Last week on The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Apollo admitted his allegations about Kenya were completely unfounded and he made the whole thing up, and this week we get to see the fallout. Read on for our recap of RHoA 7×03.
“I need something I can swing from”
First things first: There’s a new housewife in the opening sequence. It’s Claudia Jordan, whom we met in last week’s episode, and her tag line is “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful, hate me because I’m here to stay.”
RHoA 7×03 opens with Kenya plant-shopping and declaring she needs something she can swing from. Her aunt Lori, who’s accompanying her on this expedition, tells her not to get too carried away, then suggests she buy a cactus because of her tendency to kill plants. Zing! Lori inquires how Cynthia‘s party went, and Kenya says it was “crazy.”
Cut to Kandi and Porsha, who are having a similar conversation about Cynthia’s event. Porsha dubs Claudia Kenya’s spokesperson. I like how we’re not even five minutes into the first episode that Claudia is officially part of, and she’s already embroiled in drama.
Apollo-gies are in order
Back to plant-shopping. Lori urges Kenya to forgive the other women, especially Porsha. According to Lori, “It’s impossible for you to be nice toward someone and they turn around and still be negative toward you.” Kenya throws back her head and laughs, responding, “You clearly don’t know these girls.” She has a point there. Lori counters by saying someone has to be the grown-up. …As Kenya said before, her aunt clearly doesn’t know these girls, but she’s willing to take the advice under advisement.
Phaedra shows up to Kandi and Porsha’s lunch date just in time to hear how her beleaguered ex-husband apologized to Kenya at Cynthia’s party for making up everything he said about her. As Kenya puts it in her personal interview:
I have been vindicated. My good name has been cleared. Good name, my dear lord, is the immediate jewel of the soul. He who filches of my good name robs me of that which not enriches him but makes me poor indeed. Shakespeare. Learn it.
OK then.
Phaedra determines that she owes Kenya an apology, and Kandi adds, “Not just her – all of us.” Over at Cynthia and Peter‘s house, the couple decide they too owe Kenya an apology. Maybe Ms. Moore will finally stop being the RHoA black sheep?
Close-up on Claudia
Finally, we get to officially meet Claudia. She’s a model, beauty queen, comedienne, former contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice,” and has appeared on “Deal or No Deal” and “The Price is Right,” the latter of which made her “huge in the old folks’ homes and in the prisons.” Her latest endeavor is co-hosting the Rickey Smiley Morning Show (which is why she moved to Atlanta), she considers herself a lovable asshole, and she’s known Kenya for 10 years. She’s a divorcee, is biracial, and has an Italian mother.
While Claudia and Kenya shop for furniture to decorate Claudia’s new place, they chat about love. Claudia hasn’t yet found anyone in Atlanta, although there is someone in New York whom she started dating while she was living there. Speaking of long-distance relationships, who recalls Kenya’s African prince? Apparently that didn’t work out because she was based in Atlanta while he was based in, y’know, Africa, so Kenya’s dreams of marriage and a child have once again (remember the Walter fiasco?) been put on hold.
Speaking of babies, Kandi and new husband Todd are discussing their options. He wants to wait because of his hectic work schedule, but she’s conscious of her biological clock ticking and says he’s making excuses. There’s also the small matter of the fact that Todd’s daughter Kaela is moving into their house.
Arrivals & departures
Fresh from Las Vegas, NeNe returns to Atlanta to get caught up on all the gossip – or tea, as the locals call it. Porsha fills her in on the Apollo-gy at Cynthia’s event and Phaedra’s intention to say sorry to Kenya. NeNe’s incredulous and points out that regardless of what did or didn’t happen in L.A., Kenya and Apollo were clearly flirting in Anguilla.
The conversation turns to Cynthia and how she didn’t invite Porsha to the event because Porsha had allegedly been talking about her behind her back. NeNe in turn is “disappointed” by Cynthia fueling the implication that she was a bad friend.
Meanwhile, Apollo is preparing for his imminent departure to prison by consulting a divorce attorney. He’s on the fence about getting a divorce because of the kids and the fact that he wants some stability to come home to after he’s released. His attorney asks about whether Phaedra will bring the kids to see him in prison, and he’s not sure. Cut to Phaedra’s personal interview in which she says she doesn’t want to make it seem like incarceration is OK or traumatize her children by taking them for visits. There’s a nice powder keg waiting to explode. Apollo makes an unsettling admission in his personal interview:
“Truthfully, I love my wife. I despise everything about her, but I love her. This is a hard decision to make.”
…Sounds like a healthy relationship.
Another arrival comes in the form of Kaela, and the blended Burruss/Tucker family has a predictably tense meeting about ground rules. Kaela and Kandi’s daughter Riley don’t exactly hit it off, and Riley makes a hilariously snide comment about how when she gets to Kaela’s age, she’ll be in college. (Kaela… isn’t.)
Burying the hatchet?
As if RHoA 7×03 didn’t have enough drama, Porsha invites Cynthia out for a meal to discuss the tension between them and things get off to a bad start when the former shows up an hour late. Amid a catty back and forth, Porsha manages to call Cynthia on siding with her in one interview about the Kenya/Porsha reunion spat, then siding against her in another. They talk over each other for a good few sentences, which doesn’t exactly help to clarify anything, then the discussion further devolves into a “No, I didn’t”/”Yes, you did” scenario. Porsha notes in her personal interview that Cynthia was starting to act “like a 5-year-old on menopause.” Classic. I always wonder how the other patrons at these dining establishments feel when things get loud between the ladies. At least the Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant in Atlanta got some good publicity.
Quote of the Week: The quote of the week accolade from RHoA 7×03 goes to Cynthia for “When I moved out of the penthouse suite in NeNe’s ass, I think [Porsha] moved in. I hope she enjoys her stay.”
For more drama from The A, tune into Bravo next Sunday at 8/7c.
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