Original subtitles

-Malik, would you hurry up? -[Malik] I'm coming, Jazzy.

I'm trying to get your niece to cooperate.

Daddy's trying to get her dressed

and she think it's playtime.

I thought Lisa was going to watch her,

so you could come down here and do this interview with me.

Well, Lisa had to go and renew her license down

at the Motor Vehicle Department.

Oh, Lord, be with her. That place is the worst.

Who you telling?

And she tried to get me to go with her.

I said, "Hell, no."

Don't you cuss in front of my niece.

Hell isn't a curse word.

It's in the Bible... just like ass.

Malik, give me the baby. Give me my niece.

-Give me my niece. -Here.

Go to your auntie. There you go.

All right, so what is this interview about?

It's for my broadcast journalism class.

Broadcast journalism? Where did this come from?

Look, I'm-I'm thinking about journalism.

All right?

Dammit, girl. Broadcast journalism?

How many times are you going to change your major?

Shh. I know. I know, okay?

I have no clue what I'm doing. Just please don't tell dad.

-Don't tell dad what? -Jazmine is try--

Hey, snitches get stitches.

Saint Jazmine, promoting violence?

Well, I make exceptions for brothers who open their

big mouths when I just told them not to.

You see all this violence, Dad?

I see that. It must be big.

Come on, Jazz.

Now you know you can tell me anything.

Oh, Dad, I think it's best if I don't tell you.

Girl, what is going on? Are you pregnant?

No. Ain't nobody pregnant.

You don't have to lie to me. Are you pregnant?

-Who's pregnant? -Jazmine.

-You're pregnant? -No, I'm not pregnant!

-You're pregnant? -No!

-Is it that rapper boy? -Mama, come on now.

The one that came over here that time.

-Mom, I'm not pregnant. -Your face is looking rounder.

My face look rounder than it used to?

You should have told me--

I'm not pregnant, Mama! Look what you did!

-I can't take this. -[Jazmine] Mom.

-What is happening? -I came downstairs.

-You came downstairs. -Mm-hmm.

And I heard them say, "Don't tell it to Dad."

-Yeah. -[C.J.] Right?

[Janine] Yeah.

And next thing I know Jazmine told Malik,

-"Snitches get stiches." -That's what she said to me.

-She said that to you, baby? -She said that to me.

-Are you okay? -Malik!

Jazzy, what is going on with you?

-Apparently, a lot. -I can't take this.

No, I can't. I gotta--

-Mom, calm down. -Mama, just relax!

Y'all gettin' all worked up over nothing.

Look, everybody just relax, okay? Relax.

The good news, she's not pregnant.

-Thank you. -Then why did you say you were?

Mama, I never did, and ow!

Bad news, she changed her major.

-Again? -Again?

Dammit, Malik!

Jazmine, what is going on? When did you start cussing?

[Malik] What is going on with her?

That's hormones. That's pregnancy.

-What's in the water today? -That's pregnancy.

[music]

[hydrant hissing]

[bird chirping]

[plane humming]

[car alarm blaring]

[police siren wailing]

[train horn blowing]

[ambulance siren wailing]

[helicopter whirring]

[firework whistling]

[baby crying]

-See? Look what y'all did! -No, look at what you did.

You and your toxicity. Come on. I'm sorry.

Your auntie's just going through some things, baby.

So, Jazmine...

So, you're going to change your major again?

Daddy, okay, listen. So what had happened was

I was watching this documentary on Gwen Ifill, right?

And she was just accomplished and respected, and eloquent.

It just-- It inspired me!

Isn't that great?

So now you're gonna be a journalist?

What happened to architecture?

Or sociology?

And Malik's right. What happened to sociology?

Huh? That was good. Two years ago.

Yeah, but sociology only allows me to, like, write books

and teach. Maybe work with nonprofits.

With journalism, I can use all my gifts.

-She can use all her gifts-- -[Jazmine] Right!

There's nothing to be worried about.

Um, journalism is a good, solid career.

Yeah, and so was agriculture.

So was architecture two years ago.

I mean, it was actually agronomy with a specialty in

-new botanical technologies. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That right there. How much did that cost me?

I mean, I don't-- I don't know, Dad.

But the technologies.

I can't help that I'm indecisive, okay?

Dad, you're going into full meltdown mode.

-Do you see what you did to him? -You did!

Excuse me. Pause! Baby, I need you to calm down.

You're starting to-to upset the baby a little bit more

than she already was.

Aw, yeah.

I'm so sorry you can't choose your family.

And Malik's right.

Sociology was a good career two years ago.

C.J., remember what the doctor said about not letting

everything overload, you know, getting too stressed out?

Yeah, Dad.

You know, stress is the number one killer of older black men

-like yourself. -Too far, too far.

First of all, first of all, I am not old, okay?

And second, I would not be stressed out if my family

didn't stress me out, okay? Choose a major!

Dad, do you want some warm milk or something?

No!

I'm going upstairs and lay down and do something nonstressful

like watch the evening news.

[sighs]

That went well.

You know your father. Eventually, he will calm down.

Does he not want me to be happy?

No! He doesn't care about that.

Do not listen to your brother.

Of course your father wants you to be happy.

Happiness is overrated.

This man is keeping a tab on all of these tuitions, okay?

And he knows you're not gonna graduate until 2026.

-The man is gonna go broke! -Okay, don't you have

somewhere else to go or do or be something else?

I was supposed to be helping the new journalism major

with her interview.

Why don't you try not being a brat?

Mama, he can't help it. He really can't.

And I think--I think this journalism thing is gonna

work out for me. Come on, y'all.

-Have some faith. -Yeah.

Yeah, I am-- I am so not worried.

-Mom. -What?

-Really? -What?

-You're really bad at lying. -No, I'm not.

-You are. -No.

-You look worried as hell. -I don't.

You kinda do. I don't. I'm confident in this.

Shut your face. We're happy for you.

We are proud of every decision you've made,

And we're gonna stick beside you.

-Why is your voice cracking? -Hush.

All right? I'm not worried.

I'm not bothered.

Pregnancy may have been a little bit better,

but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

I'm going to check on your father.

Shoo.

So what's this interview about?

[music]

[knocking on door]

Hold on! I'm coming!

Oh, come on, man. Ref.

-Hey, Mr. Payne. -Hey, Lizbeth.

Mr. Payne, will you stop? You are the worst.

You know you gotta get my name right before I marry your son.

Don't you know I'm just playin' with you, Lori?

Mr. Payne.

I came by to talk to your wife. Is she around?

Yeah.

Miss Ella, she's here?

I called her, but I didn't hear from her.

Well, she's here.

I don't know why she's ignoring your calls.

I didn't say all that.

Um, okay. So she's in the kitchen?

-I can just-- -Yeah, go in there.

She's in the kitchen. Watching the game?

Shh. Yes, if you'd stop yapping.

That's where Calvin gets it.

[Ella] I jus think you need to knead it. Knead it.

-Knead it a little bit more. Make it all blend. Blend.

-Hey, Miss Ella. -Hey, Laura.

-Hey, Miranda. -Hey.

-Hi, Laura. -Hi.

I got it. I got it.

What have we got going on here?

Oh, Miss Ella is teaching me how to make her famous

cinnamon rolls.

Oh, it smells so good.

Oh, my goodness.

Well, I don't want to interrupt you guys.

It seems like you're really in the thick of it.

Oh, no. It's fine.

It's fine. It's fine.

-How was the tasting? -It's this afternoon.

Tasting?

-Yeah, tasting for the wedding. -Ooh.

Uh, yeah, Miss Ella, remember you said you'd go with me so...

I will go. If you want me to, I can.

Well, that's what we discussed, so...

Well, listen, Miss Ella is the best person

to take to a tasting.

She is the master of all cuisines.

Thank you.

That's exactly why I wanted you to come, Miss Ella.

And I also thought it would be a a really moment for us to be

able to bond together, you know?

Mm-hmm. Well, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

But I can't go today. Mm-mm.

I've gotta finish these cinnamon rolls

and then Miranda and I have to take them over to

Christian's school.

Yes because they are having a bake-off contest

and Christian is going to win.

-Oh, yes he is. -I am so excited!

-Yeah! -Yeah!

We are going to skunk that competition!

They don't know what's coming for them.

Do we, do we, do we.

[laughing]

It sounds like you probably won't be able to make it anyway,

-so, um. -Wait, wait, wait.

Can we do it tomorrow?

-No, wait. I can't do-- -You can't do it tomorrow.

No, no. Thursday?

-Can we do Thursday? -Thursday works.

Thursday works.

You know what? It's okay.

-[Ella] Are you sure? -It's fine.

Don't worry about it. It's-it's fine.

-It's not a big-- -Are you sure?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's not a big deal.

-Okay, that's enough. -That's enough? Okay.

I'm just gonna get going and uh--

[Ella] Okay.

You ladies have fun. It smells so good in here.

Ooh, doesn't it?

Well, listen, just tell me how the tasting goes.

I will. I sure will.

-Okay. -Okay. All right.

-Bye. -I don't get it.

[Ella] Thank you!

-Hey, you okay? -Yeah, I'm fine.

-I'll see y'all later. -Okay.

[door closes]

[music]

-Malik, can you say something? -Say what?

You gotta ask the question.

Look, the story is about the importance of a strong

family unit as it relates to upward mobility

in the black community today. All right?

Okay, yeah, um, you said that,

um, but what's the question that needs to be answered.

I just want you to talk about it.

Talk about what? Mobility?

Malik, why are you being a butthole right now?

Okay, I'm not being a butthole when I'm here helping you.

If you want to help me, I need you to say something.

-You gotta ask a question. -What? I don't know what to ask.

Well, don't you think that the journalism major

would have thought of questions to ask

before the interview started?

[sighs] You know what? You're right.

Forget it. Maybe I'm not a journalist.

Wait, Jazmine. Wait. Look, I didn't say--

Bye.

[music]

What is going on today?

[music]

-Calvin. -Hey, baby.

Is everything all right?

-No. -What's wrong?

Wait. Did you go through my computer again?

-What? -No.

Because those are spam sites that just pop up when--

What is happening with your computer now?

Nothing. What is it?

Okay, I need you to listen, and I need you to listen

-with an open mind. -Okay. What is it?

-It's your mother. -My mother?

Yep. And your baby's mother?

-My baby's mama? Tracey? -No, the other baby's mama.

-Miranda? -Yeah.

Okay. Well, what happened?

Well, your mother was supposed to come to the tasting

with me today.

-Okay. -She didn't go.

Well, why didn't she go?

She was too busy teaching Miranda how to make her

-famous cinnamon rolls. -My mama made cinnamon rolls?

-Calvin, focus. -No, no, baby.

You don't understand. Cinnamon rolls--

-No, you don't understand. -Okay, my bad.

I'm with you. Go ahead.

I mean, why couldn't she teach me how to make the

-cinnamon rolls? -Well, did you ask her?

No, I didn't ask her, Calvin. And I'm not gonna ask her, okay?

'Cause she could have come to the tasting with me,

but no, we could have had a bonding moment.

Instead, she chose to ditch me for Miranda teaching your

ex-wife how to cook right in front of me.

That was hurtful.

Look, baby, I'm sorry.

And I'm sure my mama didn't mean anything by it.

I'm sure she just forgot.

See, I knew you were going to take your side.

-I'm not taking her side-- -Yes you are!

If you're not, then you need to talk to her.

Look, what do you want me to say to her?

There's a lot that you can say to her.

Look, if there's anything I learned from binge watching

House of Cards, I've learned that there's some fights

you can't win. So you, my mom, my ex-wife,

I have no cards to play.

You're going to have to figure that out

between you and my mama.

Wow.

I just really cannot believe you're saying this to me

right now.

And this is not the House of Cards, Calvin.

Laura, just go talk to my mom.

Your mom doesn't want to have anything to do with me.

She'd rather play with Miranda.

Okay, look, Laura. Calm down.

Don't tell me to calm down, Calvin. Okay?

I'm tired. I am tired.

Okay.

[music]

[knocking on door]

-Professor Davidson. -Hi, Jasmine.

-Hi. Please come in. -Thank you.

I just wanted to find out how the shoot's coming.

Wait. Did I miss it?

No, ma'am. You didn't miss it.

Well, like I discussed during our Zooms, I like to stop by

and check out your individual shoots to offer a little

moral support and guidance.

Um, I should have called you.

I'm sorry to have you drive all the way out here,

but there's not going to be an interview anymore.

First, it's no waste of time. It's my job.

And why no interview?

Well, I think I might have jumped on the whole journalism

-thing prematurely. -Really?

Why would you say that? You've been so excited.

I have been, but I tried my first interview with my brother,

and, you know, it didn't go too well, so...

And because your first interview didn't go too well,

you've decided in that brief moment that

journalism isn't your thing?

Well, I just don't want to waste your time, or my time,

or my family's money. I just--

-I'm just stressed. -Hey, hey, what's there to be

so stressed about, hmm?

I don't have any idea what I'm doing.

Okay. Sit.

What do you think college is for?

It's when we start to figure out who we are, what we like,

-and what we don't like. -Yeah, but I'm three years in,

and I'm just as clueless now as I was three years ago.

-And that's okay. -Tell that to my dad.

Look, Jazmine, it takes many of us years to figure out

who we are and what we want to do.

My parents aren't rich.

I don't have the time or that luxury.

I get it.

But you will decide upon a major that you like enough

so you can get your college degree.

But take the pressure off. That major does not have to be

what you're locked into for the rest of your life.

But choosing a major puts you on a career path.

It can, but didn't for me. Look, let me tell you my story.

Okay.

I majored in art, but that was after trying out several majors.

Art made me happy, so I studied art.

After I graduated, I decided to go backpacking

across South America with a friend of mine

because I had no idea what I wanted to do.

And while backpacking, I fell in love with traveling

and became a travel agent when I got back to the States.

Then I decided to go get my MBA.

I got my MBA, and I started my own media company

for some years.

And then later, after watching journalists like Dan Rather

and Bernard Shaw, I wanted to try that.

I then worked in network news for over a decade,

and now I'm here as your college professor.

What? Wow.

And guess what? My story is still not over.

Mm-mm. I may have another career in me after this.

-That's amazing, Professor. -Thank you.

So, what makes you think you have to know all that

-you'll do right now? -I just want to be successful.

-And you will be. -[sighs] Okay.

All right, well, let me get to my next stop

and let me know when you've got that interview together.

Yes, ma'am. I will.

-Um, and Professor? -Yes, Jazmine?

Thank you.

-Thank you so much. -You're welcome.

[music]

So, Miss Graham, the PTA president was awestruck.

She was so arrogant.

Do you believe she thought her little peach cobbler cupcakes

would win?

Don't nobody want none of those little nasty cupcakes.

-Nope, nope, and nope. -I don't know, baby.

Peach cobbler cupcakes sound good.

Uh, Miss Ella made her famous cinnamon rolls.

Baby, you hit them with the cinnamon rolls?

Mm-hmm.

Let me tell you, they lost their minds.

I'm sure they did.

The decision was unanimous, Curtis.

Hey, Miranda. Hey, dad.

-Hey, son. -What's going on?

I heard you made cinnamon rolls. I did.

Yeah, you can't have any.

Go home and let Lizbeth make you some.

-Who's Lizbeth? -Hush, Curtis.

Baby, they're in there in a pan on the stove.

Oh, wait. Calvin! When is the tasting?

The chef's tasting.

-I'm not sure. -You're not sure?

I know Laura told you about it. She was so excited about it.

She might have mentioned that you and her were supposed to go.

And I will when she tells me when it is.

-You should call her. -I did.

When we got back from the bake off, I called her.

Okay. Well, she'll call you back.

Uh, uh, uh, Calvin, why are you looking like that?

-Look, I'm not in it. -In-in what?

-In y'all mess. -Mess?

-Did I say mess? -Uh-huh, you said mess.

Look, I told Laura to talk to you herself, Mom.

Talk to me about what, baby?

Okay, look, she's mad that you were supposed to go with her

to the tasting, but instead,

you were with Miranda making cinnamon rolls.

Who is she to be mad with me?

Miss Ella, I told you something was weird about her

when she was leaving.

Yeah, she was mad as hell when she stormed up out of here.

I know you're kidding me. I know you kidding me.

So she mad with me

because my schedule was booked.

This was booked long time before this.

[music]

Curtis, do you hear this?

Baby, I am not in this.

-Curtis. -You two keep talking.

-Miranda. -Huh?

Do you hear this?

You know what, Miss Ella, I think it's time for me to go.

-Miranda. -I love you.

I love you.

Uh, Calvin, baby,

I know you better tell her--

Mom, I wish I could stick around but I got things to do.

You better talk to her.

Calvin... Give me those cinnamon rolls.

Pops, it ain't like you're gonna catch me.

You better talk to her.

-[Ella] Curtis. -Hmm?

I can't believe this.

Miss Thang gonna be mad at me.

You're mad at me because my schedule's booked?

Don't do this.

Don't you come over here with no foolishness, Miss Thang.

This here ain't what you--

This ain't what you want right here.

Oh, no, no, no. Ella, Ella, Ella.

[music]

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