It’s one thing to find love. It’s another thing to do it with your mama watching. From the next room. OWN’s latest reality series, #Somebody’s Son, takes the viral hashtag that once celebrated Black women manifesting real, intentional romance and turns it into a full-on dating experiment—with a twist only OWN could pull off. The show premiered Saturday, April 12, and follows three successful Black men on a quest for love—each with a very opinionated mother (or mother figure) tagging along for the entire ride. Not figuratively. Literally. They’re in the house. Sitting in on dates, offering unsolicited commentary, and, yes, sometimes throwing a whole wrench in a budding connection—all in the name of love and legacy.
One of the bachelors at the heart of this journey is James Hatchett, a 29-year-old cyber security engineer with the energy of someone who’s always five steps ahead—and that applies to his love life, too. “I’m always thinking about things steps and leads ahead,” James says. “That’s just me. I’m a forward-thinking person. I’ll even, you know… if things get serious, I’ll start contemplating how your name sounds with my last name, type of thing. So I definitely do think about the future when it comes to relationships.” At the same time, James is rooted in the present—he doesn’t waste time on vibes that don’t align. “If I don’t see things working out just like in the future, I’ll cut it right there.”
That kind of clarity may have something to do with the woman who raised him. His mother, Charlease—aka Charlie—isn’t just present on the show; she’s a force. And she has a clear vision of the kind of partner her son deserves: “Honesty, integrity is key. Faith-based is first. Family is really key,” she says. “A lot of people say, ‘Well, you’re not marrying their family.’ I beg to differ. If you value family, you are. We’ve experienced relationships where they wanted to pull him away from us… and that doesn’t quite fit, because we’re so close.”
But her presence on the show is more than just about matchmaking—it’s also about evolution. For Charlie, this experience became a moment of reckoning, a reminder that parenting is its own kind of love story, filled with chapters of release and recalibration.
She remembers what it was like bringing James into the world—and then having to leave him at the hospital because of serious heart complications. That early separation shaped her protectiveness, she says, though she’s come to understand the difference between being protective and being controlling. “You parent differently when they’re young, when they’re in high school… and then you have to shift,” she reflects. “Now that he’s 30, I just try to hold true to what I know. If I see red flags, I speak on them—but in a way that’s not confrontational. We sit down and have a conversation. And surprisingly, he’s received quite a bit.”
One of her guiding principles? Communication. “I purposely did not want to raise a male child that didn’t know how to communicate,” she adds. “Because the lack of communication kills everything.”
For James, being on #Somebody’s Son was not just about finding love—it was also an opportunity to understand his mother’s perspective on relationships in real time. “I think with my mom practically dating these women as I’m dating them, I got to see how, when these women start opening up and revealing things about themselves, my mom processes that,” he shares. “She comments on those things, and it allowed me to understand how her thought process goes. I’m in the house with her, living through it, and I start seeing how she forms her perceptions of people.”
It wasn’t always easy for James to reconcile his mother’s comments with his own feelings. “She has her opinions that she’s talking to my dad about, or something like that, and then she’ll draw her conclusions. And I’ll be like, ‘Where is this coming from? Last time we were all together, everything was cool, but now you’re talking about this.’” But over time, he gained insight into the nuances of his mother’s protective nature. “She’s actually a very fair person. When it boils down to it, she wants the best for me, but at the end of the day, she wants to protect me. And I appreciate it.”
Throughout the season, #Somebody’s Son leans into that tension between generational expectations and modern dating. These women aren’t looking to be chosen. They’re also doing the choosing. The series doesn’t just play matchmaker; it spotlights what happens when strong-willed women—mothers and daters alike—collide under one roof.
And it’s not just James. Each bachelor brings his own story, his own baggage, and his own version of what Black love should look like. Joshua, a 28-year-old NFL free agent, raised by his Aunt Oma, a nurse who’s played mom for most of his life. He’s looking for a woman who’s equal parts ambition and chill—his version of balance. Chadd, 30, a financial analyst with SEC credentials and a prayer list. He’s joined by his mother Katina, a cosmetologist and minister. Together, they’re seeking a woman of faith who’s ready to build both home and legacy. But no matter the path, the underlying message is clear: it’s not just about chemistry—it’s about compatibility, conviction, and whether you’re ready for the kind of relationship that asks you to grow, not just show up.
What makes #Somebody’s Son stand out is how it treats Black love not as spectacle, but as a sacred process—messy, multi-layered, and deeply communal. It asks questions that are rarely posed in public, especially of Black men: What do you really want? Who taught you how to love? And are you ready for the kind of relationship that takes a village?
There will be moments of awkwardness. There will be motherly side-eyes. There might even be a few tears. But at its core, #Somebody’s Son is a celebration of the kind of love that takes work, intention, and a whole lot of heart.
Saturday nights just got real.
