The Real Housewives of Atlanta finally touched down in South Africa in their last new episode and it didn't take long before their informal peace treaty was ripped up into tiny bits. Surprisingly, lightning rod for drama NeNe wasn't the main culprit in disrupting the fun; instead, new BFF and former peripheral part of The Real Housewives of Atlanta Marlo Hampton decided to set things off over not being invited to dinner, breaking out a gay slur along the way.
In tonight's episode, the first after a Super Bowl-related hiatus, the ladies back away from the hysterics and begin exploring South Africa. Included in their 10 day journey to the land of Mandela are a safari, a trip to a local orphanage for 4 year olds, and, for Sheree, Kandi, and Phaedra, introductions to some of South Africa's adult population. While the safari looks like a funny intermission from the drama and the prospect of Kandi landing a man could make for good TV, it's the orphanage trip that caught my attention the most.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta has always been about petty interpersonal drama and the lavish (at times, not so lavish) lives of a group of women from the ATL, so they've rarely crossed over into other issues. I mean, the vacation last year was a trip to Miami to watch Kim sing (or "sing", if you will), so going from that to helping a beautiful group of children live a tiny bit easier is a refreshing change of pace. It offers a dose of reality in all the fights about money, cars, and hair that The Real Housewives of Atlanta needs more often; you don't want to lose the ridiculousness that's made the show as popular as it is, but putting NeNe, Marlo, Cynthia, Sheree, Kandi, and Phaedra out of their comfort zones is a nice way for their tiffs to have some perspective.
Most interestingly, Cynthia may be making a break from Team Tall, as her tolerance for Marlo seems to be wearing thin. Miss Hampton has been the root of the discord between all the ladies, offering unsolicited etiquette tips and beefing with Sheree, but now, she'd rather spend her time in an American-ized restaurant or complaining about her hair instead of, y'know, enjoying South Africa.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta return tonight at 9:00 on Bravo.
