We did it, folks! We’ve made it to The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 finale. It was a struggle, but we did it. In the penultimate episode, Ashley and Gizelle introduced the world to their athleisure line, GnA. It looked more like a costume collection than workout gear, but it didn’t really matter because the event ended with a wild brawl between Deborah and Keiarna. The cameras missed the fight, but the mics captured the drama leading up to it.
The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8, Episode 18 “An Iconic Ending,” picked up right where we left off last week, in the middle of the chaos at the GnA event. Production started rolling again to catch the aftermath of the fight, and somehow, that wasn’t even the messiest part of this finale. By the end of the episode, Mia took center stage with some wild updates about her marriage to Gordon.
Blood on the dancefloor
When the cameras started rolling again, we got a good look at how the ladies navigated the immediate aftermath of the fight. Candiace was trying to get involved and was being held back by Charrisse. Later in the episode, Charrisse revealed that she injured her foot in the scuffle. She can’t catch a break.
While Candiace continued to hurl insults at Deborah, Wendy and Karen rushed to Keiarna’s side. Blood dripped down her face, and she tried to find some privacy in the bathroom. The cameras captured the calamity as they all tried to piece together what happened.
“She threw a drink on Candiace but hit me in the head,” Keiarna said, while frantically calling her mom.
Deborah had another side of the story. Elsewhere in the venue, Deborah told Ashley that she heard Candiace and Wendy talking smack about her, so she decided to confront them. Deborah said she tossed her drink on Candiace’s hair, and then Keiarna punched her in the face. That prompted Deborah to throw a glass at Keiarna, and it was all downhill from there.
Obviously, Karen and Wendy were horrified by the whole situation, and Keiarna ended up getting rushed to the hospital. We learned that she was there until the wee hours of the morning and ended up getting 12 stitches. Yikes.
The blame game
In the days following the fight, we heard the different perspectives from all of the women. Someone had to be held responsible, but everyone seemed to have a different take. Was it Candiace’s fault for taking her words too far, or was it Deborah’s fault for instigating? Or, perhaps Keiarna should take some accountability for getting in the middle of it.
Karen, Wendy, and Candiace all felt that Ashley shouldn’t have invited Deborah to the event. They felt that the fight was premeditated, and Ashley should have been more mindful about the types of people she brought near the group. Karen called it “intentional and attention-seeking.”
On the other hand, Ashley didn’t want to take accountability for Deborah and Keiarna’s fight. She also felt like Candiace provoked it by calling Deborah a “vermin” and “the help.” Words have consequences, and Ashley felt like this was Season 5 all over again. She was also taken aback by how Candiace picked up a bottle like she was going to use it in the fight. Seriously, who does that?
Robyn and Gizelle left before the fight happened, but they still had their opinions. Robyn said she felt like Keiarna was fighting someone else’s battle. Gizelle called it a “stain” on the GnA brand. Surely, this won’t be the last stain on their brand.
The ladies reconvene for Monarch Magazine
In Episode 17, we learned that Mia planned a photoshoot in partnership with Monarch Magazine where each Potomac Housewife (minus Nneka) got to dress up as a history-making Black woman. Anytime we get to celebrate iconic Black women on Bravo is a win, but unfortunately, the fight overshadowed the magazine launch. They couldn’t ignore what happened. Wendy said it best when she described the fight as a “dark cloud” that had been cast over the group.
At the magazine launch, Karen pulled all of the ladies together to address the elephant in the room. She wanted Ashley to take some ownership for putting them in an unsafe situation and inviting a ne’er-do-well. Ashley refused to take the blame for the fight because she didn’t throw any punches. However, she did apologize for putting them in that situation.
Ashley also revealed that she put her friendship with Deborah “on pause” because, after the fight, Deborah went on social media acting an absolute fool. She was bragging about the whole thing and doubling down. It wasn’t a good look, so that was the final nail in the coffin for Deborah. That’s something everyone could all agree on.
As the ladies gathered around talking about the fight and the seriousness of Keiarna getting injured, Wendy pointed out that this moment was the first time in ages they were able to come together and have a sane conversation. It’s the unity we’ve all been hoping for all season, but for some reason, it took Deborah and Keiarna getting into a fistfight to make it happen.
Icons everywhere
With the fight discussion out of the way, the ladies were finally able to take some time to enjoy the Monarch Magazine party. Mia invited her whole family, and it really was a special moment for the entire cast. We saw Robyn as Mariah Carey, Mia as Pam Grier, Gizelle as Beyoncé, Ashley as Dorothy Dandridge, Candiace as Diana Ross, Karen as Lena Horne, and Wendy as Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Some of the ladies weren’t in love with their portraits. Did they look like the icons they were meant to portray? Not necessarily. But, they had fun doing it, and they looked good. That’s what was important.
As the ladies celebrated their icon photoshoots, we got our final updates on each of them as we said goodbye to Season 8. Most of the updates were positive. We learned that Candiace decided to put motherhood on hold again in favor of her music career, Wendy launched her YouTube channel, and Robyn signed the lease for her skincare studio. Karen also celebrated her 60th birthday with a few cosmetic tweaks.
On a more somber note, we learned that Nneka and Ike’s IUI procedure didn’t work. They’re going to try IVF next. Plus, Gizelle shared the devastating update that her father passed away shortly after filming wrapped.
For Mia’s update, there was too much to fit in a few sentences. Instead, they had to dedicate the final 10 minutes of the episode to explaining what happened with Mia and Gordon after Season 8 finished.
Mia and Gordon self-destruct
All season long, we’ve been following Mia and Gordon’s rocky relationship. At the tail end of the finale, we saw it all go to hell. We all saw the headlines, so knew it would happen, but no one could have predicted just how messy this breakup would be.
When the headlines surfaced about Mia and G’s split, RHOP resumed production to capture the fallout. Thank goodness because this plot twist made the entire season almost worth it. Originally, we thought their breakup was because of the financial issues in their relationship. Little did we know, there was a whole lot more going on behind closed doors in the Thornton household.
In a tense exchange, Gordon and Mia dropped bombshell after bombshell. It started with Gordon revealing how he survived prostate cancer which took a toll on their sex life. They had an agreement that Mia could sleep with other guys as long as she was discreet and didn’t involve the kids.
We learned that Mia had been dating this man named Inc for several months. They were high school sweethearts, and they stayed in touch throughout adulthood. When things got rocky with Gordon, Mia started dating Inc.
Gordon said that Mia violated the rules of their agreement. He said she was being sloppy with Inc and the kids started asking about “Mr. Inc.” Allegedly, one of their kids asked, “Dad, why is mommy trying to replace you with Mr. Inc?”
Then, in a huge shocker, Mia revealed that there was already some uncertainty about who fathered her son Jeremiah. Mia didn’t know for sure if it was Gordon’s kid or not because she was sleeping with multiple people at that time. She said Gordon agreed to raise the kid as his own no matter what, but they never did a paternity test to confirm whose kid it was. It’s hard to fathom how Mia has gone three seasons without revealing any of this information.
Ever since we met Mia, we’ve all seen her as a gold-digger. She never really denied it, but in the finale, she explained that money had nothing to do with anything in their marriage these days. Mia claimed she would have left seven or eight years ago if the separation was due to financial issues.
Instead, Mia described Gordon as an overbearing husband who was financially irresponsible and emotionally unavailable. Mia said she needed to be nurtured in a way that Gordon could no longer provide. The relationship ran its course, but they were both having a hard time determining the next steps.
At the end of the episode, Mia kept trying to pressure Gordon to talk about their future. G didn’t want to do that. He was fed up, and he ultimately got the last word this season. He told Mia that she should leave if she wanted to. And if she wants “fair,” then she should “go to a carnival.”
There’s still a lot to unpack here. The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 reunion starts next Sunday on Bravo at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RHOP SEASON 8, EPISODE 18? DO YOU THINK DEBORAH CAME TO THE GNA FASHION SHOWCASE WITH AN AGENDA? SHOULD ASHLEY TAKE MORE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE FIGHT? WERE YOU SHOCKED BY THE INFORMATION WE LEARNED ABOUT MIA AND G?
