“Greenleaf” Season 3 Episode 13 Recap: Taking Back What the Devil Stole

The season 3 finale resumes with Basie still having Bishop staring at the barrel of a gun. Karine walks in, and Basie shifts to pointing the gun at her while keeping his eye on James. She does as Bishop asks and doesn’t call the police when she leaves, but she does tell Lady Mae. Bishop’s continued pleas are successful. Basie may be a gambling pastor who threatens people and intimidates his wife, but he’s not a killer. After he leaves, word gets around about the situation, and Mae, Charity, and Grace go to James to see how he is.

Jacob wants Kerissa to give up the idea of divorce with all that’s happening at Calvary, Triumph, and home. Kerissa isn’t going to agree to anything yet. Their conversation is interrupted by a disturbing call from Joseph, the accountant turned potential church stealer.

James apologizes for not seeing Mae preach. He believes the spirit of the Lord showed up when she preached. He is finally ready to hand over the church to her, admitting that she earned it.

His display of respect and unity might have come too late because Connie is meeting with Grace and the bishop of Harmony & Hope. Connie feels Mae was part of the church’s problems. They want Grace to run Calvary for a year until the church is fully integrated as one of Harmony & Hope’s churches.

Grace and Mae go for a walk, which could be peaceful mother-daughter bonding. But not with these two. Grace tells Mae about what the deacons decided, so of course they get into an argument where Mae blames Grace another wrong thing in her life. Mae yells she doesn’t want to talk to Grace about anything and walks away. She stops in her tracks when Grace tells her the results of the paternity test. Lionel is the pappy. Mae wants Grace to keep the Maury-level drama quiet, but Grace refuses to keep quiet about who she is.

The board at Triumph wants Jacob out because the accountant said he and Kerissa are not good stewards. Jacob meets with his father to discuss next steps. In a cute father-son moment, James tell Jacob he thinks he is a good preacher. They go to Calvary to watch Mae speak to the deacons. Mae makes her case and then goes off when Connie brings up H&H. She tells Connie she doesn’t even have the authority to take the church away and suggests that the congregation would not be happy if they knew of Connie’s Judas-like behavior.

Connie isn’t fazed and calls on one of the deacons, who hands Mae a petition. Over 2000 members agree with the board. They want the Greenleafs out and Harmony & Hope in. One of the deacons is nice enough to assure Mae it’s nothing personal...except how is it not personal when you say the couple ran the church in the ground? Bishop warns that H&H squeezes money out of their congregations, and implies Connie is on their team because she’s getting a check.

Karine tells James he received another call from the IRS. They are still after him for their money. He does not want to speak to the lady and has been feeling odd since the attempt on his life. Mae comes to see James in his office. She’s much nicer to him now that he is supporting her. She invites him for dinner where she’ll cook, and he accepts the invitations.

Kerissa wants Jacob to ask Grace if he can be her associate pastor. Jacob wonders why she cares. She says that they should stay together so she can help him seize the opportunity. She is expecting Grace to eventually get ousted because of her ideas. One of the people in charge of H&H is one of the richest men in the US, and Kerissa wants Jacob positioned for any opportunities the association may bring.

Mae isn’t cooking for James just to be sweet. She plans to give him the paternity news after his belly is full. It takes her a while to say it, but she finally tells him. He looks as if he may have suspected, but he’s hurt. He tells Mae that they’re now even. She is surprised that when she’s spilling her deepest secret, all he says is okay. He says that this secret she has been so afraid to share is not going to make her lose him. Plus, she already kicked him out. At that reminder, she asks him to move back in. He wonders if the uncertainty and shame is the reason Mae is so against Grace. He will move back in with the condition that Mae heal the rift.

Basie is back on the run but stops at the liquor store. He’s on the phone with Tasha, trying to get her back and convince her to go to Mexico with him and Rochelle. Tasha cut a deal with the FBI, and she doesn’t want to mess it up. That may be true, but really, she’s through with Basie and doesn’t understand why he wants her. While he is busy on the phone and making jokes to the cashier, a large man in all black comes up behind him. This man is clearly foe, not friend. He probably overheard Basie saying he has a suitcase full of money. When Basie notices the man, he goes to the car, where Rochelle is waiting, and tells her to drive. They drive off, but a black SUV follows them.

The DA that has it out for Grace got “MeToo’ed.” He was accused of sexual assault by several women, so he is out of office. This should be good news for Coralie. Grace figures there can’t be a worse person to replace him. She says all this to Aaron, who has come to inform her of their dad’s will. Grace was privileged before, but now she’s even richer. Millions of dollars richer. Poor Aaron. His homophobic daddy left him nothing.

The leader of H&H, the rich man Kerissa mentioned, has come to interview Grace. He says that they will need Grace to unify the congregation and mesh with the other churches worldwide. Basically, this white man wants her to be his puppet, his mouthpiece to help get her congregation in formation with his mission.

Grace goes to speak to her father. He tells her not to trust Whitmore, but of course she doesn’t. He wants her to play along with H&H until she can take control. Grace thinks then they can get back to running Calvary, but James says not him. His health is taking a toll on him. Grace wants him to use her inheritance to pay off the IRS. When he asks where it came from, she deflects. He says they live by the spirit, and in the spirit, she is and always will be his daughter.

Bishop preaches his last sermon at Calvary. At the end of it, he looks as if he is clearly having a system failure. Then he goes down. Something is happening with his heart. He believes the day of his death, which he saw in the vision, has come. The family, even Sophia who we haven’t seen yet this episode, are all around him as he goes into cardiac arrest.

The teens walk the grounds, wearing dark clothes like they came from a funeral. Zora will be going to therapy and taking classes to graduate before auditioning for a school in New York. The girls agree to never stop talking to each other again no matter where they are. We don’t get to know what Sophia is going to do with her life.

Mae announces to Grace that Jacob is moving back to the estate. Then she asks to speak to her alone to make things right. Grace says she doesn’t have to. Mae says she does (because it’s what James wanted) and she is available to help Grace from here on out. Kevin, Aaron, and Nathan are at the house as well. Kevin asks if Aaron and Grace are ready to go public.

At dinner, Kerissa is acting like the matriarch. She tells Zora that Jacob is not in charge of the family. If Zora and Jacob email, she needs to be copied. Then she tries to instruct Marisol on her duties like she’s head of the mansion. Mae lightly checks her, though. Then the man of the hour walks in. Apparently, he misinterpreted the vision of his death. He spent two weeks in the hospital, but his fall brought everyone together. Mae even asks Grace to bless the food. She may really be trying. The last images we get are of the whole Greenleaf family, breaking bread together. Grace prays for faith and substance to take back what is theirs.

Will the goon squad catch up with Basie and Rochelle? Will Grace reclaim the church, and if so, which pastor Greenleaf will lead? Let us know your season 4 predictions!