Queens is back with episode 9 after a small holiday break and the ladies are adjusting to life without Bri...

The first scene opens with Naomi, Jill, Valeria, Lauren and Eric at a graveyard standing over what seems to be Bri’s tombstone. They decide that they don’t want to tour without Bri and Queens, as a group, is over with. Eric tells everyone to keep in touch and they all go their separate ways.  Three months later, Naomi, Eric and their daughter Jill buy Bri’s house and they all live together now as a family, including Lauren. 

Valeria was in the studio working on a track of her own with a producer. He seemed uninterested with her music, but when Valeria mentioned how he didn’t talk much he said he was trying to be professional. All that professionalism went out the door quickly though, and he asked her on a date.

Meanwhile, Jill is tapping into becoming an actress and we see her struggling on and off set. She’s having nightmares about her ex-husband attacking her and her shooting him. We also find out that she hasn’t been keeping in touch with the rest of the crew at all. 

Lauren and Naomi went to the grocery store and as they loaded the car Muffin opened up about her next move of wanting to become a lawyer. Naomi thought she was kidding but she explained she wanted to do more with her life since the shooting, in episode 8. Naomi agreed that Bri getting shot made her realize life is short and she also revealed she wasn't feeling music since the shooting either. 

Before they got in the car, a woman came to take the cart, and Naomi was surprised to see her. The woman was an old rap rival named Zadie, a.k.a Lady Z, played by Remy Ma. She was an employee at the grocery store and Naomi was shocked to see her in that position considering how good of a rapper she was back in the day.

Later that night, Valeria went on the date with the producer from the studio, Thomas. They went to a restaurant and talked about several different things, she even confided in him about Bri. The restaurant was closing and he proposed going to another place. He took her to a bar until it closed and they continued their date at a diner until the next morning. They loved the time they spent together so much that they eloped! 

Naomi went back home and discussed seeing Lady Z with Eric. She explained that she still didn’t like her for some reason from their beef back in the day. But he told her maybe she should have some empathy for her since it’s hard enough being a female in the industry, and she had it rough. Naomi took his advice and went back to the grocery store the next day to ask her if she wanted to do a song together, but Zadie declined and told her she loved her new life and was over rapping for good. 

With Muffin out of the rap game, a new female rapper was emerging named Cash mermaid and she put out a diss track about Muffin online. Jojo saw the post, showed Muffin and told her she needed to clap back. But Muffin was uninterested in getting back to music and she basically told Jojo she was above that.

Valeria finally told Naomi, Muffin and Eric that she was married to Thomas, and introduced them to him. Naomi expressed she thought she was crazy, but Valeria was adamant that she felt like this was the real deal, and added that she was ready to be open and in love. Eric congratulated them and Muffin thought the whole thing was romantic.

Naomi headed to the studio, and to her surprise Zadie showed up to record with her, even after blowing up on her in the parking lot. Zadie went off in the booth, but still told Naomi she didn’t want to release any music, she just did it for fun. 

Naomi asked Zadie to go out for drinks, and while they were out Zadie opened up about why she really left the industry. She was sexually assaulted by a producer and when she declined his advances, he blackballed her. 

Naomi later told Eric about it and asked him to ask around about getting her a record deal and he agreed to.  Back at Valeria’s house, she and Thomas were looking at honeymoon destinations and he suggested going back to New York and New Jersey so they can meet each other’s families. She didn’t want to tell him about her messy family history though, so she changed the subject. 

Jill still wasn’t doing too well and it showed. Her assistant suggested she call her friends so she didn’t have to go through whatever she was going through by herself. When she left the room, Jill seemingly took her advice by picking up the phone and calling somebody. But it ended up being her old drug dealer, who she met up with to buy a bag of cocaine. As Jill was driving home, she got pulled over with the coke in the car. As she was pulling to the side of the road, she threw the bag out of the window. One of the cops saw it and asked her if it was hers and they arrested her.

Cash Mermaid called Muffin to apologize about the diss track and asked her to advise her on the rap game. Muffin accepted her apology and even told her she’d meet up with her. But when Mermaid showed up at the cafe, she tried to fight her while her friends recorded it. Muffin realized that she was trying to use her for clout and took the high road by ignoring the drama and walking out. 

The next day, Jojo shows Muffin the video Cash Mermaid posted of her at the cafe in front of Naomi, Valeria and Eric. After they all watched it, she finally decided to respond with a diss track of her own. They all headed to the studio and she killed her freestyle. Eric and the other ladies told Muffin it sounded like she was back, but the celebration ended prematurely when Naomi got a phone call. It was Jill and she told her she was in jail. 

They all went to pick her up and she cried in their arms before heading back to the house. When they all settled down, Jill opened up about feeling guilty about her ex-husband’s death and Bri getting shot. They consoled her and asked if she needed professional help due to the drug arrest… but she confirmed that she was feeling better and only bought the drugs but never took them. 

Muffin tried using her new lawyer knowledge to get Jill’s charges dropped by calling the DA and pleading her case, but they hung up. She ended up  calling in a favor to the mayor since his daughter was a fan of hers, and he obliged. So Jill was cleared of all charges.

Eric told Muffin that people were loving her again and record label’s were calling him about signing her. While they were all happy that she was back in the game, Naomi couldn’t help but to think how they’ve all been treated poorly by different record label’s and proposed an alternative. She told everyone that they should start their own record label! 

After some thought, they agreed it made the most sense and wanted to sign Zadie as their first artist along with Muffin. They had Zadie come in for a meeting and pitched her on their plan, and she signed the paperwork. They all celebrated their new business endeavor and things were looking up. But one person was missing. 

To the audience's surprise, because her whereabouts hadn’t been mentioned, Naomi called Bri who was shockingly out of the hospital. Bri was on an island with her kids, maxin’ and relaxin’. She saw the call but ignored it and continued to enjoy the sun on her skin as the episode came to a close. 

I wonder how long Bri will be on this “getaway,” and the role Remy Ma (Zadie) will play in her absence moving forward. Do y’all think Zadie will replace Bri? I can’t wait to find out!