Hot Dogs & Hot Mics: Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap

Season 16 Episode 2

Chris Murphy, Rob Franklin and I met in a google doc to discuss Season 16 Episode 2 of Real Housewives of Atlanta. Here are our unfiltered thoughts:

What did you think about the episode?

Rob: First thing I must confess is that I have never watched RHOA -- the only housewives franchise I’ve seen is one episode of Beverly Hills in which Dorit gets robbed... “allegedly,” which is also a key word in this RHOA episode (the maybe ****ally***** husband says he may get Brit pregnant, “allegedly,” which is not what that word means). That RHOBH episode, which I watched on an LA > NY Jetblue flight, was extremely plot forward -- with violence, theft, tears, and intrigue. So this was relatively very low in suspense and tension. 

Ziwe: We should recap an episode of Beverly Hills. Please comment below if you want that from Chris, Rob and I, we want to colonize the housewife corner of Substack. 

Chris: I am trying to be patient because I know we are more or less starting from scratch here, but this episode was a snooze. So much backstory, so much exposition, so little drama! Porsha did deliver in the final moments with the former Hot Dog King, Dennis (He is no longer the undisputed hot dog king of Atlanta because one of his stores shut down! RIP of course)

Ziwe: It’s worth noting there is a more famous hot dog establishment that Rob has frequented called Varsity……. Regardless, there are no excuses for the franchise that brought us Lenethia Leakes. I thought it was boresville. Too much talking. And not to be problematic but the insurance agent and the waffle lady look alike and sound alike. It was hard for me to get a hold of the storyline until Porsha cussed out the Hot Dog King in the Rolls Royce Simon bought for her. That was fun. All and all they filled this episode with clips to make it spicy. Glad we got to hear “bye ashy” on prime time tv. Glory days….

So Rob, you’ve never seen an episode of Atlanta before, would you say it represented your city well? And were there landmarks you recognized?

Rob: I will bravely say I don’t think most of them live in Atlanta and that’s no shade... I recognized “Buckhead Village,” a relatively recent real estate development that houses high end designer stores like Tom Ford... I recognized the Mercedes Benz Stadium, close to Kelly’s Nana’s Chicken and Waffles, which is just a stone’s throw from the very good Paschal’s (which serves Chicken and Waffles) as well as Gladys Knight’s now defunct Chicken and Waffles restaurant. 

Ziwe: (Interjecting) Way to undermine a girl boss’s chicken and waffles business!

Rob: Just some recommendations..... I also found myself wondering if any of them live in Cascade, which is the historically black/bougie neighborhood in Atlanta -- I kept having trauma flashbacks to an early aughts reality show called “The SWATS” that I think featured this girl who used to bully me in my chapter of Jack and Jill.