The Carmichael Show – Maxine’s Sister

By starrymag | August 1, 2017

By: Jessica Wolf

 

Cynthia Carmichael (Loretta Devine) believes that something is wrong with Maxine’s (Amber Stevens West) sister since she hasn’t brought her over to meet them.  Jerrod Carmichael (Jerrod Carmichael) assures her that there’s nothing wrong with her, as he’s met her previously.  Joe Carmichael (David Alan Grier) doesn’t believe him and hopes that she doesn’t have Asperger’s.  He explains that he has trouble talking to people with Asperger’s and shuts down around them.

 

Jerrod tells them that Maxine’s sister hasn’t met them because she has been busy and describes her as a quieter Maxine.  Cynthia likes the idea of a quieter Maxine and Bobby Carmichael (LilRel Howery) asks if Jerrod can set him up with her.  Jerrod says no, but Joe demands that he set Bobby up with her.  Maxine arrives and introduces her sister, Casey North (Aurora Perrineau).  Cynthia and Joe are impressed by how normal she appears and Casey tells them that Maxine warned her about their blunt honesty.

 

When Casey is in the bathroom, Bobby tells them that he recognizes Casey as the stripper Caramel Diva.  Maxine laughs at the idea and Cynthia is horrified that she brought a sex worker into the house.  Maxine doesn’t believe that Casey is a stripper, but Bobby says he would know that face anywhere.  She says that being a stripper is nothing to be ashamed of, but denies the claim.  Bobby tells them that a friend brought him to a strip club during his divorce and Caramel Diva’s lap dance changed his life.

 

Maxine continues to deny that Casey is a stripper and Cynthia demands that somebody ask her.  Bobby volunteers, but Maxine stops him.  Joe believes that asking if someone’s a stripper is rude, likening it to asking a burn victim what happened to their face.  Casey comes out of the bathroom and Bobby tells her that he knows who she is.  Maxine laughs that Bobby thinks Casey is a stripper and Casey says that they need to talk.  She is shocked by the confirmation and Bobby gloats about being right.

 

Maxine yells at Casey, claiming that stripping is degrading and beneath her.  Casey responds that Maxine can’t tell her what to do and asks if she really wants to have this conversation in front of Jerrod’s family.  Joe remarks that Casey already grinded on his son so they are past the point of privacy.  Jerrod reminds Maxine that she just said that that being a stripper was nothing to be ashamed of.  Maxine says that it’s different when it’s her little sister.  Jerrod tells her that it’s hypocritical to be open to the idea of stripping and then change her mind as soon as it’s someone close to her, as every stripper is someone’s sister, daughter or aunt.

 

Cynthia tells Casey that she doesn’t want to come off as aggressive, but that she would kill herself if she were her mother.  Joe tells them to go easy on her, as she provides a necessary service.  Cynthia scoffs, but Joe believes that cities cannot function without hospitals or strip clubs.  Maxine asks Joe if he would be okay with his daughter stripping and he responds that he was blessed with sons because he wouldn’t be strong enough to handle that.

 

Maxine asks Casey why she’s doing it and she answers that she chooses to do it because she likes dancing, the money is good, she feels sexy and she’s good at it.  Bobby attests to her talent and says that he thinks she’s a better dancer than Maxine is a therapist.  He comments that she made him feel better in fifteen minutes than Maxine has in years of conversation.

 

Cynthia tells Casey that she’s too pretty to be a stripper.  She believes that being a beautiful stripper is like seeing an Asian man work at McDonald’s, knowing that they could do so much better.  Maxine comments that Cynthia’s comment was racist, but agrees with the sentiment.  She tells Casey that she and Cynthia never agree on anything, but this is uniting them.  Cynthia comments that they don’t normally get along and that she ignored her when she saw her at Trader Joe’s the other day.

 

Joe says that they need to ask Casey an important question before any further judgments and asks her how much she makes.  Casey is hesitant to answer and Cynthia declares that it’s rude to ask before asking if the amount is over $60,000.  She doesn’t answer and Joe asks if it’s over $70,000.  She doesn’t deny it and Jerrod tells her that his family will stop asking if she tells them the number.  Casey admits that she made $92,000 last year and everyone is in shock.  Jerrod believes that they need to stop criticizing Casey.  He declares that if she told her high school guidance counselor how much she was making, her guidance counselor would quit and start stripping too.

 

Nekeisha (Tiffany Haddish) comes in and immediately recognizes Casey as Caramel Diva.  Cynthia asks how many of them are regulars at the strip club and Nekeisha explains that she brought Bobby there during their divorce.  She asks Casey what she’s doing there and she introduces herself as Maxine’s sister and that her real name is Casey.  Nekeisha declares that she’s going to keep calling her Caramel Diva, since that’s the name that stuck with her.  Jerrod asks Bobby if the person that brought him to the strip club to get over Nekeisha was Nekeisha.  Bobby says that somebody had to, because he was distraught.

 

Nekeisha asks Maxine why she didn’t tell them that her sister was a stripper and Maxine admits that she didn’t know since Casey was too ashamed to tell her.  Casey says that she wasn’t ashamed, but she didn’t want to deal with the criticism.  She calls Maxine judgmental and Nekeisha claims that women don’t need men to tear them down when they do it to each other already.  Maxine says that she’s not tearing Casey down, but is worried about the impact of degrading herself will have in the future.  Casey tells her that she’s happy and that she’s tired of Maxine’s judgments.  Cynthia agrees that Maxine is judgmental.

 

Maxine reminds Casey that she’s always tried to protect her since their parents were alcoholics.  Joe tells her that she’s judging again and that her parents were “party people.”  Casey tells Maxine that they are not as close as she thinks they are.  She tells her that she sees her more as a second mom than a sister and that is why she’s not comfortable talking to her.

 

Maxine says that she wants to have a healthy relationship, but that has to judge her for stripping.  Jerrod reminds Maxine that she’s defended stripping in the past and her hypocrisy hurts him as a feminist.  Joe reminds Jerrod that he hasn’t done anything to support a feminist cause his entire life.  He asks Cynthia if you can just declare yourself something without doing anything and she responds that if Rachel Dolezal can declare she’s black then Jerrod is a feminist.

 

Nekeisha says that Maxine would have a different perspective if she had first hand experience and suggests that she walk a mile in her sister’s heels.  Casey says that her sister would never do that, since judging things without experience is her favorite thing to do.  Joe agrees, but says that he shouldn’t criticize as a newly self-identified feminist.  Maxine asks if Casey would listen to her if she stripped and Jerrod says that Casey is not asking her to strip.  Casey confirms she is and that she’d trust her sister’s judgment if she understood the situation better.  Jerrod suggests that they just talk over a pedicure, but Maxine declares that she’ll do it after Casey says that there’s no way she would do it.  Despite Jerrod’s objections, Bobby declares that Caramel Diva is now the Sisters Caramel.

 

Maxine asks for Jerrod’s opinion on her stripping outfit and he tells her that she’s not doing this.  Maxine says that she is, since she wants to relate to her sister.  She asks Jerrod’s opinion on her stripping song, a slow ballad.  Maxine says that she wants her performance to be emotional, but Jerrod says that the strip club is depressing enough and that people will kill themselves to that.  Jerrod tells her that every guy wants a girl that they can fantasize about and that she’ll be exposing herself to men who are paying the admission price of a 12-piece at Popeye’s.

 

She reminds him that he defended stripping earlier and Jerrod says that he was lying since everyone knows that stripping is degrading.  He admits that he was wrong for calling her a hypocrite before since his opinion changed once someone close to him got involved.  He tells her to stop, but she says that she’s doing it for her sister.  Jerrod asks her if she is stripping to save her family and she confirms.  She asks him to pick between Double Dip and Wet Sprinkle for her stripper name and Jerrod is horrified.  Maxine decides to go with Wet Sprinkle and kisses Jerrod goodbye.  He yells after her that he’s trying to protect her and that she doesn’t have the pain to be a stripper.

 

Maxine visits Cynthia and Joe. Joe asks if she’s really going to do amateur night. She says that she is and admits that she doesn’t know if this will help.  She wishes that her family were like theirs and that she had the closeness of their family.  She tells them that she didn’t speak to her sister for seven months the last time the fought.  Cynthia remarks that Jerrod stole Bobby’s first girlfriend and he forgave him by dinner.

 

Joe and Cynthia explain that their financial struggles forced them to live in a small house where they couldn’t avoid each other.  Maxine asks what she should do and Joe and Cynthia tell her to insult Casey to her face and then sit down together as a family should.  He explains that Bobby and Jerrod are so close because they had to share everything as children.  Cynthia tells Maxine that if she goes through with this, she is still welcome at their house, after she takes a shower.

 

At the strip club, Casey tells Maxine that it means a lot that she’s doing this.  Maxine tells her that they can’t shut each other out because they disagree and that they need to learn how to criticize each other and stay a family.  Casey asks if she’s changed her mind and Maxine says that it shouldn’t matter.  She admits that she’s judgmental and overprotective, but that Casey needs to take responsibility for shutting her out every time they fight.  Casey admits that she doesn’t know any other way.  Maxine tells Casey that she’ll be there for her no matter what, but that she needs to let her.  The announcer introduces Wet Sprinkle and Casey looks at her expectantly.

 

Jerrod arrives at the club and tells the Bouncer (Ricarlo Flanagan) that his girlfriend is performing.  The bouncer tells him that he can’t let him in and explains that a boyfriend once tried to shoot up the club after seeing his girlfriend strip.  Maxine comes out and Jerrod begs her to tell him that she didn’t go through with it.  She tells Jerrod that she almost didn’t do it and Jerrod gets angry.  She reminds him that she stripped to save her family and Jerrod says that nobody has ever stripped to save their family.  Maxine tells him that there were plenty of single mothers backstage that would disagree.  He asks her if she made a lot of money and she shows him the wad of bills, declaring that they can go to Hawaii.  Jerrod spots Bobby exiting as they are leaving and glares at him.  Bobby declares that they never have to talk about this.