'House Of Payne' Season 9 Episode 3 Review: Will Janine ever accept Malik's stripper girlfriend Lisa?
In what appears to be the most dragged out reveal, Malik (Doc Shaw) finally reveals to his parents CJ (Allen Payne) and Janine (Demetria McKinney) that his stripper girlfriend Lisa is pregnant. The big question remains, will they support him? It's strange that Janine is passing judgement on someone else, as she pulled the same stunts when she was in college too. Nevertheless at the end of the episode, CJ and Janine resolve to be there for their son, albeit reluctantly. Malik is a lot more different from when we remember him and this is one of the most pleasant changes on the show. Lisa's comic timing is the usual stripper talk, the normal caricature, that we see in every film and television show, so there's nothing else to say on that front.
'House Of Payne' has been building up this comedy for over three episodes, with fans and the rest of us getting rather frustrated with it, as most of the jokes and buffoonery were not quite landing. In the latest episode, Malik came home with Lisa. Curtis (LaVan Davis) and Ella were there for moral support----though even that didn't seem to be helping. Curtis kept making inappropriate jokes about Lisa and that just came off as downright weird and extremely creepy. The jokes about the avocados went on and on and the persistent laugh track after every 30 seconds didn't make it easier.
The entire episode was centered on the big reveal with CJ and Janine trying to understand the truth and Ella controlling Curtis and stopping him from crossing the line. Agreed, the comedy is intended to be over-the-top, but it would be a lot better if the script was a little tighter and less stale. Also, we did miss Jasmine in this episode too, but good news, she's back in the next one.
The show used to have better quality jokes and even the extra-ness didn't seem to grate the nerves before. Perhaps, it's time for some reflection and change things up a bit? Tyler Perry can do better, we are sure. Nevertheless, let's see what the rest of the episodes have to offer.
'House Of Payne' is a BET show and airs at 8 pm, and it's followed by another episode.