This Sunday’s episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta was all about the parties. We see Phaedra’s son, Dylan, getting his religious blessing at an inaugural party and we end up at NeNe’s pajama party for some pillow talk.
The episode begins with Phaedra meeting her party planner, Dwight, to begin planning her son’s blessing party. She tells Dwight that since her son’s nickname is “Mr. President” she wants the theme of the party to be an inaugural ball. She’s already picked out the venue; a mansion that resembles the White House in DC. As Phaedra and Dwight tour the mansion, she points out things that she wants. There must be red, white, and blue champagne. There will be a secret service flash mob. Everything is over the top.
We move into Cynthia’s studio where she heads into Peter’s office to unload her mind. They begin talking about her trip to the vineyard the previous week and the conversation flows into the comment that Kandi said about Peter. Peter questions what Kandi could possibly know about him or his past. He is instantly aggravated and the first seeds of trouble are set for confrontation.
Kandi and her fiancé Todd have a similar scene at Kandi’s office a little while later. They begin their conversation with casting news for the musical they are working on together. That casting news turns into Kandi questioning where and when they should ask Portia to audition. Todd is still skeptical about Portia’s talent and suggests that they invite Christopher Williams to audition. This is when the conversation moves to the vineyard outing from the week before. Kandi tells Todd that Christopher’s wife, Natalie, was spreading rumors about Todd being an opportunist. Like Peter before, Todd questions what Natalie means by that and what information she thinks she might have. With that, another seed of trouble is set.
Kenya’s storyline this week brings us into her journey to become a single mother. First she brings her aunt with her to visit the fertility doctor. The doctor delivers both good and bad news. The good news being that her hormone levels are normal and still high enough to get pregnant. The bad news is that her ovarian levels are not very high and that could signal her having a hard time getting pregnant. Kenya takes the news in stride, claiming that God will give her a child if He sees fit. Later on, she heads to a sperm bank for an initial interview. While she is sitting in the waiting room, a donor walks in and Kenya takes the opportunity to flirt a little with him. She continues on to take a tour of the facility and speak with a doctor about how the process of choosing a donor will play out. It remains to be seen whether or not Kenya will go through with this process.
We’re finally up to the actual party section of the episode, starting with Dylan’s inauguration day party. We see Phaedra and her family arrive in a stretch limousine. They are announced by a formal caller and described as the “first family”. Just like royalty, they are lead up the front stairs and into the mansion. Immediately we can tell that Phaedra’s husband, Apollo, is not happy. He announces that he’s going to go mingle and Phaedra grabs onto him and tells him that they are about to do a dance so he cannot go anywhere. Turns out party planner Dwight has to be Phaedra’s dance partner because Apollo refuses to dance. Phaedra goes upstairs for a wardrobe change after the dance and we next see her being escorted by Apollo down the stairs for a second grand entrance. Apollo complains that Phaedra is holding his hand too tight in another moment showing his crabbiness. Lastly we head out into the back garden where the actual blessing is going to take place. Phaedra calls for Apollo to join them and he explodes that he hasn’t had a chance to eat or drink a thing. He complains that she cannot expect him to be on board with everything since she did not include him on any of the planning or even tell him what the plans where. After the blessing, we are thankfully let out of this party.
Next up is NeNe’s pillow talk party. NeNe is preparing for the party to take place in the Four Seasons suite that she has rented for the night. The first one to arrive is Cynthia. They immediately start in on conversation about the guest list. NeNe tells Cynthia that she’s invited Christopher and Natalie. This shocks Cynthia, as she knows that Natalie has gotten into it with a few of the housewives already. NeNe blows past Cynthia’s concerns and continues to organize and get ready for the event. One by one the other housewives and their husbands arrive, with the exception of Kenya. NeNe makes it known that Kenya is late. Everyone talks about how Kenya was on their cases about being late last time they had a party and now she is the rude one. NeNe is frustrated and decides to start the party without her. With all of the couples seated on bean bag chairs in a semi-circle, she hands out question cards. These cards each have different intimate questions that one person in each couple must ask and answer out loud. After that person answers the question, the floor is open to discussion on the answer or the question. The game is fun right off of the bat. Peter jokes about the questions and NeNe does some dancing around the floor. We see everyone laughing and enjoying each other. Then Kenya finally shows up and we get the feeling that the drama is now about to start. The next question is about strip clubs and whether or not you allow your spouse to go. Peter answers the question that yes he goes, but would never get a lap dance. Kandi calls him out on that and states that she’s seen him get lap dances at strip clubs. Apollo intervenes and states that it doesn’t matter either way. He says that if it’s his money, he can spend it any way he wants. This interaction sets Apollo up to be on edge. Christopher is asked what he thinks about the subject. As soon as Christopher begins talking about his wife and her feelings, Kenya interjects that Natalie isn’t really his wife. She’s just his common law partner. That comment opens the can of worms and Christopher explodes telling Kenya not to talk to his wife like that. Kenya stands up and charges towards Natalie in order to get her point across. Christopher grabs Kenya’s arm to stop her. Coming to her rescue, Kenya’s friend Brandon leaps up and gets into Christopher’s face telling him to keep his hands off of the woman. This causes Peter to bounce up to his friend Chris’ defense and he starts shouting at Brandon. For no apparent reason, Apollo jumps up next and gets into the fight. He pushes Brandon over a chair and begins to wail on him. Phaedra and Portia try to pull Apollo off of Brandon, but they cannot get through to him. Finally it seems as if the 4th wall is broken and the crew get into the mix pushing all the men away from each other. Immediately NeNe runs after Kenya and begins screaming at her for starting this fight by charging at Natalie. Kenya insists she has done nothing wrong and continues to shout back at NeNe. The episode is ended there with the ominous “to be continued” screen.