Aahana Swrup
The Lifetime drama film ‘Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair’ continues the story of Kendra Evans and Ben Baldwin as they work towards building a life together. After their tumultuous decades-spanning romance, the couple finally find themselves on the same page. However, the road to happiness has never run straight, and they realize the same as interpersonal tension boils between them. Kendra’s fertility issues and Ben’s problems with his older brother Calvin threaten to slide a wedge between the pair weeks before their wedding-to-be. Consequently, despite their best efforts, a fog settles over their future together, compelling Kendra and Ben to fight for their relationship. Thus, the journey that the two find themselves on remains hopeful, even in the face of peril. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair Approaches Marital Complications With Authenticity
The third installation in the acclaimed singer’s collaboration with Lifetime, ‘Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair’ proves to be another formidable addition to Kendra and Ben’s story. After its predecessors tackle the nuances of young adult experiences, this Troy Scott directorial takes on the heavy realities of adult life. As such, the narrative finds the central pair in a well-settled domestic bliss, balancing their relationship alongside their families and careers. Nonetheless, as Kendra and Ben edge closer to the final step of marriage, they must first learn to trust each other unconditionally, even with the ugly and hard truths. The premise remains grounded and feels natural in the progression of Kendra and Ben’s love story.
Furthermore, this time around, the film opts to pitch the couple as the protagonists in equal measures, allowing Ben’s character to shine. As a result, the audience will get numerous engaging storylines, all revolving around the hard-hitting facets of reality. From the profound complexity of one’s relationship with motherhood to the men’s unique struggle with mental health issues, the story addresses numerous topics that will relate to and resonate with a wide audience. However, this does compel the narrative to slightly compromise on the romance front of Kendra’s life with Ben. Similarly, certain conflicts between the pair’s relationship troubles end up taking the backseat in service of the bigger picture. Nonetheless, other aspects of the film, such as Kendra’s moving friendship with Terry, ultimately balance out the narrative.
Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair Plot Summary
Despite the complications of moving back and forth between North Carolina and Chicago for work, Kendra manages to make her relationship with Ben work, mixing into the lives of him and his son, Miles. Yet, she can’t help but feel a little lost about where she fits in his family. Additionally, the fertility issues she faces in her and Ben’s attempts to conceive further exacerbate these problems. Ben tries to soothe her worries with the reassurance that they’ll be able to return to charted territory in a year as Miles goes off to college, allowing them to move back to Chicago. Nonetheless, actions speak louder than words when he finally pulls off a romantic proposal, officially inviting Kendra to be a part of his family.
Naturally, once Ben’s kinder yet ever-opinionated mother, Lorraine, learns about the same, she’s quick to take over the reins in planning her son’s upcoming wedding. As such, while Kendra is busy juggling her photoshoots, the older woman gets as far as deciding the date for the ceremony. Still, this isn’t the photographer’s worst problem, especially once she hears back from her doctor, who confirms that the road to a natural pregnancy would be more than difficult for her. Despite struggling with the news, Kendra continues shouldering its weight alone, keeping Ben out of the loop. Similarly, Ben faces his own obstacles when his brother, Calvin, goes off the medication for his bipolar disorder and goes down a self-destructive spiral.
Consequently, the stress of keeping Calvin’s secret from Kendra and the rest of the family adds pressure to Ben’s life, causing complications at work, where he’s up for a career-defining promotion. Meanwhile, Kendra reaches out to her former friend, Terry, and learns a distraught truth. As it turns out, Terry has been fighting stage two pancreatic cancer all on her own. In light of the discovery, Kendra and Ben’s domestic spats grow more intense. Therefore, even though she opens up about her fertility issues, she decides to move away to Chicago momentarily to care for Terry and her kid, Tyler. Although this opens up the door for her to mend her friendship, it also adds a distance between the couple that might just spell out their doom.
Mary J. Blige’s Family Affair: Does Terry Recover? Does She Die?
Terry and Kendra’s relationship has been turbulent for the past few years, ever since the discovery of Tyler’s parentage. In the past, Terry had hooked up with Kendra’s then-husband, Kevin, when they were on a break. Afterward, she continued to lie about the identity of her son, Tyler’s father, for years to maintain her friendship with Kendra. Naturally, the fallout from that secret remained drastic. Nonetheless, the news about her infertility, paired with the problems at home with Ben, leaves Kendra on uneven footing. She feels lost and finds herself swayed back into her former best friend’s orbit.
Therefore, once Kendra learns about Terry’s battle with cancer, she’s compelled to extend a helping hand toward her. Despite their fight, the two women have been best friends for decades and hold profound love and respect for one another. Moreover, Kendra has always loved her godson, Tyler, as her own and can’t bear to leave him alone in such trying times. For the same reason, she decides to move in with the family and help them with their various needs. On an unrelated note, it also allows her time away from her own issues. During this time, Kendra rekindles the best of her friendship with Terry and becomes a rock by her side.
From attending chemotherapy sessions with her to ensuring her regular health, Kendra supports Terry every step of the way. Even though this keeps her away from her home in North Carolina for six weeks, she can’t bring it in herself to regret her choices for a second. Even so, unbeknownst to her, Ben’s issues continue growing tenfold as his mental health takes a wrong turn. Eventually, the time comes for Terry’s final treatment, which goes well, sending her safely into remission. However, a few days later—once Kendra leaves Chicago—tragedy strikes.
Chemotherapy had left the health of Terry’s heart in a compromised state. Therefore, when a heart attack strikes, she is unable to fight it and ends up passing away. Kendra is devastated to hear this news and crumbles to pieces at the loss of her close friend. Nonetheless, she recognizes that she needs to be strong in the moment for young Tyler, who has just effectively become an orphan. In the aftermath, Kendra adopts her grandson, making him an addition to her family.
Does Kendra Marry Ben?
Even though Kendra and Ben embark on a path toward a married life early on in the film, the various complications they face put their future under threat in unexpected ways. When tough moments arise, both fail to be vulnerable in front of each other, setting themselves up for future distress. Likewise, when outside conflict arises—such as Calvin’s instability and
Terry’s treatment—the couple chooses to work through them on their own. Ben is especially guilty of this since he decides to keep the entire affair a secret from his partner. He doesn’t want Kendra to think differently of him due to his familial troubles. However, in doing so, he sows a seed of distrust between them.
Consequently, everything bubbles over in the worst possible way on the night before their wedding. Kendra learns about Calvin’s issues from Connie, Ben’s ex-wife, of all people. Shortly afterward, his unmedicated bipolar disorder pushes him to attempt suicide—laying down the severity of the issue in front of everyone. Even though his family is able to pull him from the ledge, it casts a negative shadow on Ben’s life. Ben has known about his brother’s condition since the start and has been covering his mortgage from his own pocket. While he chose to keep this a secret from Kendra, he shared the truth with Connie, who already saw the worst of his family during their marriage.
As such, it comes across as a betrayal to Kendra, who thinks her future husband is more comfortable being vulnerable in front of his ex rather than her. For the same reason, she initially calls off the wedding. Still, after the heat of the moment dies down, she’s able to see Ben’s side of the story. She understands his hesitance to be vulnerable in front of her because she herself wanted to hide her infertility from him in the beginning. From there, the couple’s life sobers up a little in light of Terry’s death and Calvin’s recovery, putting them off the wedding path for a while.
Kendra and Ben begin operating as a team again—making decisions about their careers together. Kendra takes a traveling professor job at her old college, Hammon, and Ben seeks out help for his mental health problems. Likewise, with Tyler’s addition to the family, Kendra finds a more even footing and decides to change her future plans of moving back to Chicago and settling permanently in North Carolina. Thus, the time soon arrives for the couple to revisit their marital plans. However, this time around, they decide to do things their way and host a beautiful ceremony themselves. Ultimately, their past complications only make them stronger, preparing them for a future together.
Read More: Mary J. Blige’s Real Love: Review and Ending, Explained
