Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Diarra From Detroit season 2 finale.
A horny panicked kiss during a shootout? Diarra From Detroit truly delivers in its season 2 finale.
This season, Diarra (Diarra Kilpatrick) and her Ghetto Goonies crew have been hunting for treasure, and the final leg of their journey involves crashing a wedding. Their elaborate plan is going smoothly when all of Diarra’s adversaries show up and a shootout breaks out. During the gunfire, Mr. Tea (Bryan Terrell Clark) plants a big kiss on his terrified ex, Xavier (Nicco Annan). “It's either bravery or just a horny panic response. But either way, it's great television,” Clark, who plays Mr. Tea, tells Out.
In the end, the crew survives and gets their treasure: lots of water. Now, the crew has options, with Diarra deciding to lean into her investigative work and open up her own shop.
Out spoke to Clark about the choice for the treasure being water, that kiss, playing an authentic gay Black man on TV, and what he wants to see for Mr. Tea in the future.
What was your reaction when you found out the treasure they were after was actually water?
My reaction was, Diarra is a genius. We have not only a water shortage happening in the world, but we also have in the zeitgeist this conversation around what AI is doing to water. We have the conversation around Flint and how amongst African Americans we believed once the world got wind of what was happening there that change would happen, and it didn't. And so for Diarra to tie her treasure and her mystery to this life-giving essential that we all need, as it relates to the conversation that's happening in the world, is brilliant. It's genius, and I think it's literally the kind of work that storytellers should be doing at this time. It's kind of our job to use art and entertainment to reflect back to society what's actually happening. And so, for the treasure to be water, to me was a genius choice.
Bryan Terrell Clark as Mr. Tea and Diarra Kilpatrick as Diarra Brickland in 'Diarra From Detroit' episode 8, season 2.Crystal Power/Paramount+
Mr. Tea finds time for some kissing during a gunfight. What does it say about him that he apparently finds danger sexy?
I think we all find danger a little bit sexy, right? When life and death is the meal being served, it's interesting what comes up for Tea. One thing I like about his character is that he is so unashamed when it comes to his sexuality, but sexuality is very different than love. And so, to have his ex be in the room during this chaos, I think that he internally feels like he's doing something brave by kissing him, it's either bravery or just a horny panic response. But either way, it's great television.
On a more serious note, what do you think actually keeps pulling Mr. Tea into these increasingly dangerous adventures?
Yeah, I think what keeps pulling Tea back into danger and adventure is his love for Diarra. I just saw this thing on Instagram the other day that talked about how you know black queer men have had to fight to be seen as men in our community, and oftentimes we're the ones that are showing up for the single mother, we're the ones showing up at our, you know, the gay uncle is showing up at his nieces and nephews' graduations and parties and plays. There's something about the dynamic between Black queer men and Black women: that looks like support, protection, and safety, and love, and I think that that's how Tea shows up. He keeps being drawn back into this danger because of his love for Diarra and because of his support of her as a sister.
What was it like working with Nico Annan again in the finale?
Our guest stars are supernovas of talent and legends in their own right, and to have Nicco, who for me is a queer icon in the space of arts and entertainment, was a gift. I mean, between filming, we're also friends, and to spend time talking to a friend about our awareness around what our faces and stories mean in the space. To have somebody right next to me that gets it and understands what that responsibility is and what joy that is to be given the opportunity to show who we really are on screen. It was a gift. Nicco is a gift.
I've seen a really interesting community forming around the show on Threads this season. What have you noticed about the way fans are finding each other and talking about Diarra From Detroit online?
I love that we're spreading awareness of the show through social media because it brings back a sense of community around a television show, which is something that Black people have been doing since Black Twitter. It's happening on Threads again now, but we had sort of a coming together around Insecure, coming together around P Valley, coming together around Atlanta. There's been a gap for some time for us as fans in the community to come together around a project, and so it was exciting to see that we had something again to kind of come together and talk about.
Christopher Powell as Mac, Diarra Kilpatrick as Diarra Brickland, and Bryan Terrell Clark as Mr. Tea in 'Diarra From Detroit' episode 4, season 2.
It's also been really, really fun to get more than my share of requests to be in a lavender wedding from straight women. That has also been a shock, but I'm thankful for Threads and the kind of social media community for supporting our show and for keeping me in tons of laughs all day long.
The show is finding its people like literally right now. So I'm just really being present because after season one, I feel like those in the industry who had seen it were raving about it. We kind of got a really high critical response and wonderful kind of critical commentary on the show, but the community hadn't really seen it. And so for me, season two is for the people, and that, and I do feel that shift in a major way.
What have you heard from LGBTQ+ fans about Mr. Tea that has stayed with you?
I just did a podcast yesterday, and it almost brought me to tears because they were thanking me for showing an authentic gay man on television. I think a lot of times we're put into these kinds of stereotypes, and I think that this season in particular, you get to see a lot of Tea's strength, and also all the nuances that make him not just a gay man, but a very specific human being. We've been looking for things that feel real, and Tea is so authentically himself that I think he represents a cross section in being so specifically himself, he then in turn represents such a cross section of authenticity in the queer community.
Bryan Terrell Clark as Mr. Tea in 'Diarra From Detroit,' episode 2, season 2.BET/Paramount+
You've talked before about wanting to see more nuanced representations of queer Black men on screen. Has the response to Mr. Tea changed your sense of what's possible for characters like him?
I hope that Tea and the writing of all the characters on the show show that when it comes to Black life, we are sassy and strong and smart and intelligent and powerful and vulnerable and ridiculous and delusional. That the combination and the modulation of all the nuances that make a human being can be placed into a character. It's refreshing to read off the page as an actor, and it's the reason why I say yes to certain characters and no to others. I think when an opportunity like this comes along, you grab it and you understand that it can feel like once in a lifetime. And to answer your question, I hope that more characters like this in many TV shows get to be written.
Are there other areas of Tea's life or things that you're curious about seeing in potential future seasons of the show?
For sure. I think the question on everybody's mind surrounding Tea is when is he going to get into a relationship, and my hope is that with the green light of season three, we'll get a chance to see how he operates in an actual relationship. He has so much freedom and honesty, and lack of shame when it comes to his sexual desires. But there's still so much to unpack with internalized homophobia and what it means to be a Black man in Detroit when it comes to relationships. And so, I'd really like to see him wrestle and bump up against what it means to do the work of being a companion.
Diarra From Detroit is streaming now on Paramount+.
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