The Real Housewives of Atlanta Finale Recap: Horsing Around

The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Rebels and Outlaws
Season 17 Episode 17
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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Wait, why am I emotional over K. Michelle’s speech during her album listening party? I don’t know if it’s the nostalgia and anticipation of the Real Housewives 20th Anniversary and the epic Ultimate Girls Trip that’s coming with it — NeNe is coming! I repeat, NeNe is coming! — but I felt especially sentimental as she talked about the women. In her words, these are women who “raise their kids, make that money, talk that shit, and fight to be who they are.” I’m a proud equal opportunity shit talker, yet I deeply appreciate these women opening up their lives for us to dissect and judge as spectators to their Faustian contract.

And as much as I love giving them a whacking (all in good fun!), I love giving my girls their flowers just as much, and this season is the most I’ve gotten to do both since I began my journey recapping this show. For that, I’m very thankful because for a moment we all feared RHOA would ossify in its flop era like RHONY. However, we’ve made it out on the other side with that delightful reunion trailer as our treat. RHOA’s latest form may not be to everyone’s taste, as the flavor is surely different from the golden era, but this year the show found its footing and laid a solid foundation for the future.

With the exception of Phaedra (girl, if you don’t follow Cynthia’s lead and just be a friend), the cast is finally operating on all cylinders, and it shows as we see them wrap up their personal storylines. Kelli’s divorce saga continues as she and Phaedra prep for court (I really hope she wears that bra). Drew is also still in the weeds of her marital woes, as Ralph demands that she provide her flight records for work trips in a continued attempt to paint her as an absent parent. I’m shocked that she lost primary custody, but I’m sure we’ll hear more about that at the reunion. Elsewhere, Porsha has a photoshoot with Cynthia and Drew to formalize their GoNaked collaboration before making things official with Sway, while Angela finds some resolve with her daughter, although I’m still confused about exactly what the issues were. 

It’s been such a jam-packed season that in trying to cover everything through an allergy medicine-induced haze, I forgot to mention the elephant in the room last week. Well, the horse in the room, being the literal hoofed animal one of Drew’s “suitors” surprised her with at Shamea’s Halloween party. One thing about Drew? Whether the show is flopping, her castmates are annihilating each other, or the wig on her head is sliding away, she’s going to deliver a storyline. Will that storyline be coherent, believable, or even entertaining? No one is to know, but I’m obsessed with her devotion to messiness. 

From her employee drama to her acting career, music projects, and Ralph’s ominous presence in the basement, Drew’s revolving door of manufactured drama and side quests has helped solidify her place in the cast after all these years. Most of her stunts and bullshit existed on the sidelines this season as bigger issues came to a head in the group, but tonight she gets the attention she’s been waiting for during K. Michelle’s sneak peek of her album, which serves as the finale party. But before then, Drew throws us another curveball (as if the horse last week wasn’t enough) with a cameo from a clearly lit Dr. Ken. 

Yes, Drew and Ralph’s marriage counselor, the camera-thirsty therapist who also treated Gizelle Bryant, Candiace Dillard Bassett, and Married to Medicine’s Cecile and Simone, makes a random appearance at Drew’s mother’s birthday. Dr. Ken first sidles up to Phaedra for an exponentially long hug where his lips hover questionably close to her ear as he goes on about how he loves her “spark” and energy (I don’t know how the cameraman kept a steady hand while Phaedra looked directly into the lens, befuddled as she pulled away from him). Then he moseys over to Porsha to whisper in her ear, saying he’ll do the counseling for her next marriage. Well, damn, Dr. Ken! I wasn’t familiar with your shade!

Only Porsha, Phaedra, and Angela attend Drew’s mom’s party, as the cast is still somewhat divided, but we are starting to see the ranks loosen as the Plums’ disillusionment with Shamea continues to grow. Although they’re still friends, now that Shamea has sufficiently shown her ass in Scotland, Pinky has no problem pushing back on her victim narrative. During their trip to the pumpkin patch with their little ones (D’ella politely introducing herself to Shya like a big girl was the cutest, sweetest thing), she challenges Shamea’s claim that she’s “dodging bullets” from everyone in the group. Pinky redirects, slyly pointing out Shamea’s involvement in her own mess by saying it’s a game of tit for tat and she misses the “bright light Shamea.” 

Pinky’s statement goes back to K. Michelle’s comment last week — Shamea is risking her performance on the show by allowing her issues with Porsha to define her story. We’re missing out on the bubbly, fun side of Shamea’s personality (that I know exists, which is perhaps why I’m so hard on her) because she’s constantly in fight mode. And her drama with Porsha can’t take all the credit; Shamea’s home life is in a pressure cooker of its own, which she acknowledges during a meeting with her surrogate, Daphne. Shamea tells Daphne that “sometimes when there’s so much darkness it’s just so hard,” before crying in her confessional about her fear regarding the possibility of telling Gerald that they won’t be able to have a son if this last male embryo doesn’t take. 

It’s a little archaic, but her end-of-the-season package shows her telling Gerald that they’re pregnant, so hopefully it’s the last we hear of these outdated gender norms. Regardless, we can only give Shamea so much grace when she fumbles in moments when she could showcase a different side. Take the horse, for example. Instead of laughing along at the pure audacity and campiness of Drew’s escapades, she takes it as personally as possible and finds a way to use it as a weapon. Sure, it was annoying to have a horse (and its poop) on your property, but fire back in your confessional with a snide comment and leave it at that. Don’t turn it into all-out warfare as she did by bringing the HOA fines to K. Michelle’s party. It would be so easy to squash things with Drew (their drama is so convoluted it’s hard to remember how it started or why it’s still going), even if it’s only as a strategic move to prove herself as a team player and get back into her cast’s good graces. Shamea isn’t playing the game; she’s letting the game play her by being so reactionary. 

However misguided Shamea’s response to the horse was, I am tickled by how low-stakes reminiscent it is of vintage Housewives, where their spats were more nonsensical. The entire finale party brought me back to those days as things became more unserious at every turn (Porsha’s hair getting stuck in Angela’s fan prototypes was the cherry on top). K. Michelle brings Tennessee to Atlanta with a chic yet intimate affair where she performs a few tracks from her album. K. represents herself well as the only Black woman signed to a major country label in Nashville, with her stage persona, Puddin, seeming like such a natural extension of her roots. 

K. takes a break from being Puddin and transforms back into K. Michelle, reality TV veteran and Real Housewife of Atlanta. After showing off her gorgeous chops, she hands the mic to each woman to take a turn singing the chorus of her hit V.S.O.P. For the majority of the women, it’s just a goofy moment, but with Drew, the other singing diva of the group, there’s clear tension in the air and the pettiness trickles after K. gets off the stage. They’ve had issues all season stemming from the “plot” with Blakk and K. Michelle not taking Drew’s singing career as seriously as her own. All it takes is Pinky — come on, bone collector and shit-stirrer! — saying the moment on stage between the dueling divas was beautiful to reopen the wound they tentatively bandaged in Scotland. 

The two women call each other crazy (I love Drew saying she can “tap into it if need be.” I told y’all, this is an improv acting gig for her) and K. says that Drew picks at her and stirs up the plot, specifically with the Blakk nonsense. Not this again! Please! They keep parsing through their weeks-long back and forth until Drew pulls up her phone with a receipt in the form of a screenshot of a DM interaction between K. and Blakk. In the messages, Blakk congratulates her on a play she was in, and K. replies with “Thank you, handsome” and some heart emojis. Drew believes this to be evidence that K. was lying about knowing Blakk. K. Michelle bucks up at being called a liar, prompting security to hold her back while Drew trips and falls in the ruckus. 

Finally, all eyes are on Drew as she takes the spotlight in “Puddin’s Saloon.” K. Michelle’s legions of fans start booing Drew in defense of their leader and yelling at her to get out. Although it all happened on camera, Drew claims she “somehow ended up on the floor, tackled by security” (Porsha was so funny when she said Drew was pushed by the fans’ breath, telling her to leave). You have to love her for stretching this moment beyond the confines of the truth for the sake of making it about herself. She’s a mess (complimentary)! But so is the rest of her cast. I stand by my opinion that everyone is welcome back next year. With a few tweaks (Phaedra, pick up your friend contract, and maybe let’s hand one to Kelli too), I think the future of Atlanta looks fairly bright.