SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t tuned in to the show’s premiere yet, don’t read any further!
Last night, Black women had one thing on their minds at 10 p.m.: Being Mary Jane. The spicy and explosive premiere of Gabrielle Union’s new BET drama dominated discussions on Twitter and Facebook, and they’re still talking about it now.
Beautiful TV news anchor Mary Jane (Union) seemingly has it all—great job, gorgeous home, girlfriends and family all around her—only, she can’t seem to catch a break in the love department.
Union’s embattled heroine may be the star of BET’s hottest new drama, but in real life, we can still learn from what her character is going through. Here’s a quick rundown of lessons from last night. (Join the discussion below!)
Lust Is Not An Excuse for Ignorance
Raise your hand if your jaw dropped when Mary Jane succumbed to Andre’s pleas for forgiveness and had unprotected sex with a married man in a women’s gym locker room? Yup, ours did too. Her lying, cheating, no-good ex boyfriend André begged and pleaded for forgiveness for the unthinkable. Even though she stood her grown earlier that day in public, in private her physical desires got the best of her and once again clouded her judgment. Do we even need to remind you that this happened the same day his wife confronted her at the office? Fail, Mary Jane.
Confronting ‘The Other Woman’ Only Makes You Both Look Like Fools
André’s bold and brazen breadwinner wife, Avery Daniels (Robinne Lee), snuck her way into Mary Jane’s office to discuss the vulgar details and truths of their affair and wound up looking as foolish as the woman she was confronting. It’s okay to want to seek the truth about your husband’s behavior, but the truth is, you need to get it from him, not her.
If Your Boss Can’t See the Picture, Neither Can He
We sympathized with Mary Jane when she pleaded with André to give up the password to his phone so she could delete the naked pictures inside, but the truth is, it was already too late. What if he printed them? What if he emailed them elsewhere? Who will he share them with when he’s seeking revenge against you? Could your high profile career be at risk if he shares them? Before you send or pose for a sexy photo, remember this: You’ll have way less questions to fret over, if you just ask yourself this one – what if everyone I know and love saw this? After that, you’re next move should be obvious.
If You’re Not Over It Yet, Pretending Won’t Help
Mary Jane thought she could keep things casual with her ex when he showed up for “casual sex” during the movie portion of the show. Now that the series is in full swing, we’re learning that it’s easier said than done. She thought she was keeping things friendly, but her expectations didn’t match her reality. This left her heartbroken when she called “Never Answer” to tell him she could make it out for drinks and found out he’d already given her concert ticket to another woman. (And he’s sleeping with her too!) She lost it and hung up on him (twice) only to head home feeling like a fool all over again.