Harlem’s newcomers are coming out swinging, but not without teaching the girls (and Ian) some important lessons along the way.

In March, Blavity reported that Kofi Siriboe, Logan Browning and Gail Bean would be joining the Tracy Oliver-created Prime Video series for its third and final season. While the news confirmed that the trio, along with veteran actress Robin Givens, would appear as recurring guests, it did not specify their exact roles—until now.

“It was important for me, knowing this was the final season, for audiences to walk away feeling satisfied,” Oliver told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “I wanted to do that, but I also wanted to make sure it didn’t feel predictable. So, I still wanted to throw curveballs and have the season wrap in a way that you didn’t necessarily predict but still have it feel like, okay, I’m happy I watched the show, and I’m happy that I was on the journey with these women. I like how they landed the plane.”

Speaking of the journey, let’s find out how Siriboe, Browning, and Bean’s characters shake up the dynamics as Quinn (Grace Byers), Ian (Tyler Lepley), and Tye (Jerrie Johnson) search for love in this final installment.

Tye may have finally met her match

Bean, known for her roles in Snowfall and P-Valley, enters the Harlem universe as Tye’s colleague-turned-lover, homie, and friend. But will Tye be able to set aside her ego to accept the love that Eva is offering?

“Eva, what I will say, is very patient, which I, Gail, am not, so it was very beautiful to witness someone know that a person is struggling with their vulnerability and allow them grace, allowing them time to come to and come around—not really forcing it, but trying to just be a soft landing,” Bean said of her character. “You know, so many times we don’t ask you to forgive, but we ask you to try to at least understand. So, it was nice to be in that space, because I don’t in my life. So it’s beautiful to explore.”

“I learned, I said, I need to be more like Eva, because I’m very direct, and I ask questions, and Eva is direct too, but just seeing that you don’t have to always play or be on the defense. It doesn’t always have to be a push and pull. Sometimes it could just be open arms,” she added.

What exactly is ethical monogamy?

SPOILER ALERT – Quinn Joseph has finally met a man in Kofi Siriboe’s Seth who embodies everything she envisions for her life as a kept woman.

The problem? Seth has enough love to go around for more than one woman—a concept that, Siriboe says, opens up a larger conversation about modern dating.

“I think he definitely is an access point for conversations about transparency, about communication, about vulnerability…I think with Seth, his North Star is safety, because he’s in a position where he has everything,” Siriboe said.

“He’s able to design his life and create the reality he wants to live, but then there’s a missing factor. Once Quinn appears, she represents not just another piece—she’s a main character in her own life, and she’s a whole person,” he continued. “That was the magnet. But also, just because you have it all—having the money, having this, having that—you still can’t just get your way. There are still nuances of connection. You can’t just buy it; you have to work through it.”

Who is standing between Ian and Camille’s happily ever after (again)?

Since episode one of Harlem, the inconsistency between Tyler Lepley’s Ian and Meagan Good’s Camille has been evident. No matter what, the two just can’t seem to get it right. Season two ends with yet another breakup, and this time, it may be final.

In Harlem‘s farewell season, viewers meet Portia (Logan Browning), the woman Camille is convinced is just Ian’s childhood friend… until she’s not. Now, Camille finds herself tangled in an entanglement that may have viewers questioning why someone like Portia would ever want to involve herself in the Camille-and-Ian love triangle to begin with.

“Everything in life is a choice,” Browning told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “Portia makes the highest conscious, best possible kind of choice that there is in a situation she was in. The things you would almost want to do or hope to do, sometimes she makes those choices. I don’t know if I would have been as forgiving and accepting as Portia, and so that’s given me a lot… I stopped assuming things.”

She added, “I’ve started to ask people questions, especially when I feel I’ve been done wrong, and accept that. I said this to my younger brother once: ‘Everyone is their own main character, right? You are a recurring character in someone else’s story.’ I feel that way about Portia—like she kind of understands that. You know what? You got it. And I’m gonna go be my main character somewhere else.”

The final season of Harlem is now streaming on Prime Video.

Kofi Siriobe

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week