Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
By Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Dec. 7, 2014
The women of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" are paid to create drama, real or imagined.
If they can't create their own, they can always instigate it by getting the women together. In real life, most of these folks would probably never talk to each other again but on this show, they are well compensated to deal with each other.
Tonight's instigator/"peace" maker? Kandi Burruss.
She knows that Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams still have issues. And Kenya Moore and Phaedra Parks. And of course, NeNe Leakes and Cynthia Bailey.
So she somehow (per Bravo's contract) convinced everyone to meet at Einstein's in Midtown to "clear the air."
With Porsha reduced to "recurring" character, whatever interaction she has with Kenya is virtually edited out.
First up: Kenya vs. Phaedra. Phaedra initially indicated she would apologize to Kenya when she heard her husband Apollo fess up that he was lying. She doesn't quite do that, much to Kenya's chagrin.
"If you don't owe me an apology, you'll have to sleep with yourself at night," Kenya said.
"I don't have an issue with you," Phaedra said, with a look of distaste that entirely betrays her words. "The slate is free and clear." Although Kenya technically may not have done what Apollo said, Phaedra still thinks she's a snake and unworthy of trust, much less friendship. She also still wants people to think she's a "whore," a word she has thrown at Kenya before.
Next up: Cynthia and NeNe's tattered relationship. NeNe was upset that Cynthia started badmouthing her about the Peter Thomas "bitch" incident to others without talking to her about it. Cynthia just felt NeNe didn't treat her husband right. And it all deteriorated from there.
"Why didn't you call me, 'friend'? " NeNe asked, derisively.
She barely lets Cynthia get a word in edgewise as she defends her friendship with Cynthia, saying "I'm a good-a** friend bitch!"
NeNe felt Cynthia threw away their friendship to people who could care less whether they were friends. "I had your back when nobody else had your back" she said, with genuine hurt in her voice. "I loved you like a f****** sister."
***
In other storylines:
Home sweet home in Midtown: Kenya hangs with Claudia Jordan as she moves into her new pad in a high-rise apartment in Midtown not far from her job with Rickey Smiley. They appear to be tight and bond over mommy issues. Claudia is the product of an Italian mom and a New York black dad. They divorced but she said her mother never understood her identity issues as a bi-racial child. So far, Claudia comes across a grounded, friendly, upbeat sassy woman.
Ripped out home: Kandi finds out that her old house, which she had originally given to her mother, was all ripped up Mama Joyce's boyfriend, who never finished renovations but ripped out a bunch of her bathrooms. Kandi is appalled because Mama Joyce didn't ultimately want to live there and Kandi got her a new house "I had no idea this was her boyfriend's idea of renovations," she says. Todd, again, castigates her for letting her mom get away with murder.
"There's no consequences to any of the actions. So she is not accountable," Todd says about Mama Joyce.
Driving her crazy: NeNe and Gregg start 15-year-old son Brentt on driving lessons. It doesn't appear he has killed anybody.
QUOTES
"I finally got tired of the self-centered shine of NeNe Leakes," - Cynthia
"No pussy for Kenya." - Kenya, referencing herself in the third person and talking about cats. Keep your thoughts out of the gutter!
"You're not a liar. You're not a whore. You're a little cray cray, yes, occasionally ashy, yes," Claudia on Kenya.
"She's become my own personal tour guide. When it comes to these other girls, I have her back." - Claudia, on Kenya.
RATINGS
"Real Housewives of Atlanta" drew 2.8 million viewers last week and a 1.3 18-49 rating. That's the lowest of the season and down from the comparable fourth episode a year ago, when the show brought in 3.3 million viewers and a 1.5 18-49 rating. It is up from two years ago when the show attracted 2.2 million viewers and a 1.2 18-49 rating.
WATCH WHAT HAPPENS
Kim Zolciak and NeNe Leakes appear to have kissed and made up.
"Time heals wounds," NeNe said.
She said she was able to reconcile with Kim because they weren't that close in the first place, What makes it tougher for her to make up with Cynthia is because they were much much closer so the betrayal runs deeper.
Kim barely voluntarily says five sentences during the half hour, which isn't surprising. She did stop smoking, she says. As for resolving issues with her parents? No. Of course not. NeNe is always far more entertaining during these WWHL episodes.
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