Well, kids, Real Housewives of Atlanta is back with a vengeance, and I, for one, couldn't be happier! I missed these ladies SO much. This show is the real fun one of the bunch, in my opinion.
Let's get started with Kim and Kroy at the storage unit. First of all, is she still rocking the same old wig? I think so. We get to see Kim's new mansion and it is super duper huge. I'm thinking that house is being paid for with Kroy's money since I still don't know what Kim does for a living. She's not working as a nurse, I can tell you that. They seem to be in love. But I really can't get over how old Kim looks. He looks his age (25), but she easily looks 15 years older than what she claims to be. I think what ages her is the makeup and all those years of smoking. Oh, and I couldn't stop laughing when Kim asked if Kroy had one of her songs as his ringtone. Um, why the hell would he do that?! Kim's delusion knows no bounds.
Nene goes car shopping with her oldest son, Bryson. Now, I'm a little disappointed that Bryson is still at home, especially after all of the ultimatums Nene gave him last season. Nene is looking cute, I have to say, and she knows it, apparently. She's trying to get a better price on the car using some flirtation. It cracks me up that Nene used to date the owner of the dealership, and she doesn't let him forget it. I got kind of sad that Nene's youngest son wasn't allowed to go along on the test drive. Bummer. Nene's comment that her discount quest was inspired by Donald Trump's negotiation advice was a little ridiculous, but I'll forgive it because she makes me laugh. Especially her emphasizing that she'll pay "cash money" for the car ... "Hi, Haters!" LOL! I love it! And Nene is loving her money right now. All those hosting gigs have been good to her, apparently. Not to mention Celebrity Apprentice.
Sheree visits Lawrence as he records his new song, which is FIRE! I love Lawrence, I want him to take me shopping for makeup. Just saying. And to top it off, he's friggin' talented. Anyway, back to Ms. Sheree. Right out the gate, she trashes Nene for allegedly trying to take money from a deal they were supposed to share. I'm not 100% convinced that Nene actually did this. I'm going to need more proof. Sheree said Celebrity Apprentice only wanted Nene because she's an irate, crazy bitch, and the show made her ego bigger. Um, isn't that kind of hypocritical? Isn't Sheree the one who had a stadium sized self portrait made for her independence party? Isn't Sheree the one who wouldn't admit her clothing line was a failure? Yeah - you have no room to talk, Sheree. Come on.
Cynthia meets up with Ms. Jay from America's Next Top Model to give him the skinny on her new modeling school. I think this is a great idea. Cynthia is so beautiful - inside and out, and I think she'd be an amazing mentor for young models. I also like the fact that her agency will accept models of almost all ages. That's so cool. They'll offer placement, scouting, and one on one training. Mr. Jay tells Cynthia to remember "quality over quantity". I think this modeling agency will be very successful, but maybe I'm biased because I am a Cynthia fan.
Phaedra's family is dealing with the death of her great aunt, and being an attorney, she's taking care of the paperwork and arrangements. Please tell me Phaedra got her on camera persona on point this season. I don't want to have to hate her for another season. She seems to be a lot calmer this season. Or maybe it's the whole funeral thing. That's always an eye opener. Phaedra's family members peruse the funeral options, including carriages, doves, musical numbers, and top hats. We get another pearl of wisdom from Phaedra, "Everybody knows I'm known for the most fabulous things in life." And death, apparently.
Back at the modeling agency, Ms. Jay tells the students to keep their runway walk simple and clean. The first model's walk is anything but. Jay's reactions are EVERYTHING! I want to see a lot more of him on the show. He and Cynthia are good together.
Sheree and Phaedra are at the Liberator store waiting for Kandi to show up. They browse the various items and discuss their collective lack of knowledge about what a lot of them are and what they're used for. I was a little uncomfortable watching this scene. I don't want to have to see my housewives in an adult superstore talking about adult activities. Yuck. Kandi finally arrives and she explains her new business venture, which I really hope isn't her only storyline this season. We need more than this to stay invested in Kandi. Although I cannot WAIT for Kandi Factory to start - her new show where she takes normal people and turns them into pop stars. That show is going to be amazing!
Over at Kim's house, she's laying in bed wailing for "SWEEETIEEE", and I immediately want to blow my brains out. If I never have to hear Kim yell that again, it'll be too soon. Kim says she's eating healthy during her pregnancy and I can't help but wonder if she's trying to imitate a certain more likable former Real Housewives of New York cast member who had a very public and very healthy pregnancy. Am I right? Kim says all this with a straight face in the interview, then we see her in the scene asking for not so healthy snacks. Whatever. Kim is so annoying, I'm just over her in general. At least her kids are cute.
Nene is on the phone with Cynthia and tells her about Sheree's accusations against her. She also tells Cynthia that she wouldn't take money from Sheree, but she could give her some. Although I doubt Nene actually would. Let's be real. Cynthia says it's probably just a misunderstanding. It's never that simple, though.
Phaedra is busy creating mock funeral programs - for fun - and Kandi comes to visit. Phaedra gets pretty morbid, talking about how she can't wait to handle dead bodies. I'm sorry. That's just not for me. Mama no like. I think Kandi agrees with me on that one. Phaedra directs her great aunt's funeral and everything goes according to plan. It does seem like a very nice ceremony and the family is very appreciative of all of her hard work. I must say, Phaedra is great in front of a crowd. Her public speaking is on point, but I'm not surprised, she is a lawyer after all. Phaedra says she loves formalities, and I think we can all agree that she does seem to respond well to pomp and circumstance.
Nene and Sheree each prepare for their confrontation. Nene is confident that Sheree is just jealous of her. Her attitude is, "Either we're going to be cool, or we're not going to be cool." When they finally do meet, it's very tense from the start. Sheree explains that the promoter of the event in question stated that Nene called him and said he should have paid Sheree less. It's kind of hard to follow Sheree's story, but we don't get enough information to really know who's side to be on. It quickly dissolves into a shouting match, with both ladies calling their sources to prove their case. But nothing gets resolved. Sheree's argument is that Nene shouldn't have messed with her money, and that black women should want each other to succeed. (Side note: I love that Nene referenced Star Jones in her interview - she did use the exact same complaint against Nene on Celebrity Apprentice, almost verbatim.) Nene maintains that she never talked about money with the promoter or anyone else, that her assistant Diana was the one who spoke to the promoter. Thereby indicating that the promoter is lying, since he's saying he spoke directly to Nene. Nene is hurt that Sheree would take someone's side that she hardly knows, instead of Nene, who she's known for years. But Nene doesn't show she's hurt, she just reinforces that wall between them, saying, "while you were running your mouth, I was running to the bank." Plonk! Can't really argue with that. Instantly, both ladies are screaming, and Nene bellows, "I am VERY RICH, BITCH!" To which Sheree responds, "You need to get your mother f*cking teeth fixed!" The screaming continues. Nene interviews that she needed to leave before she knocked Sheree to the floor. Sheree keeps hurling insults at Nene, talking about her first car being repo'd, her teeth being rotten, and pretty much any other hurtful memory she can throw in her face. Nene turns around and smiles and brags about her $50,000 veneers and walks out. We'll definitely be seeing this scene reenacted over and over again. My only question is, why is Sheree bringing up old stuff? She's presumably mad about a CURRENT situation, so keep it CURRENT. Nene has made no secret of her financial problems in the past, and she's been very forthcoming about her turbulent life. I just don't think it was necessary for Sheree to bring all of that up, and it made her look petty and mean. And I have to say, Nene does seem to be making a lot more money than Sheree - just look at how much exposure Nene has compared to Sheree. There's no contest.
Cynthia goes to Nene's house, and Nene is able to break down. Her point is that Sheree took someone else's side without even asking her or giving her the benefit of the doubt. I can see why that would be painful, especially coming from someone you've known for a lot of years. But I can't help but remember that last season, Nene essentially did the same thing to Dwight about the whole Greg/money situation. Cynthia calls Sheree jealous, mean spirited, and evil. I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. I think jealous suffices. Cynthia encourages Nene to not let this bring her down, and I couldn't agree more. Nene says she's going to chase her dreams no matter what, and makes it known, "I'm not going to stab you in the back, I'm going to stab you in the chest." Meaning, she will come for you and you will know it. Nene's not hiding.
I have to say I'm Team Nene, not just because I'm a Nene fan, but because Sheree really lost her mind. If she would have kept her cool and asked Nene what happened, maybe they would have been able to work it out. But Sheree hit below the belt, and it didn't help her case at all. I'm sure this isn't the last we'll see of this battle.
Watch What Happens Live featured one of my favorite people of all time, Wendy Williams. She was looking amazing, with her furry shoes. They were amazing. Wendy had a lot to say about Nene, including that she's not a bitch, Bryson seems to have cleaned up his act, and Nene is mean, but a fan favorite. Wendy's makeup and jewelry were on point, too, by the way. Wendy gave good Kardashian conversation, and had a lot of awesome answers to the callers' questions.
On the After Show, the Nene conversation continued, with Wendy saying Nene is vulnerable and is battling the fact that she's a bully who's totally alone. I don't necessarily agree, but I understand where she's coming from. Wendy said Nene and Sheree have a lot of dirt on each other, which I do agree with. That's kind of what makes their fights so intriguing. I loved that a caller asked about Jackee Harry and Regina King coming back to Watch What Happens Live! I can't wait for that to happen! They were amazing - if you don't know what I'm talking about, click here. Wendy had some not so nice things to say about Peter, Cynthia's husband, saying he is "snake-ish". Again, I have to disagree. I like Peter, and I think he's just a different type of guy than what we're used to seeing on these shows. If you want to check out the After Show, click here.
What did you think of the season premiere of Real Housewives of Atlanta? Who's side are you on? Tweet me!
