Can't Knock the Hustle

**Can't Knock the Hustle** is the ninth episode of the first season of Peacock's modern-day reinterpretation, *Bel-Air*. It aired on March 24, 2022.

## Synopsis

The Banks family goes to church; Will considers looking for his father.

## Plot

Geoffrey assists Will with tightening his tie as the Banks family prepares for Sunday morning church. Geoffrey is still gathering intel on Will's dad, but he reminds Will today's all about Uncle Phil.

Will learns from Uncle Phil that Carlton not only has an amazing singing voice but that he'll be singing with the choir. With the family together and ready to leave, they must wait on Hilary, who is late, as per usual. She eventually shows up in a red ensemble and receives compliments from all around. On their way out, Uncle Phil realizes just how blessed he is to have his family.

Will is eager to hear Carlton sing, but first they are greeted by Reverend Lamonte at the steps of the church, who invites them inside. Lamonte is then approached by Ashley, who believes that the church needs to put more people who are LGBTQ+ in higher positions beyond the choir director. Phil then joins them and asks if the church can mobilize its Turn Out the Vote shuttle service, which could aid in his campaign.

Just outside the church, Hilary greets an old friend and fellow influencer by the name of Ivy. They've been friends since they were children, when Ivy taught Hilary how to use eyeliner in the bathroom. Years later, Ivy now has 10.2 million followers, which leads Hilary to propose a collab, but Ivy seems a bit hesitant.

Will pulls Carlton to the side and reveals that he has the opportunity to know who is father is and why he left, but he doesn't know if it's a good idea and asks Carlton's opinion. However, that's not a question he can answer. But he reminds Will that church is where people go to find answers.

Phil informs Hilary that the Thirsty Chef video has been scrubbed from the face of the internet. While he's been hard on her, he's proud of how she handled Kylo and got out of her contract, noting that maybe law school is still in her future. Meanwhile, Will tells Aunt Viv about how his mother told that they used to sing in church when they were younger.

Reverend Lamonte takes the stage to give a sermon about having multiple masters, which he advises against and instructs those in attendance to follow God alone. He then introduces Carlton to the congregation and invites him to lead the choir. While he starts off good, his anxiety appears to get the better of him, forcing Carlton to flee off the stage.

Back home, Viv assures Ashley that Carlton is fine and then asks if there is a specific reason why she's shifted to championing LGBTQ+ causes. Ashley explains that she hasn't abandoned climate change and that she's simply advocating on multiple fronts. She believes that the human rights of every social group should be at the top of everyone's concern. Despite Ashley insisting that there's no secondary reason behind her recent shift, Viv reminds her that she can always talk to her about anything.

Will and Hilary discuss Carlton's incident at church. Hilary wrote it off as nerves, but Will informs her that Carlton has been using Xanax and coke, which she was unaware of. She advises Will to go talk to him, given that he has seen first-hand Carlton has been up to. Will is initially hesitant, but she pushes him to check in, especially since they're getting along now. After Will leaves, Hilary calls Jazz and asks if he's free.

Will enters Carlton's room and asks what happened at church. Carlton claims that he simply felt dizzy and didn't want anyone to see him fall out, but Will isn't convinced. The last time Carlton got stage fright, he was supposed to do that poem with Lisa, but he was doing coke in his closet instead. Carlton explains that he suffers from anxiety, and it piles on to him. He uses the drugs as a coping mechanism. However, he didn't even use drugs today, though he should've, as he knew he was going to struggle, but he just wanted to make his dad proud, as he was so excited to hear Carlton sing. Will assures Carlton that Uncle Phil is proud of him and reminds Carlton that he will always be there for him. Furthermore, his troubles won't be so heavy if he allows Will to carry them with him. He appreciates Will's kind words, but after Will leaves, Carlton looks over to his closet, contemplating whether to fall back into his old habits of drug abuse.

Hilary and Jazz break into Kylo's creator house to steal back her stuff, including her sign, leading Jazz to question why they're stealing her own stuff instead of just getting money from her father to pay Kylo's contract kill fee. Hilary explains that she'd rather do it on her own, with help from Jazz of course, for which she owes him. In that case, Jazz proposes they go back to his place after, but Hilary suggests he come back with her to her hotel room and order room service.

Geoffrey has gathered as much information as he could on Will's father and hands him a large white envelope. While he can't say if Will should read it or not, Geoffrey warns Will that further pursuit of this won't just change his life, it will impact the entire family.

Steven has obtained proof that Wilkes cheated on his dying first wife with his current wife, Angela, which he wants to use against Wilkes in the upcoming debate. However, Geoffrey's not a fan of two black men up on stage tearing each other down. Steven argues that it comes with the territory of politics, but Phil seems hesitant. Steven tries to push his into considering using this information to his benefit. Geoffrey thinks Phil is simply pretending to be uncomfortable with airing out Wilkes' business. He prefers to feel like he's been talked into doing things that crossed the line. Steven can sense the tension and interjects, informing Phil that playing nice is not going to help him win the debate.

Viv meets with two board members from the Neeman Fellowship. To her surprise, the two board members are older black women instead of white men. Janice and Helen ask Viv why she stopped painting for so long. She'd usually say the demands of marriage and motherhood swept the paintbrush out of her hand, but truthfully, she was tired of all the battles of being a black female artist. Painting was the easy part, but once the paint dried, she had to explain who she was and what her painting meant to men, and then she had to fight every inch of the way. And she got tired of trying to twist what she was doing to fit whatever was popular on the scene. When they ask what brought her back, she explains how her nephew Will is so free and unapologetically himself, with a fire to take life head on, and she realized that she used to be like that and could be like that again. And now, she's realized that her work can resonate out in the world without her needing to define it on anyone else's terms. Janice and Helen are pleased to hear this, especially since they decided before she even came in that they wanted to offer her the fellowship. Her answer reinforces their decision, but they can't make it official until Viv takes the time to consider the demands of the fellowship, such as travel, speaking engagements, and press. Ultimately, she has 24 hours to think on it.

Will approaches Uncle Phil and reveals to him that he asked Geoffrey to find his father, which he did, but he said that looking into his father could cause some problems, which is why Will has decided not to open the envelope, given that Uncle Phil has been more of a father to him than any man ever has. Uncle Phil loves Will as if he was his own child and embraces him, telling Will that he's happy he's with them.

Carlton finds Will playing a sad tune on the piano and wonders why. Will explains that he's decided not to learn more about his father because he fears it could interfere with his happiness. Carlton then confides in Will that he's the reason Carlton didn't take drugs today. He was close to doing it, but then he thought about what Will said and thanks him for it. Not just that, Carlton also flushed his stash. When Will reveals that he's supposed to be linking with Lisa, Carlton asks if it ever becomes difficult to be together given that Uncle Phil is running against her dad, but they never talk about. Though, Will is concerned that she's not answering her phone, but Carlton assures him that everything is fine.

Lisa is in the middle of a fight with her father over her relationship with Will. He tells Lisa that Will is trouble and that she has to stop seeing him. As proof, he shows her Will's mugshot and reveals that it was sent to him by Judge Robertson. Will was arrested in a fight in Philly, where there was a gun involved. Phil reached out to Judge Robertson for a favor, to make it all go away. Lisa suspects that it's a lie and decides to learn the truth from Will himself.

Phil confronts Geoffrey after learning that he made a report on Lou for Will. Will may have given the folder over, but Geoffrey suspects he was simply too scared to open it alone and says that Phil should've helped him confront the truth. Phil asked Geoffrey not to and demands to know why he disobeyed his orders. Geoffrey reminds Phil that he already told him he wasn't comfortable with his ask. Geoffrey's real job is to protect Phil and his family, but sometimes those two things don't align. Because once his ambitions start stirring up, everything and everyone gets steamrolled. However, Phil claims that Geoffrey only sided with Lou because he feels guilty for leaving his own boy behind, which Geoffrey takes great offense with. Phil warns Geoffrey that he's treading on dangerous territory when he begins to recite the different ways in which Phil neglects each of his own family's members. Moving on to Wilkes, while he may be flawed, he's a good man who doesn't deserve to be destroyed, as Phil intends to do at the debate. Phil doesn't deny this, simply saying that he can't trust Geoffrey anymore and fires him. They'll tell the family that he went on immediate leave of absence due to a family emergency. Geoffrey embraces Phil as tears fill his eyes and urges Phil to prove him wrong, unless he wants to watch his family split under the pressure.

Viv is looking through her portfolio when Phil joins her and says that Will has decided that he doesn't want to know about his father anymore. Phil figured Viv should tell Vy, as the matter seems settled, at least for the time being. Moving on to Geoffrey, Viv wonders why he's leaving now. It couldn't come at a worse time. The DA race is crazy enough as is, and if she gets the fellowship, someone is going to need to look after the kids. Maybe she shouldn't accept the fellowship, as they'd want her lecturing over the world for a year, but Phil insists that he can handle whatever comes their way. While Viv hasn't been around as much, she kisses Phil and tells him that she's proud of him and that she loves him.

While painting her next piece, Vivian calls Janice to decline the fellowship given everything going on in her life, from the campaign, to Will moving in, to Carlton's re-emerging anxiety. But Janice reminds Viv that their policy is to give artists 24 hours to decide if they want to accept, so she will not accept an answer any sooner.

Will receives an unexpected visit from Lisa, who asks if it's true he was arrested with a gun. Carlton tries to interject and come to his defense, but Lisa tells him to shut up. Lisa is infuriated, given that Will lied to her when all she's ever done was take up for him, especially when her dad would say that he's trouble. They head into Uncle Phil's office, where they can talk privately. Lisa questions why would he lie when she's only ever been honest with him. They had sex, and now she feels like she doesn't even know him. Will admits that he had the gun, but that he shot it in the air to break up a fight. Lisa thanks him for finally being honest, but she tells him that her dad also knows and plans to use it at the debate. And unfortunately, there's nothing she can do to stop it. Lisa attempts to leave, but Will grabs her hand, if only to have one final moment with her.

Phil is approached by Judge Robertson at the debate. Carl wishes Phil had stuck to the original plan, but Phil claims he's doing better than ever without his endorsement. It feels good to be his own man, unshackled by Carl's agenda and politics. Carl retorts that those favors he speaks so ill of got Will out and that the high road has no place in politics. Before leaving, he tells Phil it didn't have to be this way.

Will and Carlton arrive outside the debate, but there is a guard blocking the door, reluctant to let them in without a pass. Fortunately, Steven vouches for them and grants Will and Carlton access. Will and Carlton then inform Uncle Phil that Wilkes learned about Will's arrest from Judge Robertson. Uncle Phil tells them that he'll handle it. If Will could go back, he'd tell his mom not to drag his uncle into all of this, but Uncle Phil has no regrets about saving Will and would do it again.

Before going on stage, Steven tells Phil to remember that he has the knockout punch, in reference to Wilkes' affair.

Phil and Fred take the stage for the debate. For his opening statement, Phil explains that he launched his campaign with his family at his side. As a husband and father, he's strived to put his family ahead of all else. And while he's failed at times, he hasn't today, because he's withdrawing from the race, much to the crowd's surprise. He made his decision wholeheartedly because he's confident that Fred will be the greatest DA that the city has ever had. After giving his full support to Wilkes, Phil joins his family and tells Viv to promise him that she'll take the fellowship.

## 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
* Vernee Watson-Johnson as Janice

Guest Starring* Duane Martin as Steven Lewis
* Karrueche Tran as Ivy
* Joe Holt as Fred Wilkes
* Ben Cain as Reverend Robert Lamonte
* Dorian Harewood as Judge Carl Robertson
* Scottie Thompson as Angela Wilkes

Co-Starring* Taani Fuahala as Security Guard
* Fernanda Kelly as Moderator

## Soundtrack

 *Day 'N' Nite* | Kid Cudi
 *Hopscotch* | OPAL
 *Go* | Love, Mae C.
 *Time Moves Slow* | BADBADNOTGOOD & Sam T. Herring