The police bring a shivering Overton to the apartment. The horse subdued the mugger, but bucked Overton into the bushes. He still does not tell Synclaire about the ring. Overton later picks the mugger out of the lineup. Synclaire breaks down the door and tries to attack the man. Overton's belongings are returned to him and (after an interruption from Khadijah) he proposes to Synclaire at the police station. She immediately accepts. As she has no chance of winning in court, Khadijah agrees to a settlement with the band, which will force Flavor to go bankrupt. Russell saves the day when he bursts in and announces that he has deconstructed the song in question. He gradually strips away parts of the song, and reveals that it actually was a rip-off of ""Mandy."" Max's campaign appears to be back on track when Kyle uncovers evidence that proves the incumbent is corrupt, but the documents are shredded. Max instead admits the allegations against her are true, but claims that they prove she has t

Khadijah re-considers Flavor's endorsement of Max when she insists on spouting clichés, rather than discussing the issues. She instead backs a little-known high school teacher named William Perez. Max claims that Khadijah is jealous and does not want her friends to outshine her. Max runs into Perez at a public park (where he is cleaning up graffiti with his civics class), and realizes that her reasons for seeking office are entirely selfish. She withdraws from the election, and tells everyone to vote for Perez. The voters are so moved by her honesty that she receives enough write-in votes to win. Max apologizes to Khadijah, who is impressed by her integrity. Their parents disown Overton and Synclaire when Kyle and Regine accidentally share news of the engagement before the couple had gotten around to it. (They had been trying to follow a James family tradition, in which no one can get married until Synclaire's great aunt Ada gives her ""okel doke."") They patch things up, but their paren

Regine is outraged when Keith ignores her at his opening (aside from asking her to change a light bulb in the bathroom). He refuses to defend her when an art critic comes on to her. Russell tells the man to take a hike. After her friends point out that Keith has always seemed aloof, Regine goes to his loft to confront him. She threatens to break up with him unless he begins to take their relationship seriously, but Keith says that he cannot change. Regine comes by the Flavor offices to meet Khadijah for lunch, but she has to cancel. Russell agrees to give Regine a ride into town, then forces her to stop at his aunt's house for lunch. She cheers up after eating a delicious meal and dancing to lively reggae music. Regine begins consulting self-help books for tips on how to land the right man, but finds herself thinking about Russell more than she would like to admit. Kyle and Max go to war over the right to park in a spot in front of the building. When they get into a collision, they bot

Khadijah is approached by Jeremy Mills, a corporate liaison whose employer, Majestic Publishing, would like to purchase a share of Flavor. Khadijah turns him down, noting that they are only interested because their copycat magazine failed. After the employees express the need for a medical plan and an issue is scuttled by a flood at the print shop, Khadijah finally decides to ""sell her soul"" by allowing Majestic to buy a 25 percent share. Khadijah does not take kindly to Jeremy's efforts to make himself the hero of the employees. When he fails to come through with the promised health plan, he tries to make Khadijah break the news to the staff. She goes to the head of the corporation and threatens to quit if the health plan is not granted. Jeremy lashes out at her for usurping his authority, so she challenges him to stay for the duration of one of the staff's all-night work sessions. He grows to realize how much work is put into the magazine. Regine falls into a deep funk as the result

Regine is the only juror holding up the potential acquittal of Sara McQueen, a beloved elderly movie star accused of arson. When her friends talk about the case and joke about the juror being an idiot, Regine cannot help but defend herself. Max (as an officer of the court) forces her to tell the judge that she discussed the case, and he throws Regine off the jury and finds her in contempt of court. She is sentenced to 50 hours of community service at a monastery, but gets booted for hitting on one of the monks. Regine begins to wonder if she has some deep insecurity that causes her to chatter constantly. Just then, Max arrives at the apartment and announces that Sara McQueen was caught torching a 7-11. The vindicated Regine decides that her big mouth is a gift. Synclaire worries when Harold, one of her regular callers to a hotline for unemployed actors, stops calling. After she tracks him down to see if he is all right, he is so touched by her concern that it lifts his spirits. One of

Overton and Synclaire must take a compatibility test before they can be married at their church. Synclaire constantly nags Overton about studying, while he feels they have nothing to worry about. They get into an argument just before taking the test, and purposely fail by writing the most inflammatory responses possible. Rev. Taylor finally agrees to let them re-take the test, but only after his wife threatens to make him sleep in the bathtub. Max tries to prove that she can have any man she wants by throwing herself at a young waiter. He continually turns her down, but relents after she takes the stage and gives an embarrassing rendition of ""All by Myself."" When he asks her out, Max says, ""I don't date desperate men.""

Music: ""All by Myself"" (Eric Carmen), performed by Erika Alexander

On her way out of the hospital following hemorrhoid surgery, Khadijah makes a date with a doctor named Charles. When she learns that he was her anesthesiologist, she becomes embarrassed and is unable to show any physical affection toward him. After he makes a fool of himself in the batting cage at the hospital's charity carnival, Khadijah's mind is eased and she kisses him. Regine begins moonlighting as a wedding coordinator. Her first clients are a spooky couple with bizarre supernatural powers, such as the ability to call Regine over a disconnected telephone. They wish to hold their ceremony in a cemetery, and are thrilled by Regine's suggestion of throwing the bouquet into an open grave.

Tag: Regine receives unwanted ""gift"" from Edwin and Damiana.

After learning that Palo Alto has been cancelled, Regine is cheered by a visit from a now-wealthy Darryl, who asks her to coordinate his wedding. Although his fiancée, Tina, all but admits that she is only after Darryl's money, Regine doesn't take any action. However, she realizes she must tell Darryl the truth after Synclaire catches Tina making out with the best man. Darryl believes that Regine is jealous, but soon re-considers and calls off the wedding. Tina blames Regine, and the two nearly come to blows in the church. Overton and his friend Ray decide to invent a wallet alarm system, which Kyle feels could be a big money-maker.

Music: ""Shout"" (Isley Brothers), sung by Queen Latifah and Erika Alexander

Max is stunned to learn that her boyfriend, Gary, is a virgin. She has serious doubts as to whether she should deflower him, but eventually goes through with it. She is saddened when Gary heeds her advice and decides not to crowd her, but maintains her bravado in front of her friends. Kyle sees through her act and realizes that she is hurt, and she confesses that she can no longer simply chew men up and spit them out. Kyle takes her to dinner to talk things over. Khadijah, following Regine's suggestion, ""borrows"" some ski clothing for a weekend with Charles. Her plan goes awry when the store burns down before she can get a refund.

Music: ""Teach Me Tonight"" by Al Jarreau

Synclaire lucks into a starring role in a play when the star drops out a day before the opening. (Synclaire had memorized all the lines while serving as an usher as a teenager.) However, the director offers the opinion that Synclaire stinks, and is certain that the play will end both of their careers. A jittery Synclaire flubs her lines and strikes one of the other actors in the face with a door. When the audience responds favorably, Synclaire begins ad-libbing and turns the play into a comedy. It proves to be a huge hit and is held over. Thanks to a camera in a hat invented by Overton, the play had been recorded and Synclaire's lines can be written down. An IRS agent who is auditing Kyle agrees to go easy on him if he can teach him how to pick up women. However, the man ends up getting more than he bargained for…namely Max.

Tag: Kyle guesses the identity of Albert's unwanted blind date.

Charles is the recipient of an award, but is reluctant to attend the ceremony, as he considers everyone in that social circle to be snobs. After the guests treat Khadijah rudely, Charles tells them what they can do with their award. Khadijah fears for Charles's career and asks his kindly boss to smooth things over. Charles is angry with Khadijah for speaking for him, and they realize that they are both incredibly stubborn. Regine goes to the party as Russell's date and uses his connections to make friends with some of the guests. When the women stick Regine with a huge bill at the Russian Tea Room, Russell has to save her. Max spends all her Christmas money on a massage chair for herself, which she has delivered to the girls' apartment, but won't let anyone else use. Kyle, Overton and Synclaire plot revenge, but are hopelessly overmatched.

Tag: Max regains control of the chair.

Music: Variation of ""Deck the Halls,"" sung by Erika Alexander

When her friends will not include her in their Saturday night plans, Regine takes her mother out to dinner. Laverne hits it off with the handsome man who picks up her napkin, who turns out to be millionaire Harrison Cushmore. Regine grows tired of seeing her mother in the society pages, and predicts that she will quickly be dumped. She turns out to be right, and is reluctant to console her mother until Khadijah points out how selfish her behavior is. As it turns out, Laverne is fine; she tells Regine that losing a man is no reason to get upset! After his van breaks down, Overton buys a Lincoln town car at a police auction; but Synclaire orders him to get rid of it when Max tells them that the car killed a mobster. The dead man's nephew agrees to take the Lincoln off Overton's hands--if he and Kyle will help him bury his uncle in the car.

Tag: Kyle, Overton and Crazy Joey get an unwelcome surprise at the burial.

Synclaire lands a job as a clown sidekick on a popular television show, thanks to Kyle's business ties to the producer. She is appalled to discover that her new boss is a 12-year-old tyrant, and tries to teach him some respect. This leads to an embarrassing on-air tirade against the boy. In the meantime, Overton continues to battle his clown phobia, with limited success. Khadijah accuses Regine of stealing her grandma's recipe for raisin cookies to win a baking contest, and each shares her slightly biased version of the events with Overton. They later discover that Max's sloppiness is to blame for the misunderstanding, but refuse to apologize to each other.

As Khadijah prepares to accept an award for her work at Flavor, the group recalls a time when Flavor was just a dream; Max lived with Khadijah and Regine (until she and Regine tried to kill each other); and Regine dated Kyle and his Afro. They later reminisce about Synclaire's arrival from Minnesota (along with Crispus Attucks, her seven-foot high troll doll); and her first meeting with Overton, who immediately told Kyle that he had just met the mother of his children. Synclaire is shocked to learn that she was on the verge of being thrown out--until she hit Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the car and landed Flavor's first cover story. Despite mishaps with the cheap limo service hired by Synclaire and a broken subway car, they are able to make the ceremony, where Khadijah accepts her award and thanks her friends for their support. Meanwhile, Max admits that she has gone so long without a date that Kyle is starting to seem desirable. ""Maybe you're just starting to see straight,"" he replies.

Mu

Kyle is appointed the church's new choir director. He gives in to Regine's pleading and awards her the solo in the performance honoring the church's 50th anniversary. When he discovers that she can't sing a note, Kyle decides to save Regine from public humiliation and give the solo to the talented Latrice. After a distraught Regine throws a fit and continually disrupts rehearsal, Latrice returns the solo. Overton and Synclaire force Regine to face the truth about her singing, and she rehearses all night in the hopes of improving. She comes down with laryngitis, Kyle and Latrice take over her part, and the performance goes off without a hitch. Meanwhile, Khadijah is wary of the reactions of her fellow parishioners when she attends church for the first time in two years.

Music: ""There Is No Failure,"" performed by T.C. Carson and CeCe Winans with choir

Kyle and Max lie about out-of-town trips and sneak off to a hotel for the weekend. They insist, however, that they are not getting back together. Although their claim that there will be no romance involved in the weekend is obviously a crock, Kyle and Max eventually get into one too many arguments and head their separate ways--but not before setting up another rendezvous. After realizing that Max's and Kyle's alibis are shaky, Regine becomes determined to prove that they are together. It is Khadijah who is able to track them down and warn Max. She suggests that Max actually cares about Kyle, but her friend won't admit to this. Meanwhile, Overton and Synclaire take advantage of Kyle's absence to set up housekeeping in the apartment. They briefly worry that their constant fighting might be a sign that they aren't ready to get married, but conclude that disagreements occur in all relationships.

Tag: Detective Regine cannot quite crack the case.

Music: ""Reasons"" by Earth, Wind & Fire

After realizing that their busy schedules have caused them to miss out on important events in each other's lives, the girls decide to go out together on Saturday night. They are immediately hit on at the cafe, and the owner ejects Max for heckling a stand-up act. Regine leads them to a gay bar, where they are surprised to find Russell tending bar (he loves the tips). Khadijah beats a fierce drag queen named Hank at arcade basketball (by cheating); Max is mistaken for a man; Synclaire helps a man get over the handyman who dumped him; and Regine dances with Russell and almost admits to enjoying herself. Meanwhile, Kyle and Overton nearly get into a fistfight when Overton learns that Kyle's boss and his nephews didn't pay the cover charge for their pay-per-view boxing party. After getting sick from the pork rinds, hitting his head on the toilet, and being trampled by partygoers, Jeffrey declares that he had a great time and gives Kyle a big account.

Music: ""Opportunity (Let's Make Lots of

Kyle and Max's attempts to sneak around are complicated when Overton takes a second job as a handyman in her building. She is evicted after he inadvertently exposes her illegal satellite dish to the landlord. She lays the blame on Overton, and storms out. Overton orders Kyle to come out of the bedroom to discuss the situation, but Kyle doesn't feel much like defending Max. Khadijah shows Max the error of her ways and convinces her to apologize. Overton hatches a scheme to trick the landlord into giving Max her apartment back. Regine, Synclaire and Khadijah hire a housekeeper, but he nearly quits when Synclaire's enthusiastic efforts to help out leave him feeling inadequate.

Max enlists Khadijah's help in exposing an embezzlement scheme at City Hall. Ty Richardson, Flavor's cocky new reporter, demands the story, but is arrested in a barroom brawl. With the deadline approaching, Khadijah and Max decide to handle things themselves. They break into the office of a woman who had taken a suspicious vacation, and discover that she has created phony computer records. Ty shows up at the office with a completed story, and explains that his arrest was staged so that he could get to the guilty party's jailed partner. Khadijah forces him to agree to a collaborative story. When Overton still cannot accept the Cleveland Browns' move to Baltimore, Synclaire talks with Jim Brown at a sports card show and brings him to the apartment. Jim tells Overton to get over it and move on with his life with Synclaire, and gives him copies of his movies. Meanwhile, Regine insists that her date isn't the loser he appears to be.

Overton and Synclaire's engagement party is marred when her bickering parents announce that they have separated. When Synclaire begins to express doubts about her own union, Overton forces the Jameses to talk things out. Lilah reveals that she has tired of her husband's constant wisecracks. She has not revealed her desire to become a lounge singer because she fears Clinton's ridicule. He agrees to support her dream, and they realize that their problems are manageable. Regine tries to use the party as a trap to prove that Max and Kyle are seeing each other. Max suggests that they bring phony dates to throw off Regine; but is distressed when Kyle flies a model friend in from Los Angeles for the evening, while she is stuck with the perpetually boring Teddy. Max finally takes Kyle to the kitchen and confesses that she is seething with jealousy. Kyle pressures her into admitting that she likes him, and she is on the verge of making a more significant admission when Regine bursts in. Max pre

Kyle learns that his visiting brother Damon is about to undertake a long voyage to Africa. He is incensed when Damon remarks that he also might be interested in becoming a handyman. He simultaneously offends both Damon and Overton, who strips him of best man duties. Damon points out that Kyle spends too much time working to enjoy life. After being teased about Max, Kyle agrees to stay out of Damon's business. He apologizes to Overton, and makes it up to him by flying in both his old shop teacher and Uncle Tibby for the bachelor party. Regine is furious when Max and Khadijah ask her high school rival, Ava Rivera, to help them organize Synclaire's bachelorette party. Ava lands Madonna's penthouse for the party, but Synclaire is upset when everyone pays more attention to the house than to her. Regine shifts the focus of the party back to Synclaire. When Madonna returns, Ava reveals that she doesn't have permission to use the house, and the girls crash Overton's party.

Music: ""Don't Waste

Khadijah is annoyed when her estranged father comes to town for Synclaire's wedding. She has dinner with her parents for Mother's Day, but is hardly cordial. When she learns that Laverne saw her parents take off in a limo to Atlantic City, Khadijah chases after them. Rita assures her that she and Ed are only attending a Smokey Robinson concert. Ed tracks down Khadijah at the slot machines, and admits that he has made many mistakes in their relationship. However, it is important that Khadijah remain part of his life, as she is the only thing that truly brings him pride. He apologizes for not having a greater role in her development. Khadijah wins the jackpot with Ed's coin. Max threatens to harm Overton if he tells anyone about her affair with Kyle. Synclaire realizes he is keeping a secret. When Regine can't get Overton to crack, Synclaire confronts him. He tells her about Max and Kyle, but she isn't surprised; she has the room below Kyle's!

Music: ""You've Really Got a Hold on Me"" (Smo

As the girls reminisce in Synclaire's room the night before the wedding, a drunken Regine laments the fact that she hasn't been able to find a man. After Regine staggers off to bed, Max announces her intention to go buy some beer; but Khadijah and Synclaire are well aware of what she really wants. A defensive Max refuses to admit that her relationship with Kyle is serious. She meets him on the fire escape, where he shares the news that he has been offered the chance to head up a new office in London. She pretends to be unmoved, and claims that she is considering a partnership in Philadelphia. The next day, Khadijah fears that she and Synclaire will grow apart after she is married, until her cousin reminds her that she will still be in the building. Overton feels the effects of going 24 hours without food and faints. Regine is depressed when Russell shows up with a beautiful woman; and Max makes her feel even worse when she tells her that she was seeing Kyle, and that only Regine didn't