This trip, fraught with danger, death, and mayhem, is bringing out the worst in some people.
And by some people, I mean Kathy.
Honestly, what is her deal?
After Imani was taken at the tail end of Average Joe Season 2 Episode 4, I assumed the next hour would open with her in Sipho’s home, likely in the worst possible situation since Sipho is unwell.
But instead, Average Joe Season 2 Episode 5 picked up right where the last hour left off, and Joe wasn’t about to let Imani go.
At its core, Average Joe is a story about family, but it’s also a small-time action flick come to life, and some hours, that’s the best part.
It’s bloody, brutal, and comical all at once, with action that feels anything but run-of-the-mill. And while this hour started action-packed, with Joe racing down the streets of Africa and Imani fighting off her captors, that was essentially all the action we got.
And it was a little disappointing, if only because they’re so damn good at it, so when it’s missing, it’s noticeable.
Instead of gunfights and explosions, this hour stepped back from the chaos and offered a more introspective look at various characters.
And it’s nice to get more backstory for the newer characters, but it also felt like all the forward momentum of the season, regarding Teddy’s clues and all the forward momentum surrounding Teddy’s clues and the reason they’re in Africa to begin with, took a backseat.
One character we got to explore more was Sipho, and it’s never a bad thing to give the big bad villain some shading so they’re more than just the evil thing trying to bring down the good guys.
The flashbacks, which Average Joe employs to dazzling effect every time, showed us the moment Sipho became the crime lord we see today. Or at least we saw what pushed him in that direction.
A young Sipho, whose real name was not Sipho, watched his mother get murdered, along with countless other people, while he was at church, which should be the safest place in the world.
Instead, to him, it’s tainted and something else entirely.
When the man responsible for the slaughter tried to basically imprint upon him while he was still wearing his mother’s blood on him, he did what anyone in that situation would do: he played along.
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But when given the chance to strike, he took it. And though he looked terrified—a young boy growing up in the blink of an eye—he killed the soldier, took his name, and eventually became someone cruel, belligerently drunk with power, and utterly consumed by the violence that had made him.
Average Joe takes great pains to explore both relationships and who these people are, even while giving us the big action sequences and the off-color humor.
Seeing Sipho’s origins helped his later outburst make a lot more sense.
He’s a mean-spirited person at his core, but his outburst was the only way he knew how to deal with even the slightest discomfort, stress, or fear.
When he awakens from his slumber, I’m fully expecting him to be on the warpath.
While Sipho’s backstory was explored subtly, we also learned a lot more about Phyllis and, in turn, Touch.
The connection between Touch and Phyllis has been evident since Average Joe Season 2 Episode 2, but learning about her sister makes it much more apparent why she felt so strongly for Touch immediately, and why she refused to give up on him.
As a healer, Phyllis had to have felt a tremendous sense of loss and anger when her sister passed, even if it was ultimately not her fault. You take on a lot as a sangoma, and that responsibility must have made the loss even harder to bear.
With Touch, she saw him for who he was: a drug addict carrying a tremendous amount of pain inside, and waltzing around with a death wish and a need to put his life on the line every chance he got.
She was never scared of that; instead, she basically doubled down on helping him until he finally pushed her away one too many times.
The only thing that got them to true honesty was the fear Imani’s rogue mission instilled in her. And the vulnerability they shared was honestly beautiful, as was her journey into the spiritual realm, where she saw Donna.
Aside from one character we’ll get to later, I believe that underneath a lot of bravado, all of these people are good. They make mistakes, loads of them, and they have their moments, but they have good hearts, even if it takes a while to see them.
Touch isn’t a perfect person, and he’s got a lot of work to do on himself, but he does have love within him. And you see that love in his friendship with Joe and Leon, two people he’d go to the ends of the earth for.
But he lives in a perpetual state of agony, never really allowing himself to either live or love fully.
Donna telling Phyllis that the truth will set Touch free was a little cliché, but it was also exactly what Touch needed to hear, because he keeps everything inside and never lets himself be vulnerable or lean on the people who love him.
So many people bottle things up out of fear, embarrassment, or simply because they don’t want to burden others, never recognizing how detrimental that can be.
“The truth will set you free” is a cliché, but it’s rooted in truth.
Perhaps the most beautiful moment of the whole series was seeing Touch finally confide in his brothers, all the ugly, hard truths. And they didn’t run from him; instead, they embraced him, and in that moment, you could see how much freer Touch felt.
It was honestly a moment that made me a little misty-eyed because that’s what family is really about.
It’s a shame Cathy’s farce of an apology preceded it.
I’ve watched enough television to know that I probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions, especially when a show like Average Joe can pull a bait-and-switch on the audience in a heartbeat.
But we’ve seen Cathy be selfish enough to think the worst first and then beg for forgiveness later.
I’ll always maintain that Cathy loves Leon, but does Cathy love Leon more than she loves herself? Should she?
I think there’s a real conversation to be had about Cathy being her own person and not being content just to be someone’s wife, but the argument for Cathy loses its luster when Cathy goes out of her way to sabotage her husband and the people he loves.
Teddy’s clues leading them to some dangerous bar where they stuck out like a sore thumb, only for them to make some inroads, and then Cathy call the cops and put them in greater danger?
Is she okay?
Cathy may have a bigger plan that we can’t see yet, and the guys will end up thanking her for her forward, progressive, intuitive thinking. But right now it feels like Cathy being Cathy, meaning she’s being petty for the hell of it.
Even if it all works out, it’s her going behind their backs AGAIN that’s disheartening, tiring, and worthy of those men truly never believing a thing she says.
Extra, Average Notes
- The guys’ spirited debate about R&B singers and bands, while singing September, is the kind of scene that makes this show so unique and fun. They’ve almost been killed a million times, but they can still have a little fun.
- Phyllis getting to see Jamila and her sister was so sweet. And getting a message back to Imani? Priceless.
- I keep waiting for Sipho to connect Imani and Phyllis and show up at her store.
- We still need more context on Akinyemi’s tragedy, but how can you not feel absolutely gutted for him? He’s throwing himself into his work, which he’s good at, but he’s not handling his grief.
It was a slower hour in a season that is moving at breakneck speed.
If you’re watching, please drop a comment below and let me know how you’re enjoying this season so far.
I’d love to chat with you!
New episodes of Average Joe air every Wednesday through September 30, only on Paramount+.
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