by Janday Wilson

“Being Mary Jane” Season 1/Episode 1 Recap

Last summer, BET teased us with the pilot episode of Being Mary Jane, which they debuted as an original movie. Mara Brock Akil’s creation proved to be captivating. Gabrielle Union embodied the lead character, Mary Jane Paul, an accomplished news anchor who cannot handle her love life and family with the same level of success as her career.

The show was full of memorable characters, compelling storylines, and spicy dialogue and scenes. The film even ended with Mary Jane freezing an unknowing man’s sperm. You can’t get much more drama than that (am I right??), which made the 5-month wait for the show’s official premiere that much harder to bear.

The writers did not disappoint with last night’s episode. You know the saying, “When it rains, it pours”? The Being Mary Jane premiere was chock full of back-to-back bad news.

Here are the scenes from last night that best illustrate the above cliched adage.

1. First: Mary Jane’s friend Dr. Lisa Hudson’s (Latarsha Rose) overdoses on sleeping pills and Mary Jane rushes to save her life.

Then: The morning after the attempted suicide crisis, Mr. Trifling – also known Andre (Omari Hardwick), the ex-boo who Mary Jane dumped after she found out he was married – makes an unwelcome visit to Mary Jane’s house.

2. First: SNC News Network fires an anchor, and Mary Jane and her colleagues learn that nobody’s job is safe and they will all be working under management’s thumb.

Then: Andre’s wife Avery (Robinne Lee) shows up at Mary Jane’s office and grills her about her relationship with her husband. “DO YOU ALWAYS CUM?” was a standout inquiry for obvious reasons. To make matters worse, Mary Jane is afflicted with a bit of the ol’ inferiority complex after she Googles Avery and discovers she is a superwoman who is partner at her law firm and has worked with President Barack Obama.

3. First: Mary Jane has a crisis of conscious on air when her Emmy-chasing producer Kara Lynch (Lisa Vida) forces her to interview an elderly storm riding couple during Hurricane Kenny. The fact that they may have been blown away during the deadly storm while on air does not help matters.

Then: Mary Jane tries to link up with her casual boo, David (Stephen Bishop), only to be blown off after he admits that he is going out to dinner with a woman (a mere two hours after his and Mary Jane’s date plans were canceled) with whom he sometimes has casual sex. After expressing her disgust, Mary Jane hits the treadmill to relieve some tension only to discover that Andre is also at the gym. She rushes off to shower, is confronted by Andre in the ladies’ locker room, and somehow they end up having public, tearful makeup sex.

You better bet I’m waiting on episode 2 of Being Mary Jane with bated breath.