Summary
Bumpy’s new partnership and Malcolm X’s beliefs are both challenged in another solid outing.
This recap of Godfather of Harlem Season 3 Episode 3, “Mecca”, contains spoilers.
In Godfather of Harlem Season 3, Episode 2, Bumpy formed an alliance with Cuban gun-smuggler Jose Battle to hopefully scare away the Italian Families. The implication was that war would erupt, or at least that battle lines would quickly be drawn, but in “Mecca”, no Italian even mentions the partnership. Instead, Bumpy finds an issue with it himself and has to consider if Battle is the kind of man he wants to be getting into bed with.
Godfather of Harlem Season 3 Episode 3 Recap
How does Jose Battle get his guns?
The problem is, as ever, the U.S. government. Battle deals in military-grade firearms, which are sure to be essential in keeping the Italians out of Harlem, but how he gets them is another matter. In “Mecca”, Battle enlists Bumpy to carry out a “favor” for him which turns out to be the assassination of one of Castro’s lieutenants who, according to Battle, had his sister, nieces, and brother-in-law back in Cuba executed by firing squad.
Bumpy isn’t one to ask too many questions of men he owes, so he sets his men to the task. But something seems off about the intended victim. He doesn’t act as a hardened military executioner should. After some digging, Bumpy figures out that he’s a journalist reporting on Battle’s affairs, including his relationship with the CIA.
So, Battle gets his guns from the CIA. And this isn’t an arrangement that Bumpy is keen on, especially since it was kept from him. He eventually carries out his assignment, at least in part because the journalist was entirely unsympathetic about the deaths of Battle’s family, which had emerged from his reporting and were written off, as he put it, as being “decreed by the people”, but also presumably as a message to Battle.
Are Stella and Joe Colombo going to get together?
This seems pretty unlikely, but is it just me who’s picking up something amiss with Stella and Colombo? The latter is still offering his “protection” in order to earn Chin’s favor, putting her up in an apartment and giving her a job as essentially his secretary, but taking her out for dinner seems a little unnecessary. He has already made a little remark about how lovely Stella is to look at, and when she begins to soften on him, which she seems to be doing, will he make a move?
Why is Malcolm X detained in Saudi Arabia?
“Mecca” is so-called because Malcolm X travels there to undergo the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage, but he’s detained at customs because he doesn’t have official paperwork solidifying his faith. He has a signed letter from Dr. Mahmoud Shawarbi, a lecturer of Islam and advisor to the United Nations, but that isn’t enough. While he’s waiting on a verdict from the Muslim high court, Mahgama Sharia, he’s taken in by Dr. Omar Azzam, a white Muslim who treats him very much like a brother.
This subplot is all about Malcolm’s beliefs being challenged. Throughout his life, he has become, for want of a better term, an extremist, radicalized by all the racism and prejudice he and his family have experienced throughout their lives. As he explains to Dr. Azzam at one point, no white person has ever treated him with any kindness, empathy, or respect. He finds being welcomed in the doctor’s home and invited to pray with him entirely alien, and Dr. Azzam calls him out — very respectfully — for being a racist himself, judging people only by their external appearances.
As happened in real history, Malcolm develops an enormous fondness and respect for Dr. Azzam which alters his beliefs and personal prejudices.
Why does Mayme resign?
Elsewhere, Mayme Johnson continues to try and get out from beneath her husband’s shadow by continuing to work under Adam Clayton Powell as an executive director of HARYOU, or Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited. She’s making waves and securing advertising for new community initiatives, but she also earns the unwanted attention of the district attorney’s office.
Because of Bumpy’s status as a convicted felon and his regular large donations to HARYOU, the DA’s office has made the connection that the project is being funded by dirty money. ADA Pike is determined to prove a connection between HARYOU and Bumpy’s illegal activities, and if he does, he’ll shut the whole thing down. Since it seems Bumpy will never go straight, Mayme resigns from her position to protect HARYOU’s reputation. But how will this affect her home life? We’ll have to wait and see.
You can stream Godfather of Harlem Season 3 Episode 3, “Mecca” exclusively on MGM+.
