'Greenleaf' Season 5 Episode 7 Review: Will the Bishop's sacrifice help save his family from eternal hellfire?
Spoilers for 'Greenleaf' Season 5 Episode 7 'The Seventh Day'
With the pressure of this being the final season, the 'Greenleaf' writers are really going at it hard, leaving it up to the matriarch and patriarch of the megachurch family to remind us once again who's the boss and in whom we should trust to turn the tables after five long years of the OWN show. The penultimate episode of the series, Season 5 Episode 7: 'The Seventh Day' sees Bishop James (Keith David) and Lady Mae (Lynn Whitfield) talking about the crisis at hand, what to do about the house and the Tara situation. But this uncertainty the Bishop kicks off the episode with evolves into conviction, as we see him refuse to succumb to looking like he's guilty of something, and later, have a conversation with AJ that proves insurmountable in the end. But all that character development later, it looked more like an elaborate segue to the Bishop's fate. And with everything that spirals, was the Bishop finally able to save his family?
The episode kicks off with the Bishop and Lady Mae in bed, talking about paying Tara off. Lady Mae is ready to offer whatever is demanded, the Bishop however is reluctant because that would make him seem guilty of a crime he didn't commit. The conversation remains inconclusive only to be addressed again later in the episode, in Lady Mae's chat with Tara, and the Bishop's time with AJ. The grandfather-grandson bonding time comes when AJ meets with James about the beaten-up car he was gifted. Perhaps it is watching him return from the face of such acute tragedy, but something sparks in the Bishop when he talks to AJ about being saved by God. Most likely his own sense of being saved from the imminent reveal he makes.
Later in the episode, Lady Mae and tara talk about the money that the latter consistently denies because Rochelle wants the Bishop to admit he killed their father, not cover it up with the money. But knowing the prodigal daughter Grace (Merle Dandridge) is, not only has she bailed Darius out of jail by now, she and Noah have been able to learn of both Bob Whitmore's indiscretions, and Darryl being Mrs Davis, the caretaker's secret son. One she informs them about her recent discoveries, the Bishop, having invited Tara and Rochelle over, announces he concedes. It takes a sermon to a church full of people waiting to hear dirt on Bob and the Bishop mercilessly beating himself up for never having questioned the obvious link between Darryl's death and his own success. It is one of those episodes where arcs peak and dip in radical proportions, and by this time one knows to expect the outcome.
After Grace confronts AJ, Zora confronts her parents, again, and Sophia gives herself up to her mother, it is time for the Bishop and rekindled lady love Mae to discuss the happenings of the day. Lady Mae, although reluctant to tie the knot in the next few days just earlier that day, waltzes in with a heart full of yes only to find the Bishop near unresponsive. All he could do was to pen "I do" on a paper and by the looks of it, the ambulance might not get there in time. It is yet another cliffhanger, much like the season premiere where AJ was on this side of the crisis. It's also interesting how it was a conversation with AJ that prompted the Bishop to reveal his darkest truth. And much like the fate AJ met, the Bishop looks awfully close to the same. Killing off central characters looks the new it thing in hit television shows, but should the Bishop be gone, was he really able to save his family from eternal hellfire? His redemptive arc definitely tried.
'Greenleaf' Season 5 airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm only on OWN.