This second part of the "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" lacked the crazy fireworks of last week's Porsha Williams attack on Kenya Moore but there was still plenty of tension.
In the immediate fallout of the fight, Porsha was done for the day, and host Andy Cohen said the network does not condone violence. Kenya, of course, defended her own actions and showed not a scintilla of regret.
None of the other women promoted Porsha pulling Kenya's hair like that. Cynthia Bailey didn't feel Porsha was "under attack," as Cohen said. But NeNe Leakes and Phaedra Parks felt Kenya provoked her with her bullhorn and her scepter.
Kenya said she was just having fun with her props. "It is a violation to point anything in my face," NeNe said.
Kenya doesn't think the props were what caused Porsha's breakdown. Rather, she said Porsha has other problems. In Antigua, when she argued with Porsha, she didn't get physical but "twirled away." She said she has come a long way from her days in Detroit and proclaimed an anti-violence message.
In other storylines tonight:
- NeNe and Phaedra have kissed and made up. The trip to Athens earlier this season helped, which they reviewed but offered nothing new about Chuck Smith and the fact he dated both Kandi and Phaedra. They were both annoyed he downplayed their relationships and proceeded to downplay his manhood, too. "I don't understand why he was trying to malign Kandi and I," Phaedra said. NeNe also apologized for spreading a rumor about Phaedra's reputation in high school with the guys ("the head doctor.")
- Mama Joyce, Kandi's mom, enjoyed being in the spotlight during her guest appearance. She seemed downright giddy (alcohol induced, maybe?) and noted she had lost 40 pounds, crediting it to "stress." She spent the entire season stressing about Kandi's then-fiance Todd. She regretted that someone said she tried to "set him up" to take him down. Kandi did note that she wanted to set him up. Mama Joyce got a lot of negative feedback from that. On the reunion show, she chose not to badmouth Todd. This was a week before the wedding and she promised not to object.
She noted that she's financially sound and helped Kandi become the millionaire she is. She denied feeling threatened by Todd over money. She also downplayed Kandi's assertion that Mama Joyce had once had credit cards in Kandi's name she didn't know about and frittering cash away gambling and HSN shopping. "I spend my money on what I want to," Mama Joyce said. Kandi did want it be known she does financially support her mom but her mom has to give her proper credit for that.
As for the musical, Mama Joyce enjoyed it but didn't feel like it was really her. As for Kandi not standing up to her mom, she said she doesn't want to cut her mom off no matter what she says or does. That's not her style.
- Cynthia and NeNe clash. The two have been best buds since season three, when Cynthia arrived on the show. (Remember the vaunted "friendship contract"?) But there have been bad mojo this season. First, NeNe objected to Cynthia's 14-year-old daughter dating.
Then, NeNe got upset when Cynthia's husband Peter Thomas objected to her stank-a** attitude at that Kenya fundraiser. NeNe said he was behaving like a "bitch." That caused a major rift. They tried to kiss and make up at a meal but clearly, things have deteriorated in the intervening months. They are no longer talking.
NeNe even said at a recent "Watch What Happens" that Cynthia was the most dispensable of the housewives because she was boring.
Cynthia acknowledges her loyalty to NeNe had been so strong, folks thought she was NeNe's lapdog.
She began to cry. "I see so many of her friends come and go and I feel like at the end of the day, there's a sisterhood there. There's a love there. But I never felt a respect is there."
"I don't know where that's coming from," NeNe said.
NeNe, as Andy said, looked unfazed. In fact, she just had her wall up. She refused to talk about her friendship with Cynthia in front of the world and the other ladies - "like you give a f***."
Kandi feels NeNe comes across as a "selfish friend."
Kenya said NeNe's attitude shows she doesn't care about her as a friend.
"I'm not sure if she's even aware she can be shady," Cynthia said. "Not friendly, not inviting. I read her blog going in on me. If you say anything slightly demeaning, she feels attacked."
NeNe denies playing dirty. She said if she had called NeNe's husband a "bitch," it would have been over. NeNe again denied that.
Neither woman is sure their friendship can be repaired.
Sad.
TRAILER
The men join the couch. We hear what Apollo will or will not say about his court case. Peter is seen getting defensive. NeNe and Kandi go at each other. "You're a sneaky, trifling slut," Phaedra said to Kenya. NeNe also rips into Kenya.
RATINGS
The show drew 4.2 million viewers last Sunday for the big fight scene. That is solid but not the best ever for the show, which is now averaging about 3.8 to 3.9 million viewers a week this season.
About the Author
