Note: The following contains spoilers for Starz’s television series BMF.
Last time we saw the Black Mafia Family, Meech’s love interest Monique (Kash Doll) was murdered by BMF adversary Lamar (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) and Detective Bryant (another BMF foe portrayed by Steve Harris) was neutralized. Meech heads to the peachtree streets of Atlanta to build a new crew, while his brother Terry (Da’Vinchi) has been charged with maintaining the flow of illegal narcotics throughout the mean streets of Detroit. Season 3 picks the bookmark up right there as Meech pursues expanding BMF’s drug-trafficking empire.
“We see Meech leaving his hometown going to a whole different environment, a whole different set of people that don’t know him,” says Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., who stars as the main character Big Meech (his dad in real life) during a recent press junket. “Now we see how fearless and smart Meech really is because he’s doing this all by himself.”
Although the shift in the storyline ends the majority of BMF’s settings taking place in Detroit, it does highlight the early beginnings of the kinship that still exists between Motown and Hotlanta.
“They came down here and held it down,” said rapper 42 Dugg in a January interview of BMF’s Atlanta legacy. “A lot of people from the ‘A’ got love for Detroit because they saw how Meech was playing it. Meech came down here and they embraced him and they’ve been embracing Detroit ever since. He changed the whole culture down here forever.”
Though no scenes actually were filmed in Detroit this time, the Motor City vibe is maintained as we still see folks in Al Wissam jackets talking about eating calamari from the Roostertail and driving over to Mack and Bewick.
![Episode 1: The Raven LoungeIn episode one, K-9 invites Meech to a business dinner at the historic Raven Lounge, which opened in 1966 by Sam Watts and prides itself on being Detroit’s oldest blue’s bar. The club was created “to give up-and-coming Motown [talent] a place to play,” owner Tommy Stephens told National Geographic “It’s where stars came to listen to the blues.” Those stars included B.B. King, Diana Ross, Martha Reeves, and Smokey Robinson.](https://media1.metrotimes.com/metrotimes/imager/the-best-detroit-moments-from-bmf-season-2-photos/u/slideshowthumb/32714586/bmf2-201sg-00-19-27-08-a.jpg?cb=1679947664)
“Randy Huggins is the creator, he was the showrunner the first two seasons, a Detroit native,” says executive producer Heather Zuhlke, adding that the goal was “taking the Detroit swagger and putting it in Atlanta, of course.”
Like previous seasons, BMF is full of high-octane gangsta shoutouts, criminal-minded strategizing, and the on-screen bouts of cops and robbers you get with many crime dramas. In between there’s still plenty of tension from Charles Flenory’s (Russell Hornsby) infidelity and we also see more growth between Lucillle (Michole White) and Nicole Flenory’s (Laila Pruitt) mother-daughter relationship.
“Even though our stories parallel a little bit, it’s still hard for Lucille as a mom to appreciate some of the growth and changes that Nicole is going through because I want her to stay young and stay in her place a little bit,” says White.
Season 3 introduces several new characters played by Real Housewives of Atlanta star Cynthia Bailey and rappers Dominique “Lil Baby” Jones and Saweetie, and former showrunner Huggins’ toddler daughter even makes her acting debut. But the most familiar face Detroiters will recognize is Darnell Lindsay Jr., son of legendary rapper Darnell Lindsay Sr., aka Blade Icewood.
“I got a text message with a flier on it that BMF was doing casting for extras down there in Atlanta,” Lindsay says.
Lindsay wasn’t totally new to acting. He had a strong following on Vine in his teens and has appeared in films Chedda Boys (2022) and Off the Porch (2023). Though the opportunity wasn’t initially for a speaking role, Lindsay put himself in a better position by taking acting classes for seven months prior to heading to Atlanta.
“At first I was like, ‘I don’t wanna be no extra,’ but then I thought, ‘you never know,’” Lindsay says. “Two or three weeks later I ended up getting an audition for a character named C-Note.”
Blade nailed the audition and will make his appearance later on in season 3. He was also reconnected with Lil Meech, who he’s known since he was a kid.
“Me and him know each other from being teenagers,” says Lindsay. “We did a party together when we were like 17 and we’ve kept in contact on the ’gram and stuff.”
“We have a lot of folks still connected to Detroit,” adds Zuhlke. “I knew who he was. Without giving spoilers he’ll be interacting with Meech on the Atlanta side.”
Lindsay has embraced the fun and challenges that come with being on a show about subject matter that he’s familiar with. He says he’s received encouragement from the cast and sees a bright future for himself in acting.
“It was different for me because I’m like the only person on the show that’s really from Detroit and I’ve been around everything,” says Lindsay. “It actually opened up my eyes to be around people who don't know me personally or don’t know about Lil Blade, they just liked me as a person.”
Zuhlke promises viewers will see more overall growth and reinvention from the entire cast throughout season 3. She’s also making sure the Detroit energy that the storyline and characters are based on stays present and recognizable.
“We’re carrying Randy’s legacy on,” says Zuhlke. “Episode 301 is named ‘Detroit vs Everybody.’ I know it is a state of mind you carry with you.”
BMF season 3 premieres on Starz at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 1. Below are some first-look stills from the new season.
