Earlier this year, us Housewives recappers were tapped by Dame Brian Moylan himself to participate in a March Madness bracket ranking the worst Househusband of all time. I dutifully stepped up to the plate (anything for Brian), taking over the “Actual Villains†section, and RHOA’s own Bob Whitfield was among the men I was given to choose between. Though he lost to Joe Giudice for a slew of reasons, Bob has definitely earned his place among the villainous husbands we’ve watched torment various Housewives over the years.
Shereé’s fight for a seven-figure settlement after her divorce from Bob was documented throughout the first few seasons of the show, with the most memorable scene being Bob’s six-foot-five grown ass sticking his tongue out at Shereé after successfully representing himself in court. Or, my personal favorite, when Shereé poured water on him during a heated conversation about his lack of support with the kids. Then, after seasons of dragging Bob for being a deadbeat, she brought him back on the show as an attempt at a story line to give their relationship a second shot.
When Shereé accepted Bob back into her life, disturbing details about their marriage came to light. Their conversation in the van during the cast trip to Maui is one of the hardest Housewives moments to watch and must’ve been unimaginably difficult for Shereé to relive. Shereé and Bob began speaking candidly about their divorce when Bob joked in detail about the real physical, verbal, and mental abuse he inflicted on Shereé. The conversation led to Shereé having to tell her children about being abused by their father now that the rest of the world was privy to those private moments.
While Joe Giudice ultimately advanced to the next round of my bracket instead of Bob, it was mainly because Joe’s overall presence in the Housewives canon is more significant than Bob’s. But we’re reminded that Bob’s atrocities know no bounds when he uses his grandaughter Mecca’s sip-and-see to reveal a new child of his own decades after her birth. There isn’t an official announcement; he simply invited the woman himself, instructed her to wear pink like the rest of the family, and pulls her into a picture, unbeknownst to Shereé, who assumes she’s his new girlfriend. In a hilarious act of pettiness, she summons Martell to jump in the picture as well. Two can play that game!
Shereé doesn’t discover the woman’s true identity until after the picture. Her name is Candice, she’s Bob’s third child (Shereé was only aware of two others), and Kairo and Kaleigh already know her. In fact, she’s been present at previous family events without Shereé’s knowledge. The other women have a bigger reaction than Shereé, with Kandi leading the group with a litany of questions for Bob we’re all wondering: Who is she? How old is she? Why hasn’t Bob brought her up before? Did Bob know about her while he was married to Shereé? Bob claims they were on a “need-to-know basis back then.†Since I’ve dated my share of gaslighters, I’m assuming “back then†refers to before they were legally married, and it didn’t occur to him to bring it up in the years that followed.
Bob slithers away, avoiding further questioning, saying he didn’t know it was going to be “Bob’s inquisition.†And just as quickly as this absurd story line was gifted to us, it’s taken away by ending credits popping up on the screen and Shereé declaring that Bob has “been a piece of shit and still a piece of shit†(amen!) before posing for a picture. I’m sorry, but were we once again robbed of a potentially good moment this season before it even had a chance to become something? Thanks to a clip of the aftershow that leaked before the episode aired, I’ve seen some reactions I wish could’ve been featured in the episode. Kenya notes how Shereé has historically kept a good poker face, never showing her real feelings until things reach their breaking point. Sanya points out that Shereé is so far removed from being emotionally attached to Bob that it doesn’t faze her. And Shereé says that Bob hasn’t done a paternity test yet. (Personally, I think they look enough alike to know the truth.) Shereé most likely didn’t know about the paternity test until after filming, but at least the reveal was documented on-camera for us all to see.
Our resident actor Drew provides the B-plot at Mecca’s sip-and-see when she refuses to enter the premises because Anthony, her messy old assistant from last season, is inside. Apparently, Anthony threw a shoe at Drew one night at the club. According to Drew, God himself is watching over her and prevents the two from interacting at Mecca’s party. In her words, God intervened merely seconds before she “walked right into his trap.†According to Anthony, the shoe throw was in retaliation to Drew throwing her “cheap-ass†handbag at him. I wish that night could’ve been caught on-camera, too.
Outside of the sip-and-see, this episode is a bit like Mecca: sleepy. Sanya attends an appointment with Dr. Jackie about her pregnancy (which is basically an Atlanta rite of passage at this point), and Marlo hosts a touching event celebrating people who grew up in foster care. Kandi and Drew are busy filming Todd’s film The Pass. It’s unclear if a major distribution company will pick up the movie, but if I had to give it my best shady guess, it would be that maybe Tubi will put in a bid. Even Drew said that after filming The Pass, she’s only accepting “Lifetime and above†roles.
Todd has adopted his buddy Tyler Perry’s philosophy: Use as little money and as little time as possible to crank out a final product. To cut back on the budget, they utilized their own home and bedroom for scenes, and the entire production took ten whole days, so he definitely made the most out of his allowance. The filming of Drew’s same-sex bedroom scene is ironically anticlimactic, and she continues her puritanical straight-girl act, saying that being with a woman is very foreign to her. But when she describes resorting to the Uta Hagen technique, specifically relying on her sense of taste and smell, it winds up sounding a lot more erotic than she probably intended.
Of course, Ralph makes sure to find a way to be disruptive when he visits Drew in her trailer later that day. He is predictably insecure, ignoring Drew’s list of ways she relates to her character and focusing only on the lesbian aspect. Then, in his interview, he says that picking up “the slack†at home is chaotic, using quotations as he calls her a thespian, sending a direct message about how he feels about her career. In her trailer, Ralph grills Drew about what explicitly happened during the love scenes, asking questions about whether the kiss involved tongue, if she had an orgasm, and if the actress was “munching.†Drew reassures him that it’s all work and none of the sex scenes are real, and in her interview, she says she wishes Ralph would take her job seriously.
It’s clear that the producers have been trying to nudge us in the direction of wondering if Ralph’s reaction to Drew’s sex scene is more warranted than it appears in tonight’s episode. The teaser for the season finale shows that we’re finally going to hear about Drew’s alleged relationship with Ty Young and see the order of events leading to her and Ralph’s race to the courthouse. Let’s hope it’s worth our while after making it through the season!
Peach Tea To-Go:
• Not to be outdone by Ms. Leakes, Kenya did her own sit-down with Carlos King, which dropped this week. It wasn’t all that explosive, but seeing a different side of Kenya was cool. I wish someone else did these interviews because Carlos is clearly biased, as he has a special relationship with these women. As much as I love hearing his perspective as a producer, it would be nice to have a more objective person asking questions. Part two comes out next week, and I bet it’ll be better.
• It was great to hear both Kenya’s and Carlos’s thoughts about how the casting process has drastically impacted the quality of the show. They spoke about how casting was when Kenya first joined, with women filming multiple scenes without being guaranteed airtime, let alone a full-time position, to now, where they said just about anyone can get approved. Kenya herself said she hadn’t even signed a contract yet during some of her season-five scenes.
• I’m not surprised that Anthony’s messy ass was the one who hooked up Shereé and Martell. He’s gross for body-shaming Drew while simultaneously telling Kandi he “lives for women.†You can throw shade without body-shaming!