The Family That Preys

**The Family That Preys** is the seventh episode of *The Savages'* second season and the fifteenth episode overall. It premiered on August 1, 2016.

After getting suspended, Alex and Gina are forced to bring their families together to stay with The Savages, but conflicts arise when Andres returns. Trae and Zachary's relationship is on the rocks when secrets and truths come to light during a family dinner. Carl pushes Eli to a dangerous point with his family, while Sydney questions Gabe's intentions with her.

## Plot

The episode begins with a flashback to the night of Felix's murder. Zachary sits inside of a white van, trying to fathom what happened that night. When his mother calls to check on him, he covers his tracks with an alibi. At the end of the flashback, Carl gets inside of the van and asks Zachary if he's alright and drives him back home. Zachary awakens from a nightmare related to this flashback; he vomits from drug withdrawals. Once he enters the bathroom, he reflects on the pain he endures mentally, emotionally, and physically, and it's clear that his father is an easy trigger for him.

That same morning at James A. Masters High School, Trae and Sydney are the only two members of The Savages in attendance. Prior to The Savages' fight with The Glamouflage, everyone involved were caught on video during the altercation, and received suspensions and a mandatory parent conference. An angered Trae condemns the incident, and also notices Sydney's chipper, happier attitude. Instantly, Trae assumes that she's dating someone new. Sydney admits she went on a date with Gabe, but Trae is disgusted, while encouraging her, calling him an obnoxious person.

Prior to Alex's suspension from school, he wakes up to an intervention from his parents Maria and Armando. They confront him for his altercation with The Glamouflage, and disapproved of his changing behavior after befriending The Savages. They also question Alex's lack of dedication to his future, and Alex admits his disinterest in going to college, thus, giving his parents the chance to prohibit him from constantly socializing with The Savages. However, once Alex discusses his relationship with Gina, he and his parents make a deal that he can get time off of his punishment if they meet Gina's parents. At Gina's house, she faces the consequences of her suspension by a lecture from her mother Loretta, who is eager for her to apply and attend Yale University and fears the filmed altercation would affect her chances. Her father Samuel, less strict and more supportive, encourages Gina to defend herself and says he's proud of her.

Sydney faces a dilemma during her meeting with the JAM Student Council as Gabe appoints her as the co-secretary, partnering with Sis on the spot. Sis is defeated by this decision, while Gabe praises Sydney's work ethic in the club and considers Sis' focus on The Red Hot Cheer Peppers. Sis quits and storms out of the meeting. Maya introduces herself to Sydney and playfully informs her of Gabe's charisma, assuming that he's into her. She also reveals that Gabe and Sis share a romantic history, which could be the reason of their tensions in the council. Sydney is baffled by this, as Gabe didn't explain their history. Once she gains knowledge, she fears she'll be a casualty in Gabe's dating past. Surprisingly, it is revealed that Kyler is dating Sis, as he calms her down. After Sis leaves, Trae confronts him for selling Zachary drugs, and accuses him of enabling Zachary's anxiety disorder. Their exchange turns slightly physical when Trae gives him an ultimatum. Once Trae walked away, Zachary ironically texts Kyler for more drugs.

Joe confronts The Glamouflage for fighting The Savages without his consent, but the clique specifically places blame on Nate for instigating it. Joe is infuriated with Nate for making decisions without his input, while he justifies his actions by confronting Joe for working with Trae at a time of rivalry. Joe threatens to kick Nate out of the Glamouflage if he goes behind his back again.

Carl gets grounded by for his antics in the fight with The Glamouflage, and his parents also consider The Savages bad influences on his behavior. Carl, later on, finally confronts Eli addressing that he "knows who he is" and knows his true motives. Eli 0puts Carl in a chokehold, explaining his motives of killing his entire family if his father doesn't pay up the money he owes (as assumed in *The Wild Ride*). The next day, Carl, Alex, and Gina's families attend a mandatory parent conference, but family feuds ensue between Alex's mother Maria and Gina's mother Loretta as they tackle race relations and stereotypes. However, Alex and Gina's fathers both get along with each other. Armando invites Gina's parents to a reserved dinner with Alex's family, and although his father agrees, he knows Loretta won't.

As the remainder of the Savages are reinstated after the fight, Trae and Sydney confront all of them for making brash decisions on behalf of their clique. However, the clique clashes with The Glamouflage (sans Joe) once again in the school hallways when several members bump into Carl on purpose. Both Trae and Joe try to reason with their cliques and advise them to stop. In the cafeteria that day, Zachary approaches Trae asking if he were mad at him, prior to their fallout after Trae finds his drugs. Trae lets Zachary know that he isn't mad at him, but needed space to grasp Zachary's drug problem, and wants him to be careful with abusing it. Zachary eventually invites Trae over to his house for their Marvel film marathon, with the idea that they'd be home alone. Trae approves, as long as it's drug-free.

After a successful meeting with the JAM Council, Sydney relishes in her new role as the secretary, and receives praise from Maya and Gabe for her contributions to the extracurricular. Gabe and Sydney hold a rather flirtatious conversation, but Sydney questions Gabe about his romantic past with Sis, feeling that she's stuck in the middle of a lingering connection. Gabe admits that their relationship was very toxic and rather one-sided, describing Sis as very self-absorbed. Once Gabe decided to break things off with her, she became bitter and it affected their dynamic in the council. Sydney is convinced by his story, and the two kiss each other for the first time, leaving Sydney with the lovebug.

Later that night, both families go to a Chinese restaurant together for the sake of Alex and Gina's relationship, and ironically, Maria and Loretta start to warm up to one another as they realize their similarities in motherhood and marriage. The dinner turns amicable for the parents, but tormenting for Alex and Gina, who are caught by surprise when Alex's cousin Andres and his girlfriend, and Alex's ex-girlfriend, Marisol pay a visit. Andres privately tells his family that he plans to propose to Marisol. Although Alex proves to have moved on from Marisol, and it is a family tradition to get married in the Herrera family, Alex feels marriage is far-fetched. Gina's parents, particularly Samuel, invites the Herrera family to their house for the remainder of the night so Andres can propose there.

The Herrera family and the Woods family eventually come together and get along, singing karaoke and the parents get drunk. Alex, meanwhile, accidentally goes into Gina's bedroom and discovers her scarlet letter. When he finds out what it means, Gina opens up about her sexual assault and abusive ex-boyfriend. Realizing the truth, Alex promises her that he would never hurt her. Gina, however, opens up about her lack fo trust and her fear that telling him about her past would cause him to push away, especially because of Marisol's visit. She admits she feels damaged and wants Alex to understand her life is very complex.

After ending a phone call with Carl, Trae arrives at Zachary's house, but is blindsided by his mother Kelly being there. She insists that Trae stays over for dinner, and he agrees, much to Zachary's anxiety and chagrin. With Zachary's father returning home from work anytime soon, Trae and Zachary's mother develop a rapport that causes Zachary to find snarky ways to get Trae to go home before it's too late. Zachary's father William then arrives home, and Trae meets him, he slowly realizes from his traumatic flashbacks that Zachary's father is the police officer who shot him during the riot. By looking at Zachary, he could tell that he knew and didn't say anything. Trae abruptly leaves, and Zachary chases after him. Trae confronts him for knowing the truth; as Zachary pleads and tells him that he loves him, Trae breaks up with him and leaves. The incident is overheard by Zachary's parents, who confront him for telling Trae that he loved him.

This instance causes Zachary to finally come out to his parents. His mother remains speechless, but his father goes on a very homophobic, disturbing tirade, calling him a disgrace and telling him that he didn't raise a gay son. As a result, he physically attempts to shove Zachary out of the house. As Zachary fights him off, his father pushes him down, and it urges Zachary to leave. With no one else to call, he relies on Lily, who gives him a place to stay at her house.

At Carl's house, he deals with the repercussions of his punishment, including having no cellphone interaction, and ends up overhearing a very intense conversation between his father and Eli. Outside, Eli makes one final threat for his father to pay up the remaining $25 grand, which, in a flashback, shows Eric had to end up hiding somewhere else after the events of The Savages in Oregon. Eli admits that he wouldn't kill Carl's father because it'd be too easy, and psychologically torturing his family is just enough. He threatens to kill his family, including Carl, if he doesn't get the money back.

Zachary temporarily moves into Lily's house in her guest room, but the two open up about his incident with his parents, and his break-up with Trae. Lily tells him that Trae would've found out about his father eventually, and that he's experienced many troubles after getting shot. Their conversation revolves around homophobia and racism, as it is revealed that Lily received a scarlet letter that came with surprising information about her father. She finds out that her father may have been a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the past, despite the fact that Lily hasn't witnessed any racism from her family before. Meanwhile, Zachary introduces Lily to the MDMA drug, and both of them face a new high.

Andres faces anxiety with proposing to Alex, admitting that marrying Marisol would help him find a new family, in case his mother, and Alex's aunt, doesn't survive her breast cancer. He admits that she isn't doing well, and the cancer is progressing. Alex, then, encourages him to propose, especially if he really loves Marisol. As the families continue to get along, Andres proposes to her and Marisol says yes.

Trae confides in his mother Stacey when he tells her that Zachary's father is the one who shot him, feeling betrayed and lied to. When Stacey considers pressing charges, he advises her not to, admitting that his shooting was swept under the rug as soon as Rose De Vil left office, and no one cares about it. It is revealed that he faces nightmares and random flashbacks regarding his shooting and the day of the riot, but he refuses to open up and talk about it.

The next day, Sydney confirms her relationship with Gabe, but agrees to take baby steps, but afterwards, Sis warns her about Gabe's charming ways, claiming that he's told her the same things. This revelation makes Sydney angry and once again, leaves her questioning if Gabe genuinely likes her. Trae, meanwhile, ignores Zachary's presence, and Carl gives out new information about Eli and his intentions with his family. Trae is overwhelmed by this information and goes to the bathroom to take a mental break before classes begin, but while he's listening to music to calm down, the police abruptly enter the building with a warrant issued for several students, which are Sydney, Alex, Gina, Carl, Lily, and Zachary. Besides Trae, the six members are under arrest for the murder of Felix Winchester, but Lily is confused with why she's been arrested.

As the members are escorted out of the school building by police officers, the students and staff watch in confusion, and Trae leaves out of the bathroom witnessing the situation in awe and confusion. The moment triggers Trae's PTSD, and he ends up rushing back into the bathroom to vomit. The Savages are then stopped by Detective Jacqui Sinclair, who informs them that they have a lot of explaining to do with Felix Winchester's murder.

In a flashback, Lily is seen at Felix Winchester's party the night of his death, and she is in Mike Daugherty's car drunkenly confessing her adoration for him. While it appears one-sided, he asks about Trae, which makes Lily assume that he likes him. Denying this, she tells him to prove it, thus Mike reels her in for a kiss. While they kiss each other, she receives numerous phone notifications: several missed calls from Sydney, Alex, and Gina, and a text from an unknown number saying, "It's done."

## Songs

### Unreleased Songs

* **Conga** by *Gloria Estefan & The Sound Machine*. Sung by Loretta Woods and Maria Herrera.

## Trivia

* This episode includes the first vocal performances from characters Andres and Marisol.
* This episode features 24 major guest stars, and it is the first to have the most guest stars in its star billing.
	+ Other episodes with a lot of guest stars are *The Beast Unleashed* (23), *The School For Scandal* (22), *The Roman Holiday* (21), and *The Psychological Warfare* (20).
* This episode is reportedly one of the longest episodes written in the series.
* Gina, Lily, and Zachary's fathers are each individually introduced, although Zachary's father appeared in previous episodes.
* This episode is the first in the series to feature more than 7 songs, and to date, it is the first to have 8 songs.
* Several season parallels.
	+ Zachary shares the first performance and solo, as well as a duet with another character.
		- In episode 7 of Season 1, Zachary sings Happy Little Pill in the beginning, and sings Disturbia/Radioactive with Trae.
		- In this episode, Zachary sings Numb in the beginning, and sings (There's Gotta Be) More to Life with Lily Blossom.
	+ Characters have been suspended from school due to an altercation, but is reinstated in the same episode.
		- Trae gets suspended after a fight with Felix, but returns the day of the riot.
		- The Savages (sans Trae and Sydney) and The Glamouflage (sans Joe) are all suspended after fighting each other and a video is released. They all return the day after.
	+ Family members are heavily involved in both episodes.
	+ A first kiss is involved in both episodes.
		- Trae kisses Zachary for the first time.
		- Sydney kisses Gabe for the first time, and Mike kisses Lily for the first time (in a flashback).

## Cultural References

* Kelly Foxx references the horror film franchise *Scream* after Trae reveals that he wants to be a writer. She mentions the franchise's popular character Gale Weathers, who was also portrayed by actress Courteney Cox.
* Iesha mentions rapper Cardi B's viral Vine video that mentions "A hoe never gets cold."

## Guest Cast

* Paula Patton as Detective Jacqui Sinclair

**Guest Stars*** Matt Dillon as Eric Touché
* Javier Bardem as Armando Herrera
* Jeremy Sisto as Samuel "Ace" Woods
* Anika Noni Rose as Loretha "Deuce" Woods
* Anthony Michael Hall as Russell Valance
* Constance Marie as Maria Herrera
* Kelly Rowan as Karen Touché
* Joseph Sikora as Eli Hawk/Scott Deegan
* Brian Van Holt as William Foxx
* Diego Boneta as Andres Rivera
* Francia Raisa as Marisol De La Cruz
* Luke Bilyk as Rufus King
* Taron Egerton as Mike Daugherty
* Dave Franco as Viktor Nichols
* Ryan Kelley as Kyler Chase
* Hayley Kiyoko as Claudia Wu
* Brittany O'Grady as Maya Hastings
* Sasha Pieterse as Sis Davenport
* Addison Riecke as Alyssa Tanner
* Rita Volk as Cass Everett
* and Michael Michele as Stacey Ventura

**Co-Stars*** Cocoa Brown as Toni Haynes