Councilwoman-elect Regina Upshaw begins her big day seated at the kitchen table while Lucretia finishes her hair in The Upshaws part 7 episode 10. Regina is fully basking in the reality of her win. This is the moment she has been fighting toward.
Bennie wanders in and starts flirting, but Regina shuts it down the second she realizes he is not dressed for the ceremony. He insists he has one quick thing to take care of and heads into the backyard. The excitement quickly gives way to nerves. The ceremony makes it real. Lucretia reminds Regina that she earned this position and that she earned it her way.
After yelling several times for the family to get ready, Regina decides to personally hustle everyone. As she leaves the kitchen, Frank enters and tells Lucretia there is still a spot available on a six-month cruise. Lucretia is thrilled.
Upstairs, Regina finds Aaliyah nearly ready. Aaliyah begins complimenting her in French, which Regina immediately shuts down. Today is not about the study abroad program. Bennie and Regina already decided against it. Aaliyah calmly explains she has done all the legwork and only needs their signatures on the permission slip. Regina tables the conversation for later and heads off to find Maya and Bernard.
Outside, Bennie and Maya rehearse a carefully planned plea meant to manipulate Lucretia. The idea is to use Maya’s charm to convince Lucretia to pay Bennie’s legal fee so he does not have to sell his beloved Camaro.
Regina storms outside, furious that Bennie’s “one quick thing” is selling a car on her big day. Bennie pushes back, reminding her he is still dealing with the fine he received while trying to help her win the election. Regina cannot argue with that and tells him to hurry.
Back inside, Lucretia and Frank review cruise plans and immediately hide them when Regina enters. After Regina leaves to track down Bernard, Lucretia admits she cannot drop this news on Regina today. Frank presses that it is time-sensitive and they need to book the cruise now.
Bernard and Hector enter through the backyard and Regina returns shortly after. When Regina and Bernard head upstairs to help Maya, who has locked herself in the bathroom, Hector corners Lucretia and Frank to ask whether he should move to San Diego with Bernard.
Frank suggests he simply ask Bernard directly. He then points out how long it took him and Lucretia to finally get together, prompting Lucretia to accidentally reveal the cruise. She quickly insists Hector did not hear that and sends him upstairs.
Downstairs, Bennie panics when the buyer arrives for the Camaro and Maya is nowhere to be found. Without her, Bennie openly hints he does not want to sell the car. Lucretia, unmoved, encourages the sale if it means Bennie can make his payment. Bennie hands over the keys, takes the money, and immediately regrets it. He jumps onto the hood in a last-ditch attempt to stop the sale.
Upstairs, Bernard, Regina, and Hector struggle to unlock the bathroom door. Bernard sends Hector to grab tools, and Hector responds that he will go anywhere Bernard asks him to. Once Hector leaves, Bernard admits to Regina he wants Hector to come to San Diego but is unsure if that is too much, too fast. Regina asks whether he would rather Hector go or stay long-distance. Maya chimes in from behind the door, suggesting they just talk.
Regina leaves the boys to rescue Maya and heads downstairs, where she finds Aaliyah fully dressed and editing her essay. Aaliyah asks Regina to let the program committee be the ones to say no. Regina pushes back, saying she knows Aaliyah wants out of Indiana, but it should not be at the first opportunity. Aaliyah argues this program is an achievement, not an escape. She is one of only three students invited.
Regina relents, signing the permission slip with the agreement they will revisit the decision later if Aaliyah is accepted. She then declares that no one else is allowed to ask her for anything else today. Lucretia overhears and panics even more about the cruise news. She stages it as a fight, loudly accusing Frank of “taking her away from her family” on Regina’s big day. Frank is genuinely enraged by the performance.
Regina enters and, missing the act entirely, sides with Frank. She suggests he go on the cruise alone. Six months apart will give them a chance to miss one another. Lucretia backpedals, admitting she only wanted Regina to want her to go. Regina tells her to just go and compares Lucretia and Frank to Bernard and Hector, pointing out how terrible everyone in this family is at having simple conversations.
She is done. Bennie needs to get off the car, Maya needs to be freed, and everyone needs to get going. Lucretia diffuses the Camaro situation by writing Bennie a check for the legal fees, provided he gets off the car and gets dressed. Bennie agrees, only to realize the check is written for a “bazillion dollars.” Lucretia then promises that if Bennie stops causing problems today, she will disappear for six whole months.
Bernard rescues Maya and sends her to get dressed. Hector and Bernard finally have the conversation they have been circling all episode. They both want to go to San Diego together. Regina announces that anyone not at the door is no longer family. Everyone scrambles and makes it to the door, only to immediately rush back inside needing one last thing. Regina finally explodes, listing everyone’s problems and reminding them this is her day. Everyone needs to be there for her.
Regina repeats that everyone is going and they all file out of the house leaving Regina in a moment of solace. She realizes everyone is going. Not just to her swearing in. San Diego. France. A cruise. Forward in their own lives. She takes a moment and reads Aaliyah’s essay, where Aaliyah credits Regina for always doing whatever it took to give herself a chance. Deeply moved, Regina reads how her daughter was inspired by her actions. Those words echo as Regina Upshaw is sworn in.
All episodes of The Upshaws are available to stream now on Netflix.