and Owen call Nella during her lunch break. They tell her about finding Hazel’s boyfriend and how he flipped when they mentioned Boston. Malaika says Nella needs to call out Hazel on her lie and make her run away to a new city, but Nella does not believe anything until she talks to Hazel. 

Nella decides to ask Hazel if she ever went by the name Eva. On hearing this, Hazel is frantic, and she starts freaking out. She says that the lady who told Nella about it is Shani, the co-worker from Boston who hated her. She is terrified that Shani followed her, even though she moved cities and changed her name. Hazel is angry at Nella for not telling her about Shani.

At the end of the episode, Hazel arrives home, and her attitude changes drastically. She goes upstairs to a room where Shani is locked inside, handcuffed to a metal pole. She tells Shani that she should have left her alone.

The Episode Review

The storyline continues to be intriguing, leaving viewers wanting more. However, as noted earlier, the script tries to juggle so many themes and subplots simultaneously, making it confusing. It diminishes the script’s consistency, and one wonders what the series is about.

In this episode, the series feels like it has overstayed its welcome and is slowly becoming tedious to watch. Some exciting things happening in the earlier episodes seem to be receiving less focus, and explanations of earlier tensions are not satisfying. Hence, the script pacing is sluggish and strays too far, making it difficult to focus on the story. With all the subplots included, I am left wondering, what exactly is the purpose of this show?