‘The Quad’ recap: Everyone has a price

Season 2, episode 3 — The Quad: My Bondage and My Freedom

The campus of Georgia A&M University has been transformed into a war zone. Well, at least in Eva Fletcher’s mind.

The battle is on to keep GAMU an independent school as debt continues to mount. In the first scene, which sets the tone for the episode, Fletcher is ready for war, geared up in camouflage. Her enemies? The system that would force a merger between GAMU and a predominantly white institution. Her weapons? Books.

The scene segues into a meeting between Fletcher and the student government association to discuss the possible sale of campus buildings. Her intentions were good, but students are still unhappy with the way things are being run at the university. Board members, especially Dean Carlton Pettiway, weren’t too happy when they found out Fletcher met with students. But they have to ask themselves whether their old approach has been working. Doesn’t hurt to try a new one.

In the dorms, Cedric Hobbs has been suspicious of his roommates. No, they don’t have the best relationship, but Bryce Richardson (Larry Rhem) is running around late at night with a bad attitude and bruises and welts covering his body. Hobbs confronts Richardson and is met with the typical mind-your-own-business defense mechanism. That wasn’t enough for Hobbs, who follows Richardson to a room and witnesses his roommate being paddled. Hobbs, who may be the last person to know what happens when pledging, is confronted by members of Sigma Mu Kappa for snooping.

Down the hall, Sydney Fletcher and Madison Kelly are still at odds. Kelly is hurt that Sydney Fletcher abandoned her during her time of need, and Sydney Fletcher’s overprotective nature since her sexual assault is causing an even larger rift between the best friends. After the two meet up at a party that night, it seems as if all has been forgiven — until Kelly stays behind at the party and doesn’t show up until the next morning. The best friendship has turned more into a mother-daughter rebellious phase.

Hanging out in the quad of rival university Southwestern Delta is Noni Williams, who always looks up to no good. And guess who strolls up to join her? Supersenior Danny Brown (Tallie L. Brinson) — back like he never left. After being set up by Williams and permanently booted from the Marching Mountain Cats band, this is the first time the two have come face to face since the incident. He knows she was behind the setup, but her bigger goal is helping Cecil Diamond to “make Clive Taylor pay” for his actions during the Battle of the Bands. Williams, being the smart and calculating woman she is, spent enough time with Taylor to lift personal information from his phone and deliver it to Diamond. Yet, Brown can see right through it all. Toward the end of the episode, he pays a visit to his old mentor and warns Diamond about Williams’ behavior. Whether Diamond will take heed remains unknown.

Back on campus, we have gangsters rolling up on coach Eugene Hardwick’s office. Who knew Hardwick was ’bout that life? GAMU can barely afford to stay open, so I guess it’s asking too much to have security patrolling after-hours. As always, money is the issue. Apparently, Hardwick owes the two burly men thousands of dollars that he doesn’t have. They threaten to pay a visit to his daughters, and that sets Hardwick off. He goes to see his ex-wife, who has weekend visitation, and picks up his kids. An argument ensues, which wasn’t smart for her in the first place. Her gambling problem is why big men are rolling up on Hardwick and threatening their children. Where is he going to find $20,000 in a month’s time?

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and no one knows that better than Eva Fletcher. The entire episode, Fletcher is trying to undo messes. And for the first time, it seems her focus is on GAMU and GAMU only. She enlists Hobbs, who sort of owes her a favor after acting a fool at her party last season. To buy time, Fletcher has been finding creative ways to work out a deal to save the land on campus. One is agreeing to role-play with a man who holds $5 million and the key to her salvation. Yes, we did witness a grown man in a onesie, holding a bottle and baby food and calling Fletcher “mama.” We’ll just leave you to process all of that.

After the meeting with Fletcher, Hobbs is confronted by his angry roommate. He learns that, because of his actions, Richardson was kicked off line. In Richardson’s own words, becoming a member of the fraternity is something he’d waited for his whole life. If there was something to salvage from their friendship, this may have been the moment that permanently ruins it.

Even after all of Fletcher’s hard work, it doesn’t seem like the board agreed. In the last scene, Fletcher opens a certified letter that informs her that Ella Grace Caldwell and Pettiway have filed a petition to designate Edward W. Smith Hall as a historic landmark — the very building Fletcher has just worked out a deal on. The news is too much to handle, and Fletcher has either suffered a terrible panic attack or a heart attack.

A dramatic beginning, a dramatic ending. We just hope the drama continues.