The new Tyler Perry sitcom series streaming on Netflix, Miss Governor (earlier titled She the People), introduces us to the world of Antoinette Dunkerson and her slightly unusual family members, who support her through thick and thin. As Antoinette becomes the new lieutenant governor of Mississippi, the first Black woman to hold the position, she has to face a series of challenges at her inhospitable workplace, owing to the fact that most of her coworkers are white men who absolutely hate the idea of her holding any sort of power. But as part 1 of Miss Governor ends, there is a significant twist in the protagonist’s fortune, which is enough to keep us waiting for part 2 of the show’s first season, which will conclude later this year.
Spoiler Alert
How does Antoinette take back control in her workplace?
Ever since Antoinette won the election at the beginning of the series, the biggest challenge in her life has been to settle in at her new workplace, particularly because of the stooges that Governor Irwin Harper has appointed. One of the things that excites Antoinette most about her new role and her profession in general is that she can have her own team of associates and coworkers, which she expects to bring to her office when she joins. Antoinette is clear that she wants to have her friends and family members to help her out just like they have been doing till now, and her cousin, Shamika, hopes that she will be made the new chief of staff. The protagonist does have other ideas about her chief of staff, for she clearly knows that Shamika is not intelligent enough for the position, though she wants to bring in her cousin at least to help her settle in initially.
However, this is impossible, because of the fact that the governor already has a bunch of men in position to assist Antoinette with her work, and they are nothing more than puppets placed just to keep the lieutenant governor in check. Governor Harper is evidently threatened by Antoinette because of his own prejudices and inhibitions, and so he wants to keep her under his control at all times. Because of this, he does not let her have her own team of helpers and even assigns her a chief of staff named Henry. This is problematic for the protagonist on two separate levels. Firstly, Henry, as well as her assigned press manager, Walter, are both working on the orders of the governor, which means that they do just about everything to stop her from getting any significant work done.
Harper keeps pushing completely insignificant and even somewhat demeaning tasks on Antoinette, like having to attend silly rural contests, and Henry keeps harping on the need to attend these events with complete dedication. Whenever Antoinette wants to have a word with Harper in order to discuss serious matters, she is told that she needs to schedule a meeting first, which is impossible because the man always avoids her. It becomes very apparent to her that Harper is supposedly open for meetings only when she is busy with professional or personal matters, and she tells his assistant, Jed, about this realization of hers as well, but nothing comes of it.
Secondly, all the men working around Antoinette and supposedly helping her in the office are white folks who are totally insensitive and ignorant towards the problems and struggles of people of color. On the very day that she joins her position, Jed and Walton can be heard discussing her capabilities, particularly questioning her educational qualifications behind her back. Their understanding is that a Black woman could not have attended proper law school, and must have somehow acquired the degree from some random online school. Whereas in reality, Antoinette completed her education at Harvard Law School, and therefore she is unwilling to put up with the disrespect that she keeps facing. It is only because her loving family members refuse to let her be alone that Antoinette is able to bring Shamika into her office as an assistant, while Henry is visibly very upset about this situation.
It is only towards the end of Miss Governor that Antoinette musters the courage to do what is right and stand up for herself, and it is only after a heated conversation with a senator that she decides to take this step. She does her own research about the rules about lieutenant governors and realizes that Harper and his men have been denying her some very basic rights. Not only can Antoinette redecorate her office space, which will definitely help her settle in, but more importantly, she can also have her own team of advisors and coworkers. This is when she decides to bring in her three closest friends from Harvard, Kelly, Pamela, and Danny, all extremely intelligent individuals highly regarded in their respective fields, to become her advisors at the office.
Since Miss Governor part 1 ends with the team moving into Antoinette’s office and preparing for their next steps, the exact reactions of the others are not totally covered. However, we do see the current chief of staff, Henry, learn about the fact that he is about to lose his job very soon, and his desperate denial of the matter is extremely satisfying to watch. It would be interesting to see if part 2 has Henry continuing in some position at the office, and if he has a verbal clash with the new chief of staff, which will only make him look all the more unintelligent.
What Happens To The Pipeline Deal?
The pipeline deal is the most important part of the plot in Miss Governor part 1, because of the different layers to the situation and how it is misused by Governor Harper to try and turn the world against his lieutenant governor. Antoinette first learns about this deal when she goes to meet a group of pastors, as a number of people in their congregations had complained about the risk of getting displaced. A deal has been made between the government and a private firm to lay down a long stretch of pipeline across three states, and although it seems like a beneficial project on paper, there is an unfortunate angle to it. The exact locations through which the pipeline will be laid have been fixed, and all these places happen to be inhabited by the poor classes, people of color, and racial minorities. Therefore, the pipeline project will be essentially making thousands of poor people from all three states homeless, forcing them to move away in order to survive.
Antoinette is very concerned about the implications of this deal, and so she naturally wants to talk to Governor Harper about it, but the man keeps avoiding her at all costs. When she is finally able to converse with him, she suggests that the route of the pipeline be moved by about two miles to the north, which would solve the problem at hand, since nobody will be displaced in that case. However, it is later revealed by one of the senators fighting hard to stop the pipeline deal that Harper will not be approving this change of two miles, as the pipeline will then be passing through private farmland owned by the white people of the states, who are the main supporters of the governor and his party. If the pipeline’s route is indeed shifted by two miles, then the white farmers will not only be irked at Governor Harper, but they will also refuse to give up the land and might even sue the government, both of which would cause significant trouble for him.
In order to defend himself, Harper keeps talking about how thousands of people will get employment because of the laying of the pipeline, and how that will be helping the minority communities. However, it is quite clear to everyone that none of these jobs will go to people of color, and instead they will have to deal with the environmental effects because of the pipeline. To make matters even worse, Harper intentionally has Antoinette meet with the pastors and then has official notices sent out from her office to each of the unwilling pastors, telling them that they have to agree to sell off their land in exchange for a fixed amount of money. One of the pastors, Reverend Jones, is in cahoots with the governor, as the latter has been bribing the corrupt priest, and so he makes the others understand that they have to agree to deal, following the letter from the lieutenant governor’s office.
In Miss Governor part 1’s ending, Antoinette comes up with a genius plan to delay the pipeline project and put it on hold for some time by researching each of the churches that were being forced to sell their land. As it so happens, Martin Luther King Jr. used to preach at one of these churches, which means that the place can be treated like a historical site. The laws of Mississippi clearly state that historical sites cannot be modified or destroyed, which is exactly why Antoinette and her family have to put up with the overtly racist décor at their official mansion. Thus, the church cannot be demolished so easily, which will halt the progress of the pipeline deal for now.
Part 2 of the series will surely see Antoinette deal with the matter more closely, and the most obvious solution will be to move the pipeline 2 miles north of its originally planned route. However, in order to go through with this plan, Antoinette will have to face off against the very same white folks who do not like her and would remove her from office at the earliest chance. Considering that Miss Governor is a sitcom, it is evident that Antoinette will eventually win over these people and bring them to her side, but how that happens will be interesting to watch.
Does Antoinette become the new governor of Mississippi?
The last episode of Miss Governor part 1 sees Antoinette and Governor Harper have a very evident difference of opinion and even a restrained argument in public while facing questions from the press. Harper is not just angered at the starkly different opinions that his lieutenant governor expressed during the press briefing, he is also absolutely livid at the fact that she has the gall to speak up against him. The old man suffers a slew of health issues, ranging from a weak heart and almost failing lungs to even confused speech, all of which are results of his extremely unhealthy habits. Following the press briefing, the man has severe acid reflux struggles as well, which soon becomes quite important.
Harper questions Antoinette’s audacity of having undermined his opinions in public, to which the protagonist lashes out and tells him off about how he has been curbing her authority all this time. This heated conversation leaves Harper terribly sick, and in the end, he is revealed to have died from the effects of the conversation within a few minutes. It is unclear as to whether Harper dies right away or if he will be taken to the hospital and treated for some time. However, even the latter would mean that the man will be unable to serve as the governor, at least for the time being, which obviously means that Antoinette is about to be the new governor of Mississippi.
We cannot be sure whether she will stick around in this position, though, as a reelection might be called, but at least for some time, the protagonist will surely serve as the governor of the state. How Antoinette deals with the added pressures of her unexpected promotion will be something to look forward to, while she will also have to face further hate from certain sections of society because she has indirectly caused the death of their beloved governor and patriarch.
Do Antoinette and Michael start dating?
The romance subplot does not get too much attention in Miss Governor part 1, but it is definitely established, and we can expect part 2 to give it more focus. Antoinette is immediately attracted to her head of security, Michael Davis, although she keeps this a secret for the most part. While Shamika jokes around about the possible romance between the two, nobody expects anything serious to come of it until Michael brings her a jar of pickles that had supposedly been left behind in her car. This jar had been gifted to the lieutenant governor at one of the inauguration events, and so she might have really left it in the car, but a message tied around it seems to suggest otherwise.
The message is a very romantic expression of one’s love for the reader, and because of the circumstances, Antoinette is convinced by Shamika that Michael must have left the note for her. But instead of pursuing the romance, Antoinette decides to pull the plug on it because she is legally not allowed to date anyone working for her, and so she fires Michael without giving him too much of an explanation for her decision. It is soon revealed that the jar of pickles, and the note around it, had been a gift left by Governor Harper for his wife, meaning that Michael had not written it for Antoinette. The protagonist has to call Michael to her office once again, and she apologizes for the silly mix-up.
Much to her surprise, Michael reveals that he had actually been flirting with her because he found her very attractive, but he also clearly states that he will not do anything unprofessional. Thus, he refuses to work for Antoinette anymore, stating that he will be more comfortable working some other detail, because he will not have to accompany her throughout the day. Although the two do not start dating in the end, it is very evident that both of them are attracted to one another. Thus, it is almost confirmed that Antoinette and Michael will date in the next part, although that would require either of them to lose their jobs.
