Atlanta is a city where a baby shower can become a full-scale theatrical production, a trip to the plastic surgeon can double as emotional therapy, and a man can apparently make a living explaining to women why other men aren’t dating them. It’s a lot to unpack, and we’re only getting started.
NeNe is having a difficult time. Her marriage to Gregg is strained, things with her son Bryson have been weighing on her, and she’s apparently decided that the best way to get her happiness back is to make a few adjustments to the exterior. Because when life gets complicated, sometimes the answer is a plastic surgeon and a very specific list of requests.
NeNe meets with her surgeon to discuss reducing her breast implants, getting some liposuction, and making adjustments to her nose. This is not a woman popping in for a little facial. She’s got a project.
The surgery makes her nervous, and once she’s under anesthesia, she’s repeatedly asking for Gregg. Unfortunately, Gregg is not exactly making a grand romantic appearance. NeNe’s marriage is having a rough time, and even unconscious NeNe seems to be looking around for her husband.
When she wakes up, she’s still heavily medicated and delivering the kind of commentary that makes NeNe NeNe. She’s concerned about her nose, doesn’t want to look like Dwight, and has her friend Diana call Shereé with the news that she can now fit into one of Shereé’s bras. Even recovering from surgery, NeNe has time for a punchline.
Kim comes to visit, and NeNe immediately notices that she has arrived without wine. There are many ways to support a friend after surgery. Kim has apparently selected the least useful one.
NeNe is still on pain medication, her nose is running, and Diana tries to help by dabbing at it. NeNe objects, telling her not to hurt Michael Jackson. The woman is barely out of recovery and still has a full comedy routine available.
Gregg remains conspicuously absent, which is less amusing. NeNe is trying to get herself back together while the state of her marriage hangs over the whole situation. A new nose can be arranged. A new husband apparently requires a longer appointment.
Meanwhile, Shereé is working out with her trainer and discussing her new romantic interest, Dr. Tay-E, better known as the Love Doctor. Shereé is interested, and the good doctor has quite the professional niche: he holds seminars for single, successful Black women about why successful single men aren’t asking them out.
Well, that’s certainly a business model.
Shereé is intrigued enough to attend one of his seminars. The premise is interesting, although one might wonder whether a single man explaining how to attract successful men is the ideal person to consult. It’s a little like taking financial advice from someone who is still waiting for their own direct deposit.
Shereé, however, is not deterred. She likes the Love Doctor, and after the seminar he invites her over for dinner. Suddenly the professional consultation has become a date. Apparently the course has a practical component.
Over in Kim’s world, Big Papa is back in the picture, and we finally get a look at her parents, Joe and Karen. They seem perfectly comfortable with Kim’s relationship with Big Papa, although her mother has some reservations about Kim’s priorities. She suggests that Kim may be choosing fame over family.
Kim’s life is a curious combination of country music aspirations, wealthy boyfriends, and family commentary. There is always another storyline waiting to be unpacked, preferably with a wig and a glass of wine.
Kim also has a new musical ambition. Inspired by a late-night television joke about her engagement ring, she wants another song. Naturally, she goes to Kandi.
Kandi is willing to help, but this time she wants producer credit. A reasonable request, considering that Kim’s musical career seems to involve Kandi doing the actual musical work while Kim supplies the blonde hair and the ambition.
Kandi has talent, experience, and a legitimate music career. Kim has a dream and a willingness to keep asking for songs. This partnership is going to need a contract.
Elsewhere, Phaedra and Cynthia finally get some time together, and their outing is a trip to Atlanta’s Steeple Chase, the city’s version of a Kentucky Derby event. Phaedra has arranged transportation, and Cynthia and Peter are picked up in a limousine.
Phaedra and Dwight join them, arriving in elaborate hats that immediately attract attention. Cynthia privately compares Phaedra to Tammy Faye Bakker and Dwight to Willy Wonka. The hats are doing a lot of work, and not all of it is successful.
The conversation in the limo takes an awkward turn when Phaedra starts discussing Apollo’s background. She emphasizes that Apollo is clean and doesn’t have children. Peter, meanwhile, casually reveals that he has five children.
Five.
Phaedra is not exactly thrilled by the idea of dealing with multiple baby mamas, and she makes her feelings known. Peter becomes increasingly irritated as the conversation continues. It’s a long limo ride, and nobody seems particularly interested in changing the subject.
Phaedra has apparently decided that Apollo’s lack of complicated family history is a selling point. Peter has five children and is now being interviewed about them in front of a captive audience. This is why some people prefer to drive themselves.
But the main event is still to come.
Phaedra is preparing for her Kentucky Derby-themed baby shower, and she has enlisted Dwight to organize and decorate the affair. Dwight is not approaching this as a casual gathering where people eat cake, open presents, and go home. This is a production.
The guests include Cynthia, Kandi, Kim, and Lisa Wu Hartwell, who makes a brief appearance. The event is elaborate, theatrical, and very much in keeping with Phaedra’s desire to make an impression.
Phaedra arrives with white roses arranged in her hair, and Cynthia suspects Dwight’s influence. Kandi looks around and decides that the whole thing resembles a wedding more than a baby shower. She’s not wrong. There are apparently no limits to what can happen when Dwight is given a budget and a theme.
Kim arrives late, and to make matters worse, she hasn’t worn a hat. Phaedra is not pleased. The dress code was apparently not a suggestion, and Kim has managed to violate the rules before she’s even found her seat.
Then the entertainment begins.
Ballerinas appear, because apparently a baby shower is incomplete without a ballet performance. Phaedra explains that she supports the arts and wanted to incorporate that into the celebration. That’s a lovely sentiment. It’s also a lot of choreography for an event where the guest of honor is about to have a baby.
And then Phaedra and Dwight dance together.
Yes. The hostess and her event planner perform a waltz.
The guests watch as the two take to the floor, and the whole affair becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from a wedding reception, a theatrical revue, or a very expensive fever dream.
Kandi looks at Phaedra’s rhinestone eye jewelry and supplies the perfect description: boughetto, a combination of bourgeois and ghetto.
And there it is. The episode’s title has found its purpose.
Phaedra wanted an elegant, extravagant, unforgettable baby shower. She certainly got unforgettable. Whether she got elegant is a matter for the jury.
The party is a spectacular demonstration of what happens when Dwight is given creative control and nobody thinks to ask whether the ballerinas are really necessary. The baby hasn’t even arrived, and already it has attended a more elaborate social event than most adults will experience in a lifetime.
By the end of the episode, everyone has contributed something: NeNe has a new nose, Shereé has a date with the Love Doctor, Kim has another musical opportunity, Kandi is negotiating producer credit, and Phaedra has thrown a baby shower that deserves its own closing credits.
Atlanta has never met an ordinary occasion it couldn’t make unnecessarily complicated.
And somewhere, a baby is still waiting to be born into all of this.
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