Summary
A much-improved episode highlights some real growth in Benny and Byron, and Mabel’s introduction into the family fold is welcome.
I hated Episode 5 of Black Cake, so I’m pleased to report that Episode 6, “Ma”, is much improved. Yes, it’s still a little preachy, but much more purposeful with its politics this time, and the characters make relatable and well-informed decisions instead of acting like children all the time. By the time Mabel shows up close to the end, Benny and Byron have matured more in one episode than they have in the entirety of Season 1 thus far, which gives her a more appropriate role within the burgeoning family dynamic.
Black Cake Season 1 Episode 6 Recap
Before Mabel arrives, there are some pressing matters to address. Namely the outcome of Byron assaulting Steve, and that diversity panel.
Covey’s apologetic message to Byron and Benny opens the episode, and both can now relate a little more given the situations they have found themselves in. In a small deviation that amounts to very little, Covey realizes that in pushing Benny away based on her sexuality, she was repeating a mistake that she had made once before with Bunny. By leaving her in Jamaica, she had condemned her to a fate of trying to navigate a world she didn’t fit in, unsure of who she even was herself.
It’s clear how this relates to Benny’s experiences, but it’s also unclear how it took Covey being condemned to death to realize this. Nevertheless, it’s the nudge that Benny needs to start taking more control of her life, and that starts with defending Byron.
Why does Steve drop the charges against Byron?
Byron is looking at an aggravated assault charge, but luckily Steve drops the charges in what is assumed to be an effort to try and win Benny’s favor. He later turns up at her home after she blocks him to lecture her about how much better she was with him, which more or less proves this theory correct.
But getting to this point requires Benny to take real steps. First, she decides to file an emergency restraining order against Steve to buy herself 72 hours to pursue more formal charges, which will mean facing him in court and coming to terms with everything he did to her. However, she’s willing to do this so that Byron’s seemingly out-of-character attack is more justified.
She also takes the step of blocking Steve’s number when he contacts her multiple times after dropping the charges. These seem like small and obvious measures to anyone who hasn’t been in this situation, but anyone who has will tell you how hard it can be to simply cut an abuser from your life in this way.
Why does Byron go viral?
Getting arrested gives Byron the motivation he needs to say how he really feels at the scientific diversity panel, which earns him a standing ovation and internet virality but probably doesn’t put him at the top of his department’s Christmas card list.
While he was locked up, Byron had a flashback to his childhood — Black Cake Episode 6 has more of these than usual — where he argued with his parents about the appropriate way for a young Black boy to behave. Then as now, he lamented that there are different standards in the first place; that he should have to put up with mistrust, patronization, and disrespect based on something he can’t help, and just be expected to take it. This is a valuable perspective, but it also feels a bit off-brand with Byron’s characterization thus far, a feeling exacerbated by the fact he keeps stroking his bruised knuckles in both periods, which is a bit unsubtle for my taste.
Why does Mabel leave?
When Byron gets back to the house, Mabel is already there. And while she’s happy to sit down for a meal and bond with Benny over their shared love of cuisine, she’s somewhat less enthused to hear about the true nature of her parentage. When it’s revealed that she was conceived in a sexual assault, it’s a little too much for her to deal with, and she leaves in a hurry.
How does Black Cake Season 1 Episode 6 end?
After everything she has been through and learned about herself, Benny decides to go after Mabel. She knows how she felt not knowing the truth, and she can’t stand the idea that Mabel would live the rest of her life wondering what might have been.
Benny turns up at Mabel’s swanky hotel room and is able to persuade her to return and listen to the final tape (even though Mabel has a separate one just for her, which she also hasn’t listened to.) The episode ends with all three siblings settling in to listen to the final tape, which Covey starts by explaining that she didn’t abandon Mabel — she was taken from her.
What did you think of Black Cake Season 1 Episode 6? Let us know in the comments.
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