Today marks the second day of "Queen Sugar's" two-night premiere. The first episode dropped the paternity bombshell while revealing more of Charley's plan to take down not only the Landry clan but the racist cop who assaulted her son Micah. After witnessing a group of students kneel during a basketball game, Micah becomes inspired (which according to an article on Buzzfeed, may convince Micah to follow in his Aunt Nova's footsteps). Let's see what threads continued into tonight's episode, and what new problems arrived for our Bordelon family:

Nova has a decision to make

Nova receives her daily paper and frantically searches for any trace of the high school protest being reported.

It is, of course, reported in a negative manner. Naturally, this doesn't please Nova. Nova talks to her boss at the paper, who informs her that she has to lay low due to advertisers seeing her works as "scathing." She has a talk with her circle of friends and throws around the idea of quitting her job and focusing on her book. Some of her friends are down, but others want her to be more realistic. A secure job at the risk of compromising your beliefs is what Nova is facing. In this day and age quitting a secure job would be difficult for anyone, but especially a black woman.

A quick conversation at Aunt Vi has Nova questioning what to do next with her career.

Letting these two characters have a conversation about their careers was a smart move due to each of them reaching a major turning-point in terms of their work life (the turning point being more success for Violet, while it could go either way for Nova). Later on, she makes a call so she can discuss her next story. It looks like she's made a choice!

That is until Nova overhears Violet talking about refusing to be sidelined. Nova resigns from the paper as she's ready to focus on her OWN path. No more being sidelined for her.

Violet's business is booming

Violet has a meeting with the manager of a supermarket.

He wants to have a whole section dedicated to Vi's pies (which sold out over the holiday weekend). If she can double her order by the end of the week, then she's getting more money. Now whether or not she's up to the challenge doesn't matter because she accepts. Back at home, Hollywood has officially received his massive check. He wants to cash it and celebrate by buying some nice outfits, but Vi has pies to make. The two say that they won't let this money change their relationship. Hopefully, the show's best couple won't end up eating their words.

As Violet and her assistant work on baking the pies, Nova shows up.

Unfortunately, the oven is acting wonky at the most inopportune time. She begins to stress out and tells Nova that she wants to be a warrior like her and her mother Trudy. Nova wonders if she's the same warrior she used to be, but she's reassured by her aunt that she is. Aunt Vi also encourages her niece to focus on her book. Later on, Vi decides to use The High Yellow's kitchen to help bake her pies. The owner of the restaurant, Clive, tells her that she can't do her "side hustle" here, but she threatens to quit if she can't bake the pies. It seems like she's bought herself some time.

Violet visits some former friends at the St. Agnes Society to use their kitchen to bake her pies. After agreeing to donate 10 percent of her paycheck to them, she receives the keys.

Violet has successfully finished her pie order after much stress. She's clearly exhausted, and Hollywood wants her to get some much-earned rest. The next day, Vi and the family go to see her pies in the central display, only for them not to be there. She sees her pies in another section and decides to put them on the central display on her own (and with a little help from Hollywood and the rest of the Bordelons). Vi tearfully tells Hollywood (unbeknownst to Nova listening to her) that she will not be sidelined, and this is her time to shine.

Charley continues her master plan and scores a miniature win elsewhere

Charley arrives at the High Yellow for a meeting with the farmers, who all give her a warm welcome, sans Remy.

After she says what she has to say, Remy guilts her into tricking the farmers into ultimately working for the bad guy (i.e. the Landry's). Remy gives a typical "it's wrong to get your hands dirty" speech to Charley before leaving. Ralph Angel tells her not to worry about his remarks (this is one of the rare times I agree with him). The truth of the matter is that Charley is at her best when she's taking big risks and being cutthroat. She's completely the opposite of Remy, and if he's not willing to accept her for who she is, the relationship won't work. Meanwhile, Charley has officially leaked the footage of the racist cop abusing a black man he arrested, and folks are calling for his job. Charley sends a thank you message to her source.

Has justice been served?

Charley meets with Jacob for what she thought was lunch. He's on a boat, given to him by his deceased father. He talks about getting things passed down from generation to generation. It's his long-winded way of getting Charley to toast to their secret partnership. Charley asks Jacob why Sam Landry is actually letting the farmer's keep their discount. Jacob reveals that Sam actually wanted to renege on the discount, but Jacob's family vetoed that idea. He says that his family isn't one to go back on their word. It seems as if they're trying to give Jacob some admirable traits, but odds are that he is still not to be completely trusted. Charley knows this too, as she tells Ralph Angel later on that she's playing chess and not checkers.

She has no intention of falling for Jacob's games (let's hope she sticks to it).

Afterward, Charley has trouble starting her car up when a guy named Roberto helps fix her engine. After some brief flirting, the guy gives Charley her number. Whether or not Charley actually calls him doesn't matter. This seems to be the first sign of Charley officially moving forward in her romantic life sans the drama of Davis or the judgment from Remy.

The next day, Charley finds out from her source that Sam Landry is having money issues.

She questions why he would buy Queen Sugar if that's the case. It looks like there's more to this that Charley will have to unveil.

Micah wants to transfer schools and Ralph Angel could get off parole early

Davis makes his first appearance of the season, and it's revealed that Micah has already approached him about switching schools. He's fine with it, but he knows that Charley is the one he needs to convince. Micah tries to convince Charley to transfer to the local public school, but she shoots the idea down. To no one's surprise, Charley isn't here for it, and Micah is bummed. Later on, Micah spots the footage of the racist cop and watches as much of it as he can on his laptop. He slams his laptop shut, unable to finish the video.

The next day, Davis goes over to Charley's and asks her if she had anything to do with that leaked video footage. Charley comes clean and says she won't apologize for making the man who tortured their son suffer. Davis tells Charley that he wants her to keep Micah in mind, as seeing that video might do more harm than good. As she goes to check in on Micah, she sees a bunch of the black and white photographs that he's developed. She's in awe of them, and Micah asks once again if she can go to public school. He doesn't have to justify his presence there and feels a sense of belonging. Finally, Charley gives in to his request and the two embrace.

In the meantime, Ralph Angel is continuing to deal with an unruly Blue when his Parole Officer shows up.

He wants Ralph Angel to apply to a program that could get him off parole in three months (as opposed to waiting for one more year). He's down for the idea. All RA needs to do is give a few men who are just recently out of jail a job. The idea is that if they see he can make it post-prison, then so can they. At the mall (where Hollywood has taken the boys out shopping), Blue refuses to put down a pair of shoes that he wants, and Ralph Angel gets loud with him, nearly attracting the attention of a cop. Hollywood quickly ushers them out of the store. Ralph Angel tells Charley over late night drinks that Blue has been acting out due to missing Darla. He's unsure of whether or not he can be a good father to him, but Charley encourages him before they toast to freedom (being free of Darla, Davis, and Remy).

The next day, Blue apologizes to Ralph Angel for being bad, and he tells him that he doesn't have a bad bone in his body. He then helps him wash dishes after receiving a kiss on the forehead. Blue is honestly one of the best parts about Ralph Angel, and their relationship will undeniably be the biggest factor in helping him mature.

In the end

Part two of "Queen Sugar's" two-night premiere ended up being the stronger half, with a tearjerking performance from Tina Lifford towards the end, while also propelling Nova's storyline forward. It seems that Blue's bad behavior has settled for now and that Charley is prepared to dive deeper into whatever secrets Sam Landry is keeping from her. Will the good times last for these two? Only time will tell.

As "Queen Sugar" continues to rake up critical acclaim, Eurweb managed to land an interview with the cast to ask them why the show resonates with so many people. Kofi Siriboe, Dawn Lyen-Gardner, and Rutina Wesley all believe it's because it's a realistic portrayal of the day-to-day black experience. Rutina adds that it's also a show that non-black people can learn from (without the show crossing over into being seen as "preachy"). With the first two episodes off to a good start, let's hope "Queen Sugar" keeps their strong momentum going. Catch next week's episode June 6 at 10 PM on OWN.
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