"BMF" Season 2 Premiere Recap: "Family Dinner"

Over thirteen months have passed since the Season 1 finale of BMF aired at the tail-end of 2021. The Starz original crime drama follows the rise, as well as the eventual downfall, of the infamous Black Mafia Family. Executive produced by Power mogul 50 Cent, BMF offers a dramatized account of Demetrius "Big Meech" and Terry "Southwest T" Flenory’s exploits as the founding members of one of the most notorious African American crime families in the history of the United States. What’s more, Big Meech’s own son — Demetrius "Lil Meech" Flenory Jr. — was cast in the lead role as his father, and rising actor Da'Vinchi portrayed Southwest T. 

Together, Lil Meech and Da'Vinchi brought BMF’s story to light in a captivating way. While it wasn’t without its faults, BMF’s first season brought in an average of 0.379 million viewers per episode. The Season 1 finale featured the long-awaited showdown between Meech and fan-favorite villain Lamar Silas (portrayed by Eric Kofi-Abrefa), and it didn’t disappoint. BMF’s inaugural season finale brought in over half a million viewers on its own, and it set the stage for an even more exciting second season.

After a long wait and a myriad of updates amid 50 Cent and Starz’s ongoing beef, BMF is finally back. The Season 2 premiere aired on Friday, January 6, and it wasted no time setting up the show’s latest story arc. Without a doubt, a lot went down in the Solvan “Slick” Naim-directed episode. For a recap of all the new characters and plot twists featured in the 52-minute premiere, keep scrolling down. However, be warned: beyond this point, there are plenty of spoilers ahead.

Titled “Family Dinner,” BMF’s Season 2 opener is thematically centered around communal family moments. Whereas Season 1 kicked off with a flash-forward of Meech, the sophomoric outing begins with a flash-forward of T. After a written quote about family dinners fades away, T brings his crew together for a meal in St. Louis. According to T, Meech has already been arrested. Still, Southwest T is confident that he’ll evade the feds because he thinks he’s smarter than his brother. However, everything comes crashing down during T’s family dinner when officers storm his house. T is arrested by an aged-up Detective Bryant (portrayed by Steve Harri), and Leslie Jones makes a comedic cameo as Bryant’s partner.

Then, the show cuts back to the late 1980s. Meech prepares to smuggle product from Las Vegas back to Detroit. Before leaving Sin City, Meech quickly crosses paths with Rick "Freeway" Ross and Shower Posse’s Christopher Coke. After evading a potential arrest, Meech makes it back to Detroit safely. 

Once back in Detroit, viewers are reunited with the younger version of Southwest T. In a nod back to Meech and T’s rift at Season 1's conclusion, T takes his driver’s test. Despite a potential setback, he earns his license and prepares to go into business with his father. Later on in the episode, his child and baby's mother (portrayed by Sydney Mitchell) return to Detroit. However, due to his growing crush on LaLa Anthony’s character Markaisha Taylor, he remains detached from his former love interest.

Elsewhere, the Flenory patriarch (portrayed by Russell Hornsby) links up with his wife (portrayed by Michole Briana White). Their relationship is still on the rocks because the family continues to struggle financially. Nevertheless, they refuse to accept monetary assistance from Meech. Thus, their familial ties are strained. For instance, tension boils over when the mother slaps her daughter, Nicole (portrayed by Laila Pruitt).

Drama quickly unfolds at the school’s basketball game. Both Meech and T attend the game and cross each other’s paths, but they still aren’t on good terms. Shockingly, one of the game’s attendees murders the team’s coach in cold blood over a payment dispute. The show eventually introduces the shooter as K-9 (portrayed by Rayan Lawrence), Meech’s volatile new connect. Apparently, Meech’s trip from Vegas to Detroit was part of K-9’s screening to see whether he could count on Meech. While being further vetted by K-9, Big L (portrayed by Walnette Marie Santiago) makes an appearance. She tells K-9 that she wouldn’t do business with Meech, causing K-9 to reconsider working with him, as well. 

Amidst Meech and T’s growing drama, Detective Bryant embarks on a new path of his own. In contrast to his role as a dirty cop in Season 1, Bryant is now fully committed to arresting Meech. Furthermore, Bryant now has custody of his son, but that side plot takes a backseat to his efforts against Meech. In an early episode debrief, his supervisor reminds him that Kato and Lamar Silas’ murders need to be solved. As a result, she assigns him a new partner, Detective Veronica Jin (portrayed by Kelly Hu).

Together, they work to sniff out the 50 Boys and prevent additional street violence. In a surprising demonstration of her grit, Detective Jin hits Dink (portrayed by actor/rapper JVSUN) with her car. They arrest him, and Bryant clearly gains respect for his new partner. As a result, he brings her to a heavily policed hospital and shows her Lamar Silas is still alive. The Season 1 villain has been detained and renamed by authorities, but he remains in a coma. After that insane reveal, the show jumps back to Meech and B-Mickie (portrayed by Myles Truitt).

Despite enduring a major setback with Dink’s arrest, Meech still doubles down on his attempt to work with K-9. His new mentor, and potential future adversary, agrees to bring Meech into his business. Without hesitation, he assigns Meech 20 bricks. However, before Meech can even celebrate the win, K-9 warns Meech to never be late with his money. In fact, he casually informs Meech he wouldn’t hesitate to kill him and his brother over a late payment. Then, K-9 delivers the Season 2 premiere’s second jaw-dropper. After presenting his team with gifts of jewelry, K-9 gives Meech a box bigger than everyone else’s. Surprisingly, the box contains Big L’s mouth, completely detached from her body. Earlier, K-9 and Big L seemed like close friends, so this is just a small example of his treachery.

Regardless, Meech is blinded by ambition, so he continues to push forward with his new product. He makes one last attempt to recruit T back to drug dealing, but his brother doesn’t budge. After a tense fight, they go their separate ways and prepare for two very different types of family dinners.

T eats a big meal with his family for their anticlimactic Sunday dinner. Contrarily, Meech eats takeout with his soldiers inside their crew’s headquarters. Meech deads the 50 Boys moniker that he and T used throughout the first season and officially rebrands his crew as the Black Mafia Family.

Although Meech’s call to “pledge allegiance to the Black Mafia Family” could’ve been a satisfying conclusion, the premiere keeps going. After the Flenory family dinner, T overhears his mother and girlfriend’s strategy to get him out of the streets. He confronts them about it, and he immediately loses trust in his entire family. While he may not yet realize it, Meech also can’t trust the people around him. His newly confirmed right-hand man, B-Mickie, is unfortunately still working as an informant for Detective Bryant. 

With drama slowly unfolding for the Flenory brothers, “Family Dinner” closes out with its third and final gut punch. In the final moments of the Season 2 premiere, Lamar awakens from his coma, undoubtedly spelling trouble for Meech and T.

The next episode of BMF airs on Starz on Friday, January 13. Let us know how you felt about the Season 2 premiere in the comment section, and stay tuned to HNHH for more BMF recaps.