‘The Get Down’ Recap, Episode 6: “Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice”

We made it! We’ve made it to the finale! (Well, it’s not actually a finale, as there will be six more episodes of the first season of The Get Down coming sometime next year. Yet it feels like a finale, of sorts.)

Things are falling into place for our protagonists here in episode 6, entitled “Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice,” but not as expected.

Mylene is on the hunt for a record deal, but as like before, Jackie Moreno’s skeletons come out the closet to haunt both him and those around him. Leslie Lesgold, a tastemaker who holds the power as to what the DJs prevalent in the underground gay clubs play, turns out to be Moreno’s former intern, whom he harassed and fired years ago. She seeks revenge by not only denying sharing Mylene’s song “Set Me Free,” but she also sexually assaults Moreno by forcing him to pleasure her orally. It’s unexpected, but disturbing, mostly because the scene unfolds while Shaolin and Books, separately, are tempted by a power move.

After Shaolin threatens to kills his life, and drained by the deaths of loved ones he had witnessed, Savage Warlords’ Napoleon confessed who had recruited him and his slain friends to shoot up Fat Annie’s bar way back in the series premiere. Once he tells Fat Annie who the traitor is, who coincidentally sits close to her at the gambling table (I won’t spoil it too much for you!), she leaves it in the hands of Shaolin, literally, to kill him.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Books meets with Mr. Gunns and his snobby family for dinner. Mr. Gunns sits Books down in his study, and keeps it real as to how you have to think for yourself in a cut throat environment like politics. And while a cockroach makes it way from underneath his pant suit, Books’ promises to do so, to succeed and one day be in power himself.

What both Shaolin and Books have in common is that they’re convinced they can prove that they can look out both for themselves and those who they’re loyal to. Books attends a fundraiser for mayoral candidate Ed Koch, and speaks as he would speak, not as a “minority, ghetto mascot.” He then runs to meet up with the rest of the guys to try and beat the Notorious 3 at their battle, during which Shaolin recruits locals to move product while he kills it behind the turntables.

While it was satisfying to see the guys come together to kill the battle scene, the best scene of the episode, and perhaps the best scene of the first half of the series, is when Dizzee (Jaden Smith) finds himself in a members-only, LGBTQ underground party that Thor invites him to. It’s a safe haven for the free spirited, where one witnesses “free people being free,” according to Thor’s friend, who later convinces both him and Dizzee to kiss. YES. FINALLY. (You can sense that the connection between Thor and Dizzee will play out in the next batch of episodes. Hurry up and put them out, Baz!) On a high, Dizzee dances the night away, while drag queens walk the runway in the middle of the dance floor dancing to Christina Aguilera and Nile Rodgers’ “Telepathy,” and also Mylene’s “Set Me Free.” Yes, Thor hands over Mylene’s record to the DJ, who happens to be Pacusa who remixed Mylene’s favorite Misty Holloway track. Once he spins the record, there’s nowhere to go but up for Mylene, Regina, and Yolanda, now known as Mylene Cruz and the Soul Madonnas.

The episode ends with both Brooks and Mylene being honest as to how their lives are bound to change, but also trusting in each other that their love won’t. There’s been many twists and turns, not to mention overlying storylines, in these first six episodes of The Get Down. At times, it has almost felt too chaotic to follow, but ultimately you’ll find that you’ve fallen in love with the characters, with their evils as much as their virtues.

[Watch the “Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice” episode of The Get Down on Netflix]

Erika Ramirez–born in San Jose, CA and based in Brooklyn, NY–is a freelance writer, editor, and producer. She’s the founder of digital magazine, ILY, which is about love. She’s held editorial positions and written for various outlets as Billboard, ROOKIE, NPR, Milk Studios and more. Follow her on Twitter: @3rika