No catfights this episode. Rather, the entire hour felt weighted down by true reality, not stupid arguments over who lied and who didn't show up at whose party. The opening set the tone: "The episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta was taped prior to AJ Jewell's untimely passing. Our deepest sympathy is with his friends and family."
There were two main storylines. Let's start with AJ, Kandi Burruss and Kandi's mom Joyce.
The most controversial issue for Kandi from the start of the season was her fiance AJ. The problem: he had six kids from four other women. And Kandi’s mom did not approve at all. She even walked out of a photo shoot rather than be in a photograph with AJ.
To try to smooth things over, Kandi and AJ go to a marriage counselor (named Lehome Bliss) and brought along Joyce. Things did not go well. Joyce could not bottle up her resentment and anger.
“I want approval in this relationship,” AJ says. “It matters.”
“AJ has six children,” Joyce said. “I honestly feel he cannot take care of Riley [Kandi's daughter] and Kandi as a husband should… Sometimes mothers can look at their daughters and see mistakes coming at them. I want to push them ouit of the way before the truck hits them.” (AJ is the truck.)
Joyce also worries that Kandi’s money will go to AJ’s kids and take advantage of her. AJ balks. “I really don’t want to hear this drama anymore,” Kandi said. She refuses to sign a prenup, which Joyce wants. “AJ has his money and I have mine,” she said.
Far away from Kandi's drama, NeNe Leakes is grappling with her own in Athens. With an uncle and her book author in tow, she first sees her mom's summer home, which is actually quite lovely from the outside. But it's been empty for years. (Her mom has been dead for 15 years plus.) She then checks in on her aunt, who raised her. But the kicker is when her uncle gets a call from Alan Pope, who claims to be NeNe's biological dad. She goes and meets him.
She’s frozen with fear and anticipation. He looks frail and can’t even stand up. But he does have NeNe’s full lips and looks a bit like NeNe’s son. He asks that if they talk about stuff, they do so privately, outside of the uncle’s earshot (and Bravo cameras.). So she accepts that but stares at him carefully, knowing that he is probably her dad for real. This is a pensive, confused NeNe we see, not the fun-loving one at parties or mocking Kim.
In other plotlines:
- Kim Zolciak and Sheree Whitfield patch things up for the sake of the show and plan a party for Kandi and AJ. They go to the scene of their big fight a few episodes back: French American Brasserie in downtown Atlanta. They surprise the pair at said party attended by Lisa Wu Hartwell but not NeNe. Kim noted how calm things were minus NeNe, who in her mind brings "negative energy" to the world. (Kim likes to talk about "negative" and "positive" energy a lot.)
AJ bravely asks Joyce to toast their engagement. Awkward! She struggles to conjure up words, saying, “I just hope that everything works out for Kandi. We’ll wait and see.”
- Kim’s hairdresser gets her a prototype wig for her wig line with $800 worth of human hair. It’s much thicker than the blonde hair she normally wears. And get this: Kim switches out her hair like folks switch out contact lens. Except these wigs cost her more than $400 each! So she is spending more than $144,000 a year on wigs alone. That is NOT a typo. No wonder Big Poppa has to sell his Buckhead home with an asking price of an astronomical $25 million (According to the realtor’s FMLS, 490 West Paces Ferry Road is a “bank owned sale,” meaning he’s not doing this sale voluntarily.)
- Dwight Eubanks helps Sheree with her fashion show, which will air during next week's finale. He tsk tsks his way through the process, noting that she needs his help really badly and that she's doing things too last second.
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