TV Recap: “Grown-ish” Season 3, Episode 9 – “Public Service Announcement”

As a proud Yara STANhidi, I’m thrilled to be your resident Grown-ish recapper for the rest of Season 3. Grab your textbooks and let’s get to it!

When we last left Zoey, she left Cal U to pursue a career in fashion and styling. While “college dropout” tends to have a negative connotation, she seems to be thriving as we catch-up with her on the set of a music video shoot in Miami. While the individuals she’s styling can be a little…difficult, she’s making the best of her dreams coming true.

While she might be in the midst of working craziness, that doesn’t stop her from constantly dreaming about Aaron’s lips. After kissing Aaron at the end of the first chunk of Season 3, she’s still on a high. She wants to get back and start things with that rat-tail-haired hunk the moment she lands in LA. After getting up the courage to let Aaron know how she feels, she drops the all elusive “I have feelings” text. Folks, that’s major. He quickly responds “I’m ready to hook-up when you get back.” Folks, that’s major-er.

Upon Zoey’s return to Los Angeles and her humble abode, she decides to ditch a reunion with her crew (The girls weren’t even home, so what’s the harm?!) and head straight for Aaron’s lips and/or full self. A quick map search (Note to self: Turn off location settings on Snapchat) leads her right into Aaron, but his idea of a “hook-up” is not the same as Zoey’s. Honestly, it’s not the same as anyone else’s modern definition of “hook-up,” so minus points to Aaron.

Zoey runs into Aaron’s new girlfriend (EEK!) and falls from her joyous state fast. He wanted to “hook-up” to chat and reveal that he was taken, which again, is not the proper definition of that phrase in the year 2021. Zoey runs out of the party, because wouldn’t you?!

As Aaron finally catches up with Zoey outside, he lays it on thick. He is tired of Zoey playing with his heart and then throwing him to the side when she sees fit, so he has decided to close up shop for any future entanglements. Zoey is not only devastated, but embarrassed about her last 24 hours pining over a boy who doesn’t feel the same way. Aaron expresses how hard it was to reveal his feelings to her, but like, it’s hard for everyone to comprehend your use of the phrase “hook-up,” bro. I’ll never get over it.

Elsewhere, Jazz is using her social media sleuthing/stalking skills to follow Doug everywhere he goes. While the excuses from Jazz might be flying faster than the speed-of-light, Sky and Ana know for a fact that jalapeno poppers aren’t the reason for their current hangout spot. Doug and Jazz have their own resulting conversations discussing the terms of their break. While Jazz wanted the break to allow her to get focused for the Olympic trials, outside perspectives see the terms as too loose for a reliable pause on a relationship. Can Doug hang out with other girls? Is a physical relationship with someone else in the cards? Will the break last all five months of training? Should’ve hired a lawyer to flesh out the deets, tbh.

Doug and Jazz finally get the alone time they need to discuss what exactly they are breaking from and what is allowed to happen with others. Within the brief scene, the sense of dread builds quickly. The realization that a clean break needs to happen hits them both like a ton of bricks. As parting words, Jazz says “Just promise me you won’t fall in love with someone else in the next 5 months,” and I could feel the emotions rushing through my bloodstream and up through my tear ducts.

Study Hall Notes:

  • This Week’s C-Plot Sentence Summary – Luca offers Jillian a key to his place, she denies, wants to take it slow, and they kiss in agreeance. Cute!
  • Sky’s Moment of the Week – Her obsession with a biblical cloud chasing Instagram page.
  • I did guffaw loudly at Jazz confronting Lola, the girl hanging out with Doug, by saying “Lola? Like the female Bugs Bunny?”
Marshal Knight
Marshal Knight is a pop culture writer based in Orlando, FL. For some inexplicable reason, his most recent birthday party was themed to daytime television. He’d like to thank Sandra Oh.