Keep Ya Head Up

**Keep Ya Head Up** is the second episode of the first season of Peacock's modern-day reinterpretation, *Bel-Air*. It aired on February 13, 2022.

## Synopsis

Will finds he doesn't fit in at his new school; the Banks family starts to adjust to life with Will.

## Plot

By the time Will and Carlton return home, Aunt Viv has already watched the viral fight of the two of them at Connor's party. When Will mentions Lisa, Aunt Viv comes to understand the root of their issues, sending both Will and Carlton to their rooms.

Vivian joins Phillip in his study, where he reveals that Connor's mother attempted to extort money from them by threatening to press charges against Will, but Phillip convinced her to stand down after pointing out that she and her husband allowed a bunch of drug and alcohol-fueled kids to throw a party on their property. Phillip doesn't know how much more he can tolerate. All this is bound to affect the campaign, and maybe Will just isn't cut out for Bel-Air, but Vivian reminds him that he can't go back to Philly. When Phillip questions why they're working so hard to save a boy that doesn't want to be saved, Vivian replies that they owe it to him, and she knows in her heart that he's not a lost cause, but if he doesn't respond in a way that makes them both comfortable, they're going to kick him out. However, when they enter Will's room, they find him crying after learning that his friend Tray got shot.

Carlton is still upset about the beating he took from Will, especially since now he has a black eye, but Hilary and Ashley are rather amused by the entire ordeal. Will joins them and Hilary asks about his friend, who Will has since learned only suffered a shoulder wound and will be okay. The morning takes a bit of a lighter turn when Will expresses how impressed he is with Hilary's cooking. She was thinking about using this very same recipe for the taste test of her Haute Cuisine interview, even as Vivian advises her to pick something a little fancier, though Hilary wishes to remain true to her brand. She'll never be a star if she does the same as everyone else, with Will adding that she can't rise if all she does is play white, which is a shot at Carlton. Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil keep the tension from escalating and instruct them to leave last night in the past.

Will tries to reason with Carlton about the prior night's fight, but Carlton's only interested in Will's apology, which Will has no intention of giving, considering that Carlton started the fight. Refusing to apologize, Carlton tells Will to find his own ride. Aunt Viv overhears the conversation and advises Will not to act before he thinks, to drop the "street code bullshit" and to be the Will that charmed West Philly with his charm and talent, before giving him her Lexus to drive to school.

Upon arriving at school, Will leaves Tray a message to check in on him and apologize about how it all went down. If he could change it, he would.

Will enters his first class of the day, unaware of the assembly and that being the reason as to why the classroom is empty. He heads into the hall, where he is confronted and chased through the school hallways by security. Will unintentionally runs out onto the auditorium's stage, where Carlton is holding the assembly. He welcomes Will on stage and asks for his help to decide on the new initiative to support, asking Will to tell them about the public school he attended in Philly and how it lacked in many ways. This is why Carlton believes they should sponsor struggling public schools. He then privately warns Will not to start with him, as demonstrated during the assembly, he runs the school.

As planned, Phillip sits down for an interview with Big Boy, during which he reveals he grew up on a farm in Yamacraw, North Carolina. He saw his parents lose most of their farmland to eminent domain because they didn't know how to fight it, but when he got his law degree, one of his first court cases was in Yamacraw, and he got his parents money for the land that was taken when he was a boy. He's also won several class action cases against slumlords. Given that he's the only black candidate for DA, big boy believes that gives him a responsibility for to speak to their community, and he gives Phillip the chance to do that by accepting calls, though the callers only seem to be interested in money.

Will seeks to join the basketball team, but Coach Johnson is reluctant to allow Will on his team after seeing his fight with Carlton and Connor. However, he is at least willing to allow Will to try-out tomorrow after school.

Will finds Lisa in the hallway, who tells him that when she broke up with Carlton, it's all anyone could talk about for months. He was their heartbroken hero and she was the cold-hearted bitch, and she doesn't want to be involved in that again, which Will understands, but Carlton's been telling people he knocked Will in the pool on accident and that Will got out and attacked him. Will is hoping she will tell everyone the truth, but in doing that, she'd be exposing herself to more criticism. Even if she did help, she's not sure if it will do much, as Carlton's word is like gospel to the school. Not only is he the captain of the lacrosse team and junior class president, but he is also charming.

Hilary prepares a taste test for the two interviewers from Haute Cuisine. While they're impressed, before they can move forward with an offer, she must first be okay with their requirements: they would want to weigh in on her wardrobe for more neutral colors and before she could post anything, she'd have to submit it for review. However, Hilary draws the lines when they tell her to tone down the spices in her cooking.

Will makes is first friend outside of Lisa at Bel-Air Academy, that being Tyler Laramy, who shows up for class and is accused of being late by Mr. Clark, though he retorts that time is nothing more than an arbitrary social construct, forcing Mr. Clark to relent. Will is impressed and introduces himself. Tyler remarks that it's an honor, as he's been wanting to punch Connor since the sixth grade.

Connor confronts Will on his way to class and shows him the restraining order he filed against him. Backing Connor's move, Carlton approaches, though Will has no more fight left in him and apologizes to Carlton, now realizing that Bel-Air Academy is in fact his school and domain, but Carlton is no longer interested in an apology now that Lisa has been telling everyone that Carlton attacked Will out of jealousy. He and Lisa haves made him look weak, so he challenges Will to a fair fight, but Will refuses, realizing that it's a lose-lose situation.

Vivian asks why Hilary turned down Haute Cuisine's offer. She did so because she wasn't willing to accept some of their requirements. This job would put Hilary on the map, as far as Vivian is concerned, not to mention that she called in a favor for this interview, but Hilary wants to build towards something on her own terms. Ashley remarks that she's basically giving up her soul, and Hilary agrees. They want her to tone down her signature recipe because it's too dynamic for their core audience, i.e. white people. Vivian advises Hilary to push back and negotiate, as no one gets through life without having to negotiate, similar to how her mother became an art history teacher instead of being an actual artist, Hilary crudely remarks.

Will calls Jazz to help him practice for try-outs tomorrow. However, Will is off his game, which doesn't go unnoticed by Jazz, who inquiries further. Will is vague in details, but tells Jazz the gist of what went down in Philly; how he pulled out a gun after a basketball game, which resulted in him moving to Bel-Air. Jazz can relate, as he too has seen some things he can't shake either.

Vivian gets a call from Vy, who has learned of Will and Carlton's fight, though Vivian assures Vy that she handled it. If Tray hadn't gotten shot, she'd bring Will home now, but the streets are dangerous. Will probably has to stay with them until at least Christmas break, so she'll be sending his stuff out.

Phillip looks to Geoffrey for advice on how to handle Will. Geoffrey advises him to give him some real time to adjust, as it was quite the culture shock for him when he left Jamaica for London, as a boy. But Phillips fears the more time they give him, the more trouble he's going to get in, but Geoffrey has seen him in his unguarded moments and believes that Will is at least trying.

Uncle Phil takes Geoffrey's advice and joins Will on the court, though Will is still struggling with his game. Will explains that his arrest is like a movie playing over in his head. He's thrown to the ground, handcuffed, picked up like garbage and placed in a car. And the whole time, he knows that any sudden movement and they'll take his life. And every time he touches a ball, it plays over again. Will's encounter with the law is proof of how broken the system is, but Will argues that the system is doing exactly what it was designed to do, despite Uncle Phil's claims that it's at least gotten better. He talks Will out of quitting and tells him that the easiest way to get back in the game is when they get out of their own heads. Will does just that and begins making shots, several in a row, all the while Carlton watches angrily from afar.

Will FaceTime's Tray, who reveals that Rashad is still looking for him, under the impression that Will is in Philly. But it was Tray who they caught outside of Papi's, though he is healing and assures Will that he's fine.

Lisa tells Carlton that she has no intention of stirring anything up between him and Will, and she wishes he would stop bringing her into it. She then notices Xanax residue on his nose, though she insists that it's no longer her problem and says that Will doesn't deserve Carlton's wrath. He can't believe she would flip on him, considering they've known each other since grade school and that she barely knows Will. Lisa simply tells Carlton to get away from Connor and get some help, but he ignores her advice and instead tells her to keep clear of Will.

Will joins Tyler in class and asks him about Coach Johnson and if the try-outs are just another set up for him to get played. Tyler assures Will that Coach Johnson is a straight shooter and that Will can earn a spot if he really wants it. Coach is all about work and hustling hard, but he also warns Will against showboating.

Hilary goes on live to talk to her followers about the high profile job she turned down from Haute Cuisine after they attempted to force her to change her recipes, which are part of her culture. She also outs them for saying her ethnic family wasn't their target audience.

Will attends try-outs as planned, and while he may get off to a rough start, Will eventually recovers, not only scoring but passing the ball, revealing that he's a team player. This is enough to convince Coach Johnson of his skills and earn him a spot on the team.

After try-outs, Will goes to the P.T. room for an ice bath, where he runs into Carlton, who can't believe that Will hustled his way into the athletics department. Carlton tries to get in Will's head, but Will's already in his, and it's only a matter of time before Will's running the school, grabbing up every girl that mistook Carlton for cool, and taking up the throne people made Carlton think he was worthy of.

Will is approached by security, who asks to search his bag. Will is reluctant, but eventually hands over his bag rather than running, as he did before. However, security finds a small baggie of drugs, which Will insists someone planted. Unbeknownst to him, it was Connor, who shares this detail with Carlton.

## 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
* SteVonté Hart as Tray Melbert
* Big Boy as Himself
* Tyler Barnhardt as Connor Satterfield
* Charlie Hall as Tyler Laramy

Co-Starring* Rachel Leyco as Chloe
* Bayley Corman as Hannah Lennox
* Ariel Yasmine as Sabrina
* Justin Morck as Security Guard
* Lauren Cook as Editor in Chief
* Troy Hussmann as Social Media Manager
* James Thomas Gilbert as Mr. Clark
* Sam Daly as Coach Johnson