S09.E04: Another Spin Around The Block

[twilightzone]

2 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

put this franchise to bed

Doubt that.  This is still one of BRAVO's highest rated shows.

The ATL knows how to turn it up when it comes to the shade, the barbs, the wisecracks.

Edited November 29, 2016 by twilightzone

[bosawks]

2 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Every time Joyce opens her mouth, I hear the sound of a cash register.

Isn't Leon currently married?

Every time Joyce opens her mouth I hear the devil.

And I'm agnostic.....

[JAYJAY1979]

A little shade mixed in with the individual narratives is what i love.

I often wonder how different the show would have been, if at all, if Sheree hadnt been fired after season 4?  She seems less mean spirted then Nene..and funnier as well with her wisecracks/shade.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, twilightzone said:

Doubt that.  This is still one of BRAVO's highest rated shows.

No kidding. I think because lots of sites recap the other Bravo shows but don't recap Atlanta, people assume Atlanta has terrible ratings. It does not. I think the show's highest ratings have been around 3.75 million. It's dropped some, but it still beats most Bravo shows by a million viewers. I remember once seeing some ratings for Atlanta a couple of years ago when they factored in DVR and on demand that Atlanta had close to 5 or 6 million viewers. The show is a ratings beast.

[RHJunkie]

Kenya and Phaedra's shade throwing interactions are foolish - stop pretending that you're actually getting along when all you're really doing is taking knocks at one another with the implicit understanding that neither will go off at the other for it. 

Noelle is lucky to have two parents who have put her first and have done so well in co-parenting and maintaining a respectful and loving friendship. 

Mama Joyce is a piece of work - the entire time Kandi was getting upset about Riley's father trying to blame Kandi and Riley for the lack of relationship between father and daughter, her mother only kept yelling about child support. Mama Joyce's world is all about money. She seems to have little understanding of love, respect and happiness without it being attached to having money. 

Kenya and Sheree should both shut up with throwing jabs at each other about their homes. Neither of their homes are done...bunch of pot meet kettle between those two. 

[ButterQueen]

The episode bored me a bit, but I felt so sorry for Kandi having to deal with that publicly seeking  sperm donor.  Those were some raw emotions.

Kenya continues to be a bitch.  I'm so tired of her.

[queenjen]

22 hours ago, Aging Goth said:

Kenya appears to be just miserable unless she is belittling someone.

I've only just got to see this episode, and somewhat of a snooze it was. I cannot understand why the producers continue to feature Kenya's THs. I'm dismayed and bored by this worship of 'shade'. Let's call it what it is: women putting other women down. Kenya is by far the worst and as Aging Goth commented, she truly IS only happy when she's cutting someone else down. This isn't something to be admired, or emulated. It's gone way to far, IMO. The occasional Dorothy Parker clever witticism at a deserving other's expense may be warranted. On occasion. But people like Kenya could never even dream of such heights, it's just low class bitchy comments about another's appearance (like Sheree's wig) or intelligence (endless digs at Porsha, including the one that resulted in Porsha snapping at the reunion 'spell "sceptre"' etc). For the most part, these are physical attributes that a person can't control. Like skin color.

This show has given vicious behavior a name, 'shade', and has elevated it into something to be aspired to. It's ugly. Kenya won an award a million years ago for being physically beautiful, but she sure as hell is ugly ugly ugly on the inside. I know the term didn't originate on RHOA, it's just featured here ad nauseum and has metastasized across the other franchises and into shows like Married to Medicine also. The depressing consequence is that we are seeing less of women willing to work through their issues and a lot more of unnecessary bickering and fighting with no ownership taken and no growth achieved. And a lot of 'shade' thrown for the sake of 'throwing shade' with mutual high fives and snickering and 'woo, chiles!' afterwards. Low rent. 

If I was Cynthia, I'd probably have taken Noelle behind a curtain and snapped her phone in two. That girl should have been grateful at being presented with such an honor. She could barely string a few words together when she was asked to, either. FFS. She's being given this opportunity off the hard work of Cynthia's back. She can't even tear herself away from Snapchat or whatever to devise some words of thanks to her mother at the launch of Cargo? Noelle is the number one witness to the hell Cynthia has been put through with Peter, I thought she was being an ungrateful brat. I know she gets something of a pass for being her age etc, but come on!!

And Sheree and Bob? Why oh why are we being subjected to this fiction? Bob is in a relationship with another woman who refers to herself as his wife. His appearance on this show is down solely to his love of the camera and possibly the cheque, although I don't think he's hurting for money. Despite what Sheree did to him with the divorce she took all the way to the Georgia Supreme Court and lost. I've said it before, Bob is a smart man despite the way he presents. I think he's out for revenge. I think this is why we got the weird scene with Sheree obviously expecting to be wined and dined at a dinner date (because, delusional) and they end up in a Vegan restaurant with laundromat decor and Bob in bottom of the hamper attire.  I'm sure Sheree must have HATED that. 

There's nothing very 'REAL' about this franchise anymore, and I agree with everything bichonblitz said above. The storylines are all fake, bar maybe Cynthia. Everyone else's smells very off. Especially Kenya and Matt. Or Kenya and any man, she hasn't had a 'real' relationship on this show ever. Queen of the narcissists that she is (and that's a mighty effort given others across the franchises, so well done, Kenya), she will never have a fulfilling relationship with a man. I feel like Alison DuBois saying that, all I need is a fake cigarette instead of a real one!

[bichonblitz]

14 hours ago, twilightzone said:

Doubt that.  This is still one of BRAVO's highest rated shows.

The ATL knows how to turn it up when it comes to the shade, the barbs, the wisecracks.

Not seeing anything turned up this season. It's still early so who knows. Oh, and let me add the boring Sheree and Bob storyline to my list of #Ihavenofuckstogive.

[islandgal140]

14 hours ago, HunterHunted said:

No kidding. I think because lots of sites recap the other Bravo shows but don't recap Atlanta, people assume Atlanta has terrible ratings. It does not. I think the show's highest ratings have been around 3.75 million. It's dropped some, but it still beats most Bravo shows by a million viewers. I remember once seeing some ratings for Atlanta a couple of years ago when they factored in DVR and on demand that Atlanta had close to 5 or 6 million viewers. The show is a ratings beast.

Yeah, I feel a certain kind of way about this. Also, Atlanta isn't aired internationally as are the other installments. 

I don't normally pay heed to episode title so I just noticed the title for this installment and Bravo ain't shit for that!

LOL at Sheree announcing to the kids that the unfinished house (of 5+ years) is still as yet unfinished but less unfinished than before. 

[ghoulina]

4 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

LOL at Sheree announcing to the kids that the unfinished house (of 5+ years) is still as yet unfinished but less unfinished than before. 

Ha! Yea, that was great. She held up her finger pinched together, indicating it was "ALMOST" ready. I'd be like, "Mom, just tell me when the movers are actualyl coming."

[Boofish]

How exactly are you "showing them" by marrying Uncle Ben's broker twin brother Uncle Has-Ben? Yeah, I'll show you - I will marry someone with no money, no hope, no job, no home and who cheats on me. I'LL SHOW YOU ALL! 

[nexxie]

On 11/28/2016 at 0:08 AM, LilaFowler said:

I looked it up and the internet says that Leon is married to a woman named Samantha Garrett.  Cynthia did call him her soul mate in an interview, though.

Cynthia waited just a tad too long - Leon got married in 2015.

[queenjen]

13 hours ago, islandgal140 said:

eah, I feel a certain kind of way about this. Also, Atlanta isn't aired internationally as are the other installments.

I'm in Australia, and it's definitely aired here, and very popular. I get the impression that Atlanta is one of the highest rating franchises. Bravo Whore website will have the definitive answer to that...http://bravowhore.com/RHOA#mce_temp_url# from a quick comparison, RHOA does better comparing last season with last season of RHOBH, for example. By a country mile, unless my statistical challengedness is taking me up the garden path!

[Tsitsi]

Hey everyone! Long time lurker finally joining in to add that the Real Housewives franchise is accessible to countries in Africa through subscribing to DSTV South Africa, the international cable network. We may be six months behind but the Real Housewives of Atlanta is very popular here in Zimbabwe. To my fellow commentators thank you for giving me much needed chuckles throughout the years! Special mention to  Zaldamo...anyway we can't wait for it to return to our cable TV so those of us die hard fans watch the latest episodes from the Internet. Take care. 

[ZaldamoWilder]

::franticmomwave::  Sister!   Does that say you've been lurking for years?  Gul.  That restraint though.  Lol.    Humbled by the shoutout.   Glad we didn't run you off with all our kitchen table carrying on and I hope you stick around - welcome to the boards hunny!

p.s.  I have an aunt in Harare whose accent lands hard so whenever we talk she gets mad and goes:  what is wrong with you, I'm speaking the Queen's Ing-a-leesh.   We FB Messenger a lot lol.

[Petunia13]

A lot of the people who watch just don't go one message boards or they talk about it on twitter or YouTube. 

[queenjen]

14 hours ago, Tsitsi said:

Hey everyone! Long time lurker finally joining in to add that the Real Housewives franchise is accessible to countries in Africa through subscribing to DSTV South Africa, the international cable network. We may be six months behind but the Real Housewives of Atlanta is very popular here in Zimbabwe. To my fellow commentators thank you for giving me much needed chuckles throughout the years! Special mention to  Zaldamo...anyway we can't wait for it to return to our cable TV so those of us die hard fans watch the latest episodes from the Internet. Take care. 

Hi Tsitsi and welcome! One of my favourite students was a big fan of Atlanta (it's like finding an oasis in a desert when you discover a colleague, or in my case one of my students, who is a fan of the Bravo shows in Australia. Even though, as an English and History teacher, I should be 'above' reality tv. Ha! So not!) and she was from Zimbabwe! Atlanta was by far her favorite of the franchises. Once we'd discovered we shared this love, I'd be on playground duty and being called over by her and her group to discuss the latest Kardashian news or Atlanta recaps. And I'd be getting major side eye from the librarian and other teachers when we were all in a shared resource area during class time and our discussions got too excitable or heated. Try as I might, i couldn't usually justify discussing reality tv during Ancient History classes. But I continue to try! Welcome welcome welcome to you. It took me a long time of lurking also to begin posting. It's one of my guilty pleasures and I love reading everyone's responses here, whether we agree or not.

[Tsitsi]

Thank you Zaldamo and queenjen for the warm cyber welcome. Waves back to you from Harare! It was not restraint Zaldamo that kept me from commenting more attributed to laziness hah, hah. Queenjen I hear you because as a 'professional' (said in the Queen's voice a la Hyacinth Bouquet/bucket) but I digress, I used to be ashamed that I loved reality tv but now I do not care because it is all in harmless fun. Life is too stressful and this outlet is far better than other means to unwind from the mayhem. So live and let live! Back to enjoying Phaedra et al...

[queenjen]

I was interested to learn here (and confirmed by other sites, blogs etc) that the demographic for these shows consists of a lot of older women. I've read much better descriptions than that, but it made me happy to hear that I was sharing my guilty viewing with a lot of others that I only wish I could meet in real life! If anyone can tell me, or point me towards, the breakdown for demographic viewing, I'd appreciate it. 

[luckyroll3]

8 hours ago, Tsitsi said:

Thank you Zaldamo and queenjen for the warm cyber welcome. Waves back to you from Harare! It was not restraint Zaldamo that kept me from commenting more attributed to laziness hah, hah. Queenjen I hear you because as a 'professional' (said in the Queen's voice a la Hyacinth Bouquet/bucket) but I digress, I used to be ashamed that I loved reality tv but now I do not care because it is all in harmless fun. Life is too stressful and this outlet is far better than other means to unwind from the mayhem. So live and let live! Back to enjoying Phaedra et al...

Welcome!  Glad you can join us in our reality tv addictions.  And more snark is always needed!

[Ubiquitous]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 0:07 PM, balisticnikki said:

I've missed some things. Can someone tell me why Cynthia and Peter are getting divorced? Was it bc she saw the video of him kissing that other woman at his new club? Because he's gone so much? Or something else?

It's been said already, but Peter's been a dick since before they were married. Everyone told Cynthia not to get married to him, but she just had to prove them wrong and not get mocked for leaving a man at the altar for the third (I think) time.

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 5:18 PM, bichonblitz said:

Only one page of comments. This show has become so boring.

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 6:20 AM, queenjen said:

I've only just got to see this episode, and somewhat of a snooze it was. I cannot understand why the producers continue to feature Kenya's THs. I'm dismayed and bored by this worship of 'shade'. Let's call it what it is: women putting other women down. Kenya is by far the worst and as Aging Goth commented, she truly IS only happy when she's cutting someone else down. This isn't something to be admired, or emulated. It's gone way to far, IMO. The occasional Dorothy Parker clever witticism at a deserving other's expense may be warranted. On occasion. But people like Kenya could never even dream of such heights, it's just low class bitchy comments about another's appearance (like Sheree's wig) or intelligence (endless digs at Porsha, including the one that resulted in Porsha snapping at the reunion 'spell "sceptre"' etc). For the most part, these are physical attributes that a person can't control. Like skin color.

This show has given vicious behavior a name, 'shade', and has elevated it into something to be aspired to. It's ugly. Kenya won an award a million years ago for being physically beautiful, but she sure as hell is ugly ugly ugly on the inside. I know the term didn't originate on RHOA, it's just featured here ad nauseum and has metastasized across the other franchises and into shows like Married to Medicine also. The depressing consequence is that we are seeing less of women willing to work through their issues and a lot more of unnecessary bickering and fighting with no ownership taken and no growth achieved. And a lot of 'shade' thrown for the sake of 'throwing shade' with mutual high fives and snickering and 'woo, chiles!' afterwards. Low rent. 

I watched last night and found myself nodding off. Part of it was my session with my personal trainer, but a lot of it them spending so much time on "shade". I'm tired of it.

 

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 10:10 AM, islandgal140 said:

LOL at Sheree announcing to the kids that the unfinished house (of 5+ years) is still as yet unfinished but less unfinished than before. 

It kinda ticks me off that Sheree claims she built the house for her children but neither of them will be living in it. She should have spent that money on a good psychologist.

[NYCNJbear06]

I agree!  Too much emphasis has been put on tearing each other down with "shade".  1st, 90% of the comments aren't funny or witty, just juvenile and lacking in originality.  But they all seem to default to the lowest common denominator, emphasis on common.  I have long believed that these housewives shows are made up of people who WERE mean girls in High School or those who WANTED to be mean girls.  Its a shame that they haven't matured beyond that level.  

[AndySmith]

Yeah, it does seem like we're at a point where the women are just insulting each other and calling it shade. Sounds like they need to go back and spend some time with Dominque and Alexis and remember what real shade is.

[luckyroll3]

4 hours ago, AndySmith said:

Yeah, it does seem like we're at a point where the women are just insulting each other and calling it shade. Sounds like they need to go back and spend some time with Dominque and Alexis and remember what real shade is.

The masters at work!  We need to have a re-watch for this show at some point. 

[queenjen]

AND the next episode is called 'Shade Grenade'. Ho hum. Here we go again. It's got to the point where every show I'm following has had the word 'shade' in an episode title lately. Below Deck just did, Atlanta has had many, and I'm watching old episodes of Married to Medicine, It's late, or I'd do the research rabbit hole thing and compile a list. Flogging a dead horse. It's like Vicki Gunvalson Mom mangling 'Bye Felicia' and someone pointing out that that the term has taken about 6 years to devolve to this point. And it should have been retired well before this!

[halkatla]

I fell out of like with Kandi last season over the Phaedra/Apollo storyline, but I´m gonna give her another try since she is very likeable. The way she handles that dead-beat baby-daddy of hers is admirable. I think she´s very smart and I hope her daughter inherited her mom´s brains (it has always seemed like she did). I still hate Mama Joyce and I´m not gonna give her a chance or anything, but she´s a million times more tolerable and funny now than she´s ever been before.

This was very much a filler episode, but quite nice as such.

[halkatla]

On 28.11.2016 at 1:46 PM, ghoulina said:

Mama Joyce is really trying to make herself into something, isn't she? Just be quiet and watch your grandson. And don't be asking for "salary" when Kandi has supported and housed you for years!!!

MJ has the same emotional maturity I had as a 17-21 year old, and back then I was way behind in that.

[Rlb8031]

On 11/28/2016 at 3:36 PM, ZaldamoWilder said:

No.   Xscape (Kandi's group) broke up in '98.  If Riley's 14, it'd make her an '02 baby.    Not to say Kandi wasn't legit busy.   She was writing and producing for other groups like TLC and Destiny's Child by then, so heavily in demand but it doesn't seem like enough that she couldn'tve set her own schedule and stayed near her baby.    I was hoping you were right though, I wanna nail something on Joyce so badly lol!    I think this is also something his punkass would've offered up.    He claims the show is scripted (duh) and we'll see the *real* story by the end of the season.    But um, that's not how editing works, bruh.  Not how any of this works.

So I went all Inspector Clouseau on the internet while reading this thread to see if I could discern what actually happened when. It looks like Block and Kandi were involved from 2000 (post the Xscape breakup) until 2002 when Riley was born. And from some of the older stories I looked at, the talk of him being a deadbeat is a long-told tale. Also, he seems like the kind of dude who is smart enough to stay away from Joyce, especially when we wasn't claiming Kandi. At the same time, Mama Joyce strikes me as the kind of woman who would encourage her daughter to date a hustler so that she'd be "taken care of".

As someone who has spent a ton of time "at the studio", I know that it isn't unusual for one-offs, side things, and bad decisions to occur in that environment. Add to that the fact that many men in the music business make a point to try and hit any and everything with a pulse that strolls by a studio and I can see Kandi being involved with Block. As for Kandi's responsibility, in these situations (married man, young (less than twenty-five) woman), I always ascribe more guilt to the man who is married. Whether or not the woman knew the details of his relationship status, she isn't under any obligation to be considerate of his wife, although it would be nice if sleazy-ass ho-bags would think about that before they make a move. But him? He took a vow (whether civil or religious) to the woman he married, so anytime he ends up penis-deep in some trash bag it is always his fault.

[Aging Goth]

My take on this week's episode:

I have to give it to Cynthia to finally know that it is time to just move on from Unk Ben.  I liked th house she picked and I also believe that is where she is living now according to instagram.  As forher meeting with Kenya, I'm glad she has someone around for moral support but Kenya....  Kenya is already spinning the episode with Sheree as if she did absolutely nothing to start the argument and Sheree just started attacking her out of the blue.  I also side eye all she is saying about Rent-a-Matt as he has taken to twitter expressing feeling that she was using him for a story line.  It is just the way the "birthday party" ended up that makes me feel he might be on to something and that is why he appears to have moved on with a new girl of late.  It smacks of the situation with the arranged date on Millionaire Matchmaker where she was supposedly offered a ring and implied that she might be engaged when the guy in question had been married for several months and his wife even stated she was trying to get him to go along with her illusion.  I just don't think she would waste her time being with Matt if he was a volitile as she claimes.

The birthday party was just a plain embarrassment, especially when she specifically did not invite her "bestie" Cynthia because Cynthia is now going through a divorce.  Her couples outing was a bust.

I actually loved seeing real family issues being addressed on the show.  The interaction between Sheree and her son was what made me like this franchise of the Housewife series.  It was what endeared me to Nene as she was raising and disciplining the boys in the earlier seasons.  I am just plain tired of the arguments at the restaurant skits they do over and over again.  I wanted to shout 'YOU ALL BROUGHT A HOUSE!!! SO WHO CARES IF YOURS IS BETTER THAN HERS!!!' Everyone on the show has their own house right now so ....

I also liked seeing Phaedra in the capacity of hosting these public service type events and seeing her at work.  I also like the whole session at the DNC regarding BLM and what it really means.  I also liked the direct correlation of the event with the Whitfields dicussion with their son

The sex session with Kandi and Todd I could've done without.  It was nice, though, thar Joyce babysat so they could have some private time but was disappointed that she still had to throw a dig at Todd in the process.

The bomb scare was something I know at the time made Phaedra fear for her kids and for her to be away from them at the time had to be hard on her.  I feel she was genuine in her feelings about it at the time.  I was happy to know it was just an understanding where he was actually describing a CD he wanted Phaedra to hear.  I also feel that Apollo wanted to bully and control Phaedra with not signing the divorce papers which we now know that he claims to starting his own divorce procedures.  I honestly believe she did file and is was being finalized but he was holding it up to save face.

I also feel somekindofway, about his new girlfriend/alleged fiance who will actually be featured on the show.  His is just a POS in my opinion

I also nominate for the POS award, the Tuckers and Mama Joyce.  No matter how bad your relationship is now, that was supposed to be a close friend and I couldn't believe how they couldn't keep from grinning about the possibility of a former friend being killed by a bomber.  Even if I totally fell out with a former friend, I still couldn't be so crass as to find it funny that my former friend's life may have been in danger.  This is why I am actually glad that Phaedra and Porsha have gotten close as friends.

This may be the only time I say anything nice about Kenya, but at that moment, she actually thought about Phaedra's children and that this was not something to be gleeful about.