"See it, touch it, obtain it" and "womb to the tomb" are the codes that Meech (Demetrius "Lil Meech" Flenory Jr.) and Terry (Da'Vinchi) live by.
Although bonded by blood, their approach to the drug game is different: Meech is rambunctious, while Terry is more prudent. At the nucleus of their brotherhood were love, loyalty, and the zeal to expand their drug trafficking enterprise.
However, "BMF" Season 4 raises the question of what happens when that foundation starts to crumble.
In the first episode of Starz's crime drama titled "Graduation Day," Terry is struggling to keep the business afloat while Meech has been missing in action for months following their temerarious trip to Mexico.
When Meech finally returns to Detroit, unbeknownst to Terry, they get into a heated altercation that foreshadows the direction of their relationship.
Loyal associate Hoop asked what everyone in the room was wondering: "What the (expletive) happened in Mexico?"
Season 4 will reveal the mysterious events in Mexico
Da'Vinchi told USA TODAY that the fight between Meech and Terry in the show highlights how their bond begins to crack.
"They were done," the actor said. "And as the season progresses, you start seeing in the flashbacks in Mexico what led to this fight."
The scene was intense on screen, but shooting it was a blast: "This season has a bunch of action, so choreographing that fight was hilarious. Working with [Lil Meech] and then teaching him how to throw a camera punch, it was really funny."
"BMF," executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, is loosely inspired by the real events of the Flenory brothers, the founders of the "Black Mafia Family," dubbed one of the most notorious drug organizations in the U.S. known for ties with drug cartels.
The story follows Big Meech and Southwest T's humble beginnings in 1980s Detroit and their rise to kingpin status, which thrust them into prominent circles alongside legendary hip-hop acts. Both were sentenced to three decades behind bars, but T was released in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Big Meech was later let out last October to finish his sentence in a halfway house in Florida. His son plays him in the show.)
"I had a conversation with Terry Flenory himself, and he was proud and honored by how I was portraying him on screen," said Da'Vinchi. "And to me, I was like, Yo, that's an Emmy right there. That's an award."
'I'm going to boss up now'
In Season 4, Terry's convoluted relationship with Markisha Taylor (Alani 'La La' Anthony) also shifts from personal to professional when she approaches him with a proposition to get involved in the drug business.
"She's tired of relying on men, and now she's like, I want to be my own boss. I want my own independence. I want to do this myself, which a lot of women can relate to," La La said.
"In relationships, a lot of times we lose ourselves, we lose our identity, and Markisha is just tired of it, so she's like, 'I'm going to boss up now. I want to be in charge of my life and the decisions I make.' So it's an interesting journey to see her take this season."
When Markisha is first introduced, she is an insurance company employee and the wife of Boom, a local drug dealer who physically abuses her. La La expressed that playing a survivor of domestic violence "was tough," and she wanted to approach the role with care.
"It was difficult to go to that place and also to see what she went through," she added.
In the first three seasons, Terry and Markisha's connection turns into a love affair that strains Terry's relationship with the mother of his children, LaWanda (Sydney Mitchell), and raises the eyebrows of Meech. Markisha is mature and coaches Terry to get him out of his brother's shadow.
"I think Markisha strokes his ego, whether it's conscious or unconscious," Da'Vinchi said. "She has a knowledge of the game that he doesn't have."
Markisha "reaffirms everything he feels about Meech and the independence that he wants in the game," he continued.
'So many enemies'
With B-Mickie (Myles Truitt) and Lamar's (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) return to the show, on top of other obstacles, there is a lot of pressure on Meech and Terry.
" It's just so many enemies coming at us at once that it's hard for us to watch each other's six," Da'Vinchi said. " It's super intense. You don't know who to trust. It's almost like our luck ran out this season."
La La calls Season 4 "incredible," adding that it has "so many twists and turns."
Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@gannett.com.
