Canvass

**Canvass** is the fourth episode of the first season of Peacock's modern-day reinterpretation, *Bel-Air*. It aired on February 17, 2022.

## Synopsis

The Banks family rallies to help Uncle Phil with his campaign; Will's past catches up to him.

## Plot

Phillip and Carlton play a game of chess the night before his big campaign event at the skating rink. Carlton wins and challenges him to another game, but he has a few matters to attend to before the event, for which he intends to have Carlton and Will working alongside each other, canvassing for votes. Carlton is hesitant to the idea, but makes his father a proposition: if he and Will register 30 voters without drama, then he wants VIP seats to the Grand Prix at Monaco. Phillip agrees to Carlton's terms, but only if he gets 50 voters.

Will invites Lisa over for a study session after being convinced by his Aunt Viv to take an art history course. Lisa is doing her term paper on Kara Walker, the installation artist, but Will remains undecided. Unbeknownst to the two of them, they're being watched by a strange man. Kara Walker was also Lisa's mom's favorite artist, but she died three years ago to Lupus. She usually only talks about her mom to people who knew her, but since her and Will are friends, Lisa realizes that it's a part of who she is. Will then asks if she's still coming to his uncle's fundraiser, to which she assures him she'll be there, as she's unmatched on skates.

Vivian braids Ashley's hair for the upcoming event and talks about the time she used to spend with her own mother, but Ashley seems preoccupied with texting her friends. Ashley wishes she could just wear a hat, but there's going to be a lot of eyes and press, meaning they need to be perfect. While the campaign hasn't been easy, Viv explains that she endures because she loves Phillip and he spent years going to her gallery openings and art shows.

Tray calls Will and informs him that Rashad knows he's in Bel-Air and that there are people looking for him. Will goes looking for his Uncle Phil to inform him of this reemerged threat, but he's at a meeting, so Will informs Geoffrey instead, who is well aware why Will is hiding out in Bel-Air and assures Will that he's going to handle it. There's no need to trouble his aunt and uncle, Geoffrey says.

In search of a place to live, Hilary begins seeking housing with a number of influencer houses, but the house hunt isn't going as well as she hoped.

Vivian is ready to start painting again. So, she calls Joan over and begins digging through her old art supplies. It was never her decision to stop painting, but she got swept away with being a mother and wife. Joan is pleased to hear this and looks through Vivian's old artwork. Joan assures Vivian that she's every bit as talented as the greats, and as luck would have it, Reid Broderick is back in Los Angeles, and he is setting up an annex for his gallery. He's making a name for himself by rediscovering artists, and Joan asks if Vivian would like for her to set up a meeting with him.

Will sits at the piano, contemplating his next move now that Rashad knows he's in Bel-Air. He even plays a few keys, which doesn't go unnoticed by Hilary. Will reveals that he used to take lessons from this old woman at church, but he didn't have a piano of his own, so his mom used to draw the piano keys on cardboard, and he'd practice that way. Hilary is genuinely impressed, as she spent ten years trying to learn the piano. Noticing that she is also in a funk, Will asks Hilary what's wrong, and she reveals that she's been interviewing for a spot in content houses, but no one sees the potential in what she does. Will tells her to keep searching for the people who are going to champion her for what she does, but she fears it's not that easy. The real world scares Hilary, and she's already tried to look for an apartment, but she's clearly not ready for life on her own. As they prepare for the campaign ahead, Hilary reveals that Carlton cut a deal with Uncle Phil, which is why he's been so kind to Will. Carlton knows how to work the system, and Hilary advises Will to figure it out.

Will takes Hilary's advice and tries to game his Aunt Viv, telling her how beautiful Bel-Air is and how he hopes that Tray can come see it someday. When she extends the invitation for him to come out at some point, Will proposes he come now and makes her an offer: if he and Carlton get through today with no beef, then she has to fly Tray out by the end of the week. Aunt Viv agrees and is met with Will's grateful embrace.

Today's outreach effort is critical, so everyone has their assignment. Will and Carlton will knock on doors to register voters. Hilary and Ashley will go to local business owners and ask to put his signs and stickers in their window. And Phillip and Vivian will be meeting with community leaders in Rev. Lamonte's office. Viv jokes that if they're lucky, no one will show, but Phillip isn't amused and pulls her to the side. While he gets that she was joking, not everyone does. There's been some polling data, and the public view her as sarcastic, dismissive, and arrogant. She suggests that he go without her, but he needs her. Phillip is simply asking that she bite her tongue a little.

Will and Carlton go door-to-door, with Carlton taking the lead, in hopes that he can convince voters to vote for Uncle Phil, but each door is shut in their face, over and over. Carlton is frustrated, but Will tries to explain to him that people tend not to trust the system or government. With Carlton failing miserably, Will takes the lead.

Meanwhile, Hilary and Ashley arrive at Jazz's record shop and asks if they can put a poster in the window. While she does this, Jazz introduces himself to Hilary. She didn't know he also worked in a record store, along with being a driver, but Jazz reveals that he owns the shop. Hilary offers to help with his store's social media presence, but Jazz doesn't have any social media, which Hilary offers to fix. Ashley then exits, claiming that she's going to the next store, but in actuality, she's sneaking off to meet with some friends.

Phillip and Vivian conclude with a local community leader and his wife, who recognizes Viv for painting the mural on the side of Jerome Brady Elementary, where she was a teacher. After the couple leaves, Vivian questions why Phillip referred to her as a former artist, as she explains that artists don't cease from being an artist, even if it's been years since their last work. Phillip admits his mistake and apologizes. She then suggests that he stop playing his campaign so safe. People know when they're being played by a politician. If he wants to win, he has to give black voters real answers, even at the cost of angering the police union. She advises him to simply speak from his heart.

Ashley has sneaked off to meet with a few of her friend in South LA, though one friend in particular, Lucia, has yet to show.

Hilary records Jazz as he gives a tour of his shop, Charlie's Vinyl. She then encourages her followers to come shop with Jazz and follows him on IG herself. He remarks that she's good at social media, but apparently, she's not good enough, as none of the influencer houses have offered her a spot. She's terrified of what comes next. Jazz can relate, recalling how his Uncle Charlie opened up this shop and put everything he had into it. Jazz is just trying to keep the legacy alive. He believes that Hilary will find her way, too.

Geoffrey meets with the mysterious man who was following Will. As it turns out, he's simply extra security for the Banks family. Geoffrey instructs the man to reach out to his associates in Philly, as Rashad Denton is making noise despite the fact that they gave him $10,000 to leave Will alone. However, now he wants more, which Geoffrey refuses to pay.

With Will leading, he and Carlton secure several voters, but Carlton doesn't approve of his methods; how he's slandering Uncle Phil's competitors and calling them racists. But Will refuses to stop and questions why Carlton is complaining when they're on their way to both getting what they want. Carlton explains that he doesn't like how Will tramples the rules and still ends up on top. Will retorts that every hood is the same, this being the reason he can get as many signatures as he can, and Carlton hasn't gotten a single signature. While Will might have everyone else fooled, Carlton isn't convinced and thinks back to Will's arrival in Bel-Air and Tray's shooting. He suspects that there's more to the story, but Will refuses to further engage with him.

Romario places his arm around Ashley as they watch *Jurassic Park*, but Geoffrey has found her and tells her that it's time to go. She asks if he's going to tell her parents, but since her friends pose no risk, Geoffrey decides they can keep this between them, so long as she agrees to stop sneaking around. However, Ashley doubts her parents would ever allow her to go to South LA to see her gaming friends she met online, but Geoffrey argues they'd be happy to learn she's getting out of the Bel-Air bubble, though he does warn Ashley to be mindful, as there are bad people who would love nothing more than to use her to extort money from her family.

Will takes a break from Carlton and stops by Jazz's shop, where they are joined by one of Jazz's frequent customers, LA rapper and singer, Buddy, who is going to the studio tomorrow with Pharrell, and needs some new sounds, something that sounds like "the hungry caterpillar ate 20 tabs of acid with a side of shrimp and grits." Surprisingly, Jazz has exactly what he needs: Afreka, "Demon Fuzz" Before he leaves, Jazz asks for a pic for Instagram, which he reveals Hilary helped him make, before taking several pics to post online. Will reveals to Jazz that he simply agreed to play nice with his cousin because his aunt said she'd fly out Tray, but he's finding it difficult to be in Carlton's presence. Jazz simply replies that he hopes whatever argument Will had with Carlton was worth it.

Will reconsiders his choices and reconvenes with Carlton, who unintentionally registered a voter under the fake name of "Nino Brown." Will asks for some forms and proposes that they work opposite sides of the street. Do this, and they both get what they want. Carlton tries to apologize for what he said earlier, but Will doesn't need it. Their problem is that they keep talking like they're going to change each other's minds when they're not, so it's better if they say less. By the end of the evening, not only do they have enough signatures, Will has invited everyone he could to the skating rink tonight despite it being a private fundraiser. Will believes that a lot more people will come to register and it'll allow Uncle Phil to further connect with the black community.

Will reveals to Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv that he's invited potential voters to his fundraiser, which Uncle Phil is not pleased to hear. He'll have to return the money to all the donors who paid for exclusive access, plus there's no way to vet the people Will invited, meaning there's no predicting what questions they'll ask. Vivian suggests that maybe this is exactly where Phillip needs to be. Carlton agrees and backs Will's move. While reluctant, Phillip comes around to opening his fundraiser to the public.

That night, Phillip hosts his fundraiser at the skating rink as planned. Vivian runs into Lisa, who refers to her an "Auntie Viv," and embraces her. Vivian realizes that the breakup between her and Carlton made things awkward for a while, but she thinks they should have one of their girls nights again with Ashley and Hilary, which Lisa thinks is a good idea. They also need to talk about plans for this year's Lupus fundraisers. The sorority sisters came through with donations and sponsors, as Lisa's mother loved her sisters, and they loved her as well.

Geoffrey notices Ashley sitting alone at the skating rink and approaches to reveal that he took the liberty of inviting her friends, including Lucia.

While washing his hands in the bathroom, Will runs into Lisa's dad, who is not only a cop, but the Chief of Police. This triggers Will's PTSD from his last encounter with cops, though Fred assures Will that he's not in any kind of trouble.

Will confronts Lisa after learning that her dad's a cop. He accuses her of hiding this from him, but she explains that it simply never came up. And it's not like he told her what his dad does for a living, which Will can't answer, as he hasn't seen him since he walked out on Will and his mom. Lisa apologizes, but Will brushes her off.

After a bit of skating, Phillip takes the mic for a Q&A. One lady asks if they're going to continue to use the gang enhancement laws to keep locking up their boys for longer, often for non-violent first offenses. Phillip says that if elected, he will prohibit the prosecutors from pursuing sentencing enhancements for non-violent, first-time offenders. They also ask what he intends to do about the crooked LAPD. With Fred in the front row and a nod from Vivian, Phillip honestly answers that defunding the police is critical and that a lot of changes need to be made, which he's willing to do, even if it makes him unpopular with the mayor's office or LAPD.

The Banks return home from the fundraiser, all laughs and giggles. Will, Carlton, Hilary, and Ashley are all sickened however when Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv begin to flirt. Geoffrey then pulls Uncle Phil into his office for a quick chat.

Will and Carlton head upstairs, where Carlton admits that Will was right about opening the fundraiser to the public. He hopes to keep their relationship as it currently is. They don't have to be friends, but they don't need to trip each other up either.

Vivian joins Hilary on the couch, who reveals that she's moving out after getting accepted into an influencer house after they saw what she did for Jazz. Vivian is skeptical and tells Hilary that nothing in life is free. Hilary quickly becomes upset and tells her mother that a simple congratulations would've been nice.

Will is approached by Aunt Viv, who is proud of how he and Carlton worked together today, so much so that she intends to fly Tray out this Friday. Will is ecstatic and thanks Aunt Viv repeatedly. He then calls Tray to inform him of the good news, but Tray has some good news of his own. He reveals Rashad is dead. He got shot in the club. Tray doesn't know who, but he doesn't care either, though Will appears skeptical.

## Cast

* Cassandra Freeman as Vivian Banks
* Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey Thompson
* Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks
* Coco Jones as Hilary Banks
* Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks
* Simone Joy Jones as Lisa Wilkes
* Jordan L. Jones as Jazz
* Adrian Holmes as Phillip Banks
* Joe Holt as Fred Wilkes
* Jon Beavers as Kylo
* Charlie Hall as Tyler Laramy

Co-Starring* Wendy Davis as Joan
* Bayley Corman as Hannah Lennox
* Neiko Neal as Neck Tattoo Man
* Cristian Soto as Romario
* Rita Angel Taylor as Lucia
* Kaden Alejandro as Pops
* Buddy as Buddy
* Bee-Be Smith as Married Woman
* Eugene Parker as Married Man
* Adam Ryan Rennie as Skeptical Black Male
* Cheryl Francis Harrington as Community Activist
* Anissa Lee as Young Woman #1

## Soundtrack

 *Never Gonna Stop* | Two Hidden Labs feat. DEVMO
 *Keep Up* | Matthew Bento
 *NO MAN'S LAND* | Melvoni

## Trivia

* On the NBCU press site, this episode is listed as being titled *Bankz n the Hood*, which is a reference to the 1991 coming-of-age hood drama *Boyz n the Hood*.