Bravo’s decision to retain its edits of the remainder of RHOA’s second season, despite the passing of Kandi’s fiance, AJ Jewell, is fascinating. If they weren’t on the outs with me over my September cover story on the quintet, I’d call up Bravo and ask them about it, but as it is we’ll just have to speculate.
The majority of the episode centered around AJ and Kandi going to counseling with Kandi’s mom, Joyce, who is against their coupling. Joyce is worried that Kandi will get stuck paying for AJ’s umpteen kids, and when the counselor suggests they do word association, Joyce’s choice is telling: “Child support.” Later, Kim and Sheree have put aside their differences and returned to the scene of this season’s wig-pulling crime (FAB, downtown) to plan an engagement party for K & J. At the party, everyone gives awkward toasts–I mean, what can Kim, who’s been dating a married man, and Sheree, who just got divorced, say to inspire hope in this couple?
So did Bravo:
A) Not have enough other footage to run, some that didn’t paint AJ in a less-than-flattering light
B) Thought it best to be true to what happened between AJ and Kandi, regardless of AJ’s death, or
C) Thought footage of AJ and Kandi would produce the best ratings, because of what happened?
I hate to say the cynic in me leans toward C.
Other things we learned this episode:
-NeNe’s first meeting with her probably-father is just as awkward as you thought it might be, especially considering it happened in front of Bravo’s cameras. Her maybe-father looks pretty nervous. Here’s hoping they can work that out.
-NeNe worked some looks growing up. Check out some here.
-Kim alleges that she goes through a hair piece a day. Her pieces, she says, are worth $430. That’s almost $13,000 a month, around $155,000 a year. No wonder she stayed with Big Poppa so long. Can’t she just Febreze that sucker?
-Ed and Lisa have pretty much become boring non-factors in the show. There was a forced scene with them in Lisa’s art studio that equated to bathroom-break time in the Heckert household.
-After a delay due to AJ’s death, the Housewives are just now filming their reunion show this week in Atlanta
What did you think? Who was your favorite (or least favorite) from this episode? What else did you learn? Catch up on all our Real Housewives coverage, get our September cover story on the Housewives, and enjoy this preview of this week’s SEASON FINALE:
