Jasmine Blu
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And much to our delight, Kendra and Ben found their way back to one another.
Mary J. Blige’s Strength of A Woman was a worthwhile companion piece to Mary J. Blige’s Real Love, even if it veered closer to Lifetime’s usual fare with some of its plots.
Despite roughly 15 years apart, the true, honest, first, and real love between Kendra and Ben finally prevailed, and they’re all the better for it.
It was great that we got to catch up with an adult Kendra and Ben, not only following them after they’ve endured many things in their life and were far more seasoned, but dropping in during a time when we got to see the two battling those real-life problems that come with adulthood, relationships, and experience.
Again, Ajiona Alexus has truly shined in this double feature, enough so that I genuinely look forward to her future projects and what she chooses to partake in next.
It was such a strong distinction between the Kendra from Real Love — the young woman who was coming into herself and adulthood, finding her footing, and taking the world on as a fresh, young talent with nothing but great things ahead of her, and the established, seasoned woman who found some success and was still battling highs and lows in life.
Alexus did a great job capturing the different stages of Kendra’s life while keeping her true to the character we had come to know.
Although, there were moments when the movies felt like two totally different things unrelated to one another. It was easy enough to watch one film without the other.
Whether or not it’s to the saga’s benefit that both work as standalone remains in the air, but the films did have two distinct vibes.
In many ways, Strength of a Woman felt like the usual Lifetime fanfare, which isn’t bad, but it made the film somewhat predictable.
They threw a bunch of the usual bits at us, from a philandering husband who gaslights and essentially disappears halfway through the movie to a tragic miscarriage, betrayal of a close friend, and a second chance at love with the perfect happy ending.
Some of these things work well enough, but it shifted from Real Love‘s fresh, original vibe and became formulaic.
Kendra was a successful businesswoman who wanted to start a family in a failing marriage with a man who wasn’t right for her in the least and caused her nothing but pain and hurt.
His treatment and betrayals prompted her to spiral and lose sight of herself for a bit, and only through the loving support of those around her did she make it through all of that.
She suffered the tragic loss of a child after trying so hard to have one. She nearly tanked her career because of her spiral, alienating herself and more.
It all felt very formulaic, almost as if they were checking common tropes for these types of movies off of a list, which let out some of the air from this film, killing the momentum the first one built up.
Fifteen years later, Kendra had a perfect life; that’s how it appeared on the outside. She found success as a photographer, running her own studio and taking pictures of celebrities for magazines.
She married a successful doctor, lived in a lovely house, and hoped to start a family. Everything seemed perfect, but it was easy to see the cracks when Kendra spent a few seconds with her husband, Kevin.
Credit where it’s due, Riverdale’s Hamza Fouad did a great job playing a complete and utter waste of space and a horrible guy. There was absolutely nothing likable or redeemable about Kevin.
He was such an offputting character that it was genuinely a shock that Kendra ever ended up with him in the first place. He didn’t seem interested in having a kid with her and blamed their fertility journey for his infidelity.
And despite his infidelity, he found a way to be jealous about her reconnecting with Ben, projecting his actions and poor judgment onto her instead of showing a modicum of grace or humility about her forgiving him and giving him a second chance.
He wasn’t even good at cheating, which somehow made him even more loathsome. It didn’t even seem like he knew Kendra well or cared about her at all, so the idea that they ever reached a point where they were considering starting a family felt unbelievable.
And one of the most offputting moments of the film was his behavior during that dinner. He was the one who wanted to spend time with Ben, then he spent the entire meal tipsy, making digs, and being inappropriate.
It’s one thing to behave that way when it’s just the adults, but his rudeness and offensive remarks while Sonny and Miles were there were unforgivable.
How do you make digs about a man having a child early and implying that he was irresponsible and ruined his life in front of that man’s child?
It didn’t seem like he’d get any lower, but then we got that unsavory twist of him being the father of Terry’s child. By that point, it was evident that Kev was a slimeball, so it wasn’t even shocking that he fathered a kid outside his relationship with Kendra and never told her about it.
But to know that he slept with and shared a child with Kendra’s only best friend for years, with neither telling her the truth was a special kind of low.
Terry being part of this was one of the most disappointing aspects of the film. Part of the issue is that Kendra is depicted as not having any other meaningful friendships at this stage of her life.
It’s only Terry, the woman who was nothing but a friend and support to her back in college. It doesn’t even feel true to the character that her best friend, who helped her through a sexual assault and always had her back through the roughest of times in her life, would contribute to causing her any strife.
It didn’t feel true to what we’ve learned of Terry that she would keep this huge secret, hide that Kevin fathered her son, and even go as far as making Kendra the godmother to this kid.
She kept this secret for what? Eight years?
It was such a cliched and contrived turn of events that was pure drama for the sake of it. It alienated Kendra in a way that felt unnecessary, making it to a point where Ben was the only person who wasn’t family she could lean on.
It was something that we could’ve done without. Unfortunately, it required so many aspects of Kendra’s life to fall apart before she could find her way back to Ben romantically.
But amid all of that, Kendra had some strong moments. Before Angela Bassett was slaying us on 9-1-1 as Athena Grant, one of her most iconic movie moments was setting her cheating husband’s clothes and car on fire. Kendra was channeling Auntie Bernadine from Waiting to Exhale by doing something similar.
Kendra toppling down the stairs, dealing with a cheating husband, a friend who betrayed her, and going on career-ending drunken benders were parts of the story that weren’t compelling.
But her moments as an aunt, spending time with Sonny, were great. The two of them had such a great rapport and bonded so well, and it was sweet to see her pass on her passion for photography to Sonny.
It was genuinely nice that they had each other to lean on after Kendra’s father died.
Obviously, her moments with Ben were also a highlight of the film. The chemistry between the leads is the strongest selling point for this saga, and whenever they share a scene together, everything else seems to fade away.
It was surprising to hear that Kendra had appeared at Ben’s door sometime after she left and hoped to rekindle things and be together.
It didn’t work out then, and he wanted to stick things out with Connie for Miles’ benefit, but that seemed a point of contention for them when they crossed paths again at the college reunion.
But Ben, he always says the best things. He’s the very antithesis of guys like Kev, making him the perfect romantic lead. When he told her that whenever she told their love story, he needed her to refrain from ever implying that he didn’t always choose her, a girl couldn’t help but swoon a bit.
It felt like Ben disappeared in this movie in many ways. He had some moments that evoked mixed feelings too.
On the one hand, it was disappointing that he became a lawyer, knowing that he essentially gave in to his parents in some capacity.
As much as his story was about what inspired him was touching, there will always be that possibility that he subconsciously got worn down and ended up giving in to his parent’s wishes, allowing them to influence him in that way and believe that he made this decision himself.
In many ways, it would’ve been a stronger motivation if his own brush with the law had inspired him after what happened with Kendra in college.
But at least he’s a public defender, which suits him well and what he wants to do in his life, helping people.
I wish we had spent more time on Ben, even though this is so clearly Kendra’s story.
Unsurprisingly, we were privy to his and Connie’s relationship not working out, the vindictive things that Connie did, and so forth, but Connie didn’t even appear.
And while it was nice to see that his mother wasn’t still that classist, snobby woman who treated Kendra like dirt, it would’ve been better if they shared more screentime together and maybe had an in-depth conversation so that his mother’s sudden turnaround wasn’t passed to Kendra secondhand through him.
For him and Kendra to be together, seeing her in his world a bit more would’ve been refreshing.
Nevertheless, it was satisfying to see the pair work things out. Kendra choosing to be with Ben and not running away at the hardships and complications of what his life brings as a father was a mark of her growth and ability to choose her own happiness.
Kendra found some empowerment and love through her experiences.
One of the film’s best scenes was her, her sister, and her niece singing, dancing, and bonding. It was this beautiful display of womanhood that tapped wonderfully into female bonds, strength, and support.
Those are treasured moments that the film could’ve used more of as it lived up to its name in all aspects.
It was a solid conclusion to this love story, Kendra choosing to go with Ben to North Carolina, to be with him and the other people who matter to her.
Because there’s nothing wrong with making decisions like that for oneself without it reflecting poorly or being overly simplified as a woman following a man. Kendra followed her heart and happiness.
Over to you, Lifetime Fanatics. Did you enjoy the conclusion to this saga? Sound off below!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You’ll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on Twitter.