She's Gotta Have It 1.09

#ChangeGonCome (GENTRIFICATION)

Bianca, Nola's next door neighbor, is angry about graffiti on her stoop. She blames Papo, the artist who wanders the neighborhood with a cart full of art. Papo denies the charge. Other people at the neighborhood meeting try to step in and suggest that there are bigger problems in the neighborhood than graffiti.

Nola has a therapy session with Dr. Jamison who tries to talk her into coming clean with her three lovers. Nola has her doubts about doing that. She thinks that she has the situation under control. 

Nola finds out that Clo posted her street art on Facebook, without her knowledge. It has generated tens of thousands of likes. Nola didn't want it to be known that it was her art. Clo is convinced she's done Nola a favor. Nola doesn't see it that way. She gets into an argument with Clo and winds up storming out of Clo's gallery.

Nola meets up with Mars. She's angry at him for confiding in Clo. She accidentally calls him Mr. Childs, Greer's last name. He is unable to convince her that what he did was right.

Bianca finds Papo sitting on her stoop. She calls the police. Their neighbors show up before the police. Several people, including Nola, try to talk the police out of arresting Papo. Nola steps in and says she tagged Bianca's stoop with the letter G, for gentrification. The police arrest both of them.

Nola returns the cash ($10K) that Jamie attached to the painting when he sent it back to her. She takes the painting and cuts it up. She uses it to make a couple more pieces of art. 

Thoughts

The therapy session with Dr. Jamison was shot in an interesting way. That was my first take on it. Upon further reflection I wonder if there was a more practical reason they shot it that way. Nola and Dr. Jamison were only on screen together in that scene for part of the scene. I'm left wondering if they shot it that way because they couldn't get both actors on set at the same time.

Black Lives Matter is mentioned at the neighborhood meeting. The 2016 election is mentioned at the very beginning of the episode. Nola names a bunch of people who died in 2016: David Bowie, Prince, Bill Nunn, and several more. She walks through a cemetery placing roses on the graves a lot of famous people

I still don't love this show. It's beautiful to look at but I don't know what to make of it. It's about an artist and her life but is there anything more to it, at it's core, than that? I don't know.