'Real Housewives of Atlanta' recap ('Party in a Sweatbox'): Season 8, Episode 6

By RODNEY  HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, November 22, 2015

Cynthia Bailey's marriage with Peter Thomas has been disintegrating. Is it worth salvaging?

The couple, over five years together, have had their fair share of communication issues. Peter tended to keep secrets - especially over money. Cynthia tended to show very little curiosity over what he was up to as she focused on her own business and the TV show.

And once Peter decided to open a sports bar in Charlotte, he had been spending increasing amounts of time away from Atlanta - and Cynthia. It seemed they were drifting apart.

So when that photo of Peter flirting with a woman popped up on the Web, that indicated a symptom of a bigger problem.

Cynthia, clearly unhappy, sought advice from her ex husband Leon while they were finding a tutor for their daughter. (Cynthia's lack of a sex life may have been showing when she went gaga over a hot 26 year old tutor candidate.)

Leon told Cynthia she has tended to walk away from relationships when things got too difficult and recommended she give Peter another chance.

After 10 days of non communication since the disastrous eyewear line party we saw episode one and two, the couple finally met up to talk about their relationship.

When Cynthia said she wasn't sure she was still in love with him, Peter looked like he had been slapped in the face.

Peter: "I never stopped loving you."

Cynthia: "If you don't show me, I don't feel like you do."

While Peter acknowledged his part in this, he quickly made excuses.

Peter: "You don't understand how I feel. I see us drift. At the same time, I can't stop what I'm doing."

Then he started to cry.

Peter: "When you say you're not in love with me anymore, I don't even understand that."

Cynthia: "I can't remember the last time we talked."

Peter: "I believe when a man and woman make a commitment, they've got to make it work."

Cynthia: "Sometimes it doesn't work."

He  begins walking away: "I'll do everything I can. I don't want to fight with you anymore."

We'll see. It's clear these two need counseling big time.

In other storylines:

• It seemed like Kandi Burruss and Phaedra Parks kissed and made up last week. But it's never quite over with these two. Phaedra is still a little burned that Kandi's husband Todd had squirrelled away some of Apollo's items (like an ATV and a bike) at their home without her knowledge. Kandi didn't think it was a big deal. Phaedra did. "It broke my heart," she said. "Kandi should have known better. I would  (Now the feds are chasing after those items.)
• Kenya Moore holds a party for her hair-care product line. Everyone shows up - although Kandi finds the heat stultifying and leaves before Kenya even arrives. Kim Fields - with  her husband - makes her first appearance with the crew and makes no waves.
• Recurring character Shamea Morton also makes her first appearance. We don't learn anything about her but she susses out the fact Kenya's shampoo bottles contain water, not shampoo. And she gets joy pointing that out to Kenya.
• Oh, wait: wasn't that Claudia Jordan at the party shown a hot second? The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" season seven cast member was unceremoniously cut with no comments from anybody. She has since moved to Los Angeles.
• Sheree Whitfield and Kenya decide to let bygones be bygones over Kenya's shady house comments at Cynthia's party episode one. More or less.