Summary
With the nature of the story of Harlem, the flashback works very well.
This recap of Amazon’s Harlem season 1, episode 8, “Five Years Ago,” contains spoilers.
It’s time for Harlem‘s flashback episode. Sometimes flashback episodes can be hit or miss. Will it work in Harlem’s favour? As you would guess from the episode’s title, it is set five years ago.
Harlem season 1, episode 8 recap
Starting with Camille, she’s dating Ian and they are preparing to move to Paris just as Camille’s Mum says she will drive to the city to visit her. As for Angie, she’s living in a mansion with her own driver. The reason for that is that her music career appears to be taking off. Meanwhile, Quinn works in an office. Her Mum is very proud of her, and it doesn’t faze her that the job may, in fact, be making Quinn miserable. Instead, Patricia tries to force Quinn into celebrating her successes.
Whilst for Tye, she is frustrated as her ideas for women are ignored whilst a male worker is able to confidently voice his opinion. Tye is disgusted when the male co-worker suggests making an app, “Red Alert”, which will allow everyone to know when a woman is about to have their period. Her day appears to improve when her girlfriend, Melissa (Ebonee Noel), asks her to move in, which Tye accepts.
As for Camille, she visits her professor and says goodbye before leaving for Paris. However, Robin is concerned that Camille will lose focus of her career, but Camille tries to reassure her that she will continue her academic career whilst in Paris with Ian. Robin says she thought she’d have done the same years ago. But she regrets moving away as her partner cheated on her and left her with nothing. She adds that Camille is “the only student that didn’t annoy me.” Afterward, Camille waits for her Mum. But she learns that her Mum got the wrong train so she won’t see her after all. At the airport, ready to fly to Paris, Ian’s passport is about to expire, and therefore he is unable to get on the plane.
Whilst Tye and Quinn have their problems with work, Angie is more concerned that a radio station isn’t playing her single. Eventually, Quinn tells her mother that she has quit her job. But as she has no other job in store, Patricia is not happy in the slightest: “Shame on you”. Her mother predicts that it won’t be long before Quinn will be asking her for money. When Angie goes to the label, she finds out that the division is shutting down. And therefore, as Angie is not among the select artists, she no longer has a record deal. She learns that no one plays her single as no one likes it, and to make matters worse, Angie will need to move out of the mansion as it belongs to the company.
The ending
Tye reveals to Melissa that she is technically married. She explains that whilst at college in Georgia, she married Brandon as she didn’t want to be a lesbian. As Brandon was “nice enough”, Tye was happy to marry him. But as she grew to hate the lifestyle, she ran away. Melissa is unable to believe that Tye would just abandon Brandon like that, as now unable to trust Tye, Melissa leaves her. At the airport, Camille argues with Ian as to why it’s always her that has to change her plans. After Ian’s mess-up with the passport, Camille pays the fee to have his visa fixed. But as Robin’s words echo in Camille’s head, she ultimately dumps Ian. As the flashback episode draws to a close, Ian drives away on her own, holding a ring revealing that he was going to propose to Camille.
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