Mary Jane Paul and Justin Talbot have given in to their newfound fame. At the end of last episode, these two were ready to shift the focus to the school board issue, but it may not be working out in their favor. They're constantly followed by paparazzi and there are articles about them everywhere. Justin mentions to MJ that he doesn't like the term "producer bae" because it objectifies him and MJ claps back with the hundreds of years of objectification Black women have faced. I love the episode already.
Justin isn't too happy that people he barely knows think they can comment on his life. MJ tries to convince Justin to give in by saying "We're showing people what a happy successful Black couple looks like!" and he's just not buying. Although the public approach is helping Mary Jane's career, Justin spends more time doing photo ops instead of actually producing. They agree to tone down the Snapchats and focus on the big picture.
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The next day, fake TMZ finds out that Justin Talbot is rich (the exact number of zeroes is debatable), but at least it takes a lot of the guesswork out for Mary Jane! Justin is understandably pissed. If he didn't want his girlfriend to know his financial affairs, he definitely didn't want the nation to. Mary Jane must really like Justin because she commits a horrible mistake: blurting out that he has exactly $30 million and doesn't even have a good excuse! She may have majorly messed this up, but at least she's being transparent for once. Justin is obviously pissed and keeps things strictly professional at work. Not to add insult to injury, but that's kind of what they should've done in the first place.
Mary Jane no longer has a monopoly on relationship drama. Down in Atlanta, Helen gears up to confront Frank Pearl again. Last week's final showdown wasn't so final. In the process, she lies to Paul Sr. about going to a meeting. At the hotel, she meets up with her old flame and is way nicer than before. They catch up and talk about how in love they once were. Helen tries to keep it cordial, but Frank demands a dance.
Justin and Mary Jane are doing their own tango back in New York. Mary Jane has to really bare her soul about her trust issues to get Justin to admit where the money came from. He invested early in a tech company, but prefers the money he earns from working. As for why he never told Mary Jane? "This relationship is still very new." MJ apologizes and everything is okay again! No teacups thrown are across the room, but one news anchor gets thrown for a loop. Justin asks that they switch tablets and passcodes.
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Mary Jane, Kara, and Aaliyah go into full recon mode trying to delete texts, emails, and nude photos off of the cloud. They get most of it before Justin realizes she gave him the wrong password watches. MJ resigns by saying, "Six dicks are better than 45."
Helen and Frank's little dance leads them upstairs to his hotel room where they make love for the first time in over 40 years. As she leaves, Helen whispers to him, "This is wrong."
Justin explains to Mary Jane that he hasn't looked at anything in her iPad. He likes his relationships to unfold naturally. Mary Jane, on the other hand, has to have Kara keep her crazy in check and hold onto Justin's iPad. With Mary Jane acting all mature, Kara doesn't trust herself, so they pass it off to Aaliyah, the only responsible adult in this newsroom.
Kara has been hanging out with the baseball players' wives and is also experiencing crazy hot flashes. One of the girls spills that Lauren (the only girlfriend Kara really likes) slept with Orlando last season! Lauren is totally apologetic, but Kara needs time to process.
Mary Jane takes Justin to a Michelin star rated restaurant that she rented out to confuse the paparazzi. They have a lovely evening filled with nostalgia and actually getting to know one another. MJ relinquishes all the information she got while snooping and Justin just accepts her crazy. Maybe they are meant to be?
Or maybe not. Aaliyah found out that Justin's stocks in the tech company were actually employee stocks. Looks like Justin still isn't being fully honest with MJ.
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Speaking of dishonesty, the next day, Paul invites Frank over for lunch. They discuss growing old and seem to having fun. Paul gets a sneaking suspicion. Afterward, he confronts Helen.
"Takes me back, alright. Right back to the time when I felt you slipping away from me. Oh, you thought I couldn't tell? But I can. You're still in love with him," he says before walking away to do some Lemonade-ing presumably.
When he comes back, he has questions and Helen bursts into tears, waxing poetic. But she can't say that she didn't sleep with Frank.
"After all this time," Paul says, "when do I get to be your match and your candle? Because you have always been both for me."
He packs her a bag and tells her to go.
Meanwhile, in New York, things are going up in flames for Mary Jane. Justin's ex-girlfriend and love of his life, Simone, is making news for being less pretty than Mary Jane. People are being horrible to her and MJ feels terrible. When she finds Justin, he says he's officially done with social media. He decides to go to Paris to cover a Wikileaks story and leaves Mary Jane all alone.
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