Being Mary Jane is back, y’all!

In the opening scene, as we approach Mary Jane (Gabrielle Union)’s abode, she’s having a great deal of fun except…the person getting her off is not the person she is actually making love to. Is this no, no, no or is it yes, yes, yes?! Mary Jane is thinking about Justin (Michael Ealy) while doing it with Lee (Chiké Okonkwo). There’s nothing wrong with that, right?

The next day, when she is on the air and supposed to be doing her job, what is she actually doing? Having thoughts of happy endings with Justin, of course. Meanwhile, Justin is having his own issues concentrating as well as he watches her on the monitor fumbling in doing his work as well.

With Orlando (Nicholas Gonzalez) keeping her company, Kara (Lisa Vidal) armchair produces Great Day USA. Even from home, she can see that Mary Jane is slightly distracted. Orlando reminds her that her time would be better spent preparing for her arbitration. It becomes apparent that screaming at the TV screen is Kara’s way of actually trying to keep her mind off the arbitration. She is terrified of losing and getting blackballed. Orlando reminds her that she better win.

Back at home that night, Mary Jane loses it and yells at Lee for no real reason (well, there is the small matter of that guilty conscience). She breaks down and confesses that she slept with Justin. Lee badgers her into telling him why she decided to come clean at this point in time, ultimately accusing her of just wanting to, “slide down another D.” Mary Jane doesn’t allow him to finish, reminding him that he’s better than that. Mary Jane goes further and tells Lee she actually has feelings for Justin but, she protests that she has changed. But Lee’s not having it. He vengefully lets her know he’s relieved that at least they never had the baby because he now realizes she would have been “a terrible mom.” Not content to leave it at that, he also tells her she is still a broken woman and that a guy like Justin is only going to smash her into even smaller pieces.

Later that night, Mary Jane calls her mom Helen (Margaret Avery), who is bursting with excitement about the wedding. She has even picked out the perfect spot for them — Hattiesburg! Oh and at one point, Mary Jane mutes the phone and launches into a monologue where she speculates that  Justin, who she basically just dumped Lee for, is the “devil” and calls herself a “selfish bitch” for tanking her relationship with Lee. I’m not so sure it’s that simple, Mary Jane, but go off. I guess anyone would feel some self-hatred at having their heart (and other) strings pulled by Mr. Questionable when Mr. Perfect is right there wanting to make all their dreams come true. Mom is on the muted line clueless and talking a mile a minute about the wedding that is no more. Mary Jane reveals that the wedding is off but leaves out the messy details with a slick, “I really thought I was ready to talk about it Mom but I’m not. I’m gonna call you back, okay?”

Back at the office, Justin and Mary Jane agree that they need to talk and agree to meet later for a drink. Then Aaron and Garrett enter with much weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth over the low ratings on Mary Jane’s show. Garrett suggests that they bring Ronda on to talk about all that unpleasantness that went down leading her to lose her job and the anchor chair to Mary Jane. Mary Jane and Justin are so not feeling this. Aaron and Garret, however, are giddy. I mean who cares if Ronda goes live on air spilling hot, steaming, petty ass tea all over the set!! You know? Ratings! Mary Jane and Justin kind of have no choice but to go along with what will end up being a train wreck in one way or another.

Orlando reluctantly tells- well Kara guesses- that he has not been invited to the team breakfast and it’s all because of Kara’s big mouth. She has offended all the team wives and they are taking it out on Orlando. Star athlete that Orlando is, his eye is still on the ball. He reminds her that she has more important things that she needs to be focusing on.

Mary Jane and Justin meet for that drink. Awash in the cold blue light of the fancy bar amid the tinkle of ice in the glasses they hold in their hands, Justin throws ice cold reality in Mary Jane’s deluded face.  What he and she had was “just sex.” Oh, and another thing, he has a girlfriend who he is definitely not going to break up with over a one night stand with an overly emotional, highly immature news anchor. Humiliation and hurt distort Mary Jane’s visage as she walks out. Yes, Mary Jane was probably an idiot to read so much into a single sexual encounter but is Justin perhaps lying to himself just a tad bit? Does it even matter though?

An enraged Mary Jane goes home and takes all that passion and anger and rage and shame out on her…pillows. That’s right, she throws every last pillow off that bed! Well, she did have like ten of them on there. Her alarm wakes her up at 3 in the morning. She walks over to the mirror and in bright red “eff me” lipstick writes, “Game On!”

The next morning at the office, Mary Jane sidles up to Garrett and Justin’s little tete a tete and gets Garrett all excited about HER idea. The new girl Emma – not Mary Jane – should interview Queen Ronda for the ratings bait segment Garrett cooked up. Justin obviously hates the idea decoys using Aaron as the excuse. Garrett essentially responds with, “So, what?” Garrett likes it and wants to do it! When Garrett leaves the two of them, Justin reiterates his opinion that her idea is a hellish one and it’s her fury over his remarks of the night before that brought it on. Mary Jane lies and tells him what he said wasn’t a factor and that she actually agrees with him. No, it was nothing to do with being played out and scorned; nothing at all. Really.

Helen reveals to Paul that she found out why the wedding was called off. She knows Mary Jane cheated on Lee and suggests that maybe, just maybe, Mary Jane’s issues are rooted in Paul’s own naughty behavior when Mary Jane was growing up.  Paul quickly sidesteps this discussion and tells Helen that they need to sell the house in Hattiesburg because Mary Jane just is never gonna ever get married there. You can almost hear him say in his mind “she’s never gonna get married. Period.” Almost.

At work, Mary Jane, Garrett, and Justin meet with the Brand Strategy team. They tell her that her ratings are low because she is not connecting with the audience. Well, junior associate, Aaliyah has a theory. The audience would probably not want to kick back and watch the Real Housewives with Mary Jane. How do we solve a problem like Mary Jane? Well, why not pimp her out to the random film director who was just on the show and seemed interested in her  because dating him “would create a lot of buzz.” For his part, Justin thinks it is a good idea and that it will “humanize” her. She was human enough for him a few nights ago but anyway, Mary Jane agrees to it.

Mary Jane visits Kara but doesn’t tell her about breaking up with Lee. Kara goes to hang out with the team wives, full of contempt for them but convinced that she will win them over. Turns out she was right- all she had to do was become the “official selfie taker.” She bonds with one of the girlfriends, Lauren and they make a date to go shopping.

Mary Jane goes on the date with random director guy Randy, and finds out that Justin told him she has a boyfriend. Kara comes to visit the office at the same time that the grande dame Ronda comes by and a verbal catfight ensues. Mary Jane tells the junior associate Aaliyah, from Brand Strategy that the date went well and she has asked him over for dinner at her place that night. Justin is in earshot of all this and can’t help rolling his eyes. Is he actually annoyed or trying to hide his jealousy? Hmm…

Back at Kara’s she reluctantly tells Orlando that the arbitration meeting was a mess that day. It seems her well publicized, agenda-induced selfie with the girls the other day made her seem much more well heeled than she actually is and may have hurt her in the arbitration.

While making dinner a chez maison for director Randy, who shows up unexpectedly at Mary Jane’s door but Justin. He tells her they need to talk. She tells him he needs to go… somewhere, anywhere but there. Justin begs her to let him in for a few minutes. She relents but as he hems and haws his way toward an explanation, she tries to pin down why the hell he is standing in her home. He drops a bombshell. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. Not anymore. Mary Jane can barely hide her smugness as she continues to insist that he leave. He approaches the door then pivots, slamming it shut. Mary Jane starts to weaken. Violins a-trembling in the background, Justin tells her, “I can’t stand the thought of you with someone else… I can’t be without you right now. I can’t…” Randy the director all but forgotten, they make their way over to the freshly made bed. Once again it is teeming with pillows…

 

What did you think of Being Mary Jane’s return? Let us know in the comments.