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Sisters Before Misters

 

As Ross’s 40th-birthday party wraps up, the climax doesn’t quite meet what the teaser promised. Kenya's messiness and Courtney’s irrelevance is cringy, and  we all know what happens when fingers start waving in Kandi’s face.  Apparently head boppin' triggers her as well.  But things between Courtney and Kandi simmer down just as quickly as they escalated as Kenya, Martell, and Shereé do their thing on the other side of the room. You may recall, Kenya told Sheree that Martell "slid into her DM's" six months prior, more or less insinuating that Shereé was his second choice. So Sheree brings Martell into the conversation.  Slithery as they come, he is quick to defend himself.  He jokes about the alleged woman he’s seeing in Atlanta, saying he’s with Shereé every time he’s in the city, so the other woman must be getting the short end of the stick, no pun intended.

 

Sidenote on this Martell character.  His claim to fame is appearing on some other reality show called Love & Marriage:  Huntsville, and there is an actual petition to get him axed from his show over claims that he's been harassing, stalking, and abusing his ex-wife.  Talk about serious OJ vibes, and like OJ,  Martell can be charming, and his quickness makes him a worthy opponent to Kenya.  Although I've never really been into the husbands/boyfriends getting involved in the petty squabbles, sometimes it's necessary. Upon being shown the message, Martell tells Kenya to pull up ALL her DMs, and then says she probably "responded" to all of them. This roundabout way of calling Kenya a ho sets her off, and now Kenya is animated too.

 

Martell continues to deny the message that everyone literally just saw, but then discovers a loophole.  He sent the DM two years ago, which is of course way longers than Kenya's claim it was “at least six months ago.”   But Martell doesn't know when to quit and then says, “I don’t care if I was trying to fuck you two years ago. Why are you talking about it?”  Kenya gets up out of her seat, daring him to be forward with his offhand comments.  Shereé stands between her man and her friend as Kenya yells, “You did it to your ex-wife, and you’re going to do it to Shereé. Once a cheater, always a cheater, you fucking piece of shit!”  Kenya then warns Sheree that the way Martell talks to her is eventually how he’ll be talking to Shereé.  But Shereé stands by her man and leaves the party with him on her arm. In the car, he doubles down on his comment, saying if they’re queens, then he’s a king and should be treated as such.  You go Martell.

 

Kandi and Sanya meet for lunch.  As they catch up, we learn that Kandi invited treated Sanya’s family to a trip to Disney, and they apparently all hit it off.  We're supposed to care that Sanya's mom wants to xscape their crowded house and move to Florida, and Kandi shares that Astroboy wants to make a movie ... Zzzz.  Of course the fight with Courtney comes up. Adding fuel to an already "blazing" fire, Sanya then tells Kandi that Courtney also called her followers "ghetto". But instead of thanking her for the info, Kandi turns the tables on her and asks Sanya how SHE responded.  Sanya circuits are clearly blown, and after stammering and studdering, she offers some kind of half-assed explanation.  I'm really beginning to wonder if this chick is equipped to roll with these bitches.  In a confessional, as Kandi explains how she demands loyalty, the shady producers then roll the footage of Sanya demonstrating just the opposite. Sanya then tells Sheree about Courtney's "ghetto" comments pertaining to Blaze, Kandi and Todd's "upscale" steak house.  Sheree cackles with delight at the accusation, so I guess her concerns about stereotyping blacks doesn't apply to her castmates.

 

Kenya comes to the She by Shereé (hilariously staged) "distribution center" to hash things out, but from the previews, we already know that it's a waste of time.  Like Kim Tootie Fields said all those years ago, Kenya likes to shake the hornets’ nest and then act surprised when she gets stung. But then again, "delusional psycho bitch" has always been Kenya's shtick.  Sheree wastes no time calling Kenya out on the way she treated her new boo, but Kenya completely changes the narrative making it about how a man should never disrespect a woman.  Sheree agrees, but adds that when provoked, what's a boo to do?  She also claims not to have heard Martell’s shady comment about Kenya answering every DM request, sticking to her story that Martell is completely innocent while Kenya remains adamant that she was defending herself against an aggressive man. Then in a confessional, Shereé suggests that Kenya's actions were racially motivated ... “What is your issue with calling Black men aggressive? Are they public-enemy No. 1 because you don’t have one?” In a last ditch effort to plead her case, Kenya goes for the ol' “bros before hos” thing with Sheree, but Sheree isn't budging, so Kenya suggests that they simply agree to disagree on this one. 

 

Kandi and Astroboy go to Blaze for dinner where the "chefs" are preparing some new dishes for the owners to taste.  They are then joined by Kandi's morbidly obese cuzzin', whose arm is in an (impossible to ignore) sling.  Well it turns out this is the dude who was shot right there at Blaze last year. To make matters worse, a producer then breaks the breaks the fourth wall, forcing Kandi to talk about the shooting.  In a confessional, Kandi explains that Blaze is situated in a more “urban” area as if there is any other kind in Atlanta.  She goes on about the crime rates in the area have gone up, "largely due to the pandemic".  

 

At first, Todd says they can’t speak on it too much as it’s a legal matter, but they cover the gist of the situation. A disgruntled employee came to work drunk and fought with kitchen manager Melvin, and then shot him.  It was the second shooting at one of Kandi’s restaurants after an incident occurred at Old Lady Gang in 2020, prompting Shereé to utter the best line of the episode, “We don’t know when we go to Old Lady Gang if we’re going to get biscuits or bullets.”

 

Drew returns in this episode from visiting her father who is in serious cognitive decline, but still ligh years ahead of our current President.  Although he no longer recognizes his daughter, he perks up after hearing her song.  I guess I should mention that Drew has traded the (non-existent) fitness business for a (non-existent) career in music.  Like a certain pink dude with a brown D from another franchise, Ralph is managing Drew's new career; however, knowing what we now know, it's weird watching her and Ralph talk about their marriage "being in the best place it’s ever been."  Speaking of Candyass, she makes an appearance on next week's episode and asks Drew if she wants to be the opening of her (non-existent) act.  Gee, I can't wait.