Thanks to some silly little football game, we were robbed of a new episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac last week. It feels like it’s been ages since we last saw our fabulous Potomac ensemble. But, the last time we saw them, they were hanging out in their pajamas at Nneka’s house, helping her unpack a bunch of junk into her new home. It didn’t seem like the most fun activity, but we commend the RHOP newbie for trying her hardest to solidify her place in the group.
In this week’s episode, Nneka took her efforts a step further by sitting down with Wendy to try to resolve their feud that has persisted all season long. The results weren’t so great, but by the end of the episode, the ladies embarked on a cast trip to the Dominican Republic. Once they arrived, Nneka was honored with an extremely prestigious title. Here’s what went down on The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8, Episode 13, “Sharing Is Caring.”
Divorce chat with Mia and Ashley
Episode 13 kicked off with Ashley visiting Mia in her new apartment. Coincidentally, Mia’s new apartment is in the same building where Ashley and Michael used to live. You know it must have felt weird for Ashley to go back into that building. If Ashley’s feelings weren’t already bubbling up, they certainly were after sitting down with Mia, who immediately started asking questions about the status of her divorce.
Mia wanted to know if and when Ashley would ever sign her divorce papers. Everyone was thinking it. Mia was just the only person messy enough to ask.
Ashley admitted that she doesn’t want to divorce Michael right away because she doesn’t want to lose his financial security. She explained how facing housing insecurity as a child has instilled a lifelong fear. If Ashley’s RHOP check goes away, what exactly is she left with besides GnA clothing?
In response, Mia encouraged Ashley to move forward with the divorce. It can’t be healthy to cling to the past like that, and Ashley claimed it was on her to-do list to finalize the divorce by the end of 2023. Here we are in 2024, still waiting for Ashley to confirm that the divorce has been finalized.
Nneka and Wendy face off
The moment we’ve all been waiting for finally came in RHOP Season 8, Episode 13. Nneka and Wendy finally sat down to talk through their issues. From the mysterious phone calls to the witchcraft accusations, the ladies met up at a café to lay it all on the table. Sadly, not much was accomplished.
Nneka came into the sit-down to try to move forward. On the other hand, Wendy’s only intention was to dispel the witchcraft rumors about her mother. She said that the implications Nneka put out were “damaging” to her culture, and they needed to address it.
Nneka wanted to start the conversation from the very beginning, and she ran back through the story about how Lebe got a bunch of phone calls from Wendy’s family and yadda yadda yadda. Wendy denied that the phone calls ever happened, which made it extremely difficult for this conversation to move forward. If they can’t agree on this fundamental part of the disagreement, then there isn’t a path for them.
Eventually, Nneka came to a compromise and said that she was willing to restart with Wendy. She even offered an apology, per Wendy’s request. However, when it came time for Wendy to do the same, she shut down. Wendy said that they could coexist but was upset with the idea of apologizing for her role in the drama. She stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Nneka alone with her passionfruit mimosa.
“You don’t want peace,” Wendy said as she strutted from the restaurant.
After Wendy left, we saw a glimpse of Nneka breaking down into tears while talking to a producer. Nneka confessed that she’s frustrated and disturbed with this whole situation, and the fact that Wendy keeps pretending like the phone calls never happened just makes it worse. It’s Gaslighting 101.
Grace’s graduation day
You can say what you want about Gizelle and her messy antics in the friend circle, but when it comes time for her to be on mommy duty, it’s some of the sweetest television Bravo has to offer. This week, we saw an adorable scene of Gizelle’s daughter Grace graduating high school.
We’ve literally watched her grow up over the last eight seasons of this show, and now, she’s off to college.
The RHOP editors spliced together some home video footage from Grace’s graduation day, and we saw Gizelle’s entire family come together to celebrate her milestone. Gizelle’s late father made a cameo appearance, as did Jamal. The entire thing was a much-needed break from talking about shrines, divorces, and drama.
In Gizelle’s confessional, she opened up about how tough it was raising three daughters, all under the age of two. Now, they’re all grown up and going out into the big, scary world. Her twins will be walking across the stage soon, so Gizelle’s empty-nester era is imminent!
RHOP goes to the DR
Although it seems like the RHOP cast just got back from their horrible cast trip to Austin, it’s already time for another trip. This time, Robyn is taking the girls down to the Dominican Republic for an island getaway. She explained that she wanted everyone to get invited, regardless of any lingering drama.
Unlike the Austin trip, Robyn said this adventure wouldn’t be about “healing.” There weren’t going to be any forced conversations to try to make anyone overcome their differences. This trip is just about fun, which is something everyone should be able to get behind, right?
When Robyn said she was inviting everyone on the trip, that included the new friend Keiarna. They’ve slowly introduced her throughout the season, but it took 13 episodes for her to finally get a confessional and some substantial screen time. Unfortunately for Keiarna, she had an ulcer that started acting up five minutes into her first-ever Housewives cast trip. Talk about a rough start.
Crowning a new Grande Dame
The ladies arrived in the Dominican Republic and after a whole lot of fussing over room preferences, they settled down at their villa and got ready to go night golfing. Before they could golf, Gizelle had a little prank she wanted to pull with the rest of the ladies. She explained how she wanted to help Nneka get back at Karen for being shady.
If you recall, Karen told Nneka that she didn’t really live in Potomac and that it was technically “North Potomac.” With that in mind, Gizelle decided it was time to crown Nneka as the new Grande Dame of Potomac. In Gizelle’s eyes, Nneka is the only person who owns property in Potomac, so therefore, she’s the true Grande Dame.
Gizelle’s ability to find new ways to annoy Karen is something special. She gathered all of the ladies together and presented Nneka with a crown and a sash to officially recognize her as the new Grande Dame. Karen laughed it off, but for some reason, Candiace didn’t find the humor in it.
“Any opportunity this sinister imp has to inflict pain on others, she takes it,” Candiace said in her confessional.
The episode ended with Candiace storming off from Nneka’s coronation, calling the whole thing stupid. It was an unfortunate, sour note to end on considering everyone else was having a good time. Maybe Candiace just wanted a crown, too?
The Real Housewives of Potomac Seaso8 continues on Bravo, Sunday nights at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RHOP SEASON 8, EPISODE 13? WERE YOU SURPRISED AT HOW QUICKLY WENDY STORMED OFF FROM HER SIT DOWN WITH NNEKA? HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT KEIARNA GETTING MORE SCREEN TIME?
