'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' Review/Recap: "Bye, Bye with the Wind"

Evan Slead ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer
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Welcome to season seven for the “Hotlanta” ladies of Bravo! The reunion from last season left a lot of strings untied and relationships rocked. First thing’s first, who’s back as an official housewife and who has been moved to the B-list “friend of the housewives” category? Queen of Atlanta Nene Leakes, lawyer turned funeral home boss Phaedra Parks, model mogul Cynthia Bailey, newly wedded crooner Kandi Burruss and gone with the wind fabulous Kenya Moore are all holding those coveted peaches as official housewives. Thug life Porsha Williams has dropped her role to a recurring “friend” but its evident that her presence will still be felt throughout the season in a big way.
Nene is the host of the Cirque De Soleil Zumanity show in Las Vegas. As she quickly points out, the show is a wild and nude ride into the animal and human relationship. There is a point where she is talking about the orgy scene in the show with Greg and it’s beyond great. It’s the part of Nene that is always enjoyable to watch. The past few seasons its seemed like Nene has lost that fun edge that made viewers fall in love with her. There are a few things that could have contributed to this change to hardcore Nene. She’s been given the star treatment by having guest spots on Glee and a role on The New Normal but since Normal was cancelled, it hit her hard. Granted, she also did time on The Celebrity Apprentice and Dancing with the Stars but those were short lived. Nene has always been the “leader” of the Atlanta housewives which makes her a powerhouse on Bravo, much like Lisa Vanderpump and Bethenny Frankel. Once she’s stepped even farther into the spotlight though, there have been more hurdles. Maybe this season there will be a return to her humor roots. That’s the Nene that can rule the world.
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Phaedra is staying away in a hotel on the morning of Apollo’s court hearing to avoid the paparazzi for her kids. As the world now knows, Apollo has been brought up on fraud charges. This was truly a sad and difficult portion to watch. First off, Phaedra is pulling the “its all his fault” card when it comes to the fraud. It may never be known for sure if she had knowledge of what he was doing, but the fact that she isn’t supporting him by just being there for the court hearing is brutal. She’s ready to cut him loose and raise their two boys on her own. She claims it’s because she feels betrayed and needs to teach Apollo that life has consequences. Apollo makes a heap of sense though when expressing his heartbreak over feeling alone. Did he do something highly illegal and worthy of prison time? Absolutely. The man should have his family by his side in some form though. It will be interesting to see the transformation of their marriage over this season.
The rest of the ladies did not receive much spotlight this episode. Kenya just got home after traveling the world for three months. Of course she’s still reeling from the Porsha attack at the last reunion. Porter turned herself in to the police for assaulting Kenya, but the bad blood between them still has not fizzled. Kenya is a difficult presence still because she causes so much trouble to come her way. It was of course wrong for Porsha to attack Kenya physically, but Kenya had it coming. No more props at reunions Andy.
Cynthia is still rocking her Bailey Agency. Of course when it comes to Bar One, Peter has to find another location since the original was foreclosed. They have talks of partnering and it just brings in the message that once again, Cynthia’s story will revolve around finances. While this is a topic that is dealt with in all marriages, Peter and Cynthia win the gold medal on consistency. At least it gives them something to talk about? Kandi and Todd are living life after marriage. Todd’s daughter is coming to live in Atlanta finally so they’re melding their household into a family of four. Viewers were hoping to see more about where Mama Joyce stands on Todd, but it’ll definitely pop up as the season continues.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta airs on Sunday’s at 8/7c on Bravo.
Overall Episode Grade: B-

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