‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta’ Reunion Was Great — And Other Cities Should Start Taking Notes

We shouldn’t have had any doubts about The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast doing their Season 12 reunion virtually, but hey, most of us are skeptical of anything these days. Luckily, we can count on these dynamic women to air their grievances, bring their receipts, and have us laughing all at the same time.

Doing the reunion on Zoom instead of in a fancy ballroom was a risk. This group, especially, always has a lot to discuss and Bravo ran the risk of losing some of their energy over the internet. But these women, along with host Andy Cohen and the editors of this fine program, made Part 1 of the reunion not only as successful as can be expected in these unprecedented times, but actually a lot of fun, too.

As we saw with the Summer House reunion on Watch What Happens Live last week, with everyone in their own spaces it does give producers the ability to mute certain people so that only one person is speaking at a time. With Atlanta, well, that was mostly the case. There was only one main incident where Cohen seemed to employ the mute button when he was unable to butt in, and we were still treated to several overtalking moments throughout the hour. But they didn’t have to lean on the mute button nearly as much as I worried they would. In fact, the editing here felt awfully similar to how a regular reunion would. It should also be noted that these women had almost zero technical difficulties, with the slight exception of Cynthia Bailey’s audio at one point, and Nene’s decision to shift her camera down was so that she could “pee and change her tampon” which seemed to be more of a business move than a dramatic move. This group should also be applauded for figuring out just the right way to hide their headphone cords behind their head so that it didn’t detract from the sparkling jewels hanging from their ears whatsoever. Great job, ladies!

I appreciate that they were not only asked about it but owned up to the fact that they did not actually do all their (very pretty!) own hair and makeup themselves and did break social distancing to look good for the special occasion — save for sweet Kandi who did her entire look on her own. This experiment didn’t miss a beat of the typical reunion template, with phone footage of each of the ladies getting ready early in the morning, settling into their own seats for the big show, and still giving us 100%.

In fact, the reason why The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion is working at all is because of these women — and Andy too, though I do miss the swivel of his head as he turns to each couch, but he brought it with his facial expressions and telling sighs. But the RHOA cast did not hold back and was possibly even bolder than ever knowing that they had more than social distance from the other women. There would be no getting up from the couch, no fingers in faces, and no spitting in sight because they were safe at home and safe to say exactly what was on their minds. This is already a group of the boldest, give no fucks, loudest Housewives on the network, but they all made sure to have their words heard, even, again, sweet Kandi who more than once had to raise her hand and ask if she could speak.

Of course there were still adjustments to be made. Receipts in the form of text conversations had to be screenshotted and sent around instead of a simple glance at a phone. Maybe I’m just missing being in the same room as other humans now, but there were certainly still moments where it was missed in this case. But ultimately, this reunion was more than sufficient and even exceedingly entertaining and a real treat for these times. The women were as funny as ever, cracking jokes just as often as they were spilling tea, and at no point did they seem bored or uninterested in what was being discussed. There were new nicknames for the group (The Shady Bunch!) and a new catchphrase (“We dogged each otha!”) and I laughed out loud several times.

Between the combination of the energy they all brought to this special and the editing, always flashing to just the right box when the show needed an appropriate facial reaction to punctuate a point, other shows, and specifically other Housewives, should be taking notes. We’ve still got several weeks before a Beverly Hills or New York reunion will take place but it’s looking like this is the way it will go down. So it’s time for those women to step it up. Let’s get Ramona all set up now so she doesn’t have to navigate technical difficulties (obviously with the help of daughter Avery) during the reunion. And, like the Atlanta ladies always do, let’s make sure other cities know to come ready to hash it out, but also with a sense of humor handy. After all, joking that your friend’s breasts are “social distancing” in their gown really is proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion Part 2 airs Sunday, May 17 at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

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