'Cherish the Day' Episode 2: Evan and Gently's second date after a year hints at a new start
'Cherish the day' from Ava DuVernay on the Oprah Winfrey Network proves to be a revolutionary change in the way stories about black love are told. This continues with the anthology drama's second episode.
Like the first episode, the second episode chronicles the events in a single day. In the last episode, we saw how Gently James (Xosha Roquemore) and Evan Fisher (Alano Miller) met and spent their first day together. Unfortunately, the differences in their social status and class led to some disagreements that then snowballed and led them to split up at the end of the day.
In the second episode, Evan and Gently run into each other during an exhibition at an art gallery, which they had attended with their respective friends. Here's the catch: this is a year and a half after their last date.
Gently has been up to a few things since she last met Evan -- she traveled to Tanzania and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Meanwhile, Evan took a cruise with his whole family. This is how their conversation starts up, with Gently and Evan strolling through the gallery.
Just before they leave, Gently asks Evan to go to the bowling alley later with her where Evan meets Gently's friends. There, two kids run into Evan causing him to twist his ankle and fall. Gently then takes him to the hospital and while they are waiting, we get more of those one-on-one conversations between them where they learn more about each other. Evan tells her where he'd have taken her for a date.
These conversations are light, charming and breezy. Roquemore and Miller effortlessly play off these scenes and you can't help but root for them to make this relationship work.
Gently leaves, but comes back later with Evan's car to take him home since he cannot drive himself. If the last episode was a chance for Evan to see where Gently is from, this episode lets Gently see where and how Evan lives.
When Gently uses Evan's bathroom, she notices a bra hanging in there. When she asks Evan about it, he says that she's just a girl who comes from time to time. Gently is ready to leave but Evan tells her that he waited for her for a year and does not want her to walk out again. This time, Evan's and Gently's day ends up well after the two decide to spend the night with each other.
As in the first episode, Roquemore and Miller carry the drama and with Ava DuVernay, you would expect nothing less. Seeing 'Cherish the Day' will remind viewers of how good DuVernay really is and how versatile her storytelling can be.
'Cherish the Day' airs on Wednesdays at 8/7c on Oprah Winfrey Network.