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Image courtesy of BET |
In hindsight, the Being Mary Jane Season 1 was too short.
At the time I was watching (via the BET marathon yesterday -- whatever took me so long??), it felt just right.
The amazing thing about Being Mary Jane Season 1 Episode 8 was how it wrapped up both of her love interests on an emotional level without further compromising Mary Jane's innate moral compass.
Being Mary Jane airs on BET and features a predominately African American cast. It plays brilliantly to its strengths and represents the AA community without wavering.
In one story, Mary Jane, a popular host on a daytime news program, found herself forced to reveal details about a friend and colleague who was investigating racial injustice in the prison system.
The juicy flash news had no bearing on the work he was trying so desperately to get before the public and in desperation he committed suicide. Mary Jane's network, SNC ran the story and she flt responsible for the death of her friend. Their advice was to say little.
Mary Jane went out on a limb, defended his work, apologized for her part in his death and promised to carry on his fight.
She received a standing ovation from her coworkers in the studio and viewers got a better glimpse into what makes Mary Jane tick.
Mary Jane's friends and family are important aspects in her life and it's interesting how they continue to influence each other no matter their role in her life. Her niece, Niecy, is a teenager with self-esteem issues preparing to give birth to her second child out of wedlock.
Mary Jane is aghast at her decision to have a tubal ligation so early in life but the conversations between them show neither has achieved any sort of ideal regardless of their age difference.
Mary Jane's two great loves are David -- the one who got away -- and Andre, the married man who eventually leaves his wife for her. Mary Jane's an emotional roller coaster with both men. She does all of the things that if you (as a woman) haven't done, you've damn well thought about doing.
She makes you clap out loud and cringe in despair as you await her next move.
For a while, Mary Jane is so madly in love with Andre it's to the point of obsession. It's so much fun to see so much of yourself in her crazy antics. She texts Andre over and over again without response, falling asleep with the phone at her side and the first thing she does upon waking is look at her phone. Nothing. She did what every rational woman does and deleted his contact.
The next thing she did was also what every rational woman does. She panicked, called her cell provider and asked how in the hell she could get that contact info back on her phone! Mary Jane is every woman.
A close encounter with David made her realize she couldn't get into the right head space with Andre so close, so after he left his wife for her, she sent him packing. Her pleas to David made him think she was crazier than ever and, frankly, he was right.
But it really hurt to hear him say he thought she was the cute kind of crazy, but didn't anymore.
Mary Jane's friends had her back. They rode around with her as she tried to come to terms with what these two men meant to her and as she visited Andre's wife to tell her to take him back (and how to have great sex with him) and to make one more try to get David back.
In the end, she lets both men go. She has her friends, family and career to keep her busy. She's successful and vivacious. There will be other men for her to obsess over and excite her and treat her right. But something tells me David will be back. Mary Jane was right to call his girlfriend a placeholder.
Once you get a taste of Mary Jane, she's irresistible.
Read more at TV Fanatic...