‘The Game’ Recap: It’s On

The Game’s return after a two-year hiatus did not disappoint. The one-hour premiere wasted no time in stirring up drama and gave its audience a few OMG moments until the very end of the episode. It steadily rose to a climax that hopefully foreshadows the season ahead for the BET show.

The show continued two years after the third season finale, and delved into the drama-filled lives of Melanie, Derwin, Tasha, Malik, Kelly and Jason. To say that a lot has happened to these characters is an understatement.

Melanie and Derwin are married, and their picture perfect relationship still has a little more polishing left, according to Melanie. Melanie, now a housewife and stepmother to Derwin’s son, is still not convinced that he is Derwin’s son. Using her medical knowledge and connections at the hospital, she gives the 2-year-old a paternity test behind Derwin’s back. When she gets the call, she devastates Derwin by telling him that he is not the father of the baby, and that Janay is only trying to have the life the couple leads. When the dust begins to settle, she gets another call from her contact at the hospital—Derwin is the father. The resident’s heavy work schedule and lack of sleep caused a mix up at the genetics lab.

Meanwhile, roles have changed with the San Diego Sabers. Tasha is now agent to both Derwin and Malik (her son), but Derwin seems to be the new face of the San Diego team. He’s the face of Nike, has landed the cover of Essence magazine and has support from the team’s new owner.

Malik, on the other hand, doesn’t get along with his new boss, and the only cover he has landed is that of a video game, which has a curse behind it—players who accept to be on the cover usually suffer an injury. This doesn’t seem to affect Malik, who has let his success go to his head. He believes that the rules don’t apply to him and is actually having an affair with the girlfriend of the owner of his team. His behavior has always been reckless, but now proves to be more destructive. He is also pushing Tee-Tee’s buttons (he used to be his assistant) and when Tee-Tee takes a stand, he does something to prove to Tee-Tee that he is below him. When Tee-Tee goes to Malik’s mansion to work things out with him, he walks in on Malik with the owner’s girlfriend in a Jacuzzi and another woman—Tee-Tee’s girlfriend. Malik doesn’t have any remorse over it.

Tasha is still single and mingling with a much younger man, Donte (played by Terrence J.) She is trying to stifle her feelings for him and actually encourages him to date other young women. When she discovers at Malik’s video game launch party that she isn’t Donte’s first mature girlfriend, she reacts emotionally.

Last but not least are the ongoing troubles between Jason and Kelly. Kelly won their divorce battle and is taking advantage of her large settlement and attempting to gain spotlight by joining the reality TV show, Ex-Football Wives. The two spent the entire episode trying to make each other upset. Jason, finally, sabotages a taping of her show to try to force her to quit the show. He is still trying to salvage his career, but is at a crossroads in life.