Payback's A B*tch

**Payback's A B\*tch** is the seventh episode of the first season of Peacock's modern-day reinterpretation, *Bel-Air*. It aired on March 10, 2022.

## Synopsis

Will and Carlton throw a house party at the Banks mansion; Viv and Phil attend an art event.

## Plot

Uncle Phil calls Will into his office to discuss his relationship with Lisa. Meanwhile, Fred gives Lisa a ride to practice as he questions her relationship with Will and just how close they are to each other. Admittedly, they have a vibe going on, according to Will, but Uncle Phil asks if he told her about Philly and suggests that Will put some space between himself and Lisa, who refuses to be her father's spy. Fred insists that's not what he wants, and like Phil, he wants Lisa to create some distance from Will and the Banks family, at least until the election is over. However, this doesn't stop Will and Lisa from meeting up at school to sneak a few moments together, during which Lisa tells Will that they have to tell Carlton the truth about their relationship.

Monica bet Phanta $20 that Hilary wouldn't post that Thirsty Chef video, but she can admit when she's wrong. However, Hilary doesn't know what she means. She filmed it, but she hasn't decided if she will post the video. Unbeknownst to Hilary, Kylo has already taken the liberty of posting it himself, but not before remixing the footage to make it more sexual. Monica explains that Kylo doesn't need permission, as everything recorded in the house is in the cloud and fair game. Not to mention that showcasing her sexuality can be liberating. But black women are already hypersexualized, Hilary retorts, and that's not her brand. While Monica doesn't always agree with Kylo's methods, she learned to keep an open mind when Oprah's team called her for a book deal.

Philip and Steven inform Vivian that they have to put more of their money into the campaign after the donations have begun to slow down. Viv is cautious and asks if there's a limit to how much they're going to sink into this. She also asks for some time to think about it, but Steven reveals that they already transferred the money, angering Viv, who realizes that Philip isn't asking her, he's telling her, essentially meaning that her opinion doesn't matter.

Carlton is struggling to perform at lacrosse practice. Connor confronts him for performing poorly all week, leading Coach Denning to suggest that he practice with the scrimmage team, as Connor remarks that "lacrosse is still one sport *they* can't take away from us." Fueled by anger from Connor's remark, Carlton collides with Connor on the field, knocking him to the ground and injuring his wrist.

Will finds Carlton after hearing he broke Connor's wrist. They threw his stuff in the shower in retaliation, and Carlton fears that Connor is going to turn the whole school against him. Admittedly, Carlton did injure him on purpose, but now, everyone seems to hate him, which Will can relate to, as he endured a similar experience when he first moved to Bel-Air, which Carlton apologizes for. Will advises Carlton to get past this and even comes up with an idea to help.

Will intends to throw a party at the mansion. He's invited the basketball team and cheerleading squad, but Carlton is hesitant, informing Will how Hilary was grounded for six months after she threw a wild party the summer before her senior year. She and her friend almost burned down the guest house. Will assures Carlton that everything will go as planned.

Hilary shows her mother the Thirsty Chef video Kylo uploaded without her permission. Hilary's been trying to tell him to take it down, but he's not responding to her texts. She asks how long her father will be before his meeting is over, but Viv has no idea. Not that it matters, as she already knows he'll drop everything and go to battle for Hilary and handle whatever penalty necessary to get her out of that contract, but Viv doesn't know if that's the best solution. She believes that Hilary should rescue herself. When Phil does finally arrive, Hilary tells her father that she's good now, intent on handling her own problem. When Hilary leaves, Viv tells Phil on her way out that she's decided to go to the San Diego Modern Art Fair. She didn't tell him sooner in response to him and the campaign money. Phil apologizes, but Viv tells him that this is more about her doing something for herself, which he supports.

Geoffrey returns with recon on Reid and informs Phil that he's also going to be at the San Diego Modern Art Fair. While Phil has full trust in Viv, Reid has a reputation, Geoffrey has discovered.

Vivian arrives in San Diego and joins Reid at the Modern Art Fair. He has to finishing with a few final details but tells Viv that people are dying to talk to her.

As planned, Will and Carlton have thrown a party at the family mansion, though not a lot of people have showed up yet. After the party of the year, Will says that Carlton will reinvent himself and prove that he doesn't need Connor to thrive. Will then grabs the mic and welcomes all those in attendance.

Vivian and Reid celebrate over drinks. Reid informs Viv that she has created a lot of excitement, and people are even saying she'd be an ideal candidate for the Neema Artistic Fellowship. Viv is in disbelief, even more so when they are suddenly joined by Philip.

Hilary has been left in charge to ensure that Will's party doesn't get too out of control. Jazz arrives and offers to keep Hilary company. He's seen her Thirsty Chef video, which he didn't think was her brand. She admits that it's not, but before telling him everything, she grabs a drink.

Philip understands that this event is important for Vivian and doesn't intend to get in the way of that. He just didn't like how they left things and thought this could be a good opportunity to spend some time together, as he's already canceled his campaign meetings and left Hilary in charge of the house and Geoffrey in charge of Ashley. Phil proposes they have some quality time together, but they are interrupted by Reid. Phil takes this opportunity to confront Reid about his past with several other up-and-coming artists. However, Reid denies any wrongdoing and tells Phil that his only interest in Viv is strictly professional.

Lisa arrives at the party after lying to her dad and telling him that she was hanging with Rachel. Will wants to kiss Lisa, but for the time being, they have to pretend they're not together. Will still intends to tell Carlton, but now isn't a good time, as Carlton's had a rough enough day as it is.

Carlton is watching TikTok videos with a girl from school named Aisha, who remarks that he's much cooler than his reputation proceeds. They say that he's a sellout because of his friends, his choice of drugs, and hobbies. Not to mention that he doesn't even make an effort to get to know them. He's never even been to a BSU meeting. Carlton takes offense to her accusations and leaves.

Philip and Vivian return to their hotel room, where he says that he's proud of her, but she tells him that if he was curious about Reid, all he had to do was ask. Phil replies that it was his instinct to protect her. Viv proposes they have an honest conversation. She enjoys spending time with Reid, because he makes her feel so alive; he looks at her art like it's a rare gift that she's depriving the world of, and she loves how that makes her feel. Many people have asked her over the years if she's going to return to her art, but Phil never has.

Hilary and Jazz find two kids making out in her father's office and kick them, before falling to the couch and kissing themselves. However, Hilary gets a message telling her that Kylo is at an influencer event in Hollywood. She intends to go there and demand that he take the video down.

Viv gave up on her dreams in order to be the best mother and wife, because she couldn't do both. Phil was simply trying to help when he told her that she no longer had to work. While she appreciated it at the time, a part of her now resents him for it. Phil asks what he should have done differently back then. She just wishes Phil would've told her to hold on and not to quit. Phil got the need to come down to San Diego and save her, but the real rescue she needed was 15 years ago.

Will approaches Carlton, who isn't in the greatest of moods. Things didn't go well with Aisha, and Will's entire plan was simply a bad idea. No one is just going to allow him to be a new person. While he appreciates Will's effort, Carlton just wants to be left alone.

Hilary and Jazz arrive at the influencer party in Hollywood, where she personally confronts Kylo to demand that he take down the post. It was never his intention to be disrespectful, and he was simply juicing the algorithm, which paid off. People are loving Thirsty Chef. However, Hilary has no intention of building an audience from gimmicks and clickbait, but when she is approached by two influencers, who salute her for her recent video, she begins to reconsider. Furthermore, Kylo reveals that he was just talking to some bigwigs from Victoria Secrets who wanted to meet Hilary. Jazz pressures him to take the video down once more, but Hilary at least wants to hear what they have to say.

Lisa joins Will with some drinks and tells him how sweet of him it was to throw a party to build Carlton up, except now, Carlton's more troubled than before. Lisa admits that he's had a hard time finding his people. Not having a black friend group to escape up to, on top of being the only black kid, makes it exceptionally hard, but Will didn't think of it that way, as he's been surrounded by black people his entire life. Whereas in Bel-Air, they've had to battle every little racist comment and microaggressions. After a while, they just let it go and started pushing it down, which resulted in Carlton taking anxiety pills and snorting Xanax. Carlton's not going to change overnight, so Lisa tells Will to be patient with him.

Will takes Lisa up to his room to charge her phone and look around. She admires this other side of Will, from his trophies to his book selection. He shows Lisa a picture of his mom and tells her that the crown necklace he wears is a gift from his mother, who often tells him that his crown is waiting for him as soon as he finds the courage to wear it. She just wants what's best for him. Lisa wonders if this is why she sent him to Bel-Air. However, before he answers, he wants Lisa to reveal some personal stuff about her first.

Philip and Viv continue their honest conversation. When it came to her art, no one was a bigger fan than him, and he was proud to be by her side at every show. She was never more beautiful than when she was in her element, but she was struggling and being overwhelmed by her insecurities. While he may have opened the escape hatch, so to speak, she jumped right through without hesitation, as she could never convince herself she was good enough to keep going.

Carlton has invited John and the lacrosse team, with the exception of Connor, to his party. However, Connor shows up anyways despite not being invited by Carlton, who is willing to squash their beef, but only if Connor apologizes for all the racist and offensive remarks he's made. Connor refuses and leaves the party instead, but the team decides to stay. This doesn't go unnoticed by Aisha, who watches from the corner and salutes Carlton for standing his ground.

In an attempt to better get to know each other, Lisa reveals that her real name is Beulah. She was named after her grandmother, and Lisa is her middle name. Lisa then asks why he really came from Philly. Will lies and tells her that he came for a better education. Lisa admires his courage to leave his home and start over. She then kisses Will before moving over to his bed, where they have sex.

Phil proposes they go for a late night drive down the coast to clear their heads, but Vivian tells him to go home instead. She intends to rescue herself this time around.

Hilary joins Jazz at the bar and reveals they offered her 15k a post, but Jazz isn't impressed and retorts that you can't put a price on dignity. Hilary sees this as a major opportunity to build her following, and once she does, she can reach out to them with her content, but Jazz accuses her of selling out, which Hilary writes off as him simply not understanding social media, especially considering he didn't have one until he met her. Jazz understood enough for her to drag him down to Hollywood to have her back, he comments. She offers to give him gas money for his troubles, but he is insulted by her misunderstanding of his point.

Vivian joins Reid at the bar, who tells her that he understands if she needs to take a step back, but Viv actually wants to talk more about the Neeman Artistic Fellowship.

Will and Lisa lay in bed together after having sex. Will tells her that he doesn't care about their family's politics and that she's his girl no matter what.

Carlton heads upstairs in search of Will after getting a text from Connor, telling him that some new guests are about to arrive. However, before he can make it to Will's room, the police arrive, demanding to speak with the owner of the house. Carlton greets them, but they're slightly hostile. Meanwhile, Will and Lisa are laying in bed when they notice the music has stopped playing and police lights outside the house. They get dressed and head downstairs, where Carlton is being detained. Lisa introduces herself as Chief Wilkes' daughter and even hands the officer her phone to speak with him, which results in the cops simply leaving after shutting the party down. After having witnessed Lisa and Will come down the steps together, Carlton realizes that they were just together.

## 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 (credit only)
* Simone Joy Jones as Lisa Wilkes
* Jordan L. Jones as Jazz
* Adrian Holmes as Phillip Banks
* Duane Martin as Steven Lewis
* Joe Holt as Fred Wilkes
* Tyler Barnhardt as Connor Satterfield
* Jon Beavers as Kylo

Co-Starring* Andi René Christensen as Monica
* Scot Ruggles as Coach Denning
* Nia Sondaya as Aisha
* Daniel Kim as John
* Paris Nicole as Pop & Lock Girl
* Andrew Hwang as Officer Cho
* Al Coronel as Officer Lopez
* Shiobann Amisial as Female Influencer
* Christen Harris as Male Influencer