There are certain moments in the Real Housewives franchise's history that were so singularly horrifying and incredible to watch that you need only mention a single phrase and fans will know exactly what you're talking about and be ready to relive the viewing experience with you: Scary Island. The Berkshires. The Irish Van Ride from Hell. The Bunny.
We're not sure what easily-identifible moniker tonight's conclusion to The Real Housewives of Atlanta's historic four-part reunion will come to be known by, but the contents therein damn sure rank up there with the best of them. Our suggestion? The Complete Undoing of Phaedra Parks, Esq.
After Porsha Williams' startling admission in the final moments of last week's episode that it was none other than the Frick to her Frack who told her Kandi Burruss and her husband Todd Tucker wanted to essentially date rape her, all eyes were on Phaedra to explain herself. And that's when things went really, really south.
Proving Kandi and Shemea Morton's point they'd been making all season long that perhaps Phaedra was using her new pal, Porsha found herself stunned as Phaedra immediately tried to refute Porsha's claims that Phaedra heard the damning drugging rumor from Kandi firsthand. "I shouldn't have repeated it," Phaedra meekly said, as Porsha burst into tears. She wasn't going to own up to anything. "Maybe you heard me wrong," she dared say as her (former?) friend stared in disbelief.
As it all became too much for Kandi and Porsha alike, the proceedings devolved into the can't-look-away chaos we'd been promised since the preview for this reunion first broke. As Kandi retreated to a restroom with Shamea, Cynthia Bailey and Sheree Whitfield, where she demanded host Andy Cohen's unfiltered thoughts on what just went down ("I'm shocked," he said), Porsha went off in search of her sister Lauren for support. And where was Phaedra? Getting her fixed. If she was sweating, it certainly didn't show.
When the ladies made their way back to the couches, it was clear Phaedra wasn't prepared to fully own her part in anything. Also clear? That until Porsha finally stopped protecting her at the reunion, Phaedra had no intention of stopping the way this criminal accusation she'd just made up as it escalated. Keep in mind how many chances she had throughout the season: The dinner in Hawaii, the restoration service, literally any other day she'd been alive.
"I just want to know when you were going to stop the all the madness," Porsha asked Phaedra pointblank. She was met with crickets.
How Phaedra thought she'd get away with this out-of-bounds bit of manipulation might remain one of those enduring Real Housewives mysteries because we've got a feeling that just might be the last we've seen of the lawyer/mortician/Donkey Booty enthusiast. After all, how can she even attempt to bounce back from that? If you're Kandi or Porsha or anyone else, would you agree to film with her again? We're not sure we would.
Do you think there's a chance Phaedra can return to RHOA? Would you even want her to? Sound off in the comments below!
The Real Housewives of Atlanta returns for season 10 later this year on Bravo.
(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)