Grown-ish recap: What makes a genius?

What makes a genius and who decides which people are one? That’s what Zoey and company dissect on this week’s episode of Freeform’s grown-ish.

As Zoey (Yara Shahidi) points out at the beginning of “In My Feelings,” the criteria for what made a genius used to be pretty cut and dry. The term was strictly reserved for people like Albert Einstein and George Washington Carver. But today, the definition is pretty up in the air. This is what sets Zoey off into a downward spiral of self-doubt.

The campus is abuzz with a mystery video drop, think Beyoncé a la Lemonade in 2016. No one knows what musical artist has put out this cryptic video, though every Gen-Zer can agree that the mystery person is a genius.

Nomi (Emily Arlook) soon sparks drama – unintentionally – when she comments that Luca (Luka Sabbat) is also a modern-day genius thanks to his non-conforming personality and kick a** design skills. That’s when the green-eyed monster practically jumps out of Zoey. Sure, Luca is her boyfriend and she thinks he’s talented, but what exactly does that make her in the relationship? I’ll spare you the guessing: a not genius.

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Zoey has been struggling pretty much since last year in her design classes. All this praise on Luca doesn’t make things any better, and to top it off there’s still a lot of tension between herself and Jazz (Chloe Bailey.)

Luckily, the two seemingly patch things up when Jazz gives Zoey a heaping dose of reality. According to Zoey, Luca’s genius designation isn’t what has her spiraling. It’s that Nomi’s words confirmed self-doubts she had about her own abilities like if she’s good enough to continue in her major. Zoey is used to being the best of the best, and college has been an adjustment because for the first she’s not.

Jazz in her own spirited way explains to Zoey that she has nothing to prove to anyone. If she thinks she’s a good designer that’s all that matters. Jazz also tells Zoey that if she ever had doubts about continuing to do something she claimed to love, she’d let it go, and that’s what exactly what the latter does.

Doing what so many other college students can relate to, Zoey changes her major. Maybe she isn’t exactly a design genius, but knowing when it’s time to let something go – no matter how hard – takes a lot of brains.

Watch new episodes of grown-ish  Wednesday nights at 8/7c only on Freeform.