‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ season 9, episode 8 review: Mud-slinging savants
On the last episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” we had Kandi and Phaedra sitting down to talk and while we had hope that this was going to be the beginning of something better for them, it doesn’t look like friendship is on either of their minds. Phaedra wanted to talk about the comments Mama Joyce made at the OLG food tasting and Kandi was defensive about her coming at her about her mom. They agreed that they will continue to be civil, but friendship is off the table for the time being.
So … how long did that last?
Well, to be fair, the vast majority of the drama we saw tonight did not actually happen with Kandi and Phaedra sitting in the same room together; instead, most of it took place as Porsha Williams bounced back and forth like a pinball between various groups of women, acting like she did not want to be involved in the gossip-spreading at one point, but being at the complete epicenter of it at another point. She’s becoming more and more of Phaedra Parks’ #1 fan and supporter, which means that she refused to acknowledge whether or not Phaedra had been calling up a man some time ago in the thick of things with Apollo Nida. Yet, she had no problem stirring up conversation and drinking ALL of the tea when it came to talking about whether or not Kandi could be having some sort of three way with Todd Tucker and Shamea.
What makes this entire situation so utterly ludicrous is the fact that nobody’s really learning anything new through these conversations — at least in terms of things that are true. Kandi has been clear about what she did and didn’t say about Phaedra, and at this point, it seems like Porsha’s interjecting herself for almost no good reason. We’ve got a feeling that this is all going to blow up again, with Kandi blaming Phaedra for starting up rumors when she’s not the only player in this.
We enjoy the show’s drama when much of it is tangible, but at this point, we’re focusing almost exclusively on gossip. We’re not sure why this matters as much as it does to some of these women (what happens in the bed room is really no one else’s business), but hey — it’s a big part of the show. You just gotta grin and bear it.
What was slightly more interesting
The stories of the Housewives as parents remain pretty fascinating television, especially when you get to see when they want their kids to be independent, and also when they want to assert more control. For Kandi, she made a point to allow her daughter to determine for herself however much time she wanted to spend with her biological after; she recognized the importance of him being around for her, but doesn’t want to force anything. It’s in contrast to what we’ve seen from Cynthia Bailey’s own daughter, who actually was so intent on seeing Peter that she was heartbroken over him not contacting her. Their scene after the yoga class actually had a certain sweetness to it, which is rare for this show most of the time.
What we couldn’t care less about
While it may be funny to see Sheree Whitfield throw some shade over how great her new house is in comparison to everyone else’s, do we really need to see her talking about chairs for ten minutes? Seriously? At this point we just want to see the finished product.
The great thing about this season of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” is that, so far, the show isn’t dwelling on any one individual thing for an extended period of time. So long as that continues (which is far from confirmed), we figure that we’ll be satisfied in the end. Episode grade: B-.
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