How & Why Jason Mitchell’s Brandon Died

If you’re a casual fan of the South Side Chicago drama series “The Chi,” which first aired in 2018, you were probably a little confused when main character Brandon Johnson (Jason Mitchell) was abruptly exited from the show. Dew. Season 2 ended with the character in a difficult and complicated position, leaving fans wondering how he would deal with all the turmoil during the break between seasons. In the season 3 opener, it’s revealed that he doesn’t deal with it at all. Brandon died off-screen between seasons — or, as “The Simpsons” fans might say, he died on his way back to his home planet.

It’s similar to what happened in the final season 6 of House of Cards, when it was revealed that Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) had died off-screen, but at the time, the writers They were going to end season 5 even though viewers definitely knew that wasn’t the plan. It’s always awkward when real-life situations encroach on fictional worlds, and “The Chi” was no exception. If you want to know why Brandon suddenly passed away, you’ll first need to understand what happened to actor Jason Mitchell…

it’s hard to know that’s right What happened is that many of the people involved either signed NDAs or don’t seem comfortable divulging too many details. But the point is that Mitchell was allegedly responsible for a lot of sexual misconduct behind the scenes, particularly towards co-star Tiffany Boone. Boone played Jerrica, Brandon’s girlfriend, but was asked to leave the role after repeated harassment from Mitchell. Showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis talked about the situation 2019:

“I have discussed Tiffany’s claims with studio staff. [human resources] Manage departments and set up HR presentations for writers, cast, and crew. In the end, everyone was well aware of Jason’s actions and his multiple personnel cases, including Lena. [Waithe]the show’s creator and executive producer, and is deeply involved at the studio and network level…As a showrunner, I had numerous discussions with the studio’s human resources department, including directing one person to his actions. The actress should have called HR herself before I became the target of his anger and inappropriate behavior and had to report her to HR as well. ”

In May 2019, Johnson was officially fired from the series. Creator Lena Waithe also revealed this decision in an interview. breakfast club podcastexplained how she heard about Mitchell’s problematic behavior after Season 1 and tried to confront him about it and resolve the situation with him, to no avail. “There was definitely a conversation where I called him and it got really serious,” she explained. “‘You have to respect every woman on set. You have to respect everyone… Don’t treat any woman any differently than you treat me. please.””

In the first two seasons, Brandon seemed to be on an upward journey. Slowly but surely, he achieved his dream of becoming a successful chef, even though life on the South Side constantly got in the way. He starts a food truck in season 1 of “The Chi” and quickly becomes one of the show’s most sympathetic and moral characters, serving as a much-needed mentor to younger characters like Kevin (Alex Hibbert). fulfills its role as However, as Season 2 progresses, he soon finds himself attracting the troubling attention of Otis “Doo-da” Perry (Curtis Cooke), a schemer who will soon become the mayor of Chicago in one way or another. It gradually becomes clear that Duda is the worst, and by the end of season 2 Brandon has been arrested and Jerrica has dumped him. He ended the season seemingly deciding to turn to the police and attack Duda, but we never got to see that play out.

How would this issue have been resolved if Mitchell’s behind-the-scenes misconduct didn’t get in the way of the story? Many fans believe that Brandon will redeem himself in Season 3 of The Chi and team up with the detective who arrested him (Alice Toussaint, played by Crystal Dickinson) to take down Duda. Perhaps Brandon would have gotten Jerrica back, stayed out of prison, and ultimately accomplished most of his restaurant dreams.

Fans have also speculated that the Season 5 storyline in which Emmett (Jacob Lattimore) works at a restaurant with Duda would have been Brandon’s had the character not been written. Emmett in general seems like he was given a lot of material in later seasons that Brandon would have been given due to his constant relationship drama and dreams of bettering himself. .

Season 3 of The Chi begins with Brandon’s mother Laverne (Sonja Thorne) delivering a eulogy at his funeral, mourning his death and blaming Chicago’s problems for taking Brandon away from her. “I shouldn’t have raised them in a city where I would rather see their portraits painted on a brick wall than see them graduate from college…They meant everything to me. And this The city took them from me.” This is a continuation of the show’s many critiques of systemic problems in the city, except this time it sounds hollow, because here she is. I’m crying because I know it’s not Chicago’s fault. Jason Mitchell’s.

The rest of Season 3 takes a big departure from Brandon’s story. Alice Toussaint’s once important character is abruptly removed, and there is no mention of the federal government’s removal of Duda. The show strangely shows no interest in explaining how or why Brandon died, but it’s eventually explained in a season 4 storyline where Laverne returns to Chicago and shoots Duda. . (Unfortunately he’s still alive, but at least we know he’s the one who killed Brandon.) The whole thing was a bit confusing. Early seasons were often compared to “The Wire” in terms of its scope and style, but by Season 3, the show had killed any chance of being considered in the same league.

The general consensus among fans is that the first two seasons were some of the best that “The Chi” had to offer, and that things started to fall apart a bit after Brandon was dropped from the show. . Fans have often wondered if recasting Brandon might have been a wiser choice, or if they could have found a way to end Brandon’s story a little more gracefully.

In addition to being removed from “The Chi”, Jason Mitchell was also removed from the production of the feature film “Desperados” in 2019, and was also removed from his talent agency. Mitchell’s firing from The Chi wasn’t the complete end of his career — he appeared in several lesser-known, low-budget films in the years that followed — but it was It was certainly the end of his time as a promising up-and-comer in Hollywood. His film received rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival.

That same year, Mitchell denounced the accusations against him, which led to his firing from The Chi. in Breakfast Club Podcast Interviewhe said, “I really hate to say this because I’m all for the Me Too movement…I’m all for the Me Too movement because I have two beautiful daughters who I want in this business. I agree.” But in this situation, Ayanna thinks, “I agree. [Floyd Davis] I tried to use that as a really, really ugly weapon. ”

In May 2020, he was arrested in Mississippi on multiple drug and weapons charges. as a deadline reported At the time, “Mitchell was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and two counts of possession of a weapon by a felon. During a traffic stop, Mitchell was found in possession of an AK-47 assault rifle.” A Glock pistol, two pounds of marijuana and the drug ecstasy were recorded. ”

Mitchell said of the situation: 2023 interview A few years later. “I was on my way to New Orleans to see family…and I just kind of jumped in the wrong car with the wrong people,” he said. “That wasn’t the case, you know what I mean? … All of those charges were dropped and completely dismissed. I’m not dealing with that anymore, but… It was kind of unfortunate and embarrassing at the time to deal with. ”