By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, March 22, 2015
NeNe Leakes checked out of Dr. Jeff Gildere's group therapy session during last week's episode because she felt like she was being attacked by everyone - including Dr. Jeff.
Dr. Jeff was not really to blame but when NeNe is hurt, she's hurt. "I have two good feet," she says. "I don't have to take it." So she moved on.
But five of the ladies stayed behind: Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams, Cynthia Bailey, Kenya Moore and Claudia Jordan.
Claudia and Porsha cleared up some of their issues after Porsha felt the ladies weren't always being honest (then again, neither was she every time.). Kandi and Porsha made some progress though I'm not sure if there was true reconciliation there.
Kandi remained deeply annoyed that Phaedra Parks was talking about her behind her back about not being a good friend. Why not approach her directly? But as two avoiders, they continued to let things fester.
"We don't have an issue," Kandi said, of Phaedra. "You have an issue!"
She was also annoyed that the ladies wanted to create a video to reconcile with NeNe. She thought they were needlessly kissing NeNe's butt. And indeed, NeNe didn't take the video seriously.
Claudia did a follow up with Dr. Jeff and he suggested she take a trip with the ladies to clear things up. Dr. Jeff must have been fed that idea by the producers because hasn't Dr. Jeff seen past trips these ladies have taken? Trips are created by "Real Housewives of Atlanta" creators to generate extra drama because the women are forced to interact, whether they want to or not.
So voila! A trip to the Philippines happens for the remainder of the season, the second trip of the year after Puerto Rico.
In other story lines:
- NeNe decides to focus on her "Cinderella" role on Broadway and try not to over-think what she had done. She admits she has a hard time apologizing but at the same time, her apologies are frequently half hearted. And that's how the women sense them.
- Phaedra meets with T.D. Jakes' daughter Sarah and shows some rare vulnerability because they have similar backgrounds. Among the cast members, outside of NeNe, she feels she can't be open and opts to be stoic. Sarah calls that dangerous. "Then your norm becomes being numb," she said.
She then talks to a divorce attorney Ronne Kaplan to see what she needs to do with Apollo Nida now that he's in prison. The attorney counsels her to take things slow. Clearly, she has plenty of time. Apollo isn't going anywhere for several years. And nobody has seen divorce papers filed months later.
She says many people have asked her why she even married Apollo. She says she honestly thought he could change - and he didn't.
"He just became very much into partying and hanging out. He got be very mean-spirited," she says.
Ultimately, she thought he loved her. "Maybe he was conning me the whole time," she says.
- Kenya is prepping for her new TV show. She does a script read for "Life Twirls On." I have heard nothing about this show so I have no idea if she has gotten any further with it.
- There was a brief segment related to teabagging. Cynthia had no idea what it was. Feel free to Google the term.
QUOTES
"You either bring everybody together - or drive everybody apart." - Kenya, about NeNe
"What's the point of making everyone come if you're not even going to stay?" - Cynthia
"A divorce is a death. It's a death of a relationship." Ronne Kaplan, talking to Phaedra
RATINGS
Last week's episode drew 3.14 million overnight viewers, pretty average for the year, with a 1.4 18-49 rating. That's down from 3.9 million and 1.7 18-49 rating for the comparable episode last year.
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