The Chi: Jacob Latimore & Birgundi Baker Break Down the Series Finale + Review

One thing I will say right away is that you can feel the goodbyes in this episode from the very beginning. After eight seasons, The Chi has finally come to an end, and the series finale is packed with surprise returns, a wedding, emotional moments, unfinished storylines, and a lot of characters showing up one last time.

The episode starts with Tiff and Keisha being placed side by side, which I thought was interesting. Keisha tells Emmett that she has uninvited Tiff from the wedding, but Emmett reminds her that they can't just cut Tiff out of their lives, no matter who killed whose kid's father.

Keisha also doesn't want to have the wedding at Tiff's house, but with the wedding coming up so soon, Emmett decides to surprise her with a new location. He meets up with Victor, who is now out of prison, while Shaad is getting ready to move out. Emmett asks Victor and Shaad to be his groomsmen, and he also tells Shaad that he needs to borrow his new backyard for the wedding.

Then Tiff shows up at Kiesha's front door and simply says, "Hey."

I laughed out loud. But Kiesha lets her in, and the two finally have the conversation they should have had last week. Kiesha tells Tiff that she will forgive her eventually. Honestly, I still think that's crazy considering how Kiesha has been handling everything since finding out the truth, but I understand that these characters needed some kind of closure before the series ended.

Victor meets with Fatima and promises that he is going to stay out of trouble. He even asks her to be his date to the wedding, but she tells him that she is going as Isis' wing woman. Bakari and Brittney spend some time together, and Bakari tells her that he is ready to leave Chicago. He and Lanae want to move to Atlanta with her.

Emmett also tells Darnell about the dream he had about Jada and his decision to have the wedding at the house. This was another really touching father-and-son moment. I have really enjoyed the relationship between Emmett and Darnell this season. I honestly thought the wedding was going to happen without Nina, but I understand how actors' schedules can affect a show. Riley stepping in to help Kiesha was actually a nice touch, especially because the show acknowledges that

Riley is basically filling in for Nina. But then... BOOM! Nina walks in. The reunion between Nina and Kiesha was really touching.

Hannibal also makes a surprise return in this episode, catching Angie off guard. He tells her that he understands she has moved on and doesn't want to be alone forever. They decide to go to the wedding together and make it their last dance.

Rafi also shows up at Smokey's looking for Bakari, telling Keith that they have unfinished business.

And honestly, seeing all of these random characters return was kind of hilarious. There were so many storylines to wrap up in one final episode that the show was bringing everybody back. Even Jake and his girlfriend are making plans to move in together.

I have never seen people get suits so quickly for a wedding they didn't even know they were attending, but I'll let it slide. Seeing Tiff at the wedding was also a surprise, and the memorial chair for Jada was a really touching addition.

Then Kev returns to walk his sister down the aisle. I loved seeing Dre, Maisha, and Tracy return for the wedding as well.

The wedding itself is beautiful and filled with happy tears, and keep in mind, this is only about 30 minutes into the episode.

Shaad and Victor give a really touching speech as the best men, and the pictures taken at the wedding honestly feel like a goodbye to the series as a whole. Nina, Kev, and Lanae. Emmett and his boys and Kev,Papa and Jake, The original trio.

This show is really over.

Tiff later invites her mother and EJ to move in with her, giving her storyline a much happier ending than I expected.

Jake and Victor then visit Reg in prison, and he tells them that sometimes you have to take one for the team. Watching the three of them break down and cry almost had me in tears.

Bakari and Lanae prepare to leave the house, and Kiesha comes by to say goodbye. As Kiesha looks at the empty house, she begins having flashbacks to all of the memories that happened there, including the birth of Ronnie and other important moments throughout the series.

Then everything takes a turn. As Bakari and Lanae are packing up the moving truck, Rafi pulls up and shoots Bakari.

And then we flash forward one year. Tiff and her family are happy. Shaad has his big, happy family. Reg is sitting in prison reading Bakari's book.

And then we find out that Bakari is alive, with a nice afro! He is living in Atlanta with Brittney and  Lanae, and they are expecting a child. That was definitely a great way to fake us out.

Smokey's has also expanded to Houston, Atlanta, and Vegas. The episode ends with a recreation of the original trio riding their bikes, this time with a new trio led by Devonte.

And that's how The Chi ends. After eight seasons, the show gave us a wedding, surprise returns, emotional goodbyes, a fake-out death, and a new generation ready to carry things forward.

I spoke with stars Jacob Latimore and Birgundi Baker about the end. Check out our interview below:

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/94ff92_d5b76f240b7c466280f11df8ba15469a/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Was every storyline wrapped up perfectly? No. There were definitely some things I wish the show had spent more time on. But honestly, I think the finale did a good job giving most of these characters some kind of ending. The pictures from the wedding really said it all for me. This was a goodbye to the characters, the cast, and the world of The Chi that we've been watching for years.

The Chi is officially over, and I'm going to miss this show.

What did you think?

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• Loved it
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• So/So