The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Women Supporting Women

The Real Housewives of Atlanta
Star Spangled Mess
Season 17 Episode 10
Editor’s Rating ★★★★★
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Let’s do a slow clap for the first five-star episode of the season! And, as an extra treat, we got a cute appearance from Gizelle Bryant. I believe my Atlanta babies beat out RHOC as the longest-standing franchise to successfully achieve the perfect balance of nostalgia and freshness. Both RHOC and RHOA are experimenting with mixing old faces with new ones, and where Gretchen Rossi’s return is an example of this gone wrong, Atlanta finally got the recipe just right this season.

A large part of this is Cynthia Bailey reimagining what it looks like to embody the friend-of role, acting as mediator, mentor, and overall tone-setter. I hope her performance sets a precedent for OGs in other cities to know when it’s time to hang up the cleats full-time and reap the fruits of their labor with a reduced role that still has a big impact. This does take a level of humility and grace, which aren’t popular traits in the Bravo world, but she’s proving that it is possible. 

Cynthia acts almost like a sorority big sister or alumni mentor, eager to help mold the next generation. Her barefoot-on-the-couch kiki with Drew, Porsha, Angela, and Phaedra is a great example of this. We get to officially meet her boyfriend, LePrince, as the ladies file in. Thankfully, he’s on his way out — no boys allowed! — leading Cynthia to throw a snarky shot at Peter “Or Are You Patricia” Thomas in the confessional, noting, “We all know it never works out when we have a man being all up in the women’s business.” Once everyone gets comfortable, Cynthia and Porsha give an update on her armistice with K. Michelle, saying they reached an agreement. But Porsha’s still confused about the “plot.” Angela says her “discernment” leads her to believe Shamea is planting ideas in K.’s ear, and she tried to let Shamea clear her name, but that only led to more conflict. 

Angela relays the dinner to the group, sprinkling her storytelling with her best Shamea reads. Upon hearing Angela’s jabs — specifically reiterating her belief that Shamea’s hosting gig for the Hawks and the Falcons is a front for her to sleep with the players — Porsha leaves the room. Who knows if she’s actually uncomfortable hearing those things about her ex-bestie or if she likes the optics of being the bigger person, but it’s a brilliant move either way. Angela keeps going in on Shamea, hilariously saying she should “free that job up.” Porsha rejoins the conversation just as Shamea sends Cynthia and Phaedra an invite to Gerald’s surprise birthday party the next day (production loves a perfectly timed text). 

I do find it suspicious that this on-camera party came without any prior mention and directly after Angela’s attack on Shamea’s marriage. Shamea claims she waited until the last minute to avoid spoiling the surprise. Except, according to Porsha, Dennis McKinley, of all people, was invited a week before Cynthia and Phaedra. Kelli’s speech at the party isn’t helping Shamea’s case, either. Despite the slight slur in her words and her half-open eyes, Kelli makes sure she hits all the prepared notes from the bestie strategizing session that surely came after Shamea’s dinner with Angela. Kelli cries over how solid the Mwangi unit is, praising Gerald as a father and husband and affirming that Shamea’s ass is real, while everyone else looks on, bewildered. It’s so gushy and sycophantic that even K. Michelle is a bit taken off guard, saying in her confessional that it seems like Kelli is Shamea and Gerald’s third. 

Of course, K. takes it to a place it doesn’t need to go, alluding to the party moving in an Eyes Wide Shut direction where she’d be a willing participant. I don’t think anyone else was getting those vibes, but when is K. ever correct in reading the room? I’m always amused and almost scared when anticipating the second half of any of her statements. I never know if she’ll burst into tears, combust with rage, or tweet cryptically. When, during a solo scene, K. Michelle had her phone up ready for a FaceTime, I braced myself, worried this would be another part of the “plot,” or maybe she hired a PI. Instead, we see a refreshingly sane side of her as she connects with her son, Chase, who works a corporate job in D.C. … until she ruins it with her rant about “gutter snipe” women. We can only expect so much from K.

Back at the party, the timer goes off for Gerald’s camera time, and the men leave so Shamea can share her side of the meeting with Angela. Cynthia and Phaedra weigh in, saying they heard Shamea started it, and Angela’s words were in retaliation. Shamea resorts to calling Angela “bigfoot.” Cynthia rightfully stops Shamea in her tracks (forgive me for being that friend that’s too woke, but the big-feet jabs have transphobic undertones, even if unintentionally) and stands up for Angela as a fellow member of the “Big-Foot Commun-te-ty,” as Phaedra put it. 

The whole episode has this energy of attempts at fairness and togetherness as the ladies kill each other with kindness so they can operate as a group again. And in Housewives land, we know this means going full “women supporting women” and gathering bouquets of olive branches. Behind the painted-on smiles, they air-kiss and pitch up their voices for peak sincerity. First, Drew and Shamea support Pinky’s latest venture: returning to her roots in television with a new project called Edgewood, about her journey as an entrepreneur, that she hopes will be a mix of Insecure and Atlanta. Shoot for the moon, girl, but I won’t take anything from her seriously until she pays those employees, regardless of how many times she wants to explain the difference between personal and business bankruptcy.

Pinky asks Shamea and Drew to come to the casting call, which turns into delicious B-list-actor-industry drama. Shamea arrives enthusiastically, holding her script and reading her lines. Drew, the more established actor, makes it clear she’s not there to read for a role but merely to offer support (I swear they use that word like it’s currency) because Pinky didn’t go through proper channels to book her. She waltzes into the audition room, hugging Naturi Naughton, Pinky’s famous collaborator, subtly making it clear that she and Naturi are on the same level. Pinky tries to begin the audition when Drew haughtily interrupts, saying in a near whisper, “I wasn’t planning on auditioning.” Pinky’s face drops, and she sarcastically says she’d hate to find out that Drew is “too good” for the project.

Drew keeps her voice humble as she says she’s done numerous box-office movies, but she’s never taken any opportunities for granted. She says, “At certain levels, we just have to do things the right way.” There is some haughtiness in her tone, but she’s not wrong! In that realm of B-list projects, Drew Sidora is a professional. And given Pinky’s business reputation, it’s even more important to set boundaries. However, I did love the diva moment that follows. Drew starts to leave, coyly saying, “It’s always good to see you!” Pinky mockingly responds, “You don’t have to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here.” Drew volleys right back with, “Who’s doing the kicking?” They fight entertainingly for the last word right up until the door closes behind Drew. 

Next, it’s the group’s turn to support Drew as she sings the national anthem for a charity baseball game memorializing the late rapper Rich Homie Quan. Initially, K. Michelle didn’t want to attend, but after some cajoling from Phaedra, she joins the support train. In her confessional, K. admits she does everything in her power not to like Phaedra, but she relates most to her. It’s as close as we’ll get to her admitting that she’s been paranoid from the beginning, and if she can admit this, you’d think the logic would extend to Porsha and Drew. But if anything, her animosity toward Drew is growing. Although Phaedra gets K. to attend the event, K. waits until after Drew performs and makes a big to-do about her individual relationship with the rapper’s family. 

After the event, Drew, Shamea, and K. go out for a bite to eat. The energy is already tense once Drew sits down, and K. instantly references Drew’s dig about not fitting in. Drew isn’t having it — she shuts down K.’s habit of speaking in innuendo, saying she doesn’t understand the “fragments” of sentences. She urges K. to speak up for herself, which is a nod to the fact that K. only articulates her grievances in the confessional chair or on her Twitter account. Shamea tries to break the ice (somewhat shadily) by offering to play Drew’s performance, but K. runs to the bathroom, unable to handle two seconds in the hot seat. 

K. should’ve manned up and faced Drew head-on, but what happens next makes the stalemate so worth it. K. Michelle beelines for the town car, leaving her purse and all of Drew’s unanswered questions at the table. Shamea watches K.’s tiny head cackling out the car window as she drives away from the restaurant, but she has enough sense to finish her meal before running after her — only on RHOA is the food prioritized in these moments. Between bites of wings, Drew says Shamea needs to hold K. accountable for her delusions. Shamea stays true to her alliance with the Plums, trying to further instigate the “plot” about Blakk, until she grows frustrated with Drew and exits with K.’s assistant, who is grabbing her purse. Shamea meets K. outside, where she’s blasting the national anthem from the car’s speakers for all of Atlanta to hear. God bless The Real Housewives of Atlanta.