Episode 203 Recap: "A Southern Brawl"

At the Sarandon Hotel, David finally manages to pull Veronica off Maggie, but now they have a new problem. Bradley, from the hotel's security staff, is at the door asking whether everything is all right. Veronica composes herself and pushes David against the door frame before opening up.

"So sorry," she says with a breathless smile. "Were we too loud?"

Bradley tells her that there have been complaints.

Veronica apologizes again and assures Bradley that they'll keep it quiet. Once the security officer is gone, however, Veronica backs away from David. David tries to explain that although the situation looks damning, he hasn't slept with Maggie. Unconvinced, Veronica leaves.

Jim sits panting in Warlock's basement, still handcuffed to the chair but now in fewer clothes. Candace taunts him with photos from the session with Carmen and her friends, but Jim still won't sign her documents. He tells her that the federal government's gift tax would prevent him from giving her all the money she wants. Candace informs him that she knows about the tax—that's why she's demanding $7.4 million so she can walk away with an even $5 million.

"How's your heart?" she asks, pulling clamps from a nearby portable generator. She attaches them to Jim's metal chair, sits down and presses the power button. With the generator humming menacingly, Jim tries to call her bluff and again refuses to sign. Candace then flips another switch, sending the electrical current into the chair, and her helpless victim convulses in pain.

Eventually, after repeated shocks, Jim's will breaks and he agrees to sign the papers if she'll end his torment. However, after recalling her own torture at the hands of the Malones, Candace changes her mind. She calls War down to man the generator while she takes a break.

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In his search for Candace, Benny has found Jeffery's apartment and knocks in the early hours of the morning. When Jeffery peers through the peephole and sees an attractive young man on the other side, he assumes it's the friend that Candace had promised to send over to have a little fun. Taking a moment to quiet his reasonable side, Jeffery opens the door and lays a big kiss on Benny—and immediately gets a punch on the jaw.

Benny bursts in looking for his sister while Jeffery struggles to understand what's happening. Benny grabs Jeffery by the throat and demands to know where his sister is. Finally, Jeffery realizes his mistake and apologizes, but he confesses that he doesn't know where Candace is. Benny suggests that Jeffery call her, since she isn't answering him.

Candace picks up when Jeffery calls, and Benny grabs the phone and lays into her, furious that she left. She insists she's fine, and informs Benny that she's with War and that his gang is protecting her. Satisfied with this, Benny tells her what just happened with Jeffery. Mortified, Candace apologizes and asks to speak to Jeffery, but he doesn't want to talk.

"Sorry, Jeffery," she whispers to the dead line.

Celine arrives early at the Cryer mansion to start her day and finds Wyatt passed out on the sofa with two empty liquor decanters. She admonishes him for throwing his life away and demands that he get up. Wyatt at first is surly, but then he asks Celine to help him up. As she gets her arms around him, he pulls her down on the couch and climbs on top of her, seemingly trying to come on to her. Celine isn't amused and tells him to get off of her.

"Is that what you told my father?" Wyatt says.

Stricken, Celine plays dumb, but Wyatt tells her he found their messages on his father's phone. Celine starts to struggle in earnest, but Wyatt wants to torture her a little more, telling her he likes it. Wyatt finally lets her go when she mentions her son—his half brother—telling Wyatt that he's grateful for all he has been given and has grown up to be a real man, even without his father. Celine tries to leave, but Wyatt grabs her again and starts reading from his father's phone. Celine is taken aback when he concludes, "I can't wait to see you, Candace."

Wyatt ridicules Celine for getting jealous over Candace, but Celine says nothing. He goes on to say that if she wants to upbraid Jim, he isn't home.

"I've been sitting here waiting for that son of a bitch. Right here," he growls. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind."

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Hanna accidentally wakes Michael when she goes into her room to get her uniform for work. Michael apologizes for staying over and says he'll help her clean—he just needs to use some of her mouthwash. When he returns from the bathroom, however, he approaches Hanna and kisses her neck. Hanna resists, saying that she finds him attractive but that it has been too long since she has been with a man. Her protests grow weaker, and Michael doesn't stop.

Jeffery is getting ready for his day when Veronica lets herself in, disheveled and clearly upset. She tells a shocked Jeffery that David is having an affair. Jeffery is concerned—until Veronica tells him it's his fault.

"We've been arguing over you," she says quietly, "because you want to be a homosexual."

Overcome with disbelief and anger by his mother's personal attack, Jeffery has difficulty finding words and can only shake his head, finally mustering an irritated denial to Veronica's assertion that he tried to destroy his parents' marriage because he hated his mother so much.

Just then, Candace interrupts the mother-son moment with her typical flippancy.

"Damn, Veronica, you look a mess!" she says with a sneer. "What happened to your hair?"

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Veronica insists that Jeffery throw Candace out, but Candace refuses to leave. Candace notices Jeffery's distress over his mother's commands.

"What does she have on you?" she asks, but no answer is forthcoming.

Suddenly, Veronica seems to change her mind and asks Candace how long she's staying with her son. Candace says at least a day. In a honey-sweet tone, Veronica tells her to enjoy her stay, and leaves.

Outside, Veronica calls Quincy and tells him where Candace is. She says not to hurt the man she's with, though; she just wants him roughed up a bit.

"Give him a little taste of reality."