Have You Seen “The Haves and the Have Nots?”

SPOILERS BELOW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
YOU WERE WARNED.
THAT IS ALL.
 
February 8, 2016
By JAVAN H.
 
The Haves and the Have Nots—it’s an age-old descriptor in socioeconomics, and also the name of one of TV’s hottest soaps. Airing on OWN, the thriving Oprah Winfrey Network, #HAHN centers around two legal families, the Cryers and the Harringtons, and the working-class Young family, the matriarch who’s a maid for the Cryers. Set in Savannah, Georgia, the show focuses the misdeeds of patriarch Judge Jim Cryer and resident love-to-hate villain Attorney Veronica Herrington, as they plot and scheme amongst themselves, taking viewers on a ride that puts Shondaland (Shonda Rimes) to shame. You see, #HAHN is part of a rotating block of shows from New Orleans’ own Tyler Perry--#inspiration--along side sitcom Love Thy Neighbor (both of which are based on the play of the same name), trading seasons with sitcom For Better or for Worse and soap If Loving You is Wrong. I’ll provide a write-up on that last monster soon…and I do mean MONSTER.

The Cryers

Jim Cryer (singer John Schneider) is a ruthless-yet-embattled judge vying to become governor of Georgia. With his fiery wife Katheryn (Renée Lawless) remaining at his side, he is fresh off the heels of a years-long affair with Celine (Eva Tomargo), a former maid with whom he has two estranged children. Jim is also at odds with his son Wyatt (Aaron O’Connell), a substance abuser who was involved in a hit-and-run. Tension only grew worse after Jim’s daughter Amanda (Jaclyn Betham) committed suicide, which in their eyes only validated his selfishness and lack of concern for his family.

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The Harringtons
 
Judge David Harrington (Peter Parros, Knight Rider) shares the ticket with Jim as lieutenant governor. Sort of a Judge Judy type, tame in everyday life but a fiend in the courtroom, David is known for his loyalty…
 
…even if it’s to all the wrong people…
 
Enter Veronica Harrington (Angela Robinson), his wife and a criminal defense attorney referred to as “the ice queen” by fans. The resident love-to-hate character, Veronica is known for her constant need to control. After all, control freaks are usually those who lack control in their own lives; she’s insecure, an alcoholic and a drug addict, and it only makes sense that she feels the need to do everything in her power, which she has no shortage of, to control everything from her marriage, to her son’s sexual orientation.

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Jeffery (Gavin Houston) bears much if the brunt of Veronica’s ire, as he was tricked into knocking a girl up, and was also beaten to a pulp by one of the most dangerous people in Savannah. I should also note that he’s coping with unrequited love from Wyatt, who is straight somewhat antagonistic, but takes advantage of the affection. As for Veronica, there’s always a method to her madness, whether it’s burning down her house to destroy evidence of the above-mentioned hit-and-run, engaging in an affair to retrieve more damning evidence or releasing said “dangerous person” to attack her own son.
 
By the way, his name is Quincy—father of Quincy’s, Jr., Candace’s son.

The Youngs
 
The Youngs are a working-class family headed by Hanna (Crystal Fox, In the Heat of the Night), a long-time maid for the Cryers. All she wants is for her children, Benny and Candace, tell her the truth. But in reality, that’s asking for too much. Candace (Tika Sumpter, Gossip Girl) is a former escort and a known opportunist, now enduring the fallout of extorting Jim Cryer for millions of dollars. After being kidnapped by Quincy, Benny (Tyler Lepley) managed to return Quincy, Jr. home, which ultimately led to a custody dispute between Hanna and Candace. Quincy (Medina Islam) drove his car through Hanna’s uninsured home, burning it down as an act of revenge.
 
Always aiming to do the right thing, the God-fearing Hanna refuses to live in the home that Candace bought her for and Benny with the extortion money. Take note: no one knows now Candace got the money. They only know that it was probably stolen in some way. Hanna is now left scraping up anything and everything she possibly can to take care of her sick grandson, and avoid him being taken away by CPS.

After a previous season of plots to retrieve the extorted money, Quincy seeking payback, meddling district attorneys and Wyatt becoming an informant, “The Haves and the Have Nots” is now taking us on the journey of what happened afterwards.

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Wyatt was able to avoid jail time by ratting out his parents and the Harringtons. Last season, Jim had him sent to jail as a means of threatening him to keep quiet about the hit-and-run, as it would damage the campaign. But Veronica took things a step further and had a serial rapist moved into his cell. Armed with a vendetta, district attorney Jennifer Sallison (Shari Headley, Coming to America) later had the judges and their wives arrested and put into adjacent cells to obtain information. But in true Tyler Perry fashion, things took an interesting turn this season when Jeffery was placed in a cell between them. Think “Goldilocks and the Three Bears;” now with Veronica’s affair semi-exposed, the Harrington family fought amongst each other with Jim instigating.
 
Unbeknownst to them, Jeffery stabbed the fatal wounds into Quincy’s back as he attacked Candace earlier that evening. To ease his paranoia about the accident, Candace made him down a bottle of vodka, but everything when straight to Hell once the nosey neighbor called her son, a homophobic cop, to have Quincy’s car removed from in front of her yard. Mind you, Quincy’s dying body was in Candace’s living room and out of the officer’s view. The cop then followed Jeffery and locked him up for DWI.

As it stands, Jeffery has turned his back on Candace, stating that she’s responsible for many of the problems in his life, Hanna has a sick grandson with no money to live off of and Benny is about to find out just who nearly killed him during that hit-and-run. Will Candace retaliate against her former best friend? Will Benny unleash his wrath on yet another huge target? Will Veronica finally get her comeuppance? We’ll just have to find out on Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots, every Temptation Tuesday at 8pm Central on OWN.

He’s Javan H.—check out my other musings in the #MSTv universe both on-air and online, as well as at JAVANH.com, YouTube.com/JJLucasH, Twitter.com/JJLucasH and on IMDb.
 
This is ‘MyScene TV’—all things entertainment.
Images found through Google searches. All rights to their respective owners.

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