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I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been over six years since the infamous barn fight between Candiace and Monique. It honestly feels like a lifetime ago that we saw Monique latch onto Candiace\u2019s wig and summarily fight her way out of a job, but in retrospect, not all that much has changed. Sure, everyone is divorced now, and Candiace has taken her talents for histrionics out of the music studio and into the podcast mic for the time being \u2014 but we have the same President, Ashley remains as messy as ever, and Gizelle still won\u2019t bring a man on camera. Some truths remain immutable in the Potomac universe.<\/p>\n
I can be honest and admit that at the time, I was a bit clouded in my distaste for Candiace\u2019s antics in a way that probably let me give Monique a bit too much grace about the situation. For one, the franchises are no strangers to violence: RHONJ<\/a> occasionally serves as a WWE undercard, depending on the season; Salt Lake City<\/a> has thrown more drinks in people\u2019s faces than Susan Lucci; and Atlanta<\/a> couldn\u2019t even keep a slumber party peaceful. During this period, the ladies of Potomac still held onto a delusional pretense that they represented a specific style of Black upper-class genteel that had long been abandoned \u2013 the cast may be products of Jack and Jill, but the show is no The Gilded Age<\/a>. And so once the fight actually aired, over a year after the fiasco had already leaked to the press, we spent an entire season being beaten over the head with the insistence that the cast was above this.<\/p>\n While I can now recognize that what Monique did was an unacceptable escalation of interpersonal issues in a workplace (which is what the show is, after all), her reunion performance will remain an all-time moment in not just Potomac, but Housewives history simply because she broke the show. Fully knowing she was on her way out, she summarily dismissed Gizelle with the binder moment that aired all over the world (Karen asking \u201cis Jamal coming\u201d with sardonic satisfaction remains etched in my cerebellum), but more importantly forced everyone to acknowledge that despite her being the deserved target of the reunion, all of the women have skeletons in their closet that they were unwilling to confront. Gizelle was reunited with a man who had embarrassed her numerous times with his penchant for skirt-chasing; Robyn was in an endless engagement with a now-husband who, then and now, seemed to barely humor her; Karen is a sugar-baby turned breadwinner who could be found at any watering hole in Potomac; Ashley was married to the personification of the grim reaper.<\/p>\n All of the women were trapped in their own cages of misery, trying to make Monique look like the primary cause for their own distress. Monique very much needed to leave, but the chaos she left behind, while occasionally resulting in uneven, stilted television, forced the women to acknowledge their own shortcomings in her absence. Ashley could no longer hide her disaster of a marriage; Robyn\u2019s permanent state of melancholy became unavoidable; Chris Bassett was unable to hold a job longer than a season. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that much of a stretch to say that women seem to be in 10 seasons is at least partially influenced by Monique wiping the slate clean on her first ousting.<\/p>\n Monique\u2019s penchant for forthrightness, almost to the point of abruptness, is what makes her reintegration to the cast fascinating already. Thankfully, she makes no bones about addressing the elephant in the room, namely, the state of her divorce. It is no secret that Housewives can be taxing on any marriage, but often we hear it from the perspective of women who come on the show to build a career and a platform to split safely. Monique, however, freely admits that being on the show kept her marriage alive for years longer than it should have. Judging from her original run on the franchise, I fully believe that she held onto her marriage out of spite; at that time, there was no way she was going to let Gizelle have one up on her, and the image of her successful Black family with numerous houses, investments, and businesses was her ultimate trump card.<\/p>\n It was refreshing to hear the women reflect on that time without the show turning into a forlorn \u201cvery special episode.\u201d Gizelle being able to acknowledge the strain she recognized in Monique\u2019s marriage coming from the side of a divorcee is a conversation Monique simply would not have been able to receive five years ago, and I think it\u2019s healthy that both women recognize that. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll get Gizelle to admit on camera that Monique gave her a run for her money at that reunion, but we\u2019ll take the small victories where we can.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Gizelle and Monique finally finding common ground is not the animating vehicle they are using to structure Monique\u2019s return to the group. Nor are Monique and Wendy finally attempting to establish a relationship outside of Candiace\u2019s sphere of influence after Monique was effectively removed from filming on Wendy\u2019s rookie season. For whatever reason that I am still desperately attempting to make sense of, we are continuing to draw out this tired string of \u201cStacy being desperate for Chris.\u201d<\/p>\n Listen, I get it. Stacey is definitely nimble with her understanding of the truth. I have dated enough men who told me they had no girlfriend, only to find out they actually had a wife (this has happened only three times, but it\u2019s crazy that it happened more than once), so I recognize a person whose statements of fact come with terms and conditions. But here\u2019s the thing: I don\u2019t care that she fucked Chris, or didn\u2019t. I don\u2019t care that her husband, Temu, barely wants to be on camera and filming with the rest of the cast, or that they are too lazy to come up with coherent excuses to avoid participating in events. Temu says five words a minute, and to my ADHD brain, it feels like nails on a chalkboard; I won\u2019t miss him if he doesn\u2019t get mic\u2019ed up ever again.<\/p>\n What Stacey understands well is that if you are not going to give authenticity, you have to sell the fantasy. Stacey has chosen to be the peppy, out-of-touch model who has the spirit of Mary Poppins in the package of Kenya Moore. Whether or not it\u2019s legitimate is irrelevant to me until it fundamentally becomes irreconcilable with her on-camera persona,\u00a0\u00e0 la Grande Dame. Perhaps it\u2019s the QVC training, the same stomping grounds that birthed us the scourge known as Lisa Rinna, but you simply cannot move her off her square.<\/p>\n Stacey\u2019s consistent persona ultimately makes the women look even more deranged for calling it out. Monique already said she couldn\u2019t possibly care less who Chris is dating, but Ashley, Keiarna, Tia, and Gizelle simply couldn\u2019t leave well enough alone. Now I have to pretend that I care that Stacey told Chris that Monique was miserable by the end of her marriage? I\u2019m sure that\u2019s nothing Chris doesn\u2019t already know, whether this Cookie lady is reporting back to him or not. Considering how the last fiasco with a third party bringing gossip went down, I just am not intrigued or inclined to explore this line of inquiry any further unless Stacey ups and leaves Temu for Chris.<\/p>\n All these shenanigans ultimately end up doing is cementing Stacey as indispensable to the group. I can somewhat understand Tia\u2019s frustration \u2014 despite overselling the Nigerian royalty bit, she has, for the most part, been sharing her personal life on camera, warts and all, and is frustrated that Stacey won\u2019t do the same. But Keiarna is getting irate on Monique\u2019s behalf when there is absolutely no indication that Monique would even care or be bothered by this at all, and as a result, Stacey dealt with her accordingly. Keiarna may be a breathtaking beauty, but she was not prepared to step into the ring for a war of words with the Detroit Barbie. Stacey cheekily telling K that \u201cthe only time you get heated is about me\u201d was a nice little jab, but when K tried to counter by saying \u201cI would never leave my husband around you,\u201d Stacey had no choice but to hit her with the uppercut: \u201cYou don\u2019t have one.\u201d I\u2019m excited to see Keiarna finally show up this season, as I prefer a beautiful bitch on wheels to a sedate one, but unfortunately, she still came up short this time around. See you all next week!<\/p>\n \u2022 The more Angel carries on about her imagined issue with Wendy, the less rational she sounds. Her husband can\u2019t even pretend to be bothered about this nothingburger of an issue on his wife\u2019s behalf. Every time she insists that Wendy somehow betrayed her more than Gizelle by defining what a catfish is, a clown nose starts to sprout on her face spontaneously. Wendy and Gizelle were indeed being messy and mean, but nothing about that warranted the weeks-long spiral our WAG has been going through.<\/p>\n \u2022 Wendy was really rocking the finger waves! It\u2019s such a shame that her best season to date is coming on the heels of what we know to be a precipitous downfall. (Yes, yes, I know she gave a gracious showing at BravoCon and had a generally good reception, but when your local paper is reporting claims of alleged aliases and over 40 credit cards, there is clearly still a long road ahead.)<\/p>\n \u2022 When it comes to crossover moments, I allow\/overlook them if they make sense for the show and the groups\u2019 connections. The Vanderpump Boys on Summer House, sure, whatever, they basically helped launch that franchise. Cynthia making a guest appearance on any franchise she wants is fine because I appreciate any excuse to swoon over her cheekbones. Bringing in competitors from the Love Hotel, however, is where I have to draw the line. I\u2019m sure Wale is a lovely man, but this isn\u2019t Marvel, and I\u2019m not about to start watching three other franchises just to understand what is on my TV screens. I already have to monitor the subreddits like a hawk!<\/p>\n \u2022 At this point, \u201cWhat is GNA\u201d could be a Jeopardy category. We have gone from clothing line to wellness brand to events promotion to philanthropy, and now we\u2019re making floats. Many companies do PRIDE floats, but they are usually selling something. What, pray tell, is GNA selling? I still have no clue.<\/p>\n \u2022 Ten million downloads on Reasonably Shady? Y\u2019all are really listening to that podcast? Color me shocked.<\/p>\n VULTURE NEWSLETTER<\/p>\n Keep up with all the drama of your favorite shows!<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n