"Hibiscus" Brings A Welcome Perspective Shift in 'Get Millie Black’s Second Episode

The second episode of Get Millie Black lands Curtis in the hospital for emergency surgery following his shooting. Millie finds Curtis’ boyfriend, Daniel, fighting with a nurse about being allowed to see him. The nurse snidely says the hospital doesn’t recognize “that kind of family,” Millie steps in, calling the nurse ignorant and dismissing her. But Daniel is upset with Millie, too, feeling she should have protected Curtis from harm.

Hibiscus: “(Millie is) a lonely woman in a house of ghosts, trying to raise an old family from the dead.”

Unexpectedly, Hibiscus takes over the narration for this part of the tale. She tells us most people think she’s lost, but she’s confidently known herself all her life. As we see Hibiscus turning tricks in a ruined building filled with other sex workers, she defiantly says it’s “better to be Hibiscus here than Orville everywhere else.” Fade to Hibiscus standing over Deltreece, who is dead after her beating last week. She leaves, hobbling down the road barefoot and bloody. Hibiscus insists she doesn’t need saving – she needs a big sister. She’s angry and has nowhere to go except Mama’s “dead house.”

Janet refuses to talk to Stennet (Christopher Daley) at the station while Holborn and Barracat watch. Millie thinks she can get through, so she and Holborn shoo Stennet out, and Millie gains Janet’s trust by treating her gently and getting her to laugh. Janet admits she and Freddie text but doesn’t know what he’s mixed up in or where he is. Millie asks about the boutique kids’ clothes, and Janet looks skittish; she lies about doing errands for rich people. Holborn is frustrated with this line of questioning and even more with Millie, who undercuts him at every opportunity. 

He wants to know where Freddie would hide, and Millie wants the address of the supposed rich people Janet ran errands for. Janet starts to write down an address when Heywood (Christopher McFarlane), who works for the Somervilles, storms in, claiming to be Janet’s lawyer, and absconds with her. Holborn is pissed they have no leads on Freddie. Barracat warns Millie she’s making them look bad in front of Scotland Yard and to drop her hunch about the boy she thinks Janet is hiding. 

Later that night, Millie is startled by Hibiscus knocking at her gate and horrified at her sister’s condition; she’s bleeding and bruised, and her bare feet are a bloody mess. Hibiscus looks around, angst-ridden; she hasn’t seen the house since Mama died. Hibiscus lets Millie bandage her, but her sister’s worried about Curtis. She’s not sure he’s going to make it. Hibiscus looks hurt on behalf of Deltreece; you can see her thinking Millie is naïve. She reminds Millie that “don’t know” is better than “no, he won’t,” telling her Deltreece was beaten to death. Millie asks if Hibiscus reported it, and her sister scoffs.

Millie starts asking about Mama’s death, and Hibiscus admits the complicated truth of letting their mother die. She was on her deathbed anyway when she called for Hibiscus to close the curtains. When Hibiscus didn’t move quickly enough, Mama jumped out of bed to beat her but fell instead, then immediately had a heart attack. Mama pointed wildly; Hibiscus understood she was asking for her heart pills but didn’t intervene.

Flashback to Millie discovering Hibiscus in a “sex house” searching for a dead boy when a living woman was right in front of her. When Millie leaves the following day, Hibiscus freaks at being alone in Mama’s house. Millie says Mama’s dead, and it’s their house now. After her sister leaves, Hibiscus is overtaken by the atmosphere. She’s fixing her face in the mirror when she hears Mama yelling at her. Mama’s voice rings in Hibiscus’ mind until she snaps: she shoves everything off the bathroom shelves and leaves.

After questioning Sister Agatha again, Millie learns about the program where Janet used to tutor underprivileged children, including 9-year-old Romeo Lawrence (Tijhon Rose), who left mid-term after getting a scholarship to a top school. In a subsequent meeting with the boy’s parents (Mikhail Johns and Shanice McCatty), Millie learns Romeo was whisked away two weeks ago to Sunrise School by an administrator named Miss Maxwell. She’s sure Freddie is connected somehow. Millie’s suspicions that Romeo has been abducted are substantiated when she learns that Sunrise School doesn’t exist.

Millie is called to her neighborhood bar, where Hibiscus hangs out, terribly upset. Mama may be dead, but she’s not in her grave; the house is haunted. Hibiscus wants Millie to sell the house, but she refuses. Instead, she promises to be back for dinner, leaving to join a new crime scene.

Corsica didn’t shoot Curtis; it was the man who is now dead as Millie arrives. He’s got a symbol cut into his shoulder, which may be the tag of a new gang called the Bombers. Holborn’s on the scene, and Millie is very salty toward him; after some back and forth, Holborn attacks, referencing her involvement in the death of a young boy named Victor. Millie is shaken; this is not common knowledge. She asks her former partner in London, Meera (Anjli Mohindra), to get intel on Holborn. 

Romeo’s mom sends Millie a video of “Miss Maxwell,” who turns out to be Janet. She presents the video evidence to Barracat, who agrees Janet should be brought in. Millie and Holborn go to collect Janet from the Somerville estate, but when they arrive, things are odd. The gates are ajar, and the guard station is empty. Millie calls for backup but, again, doesn’t wait. Inside, there are signs of struggle. 

Then Millie and Holborn begin finding all the bodies. A maid on the floor; a guard, face-down with gun drawn; in the kitchen, Mrs. Somerville has been shot dead; another woman is dead in the room beyond; Marva, the cook, hiding under the counter yet murdered; and last, Mr. Somerville, shot in his bedroom – the entire household was massacred. Neither Janet nor Freddie is among the dead.

After escaping that crime scene circus, Millie is (naturally) hours late to pick up Hibiscus. At home, they fight; Hibiscus is angry and thinks the evil house rubbed off on Millie. In a fit, Millie begins smashing things to banish the vibes. She tries unsuccessfully to pry Mama’s ring from Hibiscus’ finger, and in a nod to past events, Hibiscus pushes Millie into a mirror to stop her. Millie just wants to fix things, but Hibiscus says she can’t. Defeated, she agrees to sell Mama’s house, but Hibiscus is still frustrated, feeling unseen.

Curtis is awake when Millie finally visits him again. She gives a lame excuse for not being there and then dives into their case. In Mr. Somerville’s phone, Curtis immediately finds deleted files: photos of the missing Romeo Lawrence. Millie is stunned at this development.

Get Millie Black continues with weekly episodes on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and streaming on Max.