Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta is in its 12th season and a lot has changed about the fan favorite reality show. Longtime staple of the show, Nene Leakes, is still a beacon of entertainment with her tell-it-like-it-is personality. Kandi Burruss still delivers that authentic, girl next door touch. But, the other girls…
This season, viewers get a chance to watch some of the women embrace motherhood, and while it’s nice to see each lady evolve, it’s not all that entertaining for TV, well at least not for a show like the RHOA.
Dish Nation host Porsha Williams presents an interesting storyline about being a first time mother who is forced to be a single mother at the inconsiderate hands of her cheating fiancé, Dennis. But the last four episodes have not shown growth. Instead, we see her panning over this guy who is not even in her league, and complaining to her therapist and family over and over again. It’s starting to feel like a rerun of her breakup with her former husband Cordell Broadus. There’s definitely potential for her storyline. We all want to see if she gets back with Dennis and where her career takes her. But, it’s painstaking to not have the silly superwoman version of Porsha that we’ve all grown accustom to.
Cynthia Bailey is still a storyline that is plain boring without Nene Leakes by her side. While Cynthia has grown a backbone and no longer plays minion to Nene, her new outspoken cattiness has become almost intolerable to watch. She has a love interest and her daughter Noelle has come out as fluid. But, quite frankly, who cares? We expect Cynthia to accept her daughter. It’s 2020. Back in the day, Cynthia was managing her own businesses, juggling between Noelle’s dad and Peter, and trying to manage her friendship with Nene. Now, she hangs with Eva, who doesn’t even seem like a person from her tribe.
Even more odd, the talls and smalls are hanging together and it seems like so many disingenuous friendships are budding out of necessity. For instance, since when did Kenya and Kandi start being buddy buddy?
Eva Marcille is beautiful to look at on screen, but she doesn’t add much to the show. Currently with child, Eva’s storyline consists of accusations of being broke and dodging drama. She knows how to throw shade, but because her history is not that extensive with the ladies, her shade comes off as just being a grouchy, mean girl. We don’t get to see the inside of her real life and the show has yet to incorporate her ongoing drama with baby father Kevin McCall.
Moving on to Marlo Hampton. Marlo is pretty entertaining on the show. She’s the bone carrier and she brings the drama. But, she doesn’t show a well-rounded representation of a working woman in Atlanta. Her presence on the show is very superficial. I’m willing to bet that fans would want to see Marlo behind the designer clothes.
Last and possibly least, Kenya Moore. Since Phaedra Parks has left the show, Kenya’s storyline has been redundant. From truck towing Walter to nutty buddy Matt Jordan, Kenya has always had it tough in the romance department. Finally, she’s found a husband in Marc Daly, only to resort to the relationship going sour. Episode four of this season spent too much time on Kenya’s uneventful story. We’ve seen it before.
If RHOA continues to go on like this, it might start to lose its momentum and support from even the diehard fans. Nene and Kandi certainly provide the nostalgic feeling of classic RHOA, so they are definitely needed on the show. Porsha is a fan favorite and she does bring youthfulness to the group of mature women. But, it’s time to introduce some new people and they should be real socialites and class acts, similar to the personas of Kim Zolciak, Phaedra Parks and Sheree Whitfield.
There’s something missing from this season of the RHOA and I think it’s the illustrious lifestyle of Atlanta’s movers and shakers. What happened to the days of seeing fabulous gay guys on the show, such as Miss Lawrence, Dwight Eubanks and Derek J? What happened to the ridiculous and fancy events that perked our interests or the cringeworthy competitions between the frenemies (Nene vs. Kim, Sheree vs. Lisa, Phaedra vs. Kenya)? Plus, why are we barely seeing Nene nowadays? Whether you love her or hate her, she is the one mainstay of the show and it just doesn’t feel right without her being involved.
This season, all we are seeing is the ladies either pregnant or dealing with a newborn. Literally, Eva, Kandi, Kenya, and Porsha share the same storyline of pregnancy or new babies and it’s starting to feel like the older version of MTV’s Teen Mom. I’m hoping the show will get back to its fun shenanigans and friendship drama, soon.
