Previously, on the first episode of Netflix’s sequel series, A Different World, we were introduced to Deborah, Shaquille, Rashida, Amir, Kojo, and Hazel, as they all navigated their first two days at Hillman College.
The episode begins with Deborah watching videos of students talking about Hillman President Dorothy Davenport resigning after being confronted at the convocation ceremony about the lost grants. Deborah apologizes to Rashida for trying to stick up for her. Later, Deborah’s parents, Whitley and Dwayne, have a talk with her about the confrontation. They inform her that Dwayne is now interim president.
In class, Deborah is distracted by hate comments about her on social media. Professor Freddie Brooks notices and, after class, has a one-on-one conversation with her. Deborah asks how she’s supposed to focus on school while everyone hates her, and Freddie pairs her up with her student assistant, Ellington, for tutoring.
At the first football game of the season, Shaquille’s coach decides not to start him because he didn’t show up to pre-season practice. Meanwhile, Kojo and Amir’s plan to sell unofficial Shaquille merch goes wrong, and they must outrun security. While hiding, Amir tells Kojo that he spent a year in juvie, which ties into why he doesn’t have any housing on campus. At halftime, Shaquille tells the starting quarterback, Andre, that the team would be winning if he were starting instead. The two end up fighting, with Andre landing on his hand just as the coach enters the locker room. Meanwhile, Deborah leaves the game early and meets with Ellington for a tutoring session.
Later, Shaquille sneaks into Deborah’s room after curfew and tells her about what happened during the game. After losing her grant, Rashida decides to make extra money for her funds. She comes back from her first shift at The Pit and finds them, making Shaquille leave. While in his room, Shaquille’s coach informs him that Andre will be sitting out for a few weeks because of his injury. Shaquille doesn’t mention anything about the fight, keeping his mouth shut.
The next day, in class, Deborah struggles connecting with a school project due to the hate she’s getting on social media. Professor Freddie Brooks notices and pairs Deborah up with her student assistant, Ellington, for tutoring. After class, Whitley and Dwayne discover that Davenport was mismanaging funds. They inform Freddie, saying that there’s $100 million dollars lost and they have to find donors to fill in the gaps for those funds.
Overall, this was a great episode. We had a chance to understand more about why Shaquille chose Hillman instead of any other college that wanted him. Cornell Young IV is incredible as Shaquille, showing both vulnerability and anger while dealing with his football career and experience in college so far. There has already been so much drama and conflict so early on in this season. Now that Deborah’s parents have found out that the funds are about to crash, what plan will they build to get more donors at Hillman?
Rating: 10/10