Kenya Contradicts Herself On 'RHOA'

Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 9 picked up where the premiere left off, when Kenya kicked Porsha out of her housewarming party because she wasn't invited. Kenya blamed this on the incident from the Season 8 finale, when Porsha chased down a girl at the Christmas party to start a fight, but it felt like Kenya attempting to prompt another big scene. To her credit, Porsha did not bite, instead, leaving the situation peacefully with a big ol' smile on her face, setting off the theme of the episode: Kenya fights with Shereé, she attempts to goad Porsha, and her play at dramatic, relatable moments with Matt (her ex) all wound up coming across as really fake.

Kenya's edict means that Phaedra, Porsha, and Shereé missed out on the most dramatic event of the party, when Matt crashed Kenya's housewarming party. Cynthia puts it best when she says that Kenya and Matt's most compatible qualities are the fact that they both love being dramatic. Kenya and Matt really did break up in real life, but their discussion in Kenya's room — down to the way they step out of the party so the audio is easier to understand — is a little suspicious, and would feel less-so if it was following a huge showdown with Porsha instead.

Matt's dialogue feels like something Kenya would write, right down to calling her a "queen." Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe Matt is simply Kenya's ready for TV soulmate, but when the couple get back together just in time for all of the guests to abandon the party, it feels incredibly staged.

Then, at Porsha's "mystery room" hangout, Kenya is the one insisting it will go horribly wrong, but as it turns out, the hang goes pretty well, with the ladies totally preoccupied by the mystery, rather than criticizing one another. And after waiting all episode to challenge Shereé about mentioning the differential between Moore Manor and Chateau Shereé, Kenya once again gets totally showed up by the Mistress of Shade (temporarily, I presume, until NeNe returns) and the initiator of one of the all-time iconic reality TV moments.

Porsha is making an attempt to change, from being the girl who always loses her temper and starts a fight to a more subtle, shady member of the cast. I'm sure it won't last forever, but for now, I'm enjoying the surprising effect it's having on Kenya's place in the show.

Image: Mark Hill/Bravo; Giphy