It was all about Niecy (Raven Goodwin) this week on Being Mary Jane. All the problems we saw bubbling up came to a head last night as the niece of Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union) was confronted with blatant realities.
The episode begins with Niecy continuing to blow her $150K settlement check on friends at a nightclub. Despite the girls questioning how she’s spending the money recklessly, Niecy insists “she got it” and they should enjoy the champagne in the VIP section.
But soon after, trouble comes in the form of a begging Felicia, asking to join their VIP section. Niecy’s “no” turns into insults and then a full-on street brawl—documented by everyone with a working cell phone in the parking lot. Niecy is kicked out of the club and subsequently gets berated on social media for her actions. In response to the “haters,” she justifies her settlement payout as something deserved from the racist cop she dealt with.
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She wasn’t thinking, because her public tweets about the incident simultaneously create a breach of contract, which means she has to pay all of the $150,000 settlement back.
The thing is, Niecy’s actions affect everyone in the family. And for her little sister D’Asia (Navia Ziraili Robinson), this means not being accepted into the high-society group, Jack and Jane. Throughout the episode, family matriarch Helen Patterson (Margaret Avery) fights to get D’Asia accepted. She does so, with force, after making it clear that everyone has family drama, and acknowledging the bigger lesson of inclusion within the Black community.
Part of paying back this money is returning the $45,000 Niecy spent on Dante’s (Cesar Cipriano) car. In trying to get in contact with the now-estranged baby daddy, Niecy finds out he’s been loaning the car to his other baby mama…and sleeping with her too. But instead of fighting, the women agree to stick together and have play-dates with the kids.
Concerning Dante, Niecy finally lets him have it for being a leech who would otherwise have nothing to do with their daughter.
In one episode, Niecy has grown up. And by the end, she proves that with pressure, she can stand up to life’s challenges.
While Niecy was dealing with this crisis, MJ and her brother PJ (B.J. Britt) stayed out of it in New York. In tandem with the theme of the episode, they spend the entire weekend trying to recreate their father’s ribs by purchasing a smoker. But in the end they enjoy the real thing, sent over from Poppa Patterson (Richard Roundtree).