'Greenleaf' Season 5 Episode 3: Fans irked by AJ's reason for suicide bid, say 'quit dragging this s**t out'
After three weeks we finally know why Grace Greenleaf's (Merle Dandridge) son AJ (Jacob Gibson) tried to kill himself. A lot of viewers were convinced it was the guilt of letting a person die during a heist gone wrong. Or the sheer reality that he is not Grace's son and just pretending to be is taking a toll on him and he needed to take that out somehow.
However, Episode 3 of Season 5, titled 'The Third Day', revealed the demons AJ is actually battling, and heartbreaking as it might be, viewers are now slamming the Oprah Winfrey Network show for unnecessarily "dragging" the plot, asking them to give that "church pettiness" back. Right at the end of tonight's episode, AJ finally agrees to see his mother, Grace, and tells her why he decided to kill himself.
Turns out, AJ was raped in prison and he contracted HIV from there. That would explain the nurses constantly asking Grace if she had an open wound that was in direct contact with AJ's blood, or had even touched the blade he used to harm himself with. With AJ's backstory finally getting some much-needed clarity, a lot of his past actions make sense.
However, this isn't the big reveal fans were waiting for. The fandom wants to know if AJ is Grace's real son after all, and who exactly the stranger in the graveyard was? Instead, AJ's story was given a traumatic arc that fans claim was to make them sympathize with him, and even though it worked for some, they are mostly not thrilled about the way the final season is unfolding.
"So here I am thinking that AJ was going to reveal that he’s not the real AJ, only to be disappointed/underwhelmed," tweeted a fan about AJ's big reveal, followed by complaints about how "I’m sorry y’all but they dragging this AJ sh*t out." Another noted, "Mmmmhmmm the writers tryna make us like AJ and have sympathy for him. It worked a lil bit." Some even claimed this HIV storyline is to pile on the shock value for the finale season, writing: "This AJ storyline is showing me why this the last season of my fav show." Others don't approve of the way the plot is using such a sensitive issue to progress things.
Speaking about the church-oriented themes, a fan noted: "I truly hope so, this show is too good to Weaponize HIV, and further it's a stigma in our community. I don't want it to be presented as a punishment for AJ’s 'spiritual failure' as it often is in the black church!" Another chimed in: "#AJs storyline is consuming the show...his character is too deep and complex for the church pettiness I want to see #Greenleaf
Frustrated fans also complained: "Man this whole Aj stuff in #Greenleaf is so freaking confusing... like what was his storyline really because I feel like y’all just making this up as each episode goes by." And summing it up for everyone, a user quipped: "The whole time I thought A.J was conning GiGi all the while he was battling HIV from being raped. You would think #Greenleaf was written by Shonda Rhimes."
'Greenleaf' Season 5 airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm.