Being Mary Jane Ep. 5: Mary Jane Is Homesick, Niecy Needs To Grow Up

Yes, we know that it’s been tough to adjust to Mary Jane Paul’s life in New York. It’s been especially hard since aside from her love life, a major part of our protagonist’s story has been the process of trying to navigate and stand by her complicated family in Atlanta.

Well, the good news is that in this week’s episode, “Getting Served,” we viewers get an entire hour centered on what’s happening with the Pattersons. Unfortunately, they’re dealing with a lot of drama, and of course, it’s centered around Niecy.

Fight Club

When we start the episode, Niecy takes her friends, fellow single moms, out to the club. They kick it VIP style with bottles and hooka. When they spot some fine fellas in the club, Niecy says she’s not interested in them because she feels like things are getting serious with Dante. “Dante really wants a family and so do I,” she tells her unconvinced friends. But she claims they’re even looking at houses together.

While hanging out in the club, a girl confronts Niecy about being tasered by police and having two kids by two different men. The young woman does this because Niecy won’t let her and her friends into her private VIP section. Things get ugly. “You still ain’t nothin’ but a ho,” she tells Niecy, who has to hold back her friends because they’re ready to lay hands. The girl eventually tries to put her hands on our favorite troubled niece, and Niecy ends up ripping her wig off and getting kicked out of the club.

Niecy Shares Too Much on Twitter

Unfortunately for Niecy, the fight and aftermath was caught on camera by people both inside and outside of the club. She is identified on social media as the girl who was tasered by cops, and people start to say that bad behavior, similar to what was seen in the club, was the reason that happened. In an attempt to set everyone straight, Niecy divulges too much information (specifically about how much she received in her settlement with Atlanta police), but also sticks up for herself from racist detractors online.

Bad and Boujee

MJ’s mother, Helen, takes Niecy’s little sister, Deja, to a little socialite/debutante club called “Jack and Jane” as they hold their annual mixer. The kids all know that she’s Niecy’s sister and eventually, a woman named Joan shows Helen the video of Niecy fighting in the club. The embarrassment is all over her face. Helen returns home to confront Niecy about the video. She tells her that her behavior is unacceptable and it has consequences “for the entire family.” Whispers and comments from the community have plagued them ever since she was tasered by police. Because of what they’ve already been through, Helen is disappointed that Niecy hasn’t acted more mature.

Things Go From Bad to Worse for Niecy

Dante hasn’t been around, but he has been riding around in that fancy car Niecy bought him. After she tries to talk to him about the club fight, he tells her he can’t hear her out at the moment because he needs to go home and get some rest. To make the girl feel even worse, Niecy returns home and gets served with a lawsuit. She has to appear in court for violating her settlement agreement. Those public conversations on Twitter about the settlement were a no-no. Niecy has to give back the $150,000 she was given. Her family is disappointed, but they are OK with the outcome because they believe Niecy put the money in a trust and left it there.  She brings up the fact that she didn’t set up the trust with the money. Instead, she bought clothes, got her weave and nails done, and loaned money to her girls. She also admits that she bought Dante a car, as well as the fact that she has barely seen his a– since she bought it.

Because of Niecy’s viral video mayhem and aftermath, Deja also won’t receive admission to the Jack and Jane organization. The woman who leads it, Joan, said that with Patrick’s past struggle with drugs and Niecy living recklessly, it could send a bad message to the other young girls in the group if they allow Deja entry. Helen is upset that Deja will miss out, particularly with her oldest granddaughter,  but Paul Sr. says that while there are indeed repercussions to her actions, at least people know how Niecy feels. Besides, Jack and Jane shouldn’t be more important to Helen than her family anyway.

Mary Jane Misses Atlanta

As for New York matters, Mary Jane is getting homesick. She meets up with Paul to have some bootleg Southern-style ribs. During their dinner, she complains about the winter tearing up her weave, Lee being away on tour and overall, strong feelings of loneliness. She hasn’t gone back to Atlanta because she’s the “on-call correspondent” for Great Day USA, but she has an idea to bring home to her. MJ buys a smoker, and alongside Paul Jr., they try to make the wings and barbecue sauce that is a specialty of their father. While doing so, Patrick calls MJ for advice about Niecy’s situation, but she hands the phone off to Paul. She says that it’s best for everyone if she keep her distance and doesn’t become controlling again by handling issues in their lives.

Meet Dante’s Other Baby Mama

Niecy gets dropped off by Patrick at Dante’s house to take the car back, and he’s not home. But guess who pulls up in the car that she bought that fool? A girl named Amika, the mother of one of Dante’s other children. Niecy is able to get the keys back and actually doesn’t have to make a scene with Amika. They both are able to relate on their struggles as a single mom, and Amika has it rough. Niecy realizes that her family has helped her out big time. She also realizes the importance of her daughter Isabelle and Amika’s son having a relationship since they can’t count on Dante.

Afterward, Niecy’s son Travyion questions if Amika’s son is his brother, but Niecy tells him that he’s only Isabelle’s sibling. It’s a sad moment because she has to explain why Trayvion’s actual father hasn’t been around and ends up breaking down when she realizes the situation she’s created for her kids.

Auntie to the Rescue

Mary Jane comes through in the clutch, calling Niecy because “you know I can’t hold my tongue that long.” She ends up encouraging her and reminding her that her family has her back. She tells Niecy that she should take the time to figure out what’s best for her and her kids. When she gets off of the phone with her niece, Mary Jane all of a sudden feels bad about not going back home on the weekends to be a positive mentor for Niecy and for not being able to be in Atlanta to keep this whole situation from going to hell. It takes Paul Jr. to shake her straight and let her know that “they need to handle that on their own.” The truth is, as Paul tells her, she would have just gone down there and driven everyone crazy — including herself.

Home Is Where the Heart — and Ribs — Are

Back in NYC, Paul has their father overnight his classic ribs for him and Mary Jane, so they finally find a way to bring home to them. They try and Facetime the Patterson bunch and things go left, but the conclusion is that if they can’t be home with their crazy family, at least they have one another — and some fire ribs.

Niecy Is Ready to Move Forward — and Do Better

As for Niecy, she gets herself dolled up and seems to have a new sense of confidence and focus on her kids — particularly Trayvion. She takes him to an empty parking lot to ride around in circles in the sports car that used to be Dante’s (a car she will soon give back in order to return the settlement money). The episode ends with Niecy’s thoughts on being a proud, Black single mother who isn’t afraid to use and raise her voice.

I must say, this has probably been my favorite episode of the season. While I’ve been able to withstand the jumps and dips of this new season, you really don’t realize how important the Patterson family is to the story until they come back around with all of their shenanigans.