Just in time for Mother’s Day, fans will get the backstory of one of TV’s favorite Black moms—Black-ish’s Rainbow Johnson.
The character, portrayed by Golden Globe Award-winning actress Tracee Ellis Ross, is getting her own origin story on the May 7 episode of the popular ABC sitcom.
Set in the 1980s, Rainbow a.k.a. Young Bow is played by Arica Himmel, who has appeared on CBS’s God Friended Me. Former Champions star Anders Holm and The Haves and the Have Nots‘ temptress Tika Sumpter star as Bow’s interracial, hippie parents, Paul and Alicia.
On the current-day episodes of the Kenya Barris-created series, Beau Bridges and Anna Deavere Smith portray the adult versions of Bow’s parents.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the episode is assumed to be a backdoor pilot for a potential spinoff series, similar to Barris’ successful college-themed sitcom grown-ish, which is centered around Bow’s eldest daughter Zoe Johnson, portrayed by Yara Shahidi. Ross has also appeared on that envelope-pushing series, currently in its second season on Freeform.
The episode will also star Gary Cole as Bow’s paternal grandfather, as well as Ethan William Childress, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Christina Anthony.
The special episode of ABC’s black-ish airs on May 7 at 9 p.m. ET.