Last week's episode of "grown-ish" quickly threw the audience in the middle of Zoey's love life. An article from Refinery29 praised the episode for finally exploring the eldest Johnson child's sexuality. While some people felt that the pacing of last week's storyline was a little too fast, and the love triangle between Zoey, Luca, and Aaron could've spanned several episodes, the writers had other plans. Cash Mooney (played by Abraham D. Juste) was introduced at the very end of the episode, and immediately caught Zoey's eye. This week's episode focuses on what becomes of our protagonist's dynamic with the new guy.

Zoey and Cash's messy start

Tonight's episode starts with Zoey talking about social media and how its pressured this generation to have everything figured out before they're 25, but that college athletes have it even harder. This is where the Dean's favor comes in. If Zoey wants a Teen Vogue fellowship recommendation from him, she has to tutor Cash. Zoey swears that she's all about the fellowship right now, but the girls think otherwise. Things are rocky when Cash shows up an hour late for their first session but after some apologizing and convincing, the tutoring is back on! Cash and Zoey bond over how different things are in college compared to their lives in high school, and there is definitely some chemistry between the two.

And then comes Aaron, who is clearly bothered by Cash and Zoey being together, especially when Cash mistakes Aaron for a fan who wants an autograph! It's the most flustered we've seen Aaron so far. Right away it looks like a plan is forming in her head. So much for "strictly tutoring!"

Bi phobia and the struggles of a college athlete

Something else to add: Nomi goes through her first bout of bi phobia after a threesome suggestion gone wrong has her inadvertently admitting that she likes both genders.

Her date only wants to date someone who is a lesbian and refers to Nomi's bisexuality as a phase, something that rightfully pisses her off. It's scenes like this that show what college life is like in today's generation where exploring one's sexuality has a lot of different layers.

Ana has trouble mustering up sympathy for Cash because he goes to school for free, but the twins chime in that being an athlete is not only their entire life but they don't get paid for it (much to Ana's surprise).

The athletes have it rougher than people on the outside looking in realize. Cash ends up having another rough game, and now people around campus are giving him a hard time. The Dean tells Zoey that he's given her the recommendation because the school has more or less given up on Cash, but has she?

Cash's good luck and Nomi's hypocrisy

Cash is no longer motivated to pass his classes now that everyone thinks he's a flop. Zoey is trying to motivate him (and sucks at it) but still manages to convince him that even if sports isn't his thing, he should use the opportunity to discover his interests outside of basketball. Thankfully, he listens and seems to take her words to heart. Aaron's jealousy continues when it comes to seeing another basketball game.

Sidenote: Aaron's kind of a jack***, but it's not just him. Zoey notices how hard everyone is on Cash...until the rude words turn to cheers. Cash just turned the game around for them! Cash thanks, Zoey on TV (by referring to her nickname as the "Cup B****"). However, things take an interesting turn when, on the day of his exam, Cash has someone else take his exam! She confronts him, and he merely brushes it off with a kiss on the cheek.

Nomi's B plot continues when she finds out that the guy she approached with her now ex-female fling is bi, she doesn't believe it! It's ironic and shows the double standards of bisexuality.

Girls can be bi, but guys can't? It's cool that this is a topic that "Grown-ish" is exploring on all sides, and will likely be something that comes up again for Nomi in the future.

In the end

This was a fun episode that managed to cover several topics all at once without feeling overstuffed. Cash so far has the best chemistry with Zoey, so I'm sure we will see more of them sooner than later. While I believe that Aaron is the weakest of the three for Zoey, his chance to get more development as the "woke" one may come sooner than later due to the tag of the episode where his search for "jobs for revolutionaries," yields zero results.

For those who still think that the show could do better with the pacing, fear not!

An article from EW quotes Yara Shahidi as she explains that certain storylines will evolve over the course of several episodes and that some plot lines will start in one episode and end in others. The best example of this would be the ongoing "thing" between Zoey and Aaron (but some viewers hope Team Luca still has a chance too). Catch "Grown-ish" every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on Freeform.
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