‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ recap: season 13, episode 10

How ‘Bolo’ will they go?
Stripper Bolo entertains the "Real Housewives of Atlanta' ladies on the episode that first aired Feb. 21, 2021. BRAVO

Credit: Bravo

Credit: Bravo

Stripper Bolo entertains the "Real Housewives of Atlanta' ladies on the episode that first aired Feb. 21, 2021. BRAVO

Kandi Burruss has hosted a podcast about sex called “Bedroom Kandi” and runs a business selling adult toys under the same name.

She even held a sex-infused “Dungeon” stage show in 2019.

So it made sense that she would be “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member to host a bachelorette party for Cynthia Bailey, set to get married soon when the episode was taped in October.

The 75-minute episode is threaded with the ladies sitting in a chair with a blue background as if they are being interrogated “Basic Instinct” style. Of course, Kenya hams it up the most, even holding a cigarette, channeling her best Sharon Stone. “There’s not enough holy water and sage to erase what went down in this house,” she proclaims.

Cynthia is caught by surprise as Kandi plays the “mistress” during the dungeon party. She presents all the ladies ― dressed in their lingerie finest ― with their altar-ego names such as “Dy-Nasty” (Tanya Sam) “Chocolate” (Kenya Moore) and “Peach Juice” (Porsha Williams.). Cynthia at first looks horrified but after some alcohol, gets into the spirit.

Cynthia is nicknamed “50 Cynt.” And Kandi makes sure there is some vibrating going on for Cynthia.

The ladies come outside to meet the man of the hour named Bolo, who last appeared at the original Dungeon party. He’s in a box, he’s gyrating and he’s in skintight leather pants with some choice blurring by the producers. (The editors clearly had a lot of post-production work to do to ensure this episode remained even vaguely PG-13 for the Bravo basic cable audience.)

“It’s a dream; it’s a mirage,” Porsha says.

“It’s a work of art,” adds Drew Sidora.

Bolo does a dance for the cameras, then retreats.

Later, Porsha convinces Bolo to come back on the provision that there would be no cameras.. The ladies take off the audio packs. The live camera folks leave at 12:45 a.m. The ladies proceed to cover the stationary cameras or move them so they can’t quite see what’s going on in the living room. Some cameras still capture bits of audio and window reflections.

Porsha and LaToya Ali are seen kissing. Other even raunchier stuff happened well into the night.

By the next morning, the place is a mess. Bits of clothing and empty glasses are strewn about. At around 6 a.m., Kenya hears some moaning and groaning. A lady or two, Kenya notes, is with the stripper in the one spare room. Bolo quietly departs the beach house at 7:06 a.m., outdoor cameras indicate.

So who was in the room? Kenya wants to know. She really, really wants to know.

Cynthia is not one of them. “Everyone was busting it out, and I just tapped out” early, she says. But she did watch some of the action before falling asleep:: “I enjoyed the girl-on-girl action. Maybe a little too much!”

Kandi is deemed innocent and what she knows, she isn’t saying. “What happened in the dungeon stays in the dungeon,” Kandi says. Drew heartily agrees.

On day four of the beach trip, most of the ladies go on a fishing boat. (They end up catching a shark and releasing it.) Cynthia, LaToya, Tonya, Kenya and Shamea Morton stay behind to gossip and recover.

LaToya denies anything untoward happened but admits drinking a lot. LaToya is on Instagram at 6 a.m., so she has an alibi, and Kenya exonerates her from the Bolo-related shenanigans.

Shamea says she got to bed at 4:30 a.m. Tonya can’t recall anything because she says she’s super drunk.

Porsha later tells the Bravo camera folks she can’t remember what exactly happened: “I interacted with everybody. It was naughty!”

When the other women come back from the fishing boat, Kandi is annoyed that Kenya is so hung up on who slept with the stripper. She thinks Kenya is breaking some sort of “girl code” by wanting to know who did what.

The cameras capture this classic Kandi facial expression:

Kandi would rather keep the R-rated nonsense from the night before in the dungeon vault and feels a certain way as Kenya tries to suss out the details. BRAVO

Credit: Bravo

icon to expand image

Credit: Bravo

Marlo Hampton isn’t talking either to the producers: “You ever heard, ‘Snitches get stitches?’” But she did admit to Kenya that she “heard stuff” when she came down to the kitchen at 5:07 a.m.

When Tonya and Porsha find out that Kenya thinks they are the Bolo participants, they act all indignant in front of the cameras.

Porsha is single so no biggie, she says, but Tonya has a longtime fiancé. “This is so ridiculous,” Porsha says.

Even LaToya, Kenya’s BFF, is getting annoyed by Kenya’s unnecessary interrogation: “She is making our fun night into a problem.”

***

The only other topic is Cynthia’s effort to have Marlo and Kenya reconcile after years of tumultuous back and forth.

Kenya explains that some of Marlo’s past verbal cuts run deep, including an old dig about Kenya’s estranged relationship with her mom. Marlo also expressed skepticism about Kenya’s pregnancy and stuck her finger in her mouth in a gagging motion when she saw Kenya at a party pregnant. (All of this is caught on video.)

Marlo: “When we were not friends, I didn’t care about your feelings. It was to hurt you... I wasn’t in the place I’m at now.” Indeed, Marlo since she had to take care of her sister’s kids as if they were her own, she has cut back the gratuitous nastiness. Then she makes what sounds like a sincere apology.

Impressively, Kenya accepts this apology and as vacation host, apologizes for putting Marlo in the worst room in the house on purpose.

“I’m just tired of fighting,” Kenya says. “We have to be able to move forward.”

They even hug after a bit of gossip.

When they arrive together for dinner looking like old chums, Porsha ( who hates Kenya more than anybody else on the cast) is not pleased.