Doc (the episode never did reveal his real name, or, if they did, I wasn't paying close enough attention, so I'm just going to call him Doc for short) asks Tasha to elaborate on her past relationships, and she reveals her recent break up with Rick. She knows she deserved it because she had him in the middle of a love triangle. He asks her if she has always had trouble being faithful, which she firmly denies, thinking she's had other issues. When she boasts that she has a VIP quarterback for a son in Malik (which the doctor already knew), he asks her if she considered herself VIP or special before she had Malik. Tasha reverts to her high school self (literally a high school version of her appears on the couch), and thinks she would've been okay even if she didn't have Malik. She was cheerleading captain and debate team captain, had all A's and B's, and could've went to college for political science or law. However, there's already an assumption that girls from the ghetto don't become much other than baby mamas. When Doc asks if that hurts her, Tasha gets really defensive. When he tries to get her to open up again, she threatens him to back up. Doc quickly gets her to calm down, but asks if she thinks being violent gets her what she wants in life. Tasha thinks so. She is a brash and upfront person, but acts that way because she refuses to blend in the background, or so she thinks. When asked if she accepts herself without reservation, Tasha pauses but says yes.
In that moment, Malik busts in with food for him and Tasha (even in a fake, scripted therapy session, who have you ever known to sit and eat on the couch?! Only them.). As the two eat, Malik becomes a part of the therapy session. After Tasha hits him for messing up his birth story and Malik complains about his bruised rib, he reveals to the doctor that he got it defending Maya. As he watches them interact, Doc tells them that he believes they have an unhealthy relationship where they are dependent on each other, almost at the husband and wife level on some things. Since Malik was born, they have been everything to each other. Malik has literally takeon on the role of the man in Tasha's life.
When Doc asks Malik why he thinks Tasha has problems with her love life, Malik reverts to himself as a child, saying that it's because she's mean and a bully. His mother, now as a young adult Tasha, gets upset again, and storms out into the waiting area, screaming that Malik is ungrateful, which he denies. All of his life, Malik says that he has done what she's told her, from getting her food to becoming a football player. Doc finds it interesting that, to the rest of the world, Malik seems like a independent strong person, but he's not when it comes to his mother. Malik says he does it all because Tasha needs to know that somebody out there loves her. The doctor tells him that he can be her replacement husband for the rest of his life, or they can both grow up.
Slowly but surely (this session has already been going on for HOURS), all of these pieces begin to come together. Malik is drawn to needy women, because he's used to being needed by his mother. Malik realizes that he let Reece walk out of her life to save Tori, and it got him nothing but a lost endorsement deal and a bruised rib. He has to make some serious changes, and thinks he's cured, which is far from the truth, but at least it's a start. Tasha walks in, angry, dramatically stating that "Malik left her alone to die". Doc pries more into her being a young mom, and Tasha admits that nobody wanted her to have him. She herself wasn't sure for a second, but she fought everybody and herself for him. Now, she has everything, but she still feels like she's losing in life. She feels like she let herself down getting pregnant, taking away from other dreams she could've made happen in her life. Even though what she said could've been hurtful to him, Malik tells Tasha that he loves her, and that the doctor will help her be okay. Doc informs Tasha that the point of this session was that she face her truths, which are that she does has issues accepting herself, that other people's assumptions about her did hurt, and maybe all of this, including getting pregnant, did limit her. Tasha breaks down because she realizes that she's been holding this in for so long. At the end of the episode, high school Tasha, young adult Tasha, and today's Tasha sit quietly on the couch.
This was one for the books! I really, REALLY loved this episode. This was one of the best episodes not only that BET has produced, but in the entire history of the show, even when I watched it on The CW. These are issues that I've always speculated were wrong deep down inside with Tasha, but she's never admitted them. She hides behind her money, and being Malik Wright's mom, but I think she's always wanted more for herself, and that's okay to admit! I hope that she does continue to go, and work through her issues. I like sassy Tasha, and I don't want her to lose that part of herself, but her character does need to grow up a lot!
There are only TWO more episodes in the season. Make sure to keep watching Tuesdays at 10 p.m. only on BET!
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