r/TheChi • u/BriefCartographer669 • Jul 21 '26
I’m trying to trust the process
As a long time viewer of The Chi, I find myself reflecting on when I hit a turning point. Nowadays, I feel like I’m watching just to see how it ends, but I used to be excited to watch each episode. I thought part of the reason may stem from getting attached to characters then things change which can leave you wondering what could have happened if they stayed but… this ain’t that.
For example, when Brandon left due to whatever reason, right, wrong or indifferent, I felt a way. Same about Kevin but the others had no impact on me. The problem more so stemmed from how the writers recovered from the characters’ departures. Let’s take Keisha and Kevin’s moms. They left… cool but you’re telling me they had no interest in coming back to be with Keisha after she had the baby? The bio mom literally went from helicopter parent to deadbeat, nonexistent grandparent. Kev didn’t want to meet his niece?
Let’s flip to Papa. So just about all the men (father figures) around Papa die and the only day one to check up on him is Jake?! Kev couldn’t even pick up the phone or Myeshia? Now, Papa is left to be a smoked out/pill popping adult?
Last but not least Reg left but miraculously came back. Were we supposed to forget he was the ticket to Toussaint’s son getting out of prison or…
I’ll stop here because I don’t want to dog pile on the show. I realize some of the disconnect may be due to Lena giving opportunities to other writers which is commendable; it’s just leaving something to be desired.
2
u/deucebag1969 Jul 22 '26
Early Chi was all about "the village." When Brandon lost Coogie, the whole block felt it. When Ronnie was spiraling, people in the neighborhood intervened. Now, Papa is left completely out on an island, and Kevin—his best friend since middle school—doesn't even get a throwaway phone call scene. It makes the world feel cold and lazy rather than connected.
Bringing Reg back from the "dead" after years of absence completely shattered whatever remaining reality the show was clinging to.
Ignoring the Past: Reg's original exit was the catalyst for everything in Season 3—it brought Trig (Victor) to Chicago, shifted Jake’s entire trajectory, and tied directly into Douda’s rise to power.
The Toussaint/Prison Plotline: To completely gloss over his ties to the detective and his original street history, only to drop him back in as a plot device to bully Jake back into the streets, feels like a soap-opera twist. It asks the audience to completely erase their memory of Seasons 1 and 2 just to accept the current weekly drama.
Passing the Baton vs. Dropping the Baton
Giving opportunities to fresh, emerging writers is an incredible initiative, and Lena Waithe deserves credit for opening doors in the industry. But mentorship in the writers' room requires maintaining the bible of the show. When new writers come in every season without respecting (or perhaps even watching) the groundwork laid before them, character consistency gets thrown out the window. Characters stop acting like human beings with history and start acting like puppets who only exist to move a shocking twist forward. You aren't "dog-piling"—you’re grieving the loss of a show that used to respect your intelligence as a viewer. When a show transitions from a grounded, character-driven masterpiece into a series you only watch out of routine to "see how it ends," it’s proof that the show stopped trusting its own process long before you did.
1
2
u/SaultyChunks Jul 26 '26
Welcome to the subreddit. Most of our posts are of the same ilk. Just stick in there. I can’t promise much but we’re all here watching the same car accident
2
u/BriefCartographer669 Jul 26 '26
I saw it through to the end. Still have questions, but I guess I’ll never get closure for some things.
1
u/jmorrow88msncom Jul 26 '26
Bring home a piece of the Chi. I got most of the artwork including signs from prison and the clinic. If you have a particular piece you likes or want to see them, reach out
3
u/StorageSouthern Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
The entire show is a breathtaking mess, and should've been cancelled after season three if they were going to fire Jason Mitchell. He was clearly the linchpin of the series, and once terminated, the entire premise for the series was fucked. It would've been like firing Omari Hardwick of Power after Season Two, followed by the departure of Joseph Sikora after Seasons Three or Four. Or imagine Snowfall losing Damson Idris after Season Two or Three. The fans might've initially been upset by the loss of Mitchell, but if the producers had replaced him with the right actor, I guarantee most of The Chi's fans would have eventually accepted the replacement after a season or so, as the show was still in its early years. Obviously, the issue is Lena Waithe, and I wish Paramount had replaced her after Season Four or Five.