During part one of The Real Housewives of Atlanta season 8 reunion, Phaedra and Kandi discuss the state of their friendship, Kim and Kenya rehash some of their issues, and Andy Cohen throws some shade Kenya’s way.
The season ended on a pretty high note with all of the ladies getting along, but it’s time for the reunion, which means old wounds will be reopened and Andy will be rubbing in lots of salt.
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Baby Talk
It’s “Babypalooza” up in here. Porsha has officially become an aunt, and Kandi looks fantastic after just having given birth to Baby Ace. Kenya refuses to confirm or deny rumors that she might be knocked up.
The Shady Bunch
Andy opens with a montage of the women talking trash to and about each other. He wants to know who the ladies would consider “The Queen of Shade,” and “Shaedra” Parks takes the honors. As far as who could use a little more schooling when it comes to reading, Kim thought she would come out on top, but not so fast Tootie, or Miss Fields if you’re nasty. Porsha says Kim threw some pretty good shade during her interviews, and Cynthia considers that “sneaky shade.”
It’s time to answer for some of that nastiness, and the first battle to go down is between Phaedra and Kenya. At one point in the season, Phaedra referred to Kenya as “Oatmeal Pie Face,” a dig at Kenya’s complexion. Kenya retorts that Phaedra couldn’t be her third runner-up on her best day. Phaedra fires back that Kenya’s looks haven’t gotten her anywhere. She’s got no husband and she’s got no kids.
It Tastes Better Straight from the Tap
They usually don’t drag the guys out right away, but Todd joins the ladies on stage to discuss the latest addition to his and Kandi’s family. Baby Ace has his own Instagram following — roughly 100,000 — and, at the time of filming, hasn’t even revealed his face yet.
Todd gets called out for leaving the doctor’s office to take a business call while the doctor was having trouble locating the baby’s heartbeat. He doesn’t make any apologies, and Kandi stands by her man, stating that the situation was made to appear more dramatic than it actually was. Plus, Kandi is all about getting paid, so she was okay with Todd picking up the phone.
Nothing is off limits for these ladies, so Kandi’s been very open about posting photos on social media of her breastfeeding, and even Todd gets in on the action. Andy airs a video that shows Todd taking a few swigs of breast milk from Baby Ace’s bottle. It’s okay, but Todd prefers it “straight from the tap.”
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Is Kim a No or a Go?
Viewers get a look back at the highs and lows of Kim Fields’ first season on RHOA. I’d have to say the lows outnumber the highs. Cohen points out that there were a lot of tweets throughout the season over whether Kim even belongs on the show. Kim admits that she’s not sure if it was a good fit, but she was entertained.
Someone who definitely doesn’t think Kim belongs is Kenya. Kenya claims that Kim was very condescending to the group, giving the impression that she was better than the rest of the women. I think viewers saw that as well. Porsha also feels that Kim could be judgmental.
Kandi also doesn’t think Kim fits in with the group because they are all about dealing with confrontation, and Kim doesn’t deal whatsoever.
Phaedra agrees that Kim is different from the rest of the women, but that wasn’t so much the issue as it was Fields’ reluctance to engage.
Kim thinks people confuse her onscreen persona with who she is off-screen. Kim says she’s pretty shy, which begs the question, why did she sign up for this in the first place?
Frenemies
The big elephant in the room is where Kandi and Phaedra stand, and they don’t seem to be on the same page. Phaedra did reach out to Kandi after Ace was born, and on her end anyway, she feels like she’s made steps to move towards a better place.
Both women are upset over things they saw on the show. Kandi doesn’t appreciate how Phaedra went after Todd, and Phaedra didn’t like Kandi saying that Phaedra was trying to drum up sympathy for herself and the situation with Apollo.
The conversation rolls around to Kandi and Todd storing Apollo’s stuff in their garage. While Phaedra has made it seem like it was a conspiracy to keep her in the dark, Kandi argues that nothing could be further from the truth. Apollo never told them to keep anything from Phaedra, and Kandi honestly didn’t believe it was a secret.
The other bone of contention between Team Kandi and Team Phaedra this season was the money Phaedra owed Todd for her exercise video. The ladies go around about that, and Todd has been paid in full, although he didn’t get the final check until a week before the reunion, which Kenya remarks is “convenient.”
Kandi has had to come out swinging this reunion because she also finds herself defending her manager, Don Juan, and friend and assistant, Carmon. Porsha still has a bad taste in her mouth about how Don Juan came at her several times this season, and Phaedra doesn’t think it’s appropriate that Kandi let an employee talk about her friends because it’s unprofessional. Porsha chimes in that Don Juan was just angling for more time on-camera.
The Feud Rages On
By far the nastiest season-long feud was the one between Kim and Kenya. These two started off fairly chummy. Kenya even wanted Kim involved in Life Twirls On. Surprisingly, Kim tells Andy that she was impressed by Kenya’s performance in her little vanity project, stating that Kenya was very comfortable going places comically where most pretty girls fear to tread.
Kenya recalls that when Kim viewed the pilot with her husband, Chris, his reaction was that Kenya needed to be recast. In her mind, Kim was biting the hand feeding her since Kenya was the one who brought her into the group to begin with.
Kim clarifies that Chris was talking about a woman cast as Kenya’s sister whose performance was not as strong as Kenya’s. Kim truly thought the show had potential, but after a series of dust-ups with Kenya, Kim lost enthusiasm for the project.
As far as Kenya’s constant comparisons between Kim and herself, Kenya claims to not feel that one has enjoyed more success than the other, until now. Right now, Kim is on Kenya’s stage. Kenya is the reality star, while Kim is the low man on the totem pole. This comment solicits a lot of side eye from the other ladies.
Andy tells Kenya that viewers got the impression Kenya was jealous of Kim. Kenya says she’s not trying to take anything away from the fact that Kim was a child star. Andy interrupts to point out that Kim has continued working, but Kenya says that that was in the ’90s. Andy respond that Kenya was Miss USA in the ’90s so … Andy knows how to throw some shade himself.
One thing is clear: the Kim we’re seeing during this reunion is far more interesting than the humdrum housewife boring us to tears all season. Girl, hi!
The second part of The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion airs Sunday, March 27 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.
