From a Rihanna to a Beyonce, Zoey has to determine where her heart actually lies
In this week’s Grown-ish, we find the gang out at the club. Zoey (Yara Shahidi) gets to dance with both Luca (Luka Sabbat) and Aaron (Trevor Jackson), but the entire time she’s trying to figure out if these guys feel the same way about her as she does about them. She sees that Jazz is now officially dating Doug (Diggy Simmons) and it makes her really jealous. While the girls are hanging out after leaving the club, Zoey decides she needs to talk to Luca and Aaron because she isn’t a person that can date around – she’s a relationship girl. She decides to get clarity on their feelings and launches into a mission to figure out what the guys want. While trying to figure out Luca’s feelings, he offers to make her a dress for the Freshman Formal and this leads her to think he’s down with the idea of a relationship. But when he shows up to her room with the dress and no intentions to go to the formal with her, she decides maybe he doesn’t see her as more than a friend. When she hangs out with Aaron, he stops playing his game by telling the person he’s talking to that he has to go because he has “his girl” over. One of his friends walks in and instead of introducing her as “his girl”, he says she’s “the homie”. Zoey doesn’t take that well and bolts from the room, leaving a confused Aaron.
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Sans a date, Zoey decides to hit up the formal with the girls and not worry about the men in her life. But that doesn’t last long because Aaron sends her a text to come outside, where he reveals that he has feelings for her and wants to be with her. He leaves her with a kiss and a decision to make. Luca sees the encounter, which causes Zoey to go after him. He looks hurt, but never actually says how he’s feeling. Zoey comes to the conclusion that he does have feelings for her and now she has to decide how she feels about that. Now it’s time for Zoey to make the hard decision of picking which guy she wants to be with, but that decision just got harder because Cash has shown up at her door.
This week’s episode brought out the Drake in everyone and made Zoey’s life a little bit more difficult. Let’s see what our roundtable had to say about the episode!
Discussing the ups and downs of discovering romantic feelings is our Grown-ish roundtable!
Jeria (@jereyea) – Student, Stan, and Tweeter
Chanel (@channellybelle) – counselor by day, Netflix binging dog lover by night
Tatyana (@Naticreblaxican) – Lover of Anime, MMA, and the Earth
Bre (@MichaelBaby18) – Realist with a dash of optimism and lover of my bed and music
Miya (@MsMiya_) – Writer, Film Enthusiast, Singer
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1. Do you agree that the younger generation has a hard time expressing their intimate feelings in face to face situations?
Jeria (@jereyea): I believe Gen Z has a hard time expressing emotions in general. It’s something that seems so foreign when it could be so simple. Social media definitely has something to do with that.
Chanel (@channellybelle): I do agree that the younger generation seems to have a tough time talking about their feelings. I feel like I see it in my generation as well. People don’t want to have face to face conversations. We feel more comfortable telling strangers on the internet what we think and feel but can’t seem to tell someone to their face. I think it’s the anonymity. It’s easier to tell strangers or to have serious conversations by text message because you don’t have to see the other person’s reaction and they don’t have to see yours. It’s a way of guarding our emotions and keeping people from hurting us. But at the same time, if we don’t have these conversations, are we ever truly with someone? Being vulnerable has always been difficult, but we’ve created an easier way to be emotionally unavailable to others in the way that we communicate nowadays.
Tatyana (@Naticreblaxican): Absolutely! It has been my experience that we, for the most part, want this perfect romance but can never get/maintain it. I think it stems from commitment and trust issues embedded in us psychologically from childhood.
Bre (@MichaelBaby18): Yes, because it’s so easy to hide behind technology and to let a text or call do the talking.
Miya (@MsMiya_): Yes, I definitely agree. I still have a hard time expressing my feelings toward people no matter the case. It’s something I’m doing my best to work on because I don’t want to continue on in life wondering what would have happened if I just expressed how I felt.
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2. Jazz and Doug are officially a thing now. Do you like what you’ve seen of him? Do you want to see more of him in the future?
Jeria: I like what I’ve seen of Doug. He seems like a genuinely good guy, and he’s so cute. I’d love to get a full storyline with him as a regular next season.
Chanel: I feel like I haven’t seen enough of him, and it would be nice to see more of their relationship. He was only present for a brief moment this last episode, so we haven’t even been able to see their relationship form. I’m happy that she managed to find someone.
Tatyana: I’m still on the fence, but I’m leaning towards liking Doug and I am definitely happy at least one of the twins are in a relationship that they’ve been looking for.
Bre: I don’t know how I feel about Doug yet. He just kind of showed up out of nowhere and I don’t really think of him as a lasting character yet.
Miya: Yes! Hopefully, we will see their relationship flourish and he will stick around because I would hate for something to happen to their relationship this early on.
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3. Zoey said that she’s more of a Beyonce. Are you a Rihanna or a Beyonce when it comes to relationships?
Jeria: I’m a Beyoncé when it comes to relationships. I claim to be done with someone, but keep going back.
Chanel: I think I’m more of a Beyonce. It’s difficult for me to give more than one person my attention. The idea of going back and forth between people just sounds like a lot of work and a lot of hurt feelings to me. At some point, someone is not going to be on the same page and their feelings are going to get hurt and that’s just something I try to avoid.
Tatyana: I’m more of a Tatyana when it comes to relationships. She’s pretty boss.
Bre: I’d like to think I’m a Beyoncé. As an afterthought of my last break up, I felt the need to try and move on, but they just got me into a huge mess.
Miya: I feel like I’m probably more of a Rihanna.
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4. Ana is that friend that always wins at ‘Never Have I Ever’. Are you the friend that always wins or always loses when playing ‘Never Have I Ever’?
Jeria: I usually win with Never Have I Ever because although I’m not innocent, I’ve done less than my friends.
Chanel: I think I’m more in the middle. Definitely, when I was younger, I was that friend who would always win but with life and time, I’ve had different experiences. It’s not a good or bad thing to win or lose, it could just mean you are on a different track than other people.
Tatyana: I used to be the friend that always wins but since I became an adult, I have definitely become more of a loser at that game!
Bre: I’ve played a few games of never have I ever. I wouldn’t say I was the loser, but I definitely was not the winner.
Miya: Haha! I always lose the game, but only because my friends know me well enough to ask specific questions that they know and I know the answer to.
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5. What do you think about Ana trying to get drunk enough to do something “wild”?
Jeria: I think Ana has always wanted to be “wild”, but the alcohol was just some liquid courage.
Chanel: I think a lot of people try to use alcohol as an excuse to push themselves outside of their comfort zone. Some people need that extra safety cushion so that if it doesn’t work out, they can blame their actions and behaviors on something else. I can understand where Ana is coming from but she shouldn’t push herself to fit in the same box as her friends. She should push herself to make her own experiences. As long as she’s happy with who she is, then it doesn’t matter if she wins or loses ‘Never Have I Ever’. She shouldn’t feel like she has to drink to push herself to be someone else.
Tatyana: I think she should chill and accept that maybe that life isn’t for her. She isn’t about that life and that’s perfectly fine too.
Bre: I don’t think you should have to get drunk to have a good time and to me, I think it’s kind of reckless because something bad could have really happened.
Miya: I understand what she was going through. I also think that she didn’t have the courage to ask Nomi to kiss her sober so if something did backfire, she could just blame it on the alcohol.
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6. Zoey has some decisions to make. Aaron confessed to liking Zoey as more than a friend and Luca showed up to the Freshman Formal just for her. Who do you think Zoey will choose to stay with?
Jeria: I think Zoey will choose to be with herself because there’s so much complication in her romantic life, but I want her to choose Aaron because he genuinely likes her.
Chanel: I think this is a really tough choice. Aaron has definitely received more airtime and a fan base because of his guest appearances on Blackish and he’s a really nice guy, but Luca seems to understand Zoey more and pushes her outside of her comfort zone, in a good way. I also feel like Luca is not really emotionally available, so I worry what a relationship with Luca would actually look like. I like both guys but I think the person who would be better suited for Zoey is Luca.
Tatyana: Being Team Zuca I really want her to pick Luca. Although, given Zoey’s past decisions I feel like she might pick Aaron or Cash. So my hunch is that she will end the season having chosen herself…leaving us hanging for next season.
Bre: If I were Zoey, Luca would be my choice. He’s a no bs type of person and he doesn’t play games. He even went out of his comfort zone to go to the dance FOR Zoey, even though he thinks they’re “corny”. I rest my case, lol. And Aaron…he’s just the type of person who cares way too much what his friends think – like when his friend came to the dorm while he was playing video games and Zoey was just chilling, he called her his “homie”. When he was telling Zoey how he felt about her, he said he only called her that because he “panicked”. If you have feelings just be straight up.
Miya: I truly want her to be with Aaron because he is the only one who verbally confessed how he felt for her, which is not an easy thing to do for a guy. He said how he felt to her face, which is also big of him.
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7. Cash is BACK! Why do you think he showed up at Zoey’s door?
Jeria: Cash showed up to Zoey’s door because he’s seen her on social media, and finally realized what he’s lost.
Chanel: My guess is that Cash realized he missed Zoey and wants to get back together with her. He probably realized that he made a mistake and wants her back in his life.
Tatyana: Got kicked to the curb by the “other Zoey”? Who cares? SHOW HIM THE EXIT! We did not get this far in the ships to let him iceberg them. Protect. The. Ship.
Bre: He’s finally realizing what he lost but I need him to dip out ASAP. I can’t have him messing up my #Zuca dream.
Miya: I’m not sure but I don’t like it, not one bit. I think Cash was just in the area and he felt like he needed to stop by and tell Zoey hello or maybe he might still have feelings for her, who knows.
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When it comes to matters of the heart, you’re the only one who can make the tough decisions
This week’s episode brought a little bit of angst into the mix. Zoey’s been going back and forth between these two guys all season and it’s finally come to a head. She’s got to make a decision and we’re mostly in agreement on who she’s going to end up with, but we won’t know for sure until next week. As always, we got to see different sides to how each person in Zoey’s situation would handle it. We’re glad that this storyline did not drag out in a way that made us get uninterested in it. It was great to see everyone finally say what they needed to say by the end of the episode. We’re anticipating next week’s finale episode. Zoey is definitely going to get stressed out, but if this season has shown us anything, it’s that she will make sure she chooses what’s best for her.
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We’re glad that we got to see the two different perspectives of what it looks like to confess your feelings to someone. While Aaron laid out how exactly he was feeling for Zoey, Luca still kept it mysterious. It was an interesting take on how different people respond having to express their feelings. Luca still kept it coy, which made Zoey feel horrible because of how he showed up to the formal just for her. It was kind of an unfair position– considering the fact that he did say he wasn’t going in the first place. Aaron is older than all of Zoey’s friends, so it makes sense that he was finally able to express his feelings in a slightly more mature way.
Next week, everyone has an opinion on who Zoey should choose as she tries to make a decision between Luca, Aaron, and Cash. We excited to see the season finale of Grown-ish! It’s been a really great season and we’re sure the writers and cast will deliver a great finale!