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Inside the Episode: Kat Candler and DeMane Davis on Responsibility

Season 3 Episode 311
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Queen Sugar showrunner Kat Candler and producing director DeMane Davis discuss Episode 311, "Your Passages Have Been Paid," directed by Rachel Raimist, centering their conversation around responsibility and accountability in the storyline. They begin by revisiting Micah's activism and the incident at Sweetbay Plantation. Kat and DeMane cite the scene where Micah is confiding in Nova about what went wrong, which leads Nova to confess her role in getting Too Sweet arrested. Kat and DeMane use this moment to reflect on how Nova has also had to shift as an activist.

"Nova has always been his confidant, and even though she understands the intention of what these kids were trying to do, maybe their methods didn't quite match the goal of what they were trying to accomplish," Kat says. "But in that conversation, she also reveals to Micah that she always hasn't been the squeaky-clean person that maybe he thinks that she is. This is something that is challenging for her to admit."

DeMane points to the moments where Nova talks about raising her fist for her family and community. "What does that really mean, and what's the responsibility behind raising your fist? And she wants to clear her conscience and go to Too Sweet and say, 'I did this,'" DeMane says. "If she's going to continue to raise her fist, she has to reveal this fault."

Kat adds: "There's this accountability that I think all of our characters are finding their way to in this episode. Just taking responsibility for your actions regardless of the intention behind them."

The topic naturally leads Kat and DeMane to the mediation scene with Ralph Angel, Darla and her mother, Darlene. "We've seen [Darla] come back with her parents' help, and in this mediation, you have Darlene fighting for her daughter but also, like, fighting against the father of her child," Kat says. "And her having to finally step up to her mom and say, 'I have this. Please, please, please, let me do this on my own.' And it's the first time that we've seen her really take a stand."

Tune in Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, only on OWN.