Posted on Friday, May 1, 2015

Erica’s Got the Big Head : Mary Mary Season 4, Episode 9 Recap…

Hello World,

So y’all this show was mostly about Erica and her 1,2,3,4 Dove Award nominations…and that is where is this episode of Mary Mary’s reality show begins…As Erica is cleaning up the backyard of her L.A. home, she gets a call from Warryn whom she addresses as “Husband.” After she answers the call, he asks if she is sitting down. Once she tells him that she has sat down, he gives her the good news that she has been nominated for 1,2,3,4 Dove Awards!!!…The reason why I’m writing 1,2,3,4 instead of four is because Erica makes a point of making sure it is known throughout the entire episode that she has been nominated for four separate categories…In other words, don’t get it twisted and think she has only been nominated for one or two or even three, it’s four…Okay, so back to what had happened…She screams and says, “This is so huge for my solo career.”

SIDEBAR: Even though I’ve been writing about this solo career saga for a few weeks now, I still don’t completely get why it’s so important for Erica and by default Tina to pursue solo careers…Even when they perform together, they still have the opportunity to shine separately so what is that much different when you’re performing as a solo artist except for being on the stage alone? I’m not a singer so maybe I cannot understand…

Okay, so back to what had happened again…Erica and Warryn congratulate one another for being a good team. “What had God has put together, let no man put asunder,” Warryn concludes. Amen.

Tina & Teddy

While Warryn & Erica are congratulating themselves on getting Erica’s solo career off to a strong start, Tina is still coming up with song ideas and discusses them with her husband Teddy…Just before she starts to explain what she is thinking, Teddy lets out a huge burp…What is it about men that make them think that loud body noises are okay? But I digress…After getting on Teddy about his loud burping, she tells him her idea to have the Atkins sisters sing background…Does she really think Erica will allow her to pull a Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child move? Teddy doesn’t think so and reminds her about her sister’s very busy schedule. He says Tina needs to be “realistic.” “Forget realistic, she’s going to have to find some time,” Tina declares.

Goo Goo

Mary Mary’s stylist and sister Goo Goo also known as Goo has opened up a showroom for her clothing and Erica, who has been nominated for 1,2,3,4 Dove Awards, stops by to check it all out and try on some clothing for the Dove Awards to be held in Nashville. Erica tries on a fitted red dress that doesn’t hide a single curve. Goo says that her clothing choices for Erica in Mary Mary are different than her clothing choices for Erica the solo artist. “As a solo artist, [she] is really wild.” Ironically, while Goo is helping Erica get her solo artist gear together, she gets a call from Donald Lawrence to help style another gospel sister duo – Tobbi & Tommi. They will be having a photo shoot in Nashville, and as Goo will be in Nashville with Erica, the scheduling works out perfectly…a little too perfectly, but even “reality” television programming has to have some type of planning involved…

Nashville

Sound Check

Erica has arrived in Nashville and is hype because she will be performing her song “Help” with Lecrae at the Dove Awards…Sidebar: About a year ago, I was on a Delta flight from Dallas to Atlanta with Lecrae and his family. Although I had met him before at a movie premiere, I decided to talk to him since it was everyday life, and I was curious about how he would act. He was very nice so it was all good. Obviously, he travels a lot because all of the flight attendants seemed to know him and were joking around with him…So back to the recap. However, although she is performing, Erica is not allowed to go through the whole song in the sound check and feels disrespected as a result. But she is happy to find out that although Tina is not performing nor nominated for 1,2, 3 or 4 Dove Awards, she also shows up in Nashville anyway. “If she’s not singing, she’s not coming,” Erica says about her sister’s normal behavior. But then Tina explains that she is there because she has been asked to present one of the awards for which Erica is nominated. Erica takes that as a sign from God that she is going to win that award, but Tina puts in a pin in Erica’s ballooning head. “You sure are extra these days!” Tina says…

Sidebar: When it comes to “signs” and “wonders,” I have discovered that God sometimes uses them to give me a preview about what He is going to do, but sometimes what I think are “signs and wonders” don’t mean anything after all…Because He is God, I will never be able to figure Him out…Just thought I would share that revelation in my life :).

So later at a luncheon, Erica mentions the sound check again and how she felt disrespected to some people there…Even Warryn thinks she is doing too much…”We don’t need an Aretha Franklin,” he says…(Please Ms. Franklin, don’t come for me…)

Mitch

So Mitch is in another episode…As I’m watching this unfold, I feel like I have to suspend my disbelief again….No matter how it is presented, it’s hard to believe that Mitch would be allowed to be involved with Mary Mary, Erica and Tina in any capacity after what happened last season but since he is on the show, I have to report it so here it goes…Mitch is also in Nashville and meets with Donald Lawrence, who is the one that introduced him to Mary Mary in the first place according to this episode. Donald tells Mitch that Goo is styling Tobbi & Tommi at a photo shoot at this very moment per his request…Mitch, who has no confidence in Goo’s styling skills, offers to stop by and see what’s going on…in other words, start some mess…

Pre-Dove Awards

It’s an hour before the pre-show and Goo has not arrived with Erica’s hair, makeup nor clothes. Erica is obviously in her feelings and feeling herself as she says about her sister Goo. “I will fire you like I fired Mitch.”

Speaking of Mitch

Mitch has arrived at the photo shoot, and Goo says, “It smells like something is old and dead in here.” Mitch checks out Goo’s style choices and criticizes her for dressing one of the women in horizontal lines as neither of them are petite women…And I have to agree…Horizontal lines aren’t flattering for every size and shape. No shade. Just truth. He says one piece that Goo chose looks like curtains. He finally calls Donald Lawrence, declaring a “fashion emergency.” I wouldn’t take it that far but hey drama must be created…Ultimately, Donald doesn’t buy into Mitch’s hysterics and the photo shoot proceeds as planned…

Goo, Erica, Mitch & Tina

Now that the “fashion emergency” is over, Goo is free to do what she originally came to Nashville to do: style Erica…Erica puts on the red dress and a wig that reminds me of Marilyn Monroe’s signature platinum bouffant bob. Very glamorous. And since Mitch has ceased meddling for the moment, he is also free. He ends up running into Erica before the awards show and apologizes for what happened at the wedding. He even says, “I hope you have a great night.” But Erica is not buying his “fake apologies” and says “when a person shows you who they are, believe them.” That is the gospel truth today, now and forever…In fact, Goo and Erica finally decide to tell Tina about Mitch’s shenanigans at her wedding and say that her new forgiving demeanor is going to cause her to be taken advantage of by Mitch. But Tina ain’t no dummy. “Don’t take my transformation for naiveté.”

Erica’s 1,2, 3, 4, Dove Awards Nominations

After all of that, the time has finally arrived to find out if Erica will win the awards for which she was nominated. One award goes by without Erica winning, and then another and even the one that Tina is presents is not awarded to Erica…Finally, Erica says, “C’mon Jesus, can I just have one?” The Lord answers Erica’s prayer and she wins the Dove Award for Traditional Gospel Song of the Year for her song “A Little More Jesus.”

And you know what Erica says after her sister wins the award? “I couldn’t be happier for her, but what about these background vocals?” She’s wrong for that, but it’s a perfect statement to set up the drama for next week’s episode – THE SEASON FINALE…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Friday, April 24, 2015

Tina’s Destiny : Mary Mary Season 4, Episode 8 Recap…

Hello World,

In last week’s episode of Mary Mary’s reality show, Tina was still tripping about Erica wanting to do her own thang but unlike in previous episodes none of Tina’s huffing and puffing could blow Erica’s solo plans… and the Marys couldn’t really avoid each other because they were confined to a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean…

Warryn’s Birthday Bash

This week’s episode begins with the final preparations being made for a birthday party for Warryn, Erica’s husband…As the party was being set up outside, the wind knocked the cake that had been placed on a table to the ground, leaving Erica’s sister Goo to find another cake just an hour before the party…But a while later, everything is set up, Goo was able to find an even better cake that than the first one and people are enjoying themselves, eating, laughing and all of that. Warryn and Erica’s daughter Krista sings a sweet song to her father for his birthday. In the midst of this, Erica and Warryn suddenly realize that Tina & Teddy are M.I.A. (Missing In Action).

Tina & Teddy

Guess where Tina & Teddy are? They are in the studio with Grammy Award-winning producer Aaron Lindsey. Although Tina is grumbling about being forced to embark on a solo career, she starts to move forward and decides to meet with Lindsey to help her with a new song. Erica calls her sister during the session and asks her why she and Teddy are not at the party. It is only then that Tina realizes that she scheduled her studio session on the same day as her brother-in-law’s birthday party. Instead of dropping everything and heading to the party, Tina tells her sister she is going to stay in the studio and learned to be that way from Erica as Erica missed other family events in the past due to her career. “You pushed me out of Mary Mary,” she declares.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Honey Atkins

It is now time for the Marys’ last show in St. Louis. The only problem is that Honey, Erica and Tina’s mother, who happens to be joining them for this performance has no idea what’s been going on with her feuding daughters…Erica, who has gotten sick of Tina’s constant testifying, has some advice for his sister about their final show. “Steer clear of the stabbing and murdering…Stick to the victorious part of your testimony.” And y’all know Tina…She’s not bowing down to anyone. “My life is my life. If you have a problem with that, then you are just going to have a problem.” Prior to the show, Mary Mary is interviewed on “Afternoons on 11” on KPLR in St. Louis about their final show and Erica’s solo album. During the interview, Tina sounds like she is also excited about pursuing a solo career, but Erica wonders if “Interview Tina” is the real Tina…Time will tell…

Cry Together

Back in the hotel room, Erica starts talking about the show and lets it slip that their St. Louis show is Mary Mary’s last show…Honey blurts out, “I didn’t know. Oh my God. You’re about to make me cry.” Erica explains that Tina has a lot going on with her book, a solo album, an R&B album with Teddy, etc. and that she has a lot going on too. “I’ve been overwhelmed and overworked, and I want to focus on me for once.” Shortly after, Tina comes into the room and gets mad at her sister. “Why you got Mommy crying, dummy?” Goo starts tearing up too and admits that she doesn’t like the news either. In spite of the tears and name calling, Erica is not moved. “I know it’s a hard pill to swallow for my family, but I’m not backing down.” Well, she said that!

Solo Sound Check

Although Honey is sad about the news that her daughters are splitting up their group, she comes to the sound check to get a preview of the final performance. Instead of being a sound check for Mary Mary, however, Tina dominates the sound check and Honey gets to hear Tina’s solo music. Tina begins to sing her new song “Destiny.” Although it is just a sound check, Honey stands with one arm in the air, swaying, like she is a member of an audience, instead of nearly standing alone among empty chairs. “If that don’t reach somebody and touch somebody, I don’t know. They wasn’t listening.” After listening to Tina , Honey begins to change her mind about her daughters’ solo music. “What she dealt with, what she overcame, the world needs to know that.” But Goo worries that if Tina and Erica become strictly solo artists, the music industry will cause them to compete with each other…Goo has a point…Prayerfully, that won’t be the case…

The Show

The time for the last Mary Mary show has finally arrived…Although Tina is late, she does up and it’s show time…Before her performance, Tina testifies as you know she would about struggling with unfaithfulness in her marriage and explains how the song “Destiny” came to be….And then she sings…”I’ve got a destination in my view. The road may be bumpy there, but I’m pressing through.” The humbled resolve in her lyrics is so compelling that even Erica realizes that she was wrong to try to censor her sister’s testimony. “I take back everything I said.” Although Honey saw Tina sing the song in the sound check, she is touched again. “Her attitude. Her disposition. She is a new person.”

Cancer Schmancer

During last week’s episode, Erica gets a mammogram and is told that she needs to go back to the doctor’s office for further testing. As her family has a history of cancer, she is justifiably concerned. After she gets home back in L.A. after the St. Louis concert, she finally hears back from the doctor. Her doctor tells her there was a mix up at the lab, and the results of her test were actually negative. Praise God for sure, but what is going on at that lab that allowed test results to be mixed up??!! You can’t play with people’s lives like that…Still Warryn is so relieved and happy, he decides he will check out Erica’s lady lumps for himself now that the doctor is done with them….LOL…

Reunited

No, Mary Mary didn’t decide to reunite but Tina may be reuniting with Mitch. Yes, that Mitch. The Mitch that Mary Mary fired and the Mitch that sued them…She meets him at a restaurant and tells him about her plans about recording a solo album…Apparently, she has already written 12 songs although she wasn’t originally planning to be a solo artist. “All of these songs started coming to me.” Mitch is excited for her and says, “You are one of the biggest stars I’ll ever meet in my life even though you don’t care about being a star.” That is a poignant and incredibly sweet statement. Maybe Tina’s destiny is to be a solo star…And maybe Mitch can be forgiven….Jesus does tell us to forgive seventy times seven times sooo maybe Mitch can be forgiven…Maybe…

Will Mary Mary stay apart? Will Mitch reunite with Tina?

Hopefully, these questons will be answered in next week’s episode because that’s all I’ve got for this week 🙂

Any thoughts?

Posted on Friday, March 27, 2015

Mary Mary: The Reunion…: Season 4, Episode 4 Recap…

Hello World, (Since recaps are so popular, and I’m a writer, I decided to try to recap a show…Lemme know how I did too!)

Now that Empire and How to Get Away With Murder have been removed from my weekly TV watching schedule, I have some brain space available to take in more drama and high jinks. I had said that I wasn’t going to watch Mary Mary’s reality show after their personal and professional lives nearly imploded last season (read my open letter), but I changed my mind. I’m a sucker for love plus I’m nosy. Tina, like the forgiving Lord that we serve, opted to forgive Teddy for his philandering ways and renewed their vows in beautiful outdoor garden ceremony in front of their family and friends…

Bridal Bliss?

But as you know, there is always going to be a snake in paradise. Touch your neighbor and say, “Paradise doesn’t come without a snake.” (Unless, you’re in Heaven, of course.) This is where this week’s episode begins. Tina, who has been hypnotized by love and forgiveness, invited Mary Mary’s former manager Mitch Solarek, who Mary Mary fired on their show last season and responded by suing them, to her wedding ceremony. But instead of playing nice, he takes the opportunity to slither up to Erica and basically ask her if she is going to get jealous when Tina, who has always had the most dynamic stage presence he adds, gets her solo career going and gets bigger than her. Once Erica tells her husband Warryn and her sister Goo, Mary Mary’s stylist, about his shenanigans, Goo confronts Mitch, saying his actions were “ugly and foul” and that it “was very Mitch of you.” Gone Goo! ( Y’all know what she really wanted to say, right?! We haven’t been saved foreva!) Rather than being Christian about it (or maybe he isn’t) and recognize that he was flat out wrong, he demeans her, saying she is not Mary Mary’s mediator nor attorney, just a stylist. I guess being their sister doesn’t count. She should have shown him the door wedding or not. Then he turns to the camera and says, “This not over. Let the games begin.”

Cut. Freeze Frame. And this is why I’m a double- minded reality television viewer especially since scripted shows are back on top again! One the one hand, I love the drama. On the other hand, I hate the drama. Was Mary Mary’s former manager who sued them invited to Tina’s wedding because she truly forgave him or was he invited to create some drama that I can write about? Don’t know. What do you think? Goo, Erica & Warryn, however, don’t tell what happened to Tina and Teddy, allowing them to continue on to their honeymoon in Maui, Hawaii blissfully unaware of any trouble on the horizon.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

Warryn Campbell, one of the partners of My Block Records in L.A., is trying to launch the career of his younger sister Joi Starr. He is coaching her in the studio because she has an upcoming performance in Central Park in NYC. She asks him to come with her although he has promised Erica that the two of them will vacation in Cabo San Lucas. Joi claims he is “throwing her to the wolves” and convinces him to forego his vacation. He wonders if he can convince Erica that a vacay in NYC is just as relaxing as a vacay in Cabo. Ummm hmmm….

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls…

With THREE waterfalls backing them up, Tina and Teddy, who are perched atop rocks, literally sing to one another like they are a tropical and modern-day version of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross singing “Endless Love.” Somebody, choke me with a lei…Just kidding! I do believe in endless love…Apparently, they wrote and performed much of the music at their wedding and decide they should make an album of their wedding music…Okay, Lionel & Diana…

Vacaying/Working in NYC…

During Joi Starr’s (love her name by the way) rehearsal, Warryn’s business partner mentions that 7,000 people will be in Central Park for her performance and that it would be a perfect opportunity for Erica to perform in front of a new crowd, the R&B crowd. At first Warryn doesn’t agree, but then he gets on board and wanders if he can romance Erica enough to agree to work during their “vacation.” Not only has he booked a beautiful hotel room with a swanky outdoor terrace in the middle of the city, he hires a helicopter to whisk them over the city before they come back to a beautiful dinner on the terrace. (See if y’all would have let Pastor Dollar’s partners buy him that jet, Warryn could have borrowed the jet for all that! Just jokes World Changers 🙂 Church hugs 🙂 ) Feeling that Erica has been properly romanced, he asks her if she will be at the sound check for her sister-in-law. Like Warryn, she puts up a bit of fuss, but her ambition wins out and she performs at her sister-in-law’s concert…Wonder how Joi felt…stirring my tea…

I’s Mauiid Now…

This is from Teddy & Tina’s Instagram page…Apparently, folk had problems with Tina showing her stomach…If you can’t show your stomach on your honeymoon with your hubby, when can you show it?

Tina is back from Maui and feels like she is a superwoman. (Hawaii will do that to ya. That’s where I went on my honeymoon too.) Not only does she want to record an R&B love and wedding album with her hubby, she also wants to get back to Mary Mary and volunteers to be their manager since they are Mitch-less. Not to mention the fact that she is writing a book. The only problem is the other Mary. Erica is not trying to hear it after Tina was the one who put the group on hold in the first place when her marriage hit the rocks. (And now they singing on rocks…lol…)Erica also brings up the fact that Tina has been messing with Mary Mary’s money since before her marriage was in trouble being late and flaky about performances… “You’ve been kicking me to the curb for a lot of years.” Erica discusses the dilemma with Goo, and Goo says she is being selfish but she should “pray and fast” for direction.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary?

Prayer must have worked fast because while driving in L.A., Erica calls her sister to tell about her decision. When she gets Tina’s voice mail, she says, “It’s on. Let’s get Mary Mary back together.” Warryn doesn’t think Mary Mary should get back together right now and gives Erica the gas face when she tells him she that is what she is going to do before they go to bed one night. When that doesn’t work, he tells her throat is going to break down being singing for herself and for Mary Mary. Erica shuts him down. “My God is a healer. My throat aine going to break down.” Foreshadowing perhaps? I don’t know…Guess we will have to see what happens during the next episode….

Sidebar: Warryn & Erica’s art deco home though…I don’t know too many Christians living like that…somebody pass the offering plate one mo gain for me please 🙂

So how did I do?

Any thoughts?