Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Propelled by his former friends fall from grace, Jerome decides that he needs to change course.
Thats the guy who maybe had a little rope chain but wasnt doing it too much back then.
It represented him being the godfather of his community, commanding everything within those square blocks.
Thats who I see Jerome as.
With more money, you have to spend it somewhere.
Jerome laughs, he cracks a lot of jokes.
He yells, but he smiles a lot, too.
Its a really striking scene.
Theres been development to show a more three-dimensional portrayal of him.
In the earlier parts of the series, you could see Jerome fiercely lash out at Louie.
Dysfunction on a billion.
Im thankful that Ive been able to show the contrast in a Black man like him.
We can love, we can cry, we can hate.
And its because the groundwork was already there.
We have to talk about the wedding.
The turnaround from the proposal to the wedding is very fast, from episode seven to episode eight.
What do you think inspired or compelled Jerome to propose when he did?Jerome has a code.
That was the amount of ambition he had.
Jerome is funny, Jerome is charismatic, and Jerome is tough, but he is also smart.
He has a heart.
Is he getting enough out of his life force?
He is wasting his life.
So whats the first thing he can do to get that back on track?
He can make a decision to properly respect the people in his life.
Louie: He needs to make her his wife.
Why would he shack?
He has the money.
Theyre common law already.
Why wouldnt you make that solid?
With life going out of control, hes looking to bring control back.
Hes looking to be able to say,Okay, this is something tangible.
I love this woman.
How significant do you think this moment is in terms of him putting himself first?
And what are your big hopes for him as a character?Big hopes for him as a character?
I would love for Jerome to find success outside of crack cocaine.
And hes had that already.
Youre going to end up making the choice.
In between Jerome and Louie is Franklin and his ambition.
His hot spot is actually more communal.
Jerome has already been through a lot.
What leads to Jerome having this kind of break?There wasnt a huge build here, right?
We definitely have our fair share of mental ills that go untreated and unacknowledged.
Jerome was really rattled by Louie almost being taken from him.
He did a lot of work to rehabilitate himself in the first place to treat Louie as an equal.
That was one of the first watershed moments.
Then his pride got the best of him in wanting to confront Manboy (Melvin Gregg).
All these things really have taken a toll on him.
At least thats how Ive tried to convey it.
Now, those one-liners are usually coming with a punch at someone.
Its got venom on it.
Im most proud of the scene at the end of the episode when he goes back to his neighborhood.
Like that mesh in his wardrobe, that is who he is.
Hes been reborn, and youll start noticing a different beat about him.
He doesnt need the exterior mask as much going forward.
Season three was so much about the community and how crack was destroying families.
You could see what was happening on the ground.
Trying to protect his community.
Season four was war.
It was who has the plug.
So many people were killed.
Season five is a more abstract approach, more abstract than weve dared to go.
And that is what this season feels like.
Its almost like individual capers, silos of experiences the characters are going through.
I like the season, but Im waiting to really see it through all ten episodes.
Our show came at a time when we werent yet at the height of streaming.
It was still about cable.
It still was a lot about broadcast.
We always thought we were doing good work and that this was a story that needed to be told.
