‘BMF’ Recap: ‘Strictly Business’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It wasn’t that long ago, that we spotlighted an important epiphany that washed over Meech in an earlier episode of BMF on STARZ. Wherein he pondered upon the fact that pushing others violently, would in turn result in a cycle of violence. Which was quite the unique statement for a future drug kingpin to make, since so many of them surround themselves in violence and use brute and overwhelming force to quell any concerns, and in many ways… those musings made it seem as though Meech was fully prepared to do things different and build his empire in a better way. But clearly, that thought process was nothing more than quality foreshadowing when all is said and done.
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For in the last episode, Meech was quick to resort to a different kind of violence to get the result he wanted for his business, emotional violence. The kind that sent Lamar into a deep and dark place and left all of us wondering what would come next from a response standpoint and well… it didn’t take long for Meech to come to understand exactly what kind of counteroffensive would come forth from taking the time to break a man’s spirit in a violent manner, in the show’s next episode. For ‘Strictly Business’ opened up with a stunning response from Lamar. One that saw gunfire in broad daylight and saw Meech have to continue to circle the wagons around his family, while Lamar regrouped and caused all kinds of trouble around town with Monique and even the 50 Boyz while they were slinging product. 

But what made this episode quite fascinating, is that it used Lamar’s seething and need to hide as an opportunity to build tension and advance other storylines. Such as how B-Mickie started to suspect something suspicious was up with Kato, and how Meech began to work hard to open up new lines of business for the franchise and how 50 Boyz became a moniker that Tee and Meech were ready to drop. Not to mention there was the whole matter of Terry’s struggles with planning for the future since he bombed a college interview and we even got to check in on Charles and Lucille and their struggles in getting that settlement from the hospital, and all of this was brilliant to be honest. Because a lot of these plot threads needed this attention, and they truly did help to build the tension.

Because behind these formative and important moments, the threat of Lamar hung heavy over the story. As though he would appear and cause trouble at any moment, and near the end of the episode… that tension finally snapped in a big and terrifying way. Because not only did Lamar decide to kill Slick in a harrowing manner in the midst of a frustrated rage, but Lamar also decided that the time had come to really hit the Flenory family where it would hurt… by bringing harm to young Nicole. So, he set out and tracked her as though she were prey and when the time was right, he swooped in and tried to pull her away from the street and her boyfriend, Darius. But things went horribly wrong during his big moment, to the point where he ended up plunging a knife into Darius… ending his life. 

Which was… the perfect way to bring that foreshadowing and lesson around full circle. Because Meech’s decision to enact psychological and emotional violence upon Lamar, unleashed a nightmare upon the streets of Detroit. Wherein Lamar went on a tear and hurt so many people in the process, and to make matters worse… he’s still on the loose. Which means he can strike at any time and that makes for an ominous ending as well. One that now leaves us worried deeply about the future of the Flenory family and whether or not they will make it out of this season as a complete family unit, and well… the only way to know… is to continue the journey, and see what Terry and Meech’s response will be, now that Lamar has escalated this feud, further. Until next time. 

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