This week’s episode of Being Mary Jane is unique in one little way. As always, the show doesn’t shy away from the drama, both familial and romantic. In addition, we get a peek at Mary Jane Paul before she was Mary Jane Paul. When the show opens, Paul is yelling at ringing telephone and tells MJ (who was then just ‘Pauletta’) to answer it. When she does, no one is on the other end.
We flash-forward to the present day and Paul is yelling at the phone again. Only when he answers it, he yells for Frank to stop calling. Helen isn’t here. Grown-up Mary Jane calls to check in on her parents before they are set to fly to New York to be in a segment on her show. Paul lies and says everything is fine.
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Elsewhere in Atlanta, Frank arrives at Helen’s hotel room, begging her to move to New Orleans with him. She seems unsure, but happy to receive the attention. She returns to the Patterson home to head to the airport. Paul gets mad and doesn’t want to go at all, but Helen persuades him.
When they arrive in New York, Mary Jane is a little bummed that Justin isn’t going to make it in time to meet her parents. Instead of staying in the hotel room, Helen shows up at MJ’s NYC apartment and very bluntly breaks the news. Paul wants a divorce and Helen is going to give it to him. We know that the Pattersons are bad at communication, but this one definitely required cookies or tequila to soften the blow.
Frank keeps calling Helen to find out her decision. This time, she finally reveals to him that Patrick is his son. She thinks that the news will make him hate her, but no, it’s the opposite. He wants even more for the two of them to move to New Orleans together. Helen also tells Frank that Patrick is an addict although the men have different vices.
Despite the fact that they said they could handle being on TV, MJ’s parents have a major fight before going on. Helen even throws a mug, like a certain someone did when arguing with Lee. They really are pushing this Lee/Paul, Justin/Frank storyline and I’m kind of afraid to see where it goes.
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In Kara’s world, Orlando is up for a huge broadcasting deal and he wants Garrett to produce him. So, Kara devises a plot to get Garrett to Orlando’s show and either her or Justin in the executive producer slot. So, that’s basically what she’s up to while Mary Jane’s family implodes.
Frank breaks a pretty important rule of Narcotics Anonymous and shows up at Patrick’s meeting. The two start to bond over being lied to, classic cars, and their struggles with addiction. The moment is pretty nice for Patrick. His other father, Paul, ends up going on Good Day, USA by himself because Helen was too upset.
On air, Mary Jane boasts about her dad’s secret rib recipe, but he goes on a little tangent and says it wouldn’t taste nearly as good without the secret ingredient from his wife, Helen. Viewers across America simultaneously said “Aw…”
As if this week wasn’t hard enough for Mary Jane, her frozen embryos with Lee (remember that?) need a gameplan. She arrives at the office without Lee, who faxed over his decision to destroy the embryos. Things are starting to piece together for Mary Jane. She has a flashback to being a child and hearing her parents argue.
Helen was pregnant with Paul Jr. and Paul Sr. was being a little absent. So, they yelled and yelled. I’ve wondered throughout the entirety of this show why Patrick is called Patrick and not Paul Jr., like Paul Jr. is. Now, I have my answer. It’s interesting to know that the producers were waiting for this moment since day one.
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Mary Jane, distraught at all the news, asks to pick out a sperm donor for her two remaining frozen eggs. She comes home to Helen and blames her for all her relationship problems. She finally has a scapegoat for why she can’t commit to a good man. All of her parent’s fights were always about Frank because her mother has never stopped loving Frank.
The next morning, Mary Jane does what any good creative does and channels her pain into content. Her primetime special with Kara will be about the black female struggle. Not the one where their image is ridiculed, yet stolen or how they are underrepresented in positions of power. It’s about black women’s relationship struggles. Both Kara and Mary Jane get really excited for the special and start throwing out names like Beyonce and Michelle Obama. At least they’re dreaming big.
Later, Helen and Paul finally have a decent conversation. Helen tells Paul that she won’t go to New Orleans with Frank, but he still wants a divorce. Helen breaks the news to her former flame and settles in for a night with Mary Jane.
Frank, on the other hand, isn’t taking the news well. Patrick hasn’t heard from him so, he heads over to the hotel. When Frank opens the door, Patrick is concerned that he fell off the wagon. Nope, but there is another woman in his hotel room. Frank says all this stuff about how he’s sad and now has to accept that he’ll die without ever really being with Helen.
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When Patrick arrives at home, he calls Pauletta and they talk about everything. It’s a sweet brother-sister moment. The only thing missing is a little PJ. Kara and Orlando also share a super cute moment. Now that Orlando is retiring from baseball, these two are going to take over broadcasting.
Helen advises Mary Jane to fight for her man. So, she texts Justin saying that she’s getting on a plane to Paris. But he says not to. He’s already on his way to JFK to surprise her! Mary Jane better soak in this moment. With Garrett out of the producer spot and both Kara and Justin vying for it, there might be another kind of fight breaking out.
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