Stream It Or Skip It: ‘BMF’ Season 3 On Starz, Where The Flenory Brothers’ Detroit-Based Drug Empire Officially Branches Out

The third season of BMF (Starz) finds proud Detroiter Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory officially down south in Atlanta, solidifying the first franchise of the cocaine biz he built on the streets of the D with his brother Terry “Southwest Tee” Flenory. Black Mafia Family, created by Randy Huggins and based on a true story, co-executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and already renewed for a fourth season, has a new showrunner in Heather Zuhlke. But that doesn’t change what’s at stake, with business rivals in two cities gunning for Meech and Tee, their parents’ marriage fracturing, love life troubles, and cops with their own problems applying all kinds of pressure. There are also new faces: joining the cast in BMF season three are Ne-Yo, 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, Saweetie, and former Real Housewife of Atlanta Cynthia Bailey.         

BMF – SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: Based on a true story with some names and facts changed, goes the usual BMF disclaimer. “But a lot of this shit may have actually happened.” And in 2007 Detroit, we meet older versions of Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother Terry “Southwest Tee” Flenory, played by Jon Chaffin and Mustafa Harris. 

The Gist: The events that will eventually bring Meech and Tee back together are more or less known – after all, BMF is based on the real-life exploits of the Flenorys, as they built out their drug empire into a multi-city enterprise, and Meech is even played by his actual son, Demetrius Flenory, Jr. But there are many unknowns as the 1990s setting of season three unfolds. At Atlanta strip club Magic City, Meech meets Rodney “Greeny” Green (Ne-Yo), the money laundering connect Goldie (Mo’Nique) set him up with, and begins to build a local crew that includes Duffy (Terry Allen) and Stacks (2 Chainz). And if anyone in the ATL wasn’t clear on Meech’s Detroit credentials, he immediately initiates a brawl with local rival Remi (Jason C. Louder). Meech’s calling card will also be the serious weight he’s moving down from the Motor City, where Tee (Da’Vinchi) now sits on top of their coke operation. And he’s definitely got static to overcome, with Remi and another drug game power player in the South, the Miami Killers. But Meech looks at Atlanta’s highways and sees a network of nationwide potential.

In Detroit, the Flenory family home is a fragile space. Lucille (Michole Briana White) worries over the decision-making and general safety of her sons, but she’s also seriously considering a divorce after the infidelity of her husband Charles (Russell Hornsby). Tee has survived the targeted drive-by orchestrated by Boom (Peyton Alex Smith), but Markisha (La La Anthony) is critical, and he stays by her bedside in the hospital. Tee has declared his love for Markisha, even though she’s still married to Boom, and he has two young children with Lawanda (Sydney Mitchell). It’s an evolving mess of a love triangle, complicated by the moves Tee must make on the business side. “The streets are gonna be watching,” he tells Meech, who despite moving to Atlanta still hovers over his brother and their Detroit base of operations. 

Also watching both brothers, of course, are the cops. But Detectives Von Bryant (Steve Harris) and Veronica Jin (Kelly Hu) have their own problems. Bryant’s son Kevin (Jerel Xavier Alston) is bound for juvie after shooting a bully, and Bryant’s suspended for trying to suppress the murder weapon, which means Jin’s grudgingly working with a new partner, Detective Cobie Amberson (Morgan Alexandria). And back in Atlanta, Meech knows he’ll soon be on the radar of the Red Dogs, a police unit infamous for its extra-judicial brutality and civil rights violations.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As an executive producer, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s corner of Starz includes both BMF and Power, as well as its sequel, Power Book II: Ghost. The John Singleton-created crime drama Snowfall closed out its six season run at FX in 2023. And in the camaraderie and push and pull between Meech and Tee, there are parallels to Top Boy, the utterly riveting British drama about two drug dealers based in London.

Our Take: “I admire the largesse, and the initiative. But real talk, it ain’t like Atlanta’s a virgin to Colombian coke.” As the ATL side of things heats up in BMF Season 3 – shot on location in the city, just like the action in Detroit – dialogue like this really cooks, from Duffy to Meech as the latter arrives ready to use his steady line of supply to build out a new fief. We’re learning about Meech’s new challenges right alongside him, and anticipating more of the sudden bursts of violence that seem to stem from every decision he makes. For all of Demetrius Flenory, Jr’s considerable charisma as Meech, it’s matched on the Atlanta side by the work of Terry Allen as Duffy and especially 2 Chainz, whose Stacks feels like the wild card in the Detroit transplant’s inner circle. Their ambitions and willingness to throw down at the drop of a hat lend dimension to these characters. But BMF can also be scathingly funny, like when Duffy continues his ATL cocaine tutorial. “Miami Killers got a cartel connect like you,” he tells Meech, and those guys got to the city first. “Which makes you the Pepsi to their Coke Classic!”

We’re also interested in what’s brewing with the Detroit PD. There are sharp notes of bitterness between Kelly Hu and Steve Harris as Jin and Bryant, but also unity in their desire to bring down the Black Mafia Family. Separately, they’re also making personal choices that are bound to have professional consequences. In fact, there are consequences at every turn in BMF, and the palpable tension that generates competes constantly with the moments of humor and humanity that make this series much more than a saga about bad guys doing bad things to worse guys.   

Sex and Skin: Well, Meech definitely gets an eyeful of who Greeny calls “the headliners” at Atlanta’s Platinum Palace strip club. 

Parting Shot: Despite his hard-earned success, it’s not like Meech was just gonna waltz into Atlanta with no pushback from the established players. “You ain’t welcome down south. You can go back up north and shovel snow. Or we send your ass back in body bags.” 

Sleeper Star: Michole Briana White is wonderful in BMF as Lucille Flenory, particularly in an early scene charged with both betrayal and tenderness, as she confronts her husband Charles with the consequences of his infidelity. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “Detroit ain’t just a place,” Big Meech says in a voiceover. “It’s a state of mind.” And there are times when that vital spirit must be validated by putting a champagne bottle upside the head of rival. “Don’t fuck with the D.” 

Our Call: STREAM IT! BMF is powerful crime drama storytelling, with notes of family and loyalty colliding with violence as the ambitious brothers Flenory aim to take their drug operation nationwide. 

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.