MJ and Justin make vacation plans, Helen is inspired to be active again.
Mary Jane and Justin catch up over the phone while they are both at work. They admit to missing each other, so MJ suggests they take a trip to Necker Island when he returns. Justin notes that a villa there would cost $30,000 a week. MJ then suggests the Hamptons, and Justin thinks that would be the better choice.
Helen is working out to a workout tape at home, and Niecy jokingly asks her if she got her headband and outfit from the 80s. Niecy thinks it’s odd to see Helen working out and asks her what prompted the sudden change. Helen tells her that a woman at church who happens to be older than her is more active than her and even wearing heels to church now. She’s simply inspired to start exercising again and calmly puts Niecy in her place too.
“Baby girl I was doing aerobics long before you learned to be sassy.” – Helen
Kara and MJ are back on good terms after MJ was there for her when her father passed away.
She tells Kara that Justin is worth $30 million. She tells Kara she knows because she looked at his financial statements.
“Are you sure about this info?” – Kara
MJ then shows Kara a screenshot of the statement. Kara suggests that Mary Jane just come out and ask him but MJ doesn’t want Justin to know she snooped around his house while he was away.
They both laugh with glee when they realize they both have a shot at ending up with multimillionaires.
Niecy comes through for a friend.
Niecy goes over to Amika’s place to drop off her kids but finds out the lights have been turned off.
“Girl, I cannot leave my kids in a home with no lights.” – Niecy
Amika tells Niecy that time are hard and he had to pick and choose what bills to pay. She is looking for a work from home job to be with her son more (who happens to not talk much, so a doctor suggests she spends more time with him), but keeps coming up short. Niecy gives Amika some cash to pay the bill.
“I’m not doing this out the goodness of my heart. I’m not. I’m doing this because I need this child share thing to work.” – Niecy
She takes the kids back home and her father Patrick agrees to watch them.
Aaliyah briefs MJ.
Aaliyah gives MJ a brief about the increase on her Q score. While she’s been getting lots of positive feedback from viewers, Dani is starting to take some of her steam. It’s headline news that MJ wasn’t in the group picture from her own party and the media is claiming that Dani has become the new star at GDU.
Kara tells MJ that a primarily black high school nearby just had it’s budget slashed by the board for the third time this year and the profits are being diverted to a for profit private charter school. Students and parents plan on protesting the next day.
MJ is going out in the field to cover the story and Justin will be back soon to help produce the segment. Kara also tells her that Dani will be taking over her chair during her absence. MJ is not happy about this.
Paul, Sr.’s friend Frank Pearl comes by to visit.
When Helen spots him in the house, she seems shocked and worried. But she silently looks on while Frank continues to talk to Paul, Sr.
Frank tells Paul, Sr. he wants to make peace and he misses their friendship. They haven’t seen or spoken to each other in forty-four years. He tells Paul that his sister is sick, so he came to Atlanta to help her get adjusted to assisted living.
Frank says he wants to make amends and patch up their damaged friendship.
Paul tells him it was a long time ago when they fell out and it’s all in the past.
Paul calls for Helen to come in and speak. She does and Frank tries to dismiss himself but Helen demands that he sticks around so he and Paul can continue to catch up.
Patrick and Niecy bond over finding unhealthy food to eat in the house now that Helen is on a healthy food trip.
After Frank leaves, Paul and Helen discuss him.
“Did you know that your ex lover was in town? Is that what’s behind this health kick that you’re on?” – Paul
“Paul, Frank and I…it’s water under a 40-year-old bridge.” – Helen
Paul tells her that Frank invited him to lunch but he’s not going because he “prefers to let sleeping dogs lie.”
MJ and Justin are reunited.
MJ is out at the school interviewing people during the protest. She interviews Jacy, who happens to attend the school. Justin shows up and MJ is very excited to see him. She tells him she’s glad he’s back and he tells her he is as well. They try to keep to it professional and focus on completing the segment.
MJ calls Kara and tells her that she found out the school board has been taken over by a group that has a low tax agenda. Kara says she’s done her research too and found out this organization has no experience in education. MJ interjects that they don’t and it’s all about the bottom line to them.
MJ says they have been diverting funds from he high school for so long that it’s now in such bad shape that they can make a case for closing it and replacing it with for profit charter school.
“Which is what they wanted all along.” – Kara
“It’s criminal.” – MJ
Kara tells MJ that the school board member MJ was going to interview at the protest is now in the studio to do an interview with Dani. Kara intends to hit him with hardball questions.
Niecy gets inspired.
A client of Niecy’s shows up late to her appointment and tells her she was late because she got pulled over for not using a car seat. However, she had to borrow her sister’s car last minute thanks to the bus having issues, and she can’t afford a $300 car seat. It’s also hard since kids outgrow carseats so fast, and she has to pay off the last car seat before she can get a new one.
Dani goes off the script.
Dani is interviewing the school board member but she refuses to ask him any of the questions Kara is feeding her. She instead asks him softball questions, making it clear that she is in support of his beliefs. The school board member also confirms that the high school will be closed and reopened as a private charter school.
“Damn it Dani.” – Kara
Paul tells Helen that Frank asked him to go to a car show with him, and Helen pushes him to accept the invitation.
At the protest at the school, the news gets out that the school will be closed. Jacy gets fed up after watching Dani’s interview and tells MJ that Dani didn’t ask the hard questions that needed to be asked.
The crowd becomes violent and the cops start manhandling and arresting some of the protestors.
When more police start running up and violently trying to dispense the crowd and arrest more protestors, Justin and MJ are separated. She yells for him while the camera is rolling and Helen watches from the living room.
Kara can hear on the radio that Justin has lost MJ and he refers to her as his girlfriend when he tells cops he has to find her. He finds her moments later and gives her a hug.
Helen is relieved when she sees MJ is safe but she now has some questions. Alone in the living room, watching on, Helen asks:
“Who is Justin?”
Niecy has a business idea.
Niecy heads over to Amika’s during her lunch break. She hands her an old car seat and after Amika tells her the car seat is too small for her son, Niecy tells her that she should take the old car seat plus the other old car seat she already has and rent them out to mothers who can’t afford to buy one and and those who want to avoid being pulled over by cops for not having one. She tells Amika to charge $30 a ride.
Niecy tells Amika to advertise her new work from home business on Twitter to people she already knows. She gets her first client in minutes.
When Kara tries to check Dani for shooting out her own opinions, Dani tells her that her opinions are why she to the job in the first place. Kara gets annoyed and tells Dani to see how long before she gets back to her original audience again.
Helen tries to squeeze out information about Justin from Niecy.
She confirms Justin and MJ are dating and he’s the one she left Lee with.
Helen thinks MJ was foolish to give up Lee, a sure thing, for a romance at work. After Niecy shows Helen a picture of Justin on her phone, Helen pipes down.
“Oh.” – Helen
Ty tells MJ that her secret relationship may end up being discovered by viewers. Justin is currently trending on social media because folks want to figure out who he is since she kept screaming his name. #WhoIsJustin is trending.
Aaliyah tells MJ that she should take advantage of the social media interest in Justin, especially to make Dani’s buzz go cold.
She tells Aaliyah she isn’t sure if Justin is ready to go public because she thinks he’s worth millions and he hasn’t even told her. Aaliyah tells her she will look into and find out if he’s really wealthy.
Niecy’s friends side business is really taking off and she already has clients booked for next week. Niecy tells her she has more ideas and “baby mama hacks.” She’s thinking about sharing them through her own platform.
Amika tells her it’s a good idea to take advantage of her ideas.
Niecy agrees and tells Amika it’s time for her to expand her new business and start buying old car seats.
At work, Kara is looking for a package that has yet to arrive, when MJ asks her if she can get Jacy to agree to coming in for an interview. Apparently Jacy is not answering MJ’s calls.
Helen gets disappointed.
Helen is making dinner for Frank and Paul before they head out to the car show. Paul tells Helen that he cancelled his day out with Frank and he feels it was best.
“I agree.” – Helen
Although she told him she agrees, she looks disappointed.
After a long day at work, Justin and MJ have some romantic time, and he says that work is already interfering in their relationship. He tells her really missed her and doesn’t want to talk about #WhoIsJustin anymore.
The school board member returns to GDU and Kara tells MJ that she will be interviewing him this time.
Kara also tells her that she was listening in on Justin frantically searching for her during the protest segment, and she’s starting to come around on their relationship.
This makes MJ very happy, even though Kara tells her she’s not there yet.
MJ drills the board member.
After the school board member says that it’s in the best interest of the students for the high school to be closed down, MJ asks him while he invested millions of dollars into several charter schools. So this makes his actions a conflict of interest.
Kara gets a package delivered to work and it’s a framed photo of her father. She gets emotional and puts it on her desk after kissing it.
When MJ and Justin try to walk out together and go to lunch, they are greeted by a lot of paparazzi. Justin says he wants to cover news not become the news. He doesn’t want their relationship to become a circus act in the media. MJ agrees and says that they can still be serious journalists, even if people know about their relationship. Justin hears her out and suggests they just order in instead. MJ agrees.
Helen calls MJ to talk about Justin.
She tells MJ that she knows about Justin thanks to Niecy and it didn’t help that she wss yelling his name out on live TV.
“Mom, Justin lit a fire in me in a way that Lee just didn’t. And I know you told me not to go mucking things up with Lee, because he’s loyal and husband material…and I agree but when push comes to shove, I just don’t want to spend the rest of my life with someone who doesn’t light that fire in me, you know? And besides, kind of feel like Justin and I are more compatible. You know, he’s…” – MJ
“Complicated, like you.” – Helen
Helen says that she understands completely why MJ fells for Justin. MJ is surprised by Helen’s response. Before hanging up, Helen thanks MJ for being honest and tells her that she’s fortunate for knowing herself so well.
“Are you okay, Mom?” – MJ
Helen later goes by Frank’s hotel, and calls him out for barely speaking to her when he came by the house.
She tells him she wants an apology from him, even though he tells her that he did what he felt was best. She tells him it’s just best to leave everything in the past and leaves.
At the end of the work day, MJ and Justin decide to walk out of the studio together. They walk out and face the paparazzi as they place their arms around each others waists.
What are your thoughts on the episode?
Loving Niecy’s growth.
Me too!
I agree.
I think Helen is about to have an affair.
I hope Helen is careful with her actions. She’s acting way too open with that old friend.
Helen is about to be messy because she is romanticizing the past. I’m starting to see where MJ gets her messiness from.
It looks like Justin will go back to being a a f-ck boy next week.