On this week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Phaedra leaves town with her marital issues unresolved. Cynthia meets her daughter’s first boyfriend. Momma Joyce comes out with new allegations against Todd involving Kandi’s best friend. And Kenya finds a new home.
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Phaedra Studies and Apollo Gets Schooled
Phaedra welcomes the chance to skip town and head to Alabama to study for her upcoming mortuary exams. Still irritated at Apollo for his murky past interactions with Kenya, Phaedra is only to happy to escape Atlanta for a few days.
Apollo seeks advice from Peter after his disastrous dinner date with Phaedra. He expresses his frustration about the Kenya situation. He tells Peter that he tried to put his foot down by telling his wife he didn’t want to discuss it anymore. He punctuates the statement with the proclamation that he could have had sex with Kenya if he wanted to, but he didn’t. It’s like he feels he deserves props for not cheating on his wife.
If Apollo was hoping Peter would be in his corner on this one, he gets a rude awakening. Peter says that if Phaedra doesn’t like Kenya, for whatever reason, Apollo has to cut ties with her as well. He also points out that Kenya was just using Apollo to try and make Phaedra look foolish. I’m sure that revelation was a blow to Apollo’s ego.
How Low Can Momma Joyce Go?
Kandi continues to complain to anyone who will listen about her mother’s dislike of Todd. This time around, it’s her best friend Carmon. Carmon asks Kandi if she would still marry Todd if he and her mother are never able to establish a relationship. Kandi says she could, but she isn’t moving forward with wedding plans, which is pretty telling. Carmon says that once Momma Joyce’s mind is set, there’s just no changing it.
Even though Momma Joyce has the ability to come up with a laundry list of reasons not to like Kandi’s fiance, the bottom line is it’s all about the money. She views all of her daughter’s suitors as grifters. If I were Kandi, I would be insulted that my mother didn’t think a man could love me for more than my net worth. It isn’t even Momma Joyce’s money. This old woman is so desperate to keep her daughter single, she even says Carmon and Todd hooked up. This allegation really hurts Carmon. She tells Kandi that her mother behaves this way because Kandi allows it, and Mama Joyce plays Kandi well.
A New House and Hard Feelings
Kenya finally ditches her sketchy hotel room in favor of a new, more upscale rental home. She passed on the million dollar penthouse. Kenya has called upon Lawrence of all people to help her move. She tells him about her conversation with Kandi about Apollo. She says she’s growing tired of having to defend herself to Kandi, who claims to be neutral. Kenya claims she doesn’t play childish games, obviously forgetting about dressing up in her previous landlord’s wedding gown and traipsing around.
Since You’ve Been Gone
Todd returns home from a business trip, and Kandi welcomes him with a catered dinner. Too bad he loses his appetite when Kandi tells him about all the trash her mom has been talking about him in his absence. Todd confesses to Kandi that he feels he’s given so much of himself to their relationship, and he’s getting shot down in every way. He reveals that he’s passed up jobs for the sake of their romance, and in his business, if he turns down a potential employer, they might not call again. Kandi may not like to see Todd upset, but she feels things are tougher on her end because she’s being forced to choose between her man and her family.
Kandi’s taking the situation a bit too lightly in Todd’s opinion, but she explains she’s been dealing with Momma Joyce’s behavior for years. Todd questions when, if ever, Kandi will put her foot down. He warns her she might lose out on a man that’s good for her. She asks Todd what he would like her to do about it, and he is determined to confront the situation head-on. He wants to set up a date for a sit-down, and despite Kandi’s attempts to delay the inevitable, a date for a summit is tentatively set.
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Big Girl Panties
Lauren, Porsha’s sister, is trying to push her big sister out of the coziness of her mother’s nest. I’m not sure what kind of settlement Porsha is getting from Kordell, but it must be sizable since she’s looking at an apartment with a whopping $4,500 monthly rent. Given Porsha has no discernible skills or job prospects, she might want to consider buying as an investment. Porsha has gone from letting Kordell do her thinking for her to relying on her mommy’s opinion.
Mom likes the apartment, but she also likes her baby at home. Porsha feels it’s too big a step, that it makes things too final. How much longer before she accepts her fate? Every episode, she has an epiphany that things are over, only to go through it all over again the next week.
First Love
Since Cynthia’s daughter, Noelle, recently admitted she has a boyfriend, Cynthia decides she wants to get a look at the kid and his mom. The young man in question, Arthur, and his mother, Latesha, show up for a civilized meet and greet. Leave it to Peter to get things off to a rocky start when Arthur addresses him by his first name. He immediately corrects the quaking boy with the big ears. The gathering ends on a high note when Cynthia determines that Arthur’s mother is a good parent and feels lucky that if Noelle’s going to have a first boyfriend, it’s Arthur.
The Pie is Good
Momma Joyce comes for dinner, and while she’s got no shortage of love for her daughter, she barely acknowledges Todd’s attempts at small talk. Momma Joyce sharpens her claws on Carmon first. In spite of supposedly being close, Joyce complains that Carmon is over at Kandi and Todd’s so much, it’s like she’s the lady of the house as much as Kandi. She tells Kandi that Carmon is Kandi’s employee, and as such, she shouldn’t be going around behind Kandi’s back talking about Todd. Some mutual acquaintances have apparently been shooting off their mouths about the amount of time that Todd and Carmon spend around each other.
When trying to paint Todd as a cheater doesn’t work, Joyce accuses Kandi of forsaking her family in favor of her man. She’s hurt there aren’t enough pictures of her on the walls, whereas she’s forced to stare at pictures of Todd’s family everywhere.
Then she goes for the jugular by questioning Todd’s role as a provider. Kandi can’t take the heat, so she heads for the kitchen. Joyce tells Todd she feels he’s an opportunist. He says that material things don’t impress him. He says he loves Kandi, but Joyce says he’ll have to prove it. She claims to not only be keeping an eye on him herself, but also of having other people watching his every move.
Todd keeps his cool, an amazing feat. He tells Momma Joyce he wants to marry Kandi, but without her support, it’s tough. Todd says that Kandi’s family means so much to her, they have to figure out how to squash the conflict. He humbly asks Joyce how they go about accomplishing this. All Momma Joyce has to offer in response is that she’s a work in progress. I’d say she’s more interested in regressing than moving forward.
The Real Housewives airs Sundays at 8pm on Bravo.
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
