Black Cake, based on a book of the same name by Charmaine Wilkerson, was a surprise we were not expecting. Sensitive and engaging, the story has us glued to the screen even though, upon introspection, we would find other tales like this. As Covey’s life continues with her new identity, let us see what happens to her in the recap of the second episode.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Byron Agree To Hear The Rest Of His Mother’s Story?
Covey was focused on being a good storyteller, and she may have forgotten that it was her children who were going to hear her talk. When Byron heard his mother say that Eleanor had to die, he immediately did not want to hear anymore because he thought that his mother was a murderer. Benny was still willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, also because she could finally see the chinks in the armor of her perfect mother. But Byron did not care about that, and he went to his office to find out whether he had been given the promotion he was waiting for. Sadly, he had not been, and the screenplay tells us that it was the result of some racism. Byron gets back home, and he is not ready to tell Benny about his loss. Instead, he just wants to hear what his mother has to say, probably to get his mind off things. Benny was told by the lawyer that Covey was proud of her daughter and had high hopes for whatever she chose to do with her life. It looks like Benny did not know that, since she had not been in touch with her mother for eight years. Benny and Byron get back to the recordings, and they finally come to know how Covey became Eleanor.
How Was Life In London For Covey?
Covey found that she was able to live a decent life in a new place, though it was far from ideal. She started working as a governess, and the money was good, and the friends were also decent. But Covey was always scared that her secret would be given away one day. When a bunch of girls asked her to come to the docks to do general teenage girly things, Covey couldn’t go despite wanting to because she was scared that someone from her island would be there. She also had to constantly make sure that none of the girls around her were related to anyone from her past. Covey was finding it suffocating that she couldn’t go out, talk to people, or even just be herself. It kept her safe, but she was very unhappy at all times. She even tried to hold onto her roots and make a Chinese soup recipe that she used to make back home. Covey had to lie and say that her Chinese neighbor taught her how to do it.
Nevertheless, the kids did not like the food, and Covey found her old self slipping away from her more and more. But help came in the form of sunshine, Eleanor. She saw Covey crying, and to console her, she told her a bit about her own life. Eleanor had grown up in an orphanage, and she had only taken nursing because it was a way out of the place. In reality, she wanted to study geology, and that was her real passion, which she felt she wouldn’t be able to ever follow. The way Eleanor spoke about geology and her ideas about it comforted Covey and made her believe that she could let herself be, at least once in a while. However, at a party later, Covey found herself lying once again when she had to keep up her fake background. Covey was scared that she might not be able to keep up the ruse for long, and that night, she asked Eleanor whether she would like to go to Scotland, where Eleanor could study geology, and Covey would be safe. Though Eleanor was hesitant, she was convinced the plan was a real possibility, and they both set off on a train.
On the way, Covey confesses to Eleanor that she isn’t from the mountains and that she has a past. Eleanor probably suspected most of it, and she doesn’t seem surprised. In fact, she also tells Covey that she doesn’t have to tell her the story if she doesn’t wish to. That is the moment when the two of them become friends for life, and Covey knows that Eleanor will always have a special place in her heart. Sadly, their friendship was cut short by a tragedy.
Does Lin Commit Suicide?
Covey says that she will never forgive her father for how his selfishness ended up changing her entire life. In Black Cake episode 2, we get a bit of his perspective as well. Lin’s family had opened that shop on the island, and right from the beginning, they had to face racial discrimination and violence. One time, when Lin’s mother sent him out to distract him from the ruckus, he stumbled upon the gambling ring and came back home with more money. His mother encouraged that, maybe because she saw nothing wrong with it or probably because, after the day they had, she did not want to scold him. If she had, Lin and Covey’s lives would have turned out differently. Lin was a constant at the gambling den, and when he grew up, he did not stop. He fell in love with Covey’s mother and married her against his own mother’s wishes, who did not want him to marry a black woman. It is no secret that discrimination exists even within oppressed communities, and it is interesting to see it in this particular dynamic, where Lin and his family want to be accepted by the black community but refuse to do it themselves.
Lin’s gambling ways continued even after his marriage, and he kept losing money, though that doesn’t make him stop. That is when one of the Henry brothers asks to marry a barely sixteen-year-old Covey, and Lin has no choice but to accept. At Covey’s wedding, Lin is desperate, as he doesn’t want his daughter to deal with the fate he has pushed her into. Luckily, Covey is saved, but not by Lin, as everyone had thought, but by Gibbs Grant. Lin caught a glimpse of him at the wedding, and in all probability, he was the one to poison Covey’s husband, helping her escape.
At the end of Black Cake episode 2, we find that Lin has lost his shop to the Henry brothers. Covey’s best friend, Bunny, is being forced to marry someone her father has chosen, and for all intents and purposes, Lin has no life left in the place while not knowing what has happened to his daughter. The police believe she is alive and has escaped with her mother’s maiden name. They suspect her friend or boyfriend may have helped with it. But Lin doesn’t know, and he simply walks into the water to take his own life. Elsewhere, Eleanor has not survived the train wreck, and when Covey wakes up in the hospital, the doctor thinks she is Eleanor, and the girl who has died is Covey. Once Covey takes over her new identity, she will be free of the people from the island looking for her.
Final Thoughts
Once again, there is something about this show that has us captivated enough that the hour-long episodes end up feeling short. If given a proper chance, this could be one of the better dramas of the year.
