Star – Karma

By: Gladys Luna

The episode opens with a group of cops followed by Detective (Phillip DeVona) breaking into Karma Club while Cassie (Brandy Norwood) watches them through the security cameras from inside her office as she prepares for attack.

24 hours earlier

Cassie is leaving a restaurant with Xander (Chad Michael Murray) when they are interrupted by Kenneth Anderson (Gregory Nassif St. John), a member of the Chamber of Commerce. He stops by and greets Xander as he confirms that he is looking forward to see him again at the upcoming Chamber Gala along with his “lovely wife,” something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Cassie who has been promised a thousand times by the other man that he would be leaving his wife. As if on cue, the valet parking arrives and the woman walks straight to her car followed by Xander who is trying to explain to her that he has not lied about wanting to be with her as he throws a red box that contains an engagement ring that he had intended to give to her. The man walks away leaving the woman in shock.

Star (Jude Demorest) and Jackson (Matthew Noszka) are at the store buying some groceries while the man tries to convince her to move in with him. While they are in line to pay they see as the woman ahead of them has been having problems with her card as it seems that it does not have enough funds. Next to her a little girl tries to comfort her seeing the worry in the woman´s eyes. Star makes her decision and swipes her card paying for their groceries. Then, she gives the little girl a candy bar that she had gotten for herself and gets out of the line. Jackson follows her when seeing how her mood has suddenly changed and she explains that the reason she doesn’t want to move in with him is because she doesn’t want to turn into somebody who depends on someone else to the point that if he leaves she would be left with nothing. The man tries to explain that she is far different from that, but she had seemed to made up her mind about it already.

In the meantime, Derek (Quincy Brown) tells Alex (Ryan Destiny) that she can´t go on without talking to him and she asks for an explanation about when she saw him with another girl. He refuses to say anything about it and only asks her to trust him.

Noah (Luke James) and Maurice Jetter (Lance Gross) have a brief encounter at the studio since the second is demanding the artist give him more “hit songs.” Noah defends himself saying that those don’t come over night, but the other man is not taking no for an answer.

Maurice calls for a meeting with Miss Bruce (Miss Lawrence), Star, Simone (Brittany O’Grady) and Alex that try to make clear from the very first moment that the reason they had attended is because Carlotta (Queen Latifah) was the one who strived for the R&B Festival and they want to make sure it doesn’t go to waste. Maurice informs them that he has hired Chloe David (Draya Michele), a social media strategist, to help them to get the fans more involved into the festival. He also takes the chance and records a video with Chloe´s help where he announces that Noah will be the one performing on the main stage while the other artists could be seen at the other stages. This doesn’t sit well with the girls as they try to make her statement about it, but the man has already made his choice.

Cassie shows up at Xander´s office demanding for answers about his “non-proposal” and he explains that since he is now stepping on very thin ice he can´t risk to do something that may ruin his reputation and that is why he needs to keep her hidden. However, his offer to her still stands to which she finally agrees.

After the meeting with Maurice, the girls come to the conclusion that they have to do something to get them on the main stage, so they call Chloe and ask her to help them. The girl agrees on the one condition to give her something worth her time. Derek shows up at Karma Club asking Cassie to hire him since he really needs the money, but the woman says there is nothing she could offer at the time. Mike-Mike (Patrick Lamont Jr.) says that they may need an extra hand at the storage and maybe Derek can help them making the woman agree on hiring him.

The girls are at the studio trying to create some music, but it seems like they are not on the same page at the moment. Star suggests they take a break in order for them figure out what to do. She leaves to attend to an appointment. Simone and Alex are now alone. Simone catches up immediately and notices that there is something clearly bothering Alex so she asks her about it, but the girl refuses to say anything.

Noah is walking out of the building when he is met with a woman (Ebony N Mayo) who questions him for not answering her messages, but he cannot remember who she is. She says that if he doesn’t give her what she wants, she will publish the pictures of them together. He does not believe her and she decides to show him the evidence. He goes back to Maurice and Megan (Lyndie Greenwood) and exposes his current situation to them so they come up with some ideas about what to do next. Maurice suggests for him to pay her and get rid of that while Megan says that the best option is to bring it to the lawyers and prove her wrong.

Star goes to Jackson´s apartment and lets him know what is happening in regards the R&B Festival. She explains to him that she needs to make sure that they get the main performance since this is all she has, and the baby only has her and that is why this is so important to her. Once again, Jackson feels left out but this time he makes a choice – he says that he will always be there for the baby but the two of them are done.

Derek finds himself some time to be alone with Mike Mike and asks him for a way to make some extra cash. Mike Mike replies that he will find him something for sure. Cassie is getting her suit tailored for the Chamber´s Gala when her mind flies away as she begins to imagine herself next to Xander while singing for him. The reverie is broken when said man enters the room and admires how great she looks in her suit.

Noah gets mad when he sees that Lil Dini (Marcos Palacios) is with Maurice. He questions him about it and Maurice replies that he has been asking him for a “hit song” and he has not provided it so, he is looking for someone to do that instead. Before a fight starts, Lil Dini leaves and Megan walks in asking Noah to turn the TV on. The news show the pictures that the “unknown” woman had warned Noah along with the story that the man given her chlamydia. Noah gets mad and throws the remote right towards the TV then walks away, something that makes Maurice question Megan if that kind of man is the one she wants for her life.

Cassie arrives at Carlotta´s house and tells Cotton (Amiyah Scott) that she should keep her mouth shut about what is happening at her club. Star and Miss Bruce are already there and try to calm the woman down. Miss Bruce knows that Cassie is acting like that just because of Xander and asks her to step away from him since he is not a good influence on her. Cassie is listening to none of them and just comes up with all sorts of excuses for the man.

Alex is back at the studio trying to write some music when Simone walks in and tries to make her talk about what has been happening. Alex confesses that she thinks Derek might be cheating on her and Simone gives her some advice about it. Star pays a visit to Cassie as a way to continue with the conversation they had earlier. She tells Cassie that she deserves better and needs to walk away from Xander. Derek talks to Detective Maria Montero (Gabrielle Walsh) who has been working undercover at Cassie´s club and lets her know that the woman has no idea of the dirty business happening there. As they are talking, Mike Mike walks in so Derek kisses Maria so the other man don´t suspect of anything. He walks out of the place, but Derek decides to keep the charade going a bit more to make sure that they fooled Mike-Mike. At that moment Alex enters the place and sees them kissing and the only thing she could say is that he doesn’t have to lie anymore.

Alex returns to the studio to meet with Star and Simone who are already there watching Noah working with Chloe. He confesses that the woman that had been trying to blackmail him was lying about the pictures. So, to get Chloe´s attention, the girls put up a “fake fight” by yelling some true and hurtful things to each other, accomplishing her goal when the other woman starts recording everything. Noah tries to make them stop but then Simone looks at her and pretends to be mad when watching her recording the whole argument. Alex takes the chance and goes straight to her, takes the phone out of her hands and throws it away before everyone´s surprised looks.

Back at the scene that opened this episode, Cassie manages to escape from the club and goes straight to the Chamber´s Gala. Xander sees her from afar while he is standing next to his wife so he excuses himself and walks towards Cassie asking her why she is there. The woman questions him about why his wife is at the gala instead of her and he says that she had decided to attend last minute. Cassie gets truly mad and lets him know that the feds were at her club, but she is sure that they won´t find anything so Xander has to confess that he has asked Mike-Mike to run some drugs. It seems the problem may be bigger than she thinks. He also dares to ask herself to take the blame for him in case something happens, so she slaps him on the face and walks away.

Star has called Jackson and asked her to meet her at a certain address. She waits for him inside of a house and when Jackson shows up she lets him know that she just bought the place. Then, she asks him to move in with her and finally start that family their baby deserves. She assures him that even though she can´t change the past, she will try to strive for a better future.

Derek is sitting at the couch waiting for Alex. When she arrives he tries to explain about what she saw but then he receives a text and tells her that he has to go. He says he will explain later so the girl states that he doesn’t have to since she is done with the whole situation. Later that day, she shows up at the studio realizing that Simone is still there. She tells her about what she found out about Derek and Simone feels bad for her. She then suddenly starts to cry. Alex questions her about it and she explains what she has been going on between her and Nina (Camila Banus) but they are interrupted by Star.

Once the three of them are together, they start to discuss their future and the reason they have decided to get back together. They conclude the only reason was Carlotta. The girls agree to make one final album before parting ways indefinitely. They start to record a song happily, enjoying each other´s company. While they do we see a final sequence that shows Noah walking with Megan on the street when they are assaulted by a man. Cassie is caressing the ring Xander gave her one last time before putting it away. Maria is alone outside of Karma Club calling Derek when she is taken from behind by Mike Mike who confesses that he knows she is a cop and tries to choke her. Then, we see Cassie walking into a police station saying that she wants to turn herself in.

There is no moment of peace for the gang. Let´s see what next episode brings. You already know when and where, every Wednesday at 9/8c on Fox. ¡Hasta la próxima!