Drama, gunplay, and gossip? The latest episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac (Season 8, Episode 15) delivered it all as the Dominican Republic trip concluded. Of course, you can always count on a Housewives trip to be chaotic. Season 8 has been a bit of a clunker, but they’re trying their best to make up for it during this vacation.
Last week, the ladies started to let loose and for the first time all season, they felt like a cohesive group of friends. That façade slowly started to erode as the Green-Eyed Bandits expressed an issue with Wendy and Candiace for how they handled a sensitive conversation about Gizelle’s daughter. Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8, Episode 15, “Fool’s Gold,” picked up right where he left off, as Wendy and Candiace crashed the conversation about them.
Weaponizing the kids
Wendy and Candiace magically knew that the rest of the ladies were talking about them, so they wanted to get to the bottom of it. Gizelle was like, “We can talk about it later,” and Wendy shut that down right away. She said let’s get this over with now.
Robyn and Gizelle explained their issues, but Wendy and Candiace weren’t having any of it. They both said that they weren’t actually laughing about anything Gizelle was saying. Instead, they claimed they were just fully clocked out of the conversation. Apparently, they tune out anything related to Gizelle because of their past history.
“In the past, you have weaponized Grace against me,” Wendy explained, as she made her case for why she was laughing as Gizelle talked about her daughter.
Meanwhile, Candiace pulled the “double standard” card. It’s her go-to excuse when confronted about any aspect of her behavior. She said that the other ladies are allowed to laugh, but she isn’t. Is that actually the case? Probably not. But accountability isn’t on the horizon for these ladies, so it really didn’t matter what Gizelle and Robyn said.
Either way, Candiace and Wendy admitted that they were laughing during the Grace conversation. However, they were adamant that their chuckles weren’t about Grace. They didn’t clarify what was so funny, but they reaffirmed that they’re following the golden rules of Housewives. Don’t mess with the children.
Havana Nights
The ladies agreed to disagree about Candiace and Wendy’s reaction to the Grace conversation, and they shifted their sights on Robyn’s Havanna Nights party. Apparently, Ashley was supposed to have a Havanna Nights party the week prior, but it got canceled due to the air quality issues and Canadian wildfires. Ashley said it was in the best interest of their half to cancel the party, and it was probably also in the best interest of her bank account. She doesn’t need to be throwing any parties right now.
At the party, once again it felt like we were going to get some kind of interesting dinner that never actually went anywhere. When the Real Housewives go to dinner on vacation, we’re expecting some stuff to go down. That just wasn’t the case, because these girls just don’t have much to talk about these days. It’s painful to admit.
During the dinner, Robyn and Candiace addressed their issues for the umpteenth time. Robyn accused Candiace of defamation. It felt like a stretch, but they both basically reaffirmed that there’s no resolving their issues. Season 8 truly feels like the season where the ladies have all thrown in the towel while trying to pretend like they’re friends. They know they aren’t buddies, and there’s no way to even fake it for the cameras.
Keiarna clocked in
On Day 3 of the trip, the ladies splintered off to do their separate activities. Keiarna, Robyn, Gizelle, Ashley, and Nneka all went shooting while the rest of the gang played tennis. With Keiarna splintered off from Candiace and Wendy, the ladies decided to grill the newbie about her friendship with Wendy. Finally, Keiarna is getting involved in the group dynamic. It only took 15 episodes.
Mainly, the other ladies wanted to know if Wendy had badmouthed them before introducing Keiarna to the group. According to Keiarna, that was never the case. Robyn almost seemed disappointed when Keiarna told them how Wendy hadn’t said anything bad about the group.
Keiarna explained, “The shade was obvious, but she never said, ‘I don’t like Gizelle.'”
Although Wendy didn’t say anything negative about the rest of the group, Keiarna explained that her friend’s biggest issue was with Nneka. In response, Nneka explained how she has attempted to make things right with Wendy to no avail. Keiarna said her peace talks with Wendy fell flat, and the two newbies started to bicker.
“Don’t stir pots that are already piping hot,” Nneka told Keiarna, who responded, “Is there another issue? Is there another issue?”
Clearly, Keiarna is riding hard for Wendy. It’s good to have solid friends, but watching her be a messenger pigeon for Wendy might not have been the best way for her to make a presence in the group. Plus, the fact that the ladies were firing guns in the background didn’t make the conversation any easier.
Karen’s on the fence
This week’s episode made it clearer than ever why Karen’s tagline talks about being a fence. She refuses to pick a side in any issue presented to the group. Gizelle called her out on it during the trip.
In Gizelle’s opinion, Candiace and Wendy’s attitude towards Grace crossed a line. She felt like Karen should have had her back, so the two OGs had a sitdown to address the discrepancy. Gizelle told her that she would appreciate some support. Karen didn’t care. She’s firmly on the fence, and she has no intentions of coming down.
Karen acts like riding the fence is some sort of noble, moral high ground. Watching it from the sidelines, it just feels like someone who isn’t playing the rules. How hard is it to have an opinion and share it?
In a confessional, Gizelle admitted that this could be a deal-breaker for her friendship with Karen. Once again, someone on this show is drawing a line in the sand, making it impossible to move forward.
Digging for gold
The ladies celebrated Ashley’s birthday this week, and the entire episode kind of felt like a goodbye letter from Ashley. She reflected on the fact that she’s experienced eight birthdays, two babies, and divorce since starting the show. She’s come a long way, but what’s next? She clearly doesn’t know.
During the trip, Mia kind of clocked Ashley for being in this weird limbo phase of her divorce. It seems like a divorce storyline with no actual divorce, and it kind of doesn’t make sense. However, Ashley finally came clean about the arrangement she had with Michael. He’s paying for pretty much everything.
The way Ashley gave a soliloquy about her time on RHOP kind of felt like a goodbye message. Has her story concluded on this show? That’s still to be determined, but this Dominican Republic trip has come to an end. It felt like more of a success than the Austin trip, but it made it clear that this group would never be the way it once was.
The Real Housewives of Potomac continues on Bravo, Sunday nights at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON REAL HOUSEWIVES OF POTOMAC SEASON 8, EPISODE 15? WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TRIP? DO YOU THINK GIZELLE WEAPONIZES HER DAUGHTERS?
