Happily ever after? NeNe Leakes (of all people!) is on a peacemaking mission on the Dec. 28 episode of The Real Housewives of Atlanta. NeNe, Cynthia Bailey, Kenya Moore, and Porsha Williams try their best to set their differences aside — but the tough-as-nails Old Lady Gang won’t apologize for a thing. So much for sorry!
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1) Phaedra Prepares for Life Alone
On the heels of husband Apollo Nida’s odd nightclub confrontation, Phaedra Parks comes to terms with the fact that she may be living life as a single mother from here on out. She joins her mom, Pastor Regina, for lunch where they talk about Apollo’s absence at home. She wants Apollo to step up and spend as much time as possible with their two boys, but he’s too busy enjoying his last moments of freedom before beginning his eight-year prison sentence.
“It’s easy to say you love someone…love is a verb, not a noun,” Phaedra tells her mom.
Phaedra mentions that Apollo is still trying to blame her for his wrongdoing and failures — even though she’s given him plenty of opportunities (umm, hello funeral service business?) to be successful. “I’ll probably actually be less stressed when Apollo leaves,” Phaedra admits.
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2) Old Lady Gang’s Old Lady Beef
A mother’s love, a daughter’s burden! Kandi Burruss finally closes on the home that she purchased for Mama Joyce, and the two celebrate over lunch with Aunt Bertha and Aunt Nora. Mama Joyce is thrilled about her new digs, but makes it clear that Kandi won’t be able to overstay her welcome.
“She’s not giving me a key to her house because she doesn’t have a key to mine,” Kandi tells her aunts.
Luckily, Kandi won’t be in Atlanta for too long anyway — her musical, A Mother’s Love, is hitting the road…and she wants three special guests to hit the stage with her. Kandi (unsuccessfully!) tries to convince her mom and aunts to make onstage cameos during her upcoming 26-city tour — fitting, because the show has characters inspired by the OLG themselves!
One stop they’ll probably skip? The Bronx, where Todd Tucker’s mom, Miss Sharon, is still pretty upset about Mama Joyce’s negative words about her. Kandi mentions that Miss Sharon wants an apology for the prostitute dig — and doesn’t mind coming down to Georgia to get it, one way or another.
“Bring it on,” Aunt Bertha challenges.
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3) Kandi Factory Meltdown
Later that week, Kandi admits that she's stressed about the lackluster ticket sales of A Mother’s Love to Todd. They haven’t even sold half of the seats. She introduces the idea of the OLG joining them on the road — and he’s not too thrilled about the prospect of being around Mama Joyce 24/7.
There’s still tension between Todd and Mama Joyce, made even worse by her new war with Miss Sharon. Todd, naturally, sides with Miss Sharon and thinks that Mama Joyce owes her an apology. Kandi insists that she can’t make Mama Joyce say sorry. Todd defeatedly admits that the two moms will probably never see eye to eye. “
My mom is going to be what she’s going to be. Your mom is going to be what she’s going to be,” Todd says.
He tells Kandi that if Mama Joyce will be around for Thanksgiving, he won’t be…he’d rather spend the day with his own mother. Kandi proposes that they split holidays so that she and Todd won’t have to separate.
“Am I really going to want to be there with your mother? Not really,” Todd admits. Can anyone blame him?
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4) A Family Reunion
Claudia Jordan takes her visiting mom Teresa and grandmother Lillian — to a drag queen restaurant of all places! — where her family dishes out more than she can take. The very single Claudia admits that she hasn’t had much time to date as she settles into her new life in Atlanta. Lillian advises Claudia to take her time while searching for the one, but Teresa thinks that the clock is a tickin’…and that she’s ready for a little Claudia or Claudio.
All that family talk opens up old wounds on Claudia’s end — she mentions that Teresa has never said “I love you” to her before, something that still obviously hurts. Claudia, who’s like her father, thinks that Teresa still sees a lot of him in her which is why showing emotion is difficult.
“I show my love by doing things for you guys…it’s the action that matters,” Teresa tells Claudia.
Claudia doesn’t let that get in the way of enjoying her two favorite ladies. She proposes a toast to Atlanta and finding a “baby daddy-slash-husband” soon.
“Be careful, ‘cause I heard these Atlanta men are slick!” Lillian warns.
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5) Apologies All Around
In an effort to mend broken alliances, NeNe invites Cynthia, Kenya, and Porsha out for drinks — and a round of apologies. NeNe and Cynthia address their problems first — with unwelcome help from Kenya, who deems herself moderator of the night.
“Kenya’s butting in. Kenya doesn’t know Cynthia…and now she wants to act like she knows her so well,” NeNe gripes in her confessional.
NeNe addresses Cynthia’s tendency to talk behind her back and says that her actions were only a reaction to Cynthia’s.
“Don’t you ever punch somebody and think that you won’t get punched back,” NeNe warns Cynthia.
Though they still don’t see eye to eye, Cynthia and NeNe agree that the love is still there. NeNe still loves Cynthia like a sister, and Cynthia’s committed to getting their relationship back on track. NeNe…not so much. She agrees to go to lunch with Cynthia — “in a couple of years!”
“I think it’s a bunch of bulls--t,” NeNe says of Cynthia’s apology in her confessional. “I know you. I know who you are…don’t try to play me girl. Peter has taught you well.”
Cynthia is still upset from her late lunch with Porsha — literally. She tells Porsha that she’s owed an overdue apology, and though Porsha gives her one, they still continue to argue. Kenya doesn’t let the two duke it out and begs for Cynthia’s attention at the end of the table.
“We’re having a conversation…I think you should be quiet. You’re rude! As a motherf----r!” Porsha screams at Kenya.
Cynthia and Porsha agree to squash their beef. Saving the biggest beef for last, Porsha and Kenya then address theirs — their huge season 6 reunion brawl where Porsha attacked Kenya after Kenya provoked her with props.
“In order for me to move on with my life, I’ve got to forgive — and I have,” Kenya tells Porsha.
“I’m sorry, was I asking for forgiveness?” Porsha questions.
The girls ask Porsha if she’s sorry for what happened. While Porsha admits that she acknowledges her actions, she doesn’t flat-out apologize. Kenya then gets up and asks Porsha for a hug to show her that she’s being sincere and wants to move on. Porsha agrees to let go if Kenya accepts responsibility for her part in the fight. The two give each other the world’s most insincere squeeze.
“It’s much more powerful to take the initiative to forgive,” Kenya says in her confessional. “And if anyone still wants to hate on me — haters gonna hate!”
