'Real Housewives of Atlanta' recap: Drama in Africa
OPINION - The 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' arrived in South Africa and brought along drama and more....
The Atlanta peaches have finally arrived to South Africa for a three-day extravaganza.
Last night’s episode began with the ladies aboard a plane heading to the motherland. Cynthia took it upon herself to pretend to be Martin Scorsese with a cell phone camera commenting on her lack of make-up and NeNe’s one eyebrow, while Kandi carried on an uncomfortable conversation involving elephants with Phaedra.
After what seemed like an epic journey out of the airport, with Marlo insisting on providing everyone with an etiquette lesson, the ladies arrived at a luxury hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. They stayed in an opulent double penthouse suite. Luckily for the ladies they were able to split up by “talls” and “smalls,” but only after Sheree’s very witty joke about sharing a room with NeNe. Before the concierge could leave the room, Marlo had a few questions. She needed to know the names and times of all the housekeepers coming in and out the room and even provided her cell phone in case someone went home sick. Normally these requests would seem a bit odd, but we have to remember that Marlo has a colorful past, one that probably includes having knowledge on how to best rob a hotel suite.
WATCH MARLO AND SHEREE FACE-OFF HERE
The women woke up the next morning to have brunch on a beautiful rooftop overlooking the hills. They were friendly and joking with each other and it seemed everyone relaxed at the notion that this would be a drama-free trip. Well that lasted about 2 minutes until the awkward moment when all the ladies received a ‘welcome to Africa’ inscribed mirror from Phaedra except Marlo… who that’s right, wasn’t invited. However, she had no qualms about telling Phaedra to send her one when they returned to the states.
Marlo wasn’t the only one to feel left out that morning. Sheree decided to play the mean girl and tell everyone that she was only inviting Kandi and Phaedra to a party at her friend’s condo in the city. Why so exclusive? Well Sheree claims that she didn’t know Marlo would be attending, and that she didn’t think that Cynthia would have left NeNe alone.
Later in the day, the group gathered together for their first African expedition. Phaedra arranged a yacht trip for everyone to attend. All the women were enjoying each other and hanging out on the yacht, but the cordial mood only last for so long. What was supposed to be a trip below deck for some coffee turned into an Oprah/Dr. Phil session, with Marlo and Cynthia leading the show. Marlo wanted to get it off her chest that she had issues with Kandi. Instead of bringing up that Kandi tried to call her out on her gold-digging ways, she talked about how Kandi blew her off at the mall. NeNe claimed to have issues with Phaedra not speaking to her in public. Phaedra had little regard for the whole matter, however they agreed to at least say hi when they see each other.
The drama continued that night as the Sheree, Phaedra and Kandi prepared to head out to their private party. Cynthia was roaming around their bathroom as they discussed the day’s drama and suddenly entered into the room, where a cordial bonding moment occurred. Sheree decided to invite Cynthia to the private dinner party, but said that she didn’t want NeNe and Marlo to attend.
NeNe being the puppeteer of her two henchmen got Marlo riled up when she coaxed Cynthia into saying that Sheree specifically didn’t invite Marlo. Marlo then screamed out Sheree’s name and stormed into her room. Things quickly escalated from a simple question — “am I invited?” and a simple answer — “no” to a screaming match about sleeping with 80-year old sugar daddies and cars being repossessed. NeNe surprisingly took on the peacemaker role and tried to calm Marlo the deranged down.
Marlo would not back down even after NeNe took to screaming in her face. Eventually Sheree and Marlo got so tired of screaming at each other that they started making weird faces and as Kandi said, “using cartoon voices” to mimic each other. Now I know Sheree had to have watched that in complete embarrassment. Marlo on the other hand, probably saw nothing wrong with the whole scene. Marlo made an exit upstairs, but returned when she heard NeNe defending her. NeNe wanted everyone to know that Marlo was simply hurt that she wasn’t invited. Remember, this 10-minute fight that by the way has been continued into next week’s episode is all because the “unexpected guest” wasn’t invited to a pre-planned party. I’d be a hypocrite to criticize the behavior of these supposed grown women because I tune in every week to watch, but my goodness the drama came, it stayed, and it will continue…
Next time: The upcoming episode might be somewhat less chaotic as the women dance the night away and Marlo shows us how to toss dollars in the air with etiquette and class. The group also heads to what looks like an impoverished village to hang with some locals.
Quote of the Night: “NeNe and Marlo have 20 pieces of Louis Vuitton apiece. Did they bring some canned goods?” – Phaedra
Follow Salena Rochester on Twitter @SalenaAR.
