After a two-week hiatus, RHONY is back!
The eighth episode of the Real Housewives of New York opens with the women getting ready for Eboni K. Williams' party, A Harlem Night with Eboni K. William. As Eboni gets ready, she receives a call from Ramona Singer requesting a plus one for her new friend, Bershan. If you don't know who Bershan is, she's is the other black woman Ramona is posting pictures with on Instagram that Sonja Morgan and Leah McSweeney (and Luann de Lesseps) have noted Ramona is using, along with the photo she's posted with Eboni, for Ramona to demonstrate she's not a racist. Sonja is getting ready in the townhouse and admits to only knowing Harlem as a tourist. Lu gets ready and shares in her confessional that she's a fan of Harlem. Ramona openly admits to never having been to Harlem. We cut to footage from early RHONY of Ramona not going to the McCord's housewarming because the house was in Brooklyn.
A Harlem Night with Eboni K. Williams is being held in one of the last speakeasies in Harlem. Leah arrives and declares the stairs down to the speakeasy is a literal death sentence. Lu is dressed like Cruella Deville. Sonja arrives with a glittery gold face mask and a headband/tiara. Leah is dressed in a silver satin button down shirt and matching pants. There’s so many kisses and hugs hello I’ve almost forgotten it’s a pandemic. But bartender Gil reminds me with his mask.
The ladies all pose for a photo and Ramona makes them mix in so it’s not a segregated picture, then she has Gil take a vertical photo for Instagram and the women roll their eyes thinking there’s more truth to the claim from election night that Ramona is being performative on her social media.
Eboni has all the ladies seated for dinner and presents them with gifts. Each woman is given a candle from the Harlem Candle Company. Leah's sister, Sarah, shows up. Sonja asks what she should do with a feather she found at the table before sticking it in her hair. Eboni explains each woman has been assigned an icon from the Harlem Renaissance. Eboni is Josephine Baker. Leah is assigned James Baldwin for being a truth teller. Eboni's friend Nat is given W. E. B. Dubois. Lu has Billie Holiday, the voice of Harlem. At this point we cut to a talking head of Lu complaining the dinner is moving kind of slow. As Leah predicted, the historical segment of the night is not a big hit with the women. Sonja is Zora Neale Hurston. Ramona is given Duke Ellington because naturally they're both tastemakers. Ramona eats Sonja’s little sandwich. Bershan shares an opinion (that all people are the same) and Eboni does not agree with this sentiment and feels it undermines the experience of her party which is to expose the women to a different culture so that they could appreciate it.
Ramona confesses she might have to leave mid-dinner. She blames it on her vertigo and does a demonstration for the group, where she holds Sonja’s hands, closes her eyes, and falls over. Bershan shares with Leah that she was given three months to live with stage 4 cancer thirteen years ago. Ramona tells the women Coco isn’t doing well lately. Ramona leaves the party without Bershan, who, once Ramona has left, gets the ladies talking about small penises again.
Leah and Eboni are out for lunch. Eboni shares Sonja and Ramona sent her thoughtful sentiments after her party. Eboni expresses how she feels her purpose in life is to educate people about black culture and was worried that the women didn’t appreciate her party despite their notes.
Lu's daughter, Victoria, visits Lu at her new apartment. Victoria tells her mom that if she wants Sonja to cut back on the drinking she should be an example of sobriety for her. Victoria tells her mom she’s nicer, calmer, and better, and that her sobriety is a gift. They have a touching moment.
Kier, Leah's daughter, and Leah meet with Whitney an admission consultant, who is helping Kier apply to high schools. (A very rare moment of housewifing with an actual child on the show.)
Ramona has Eboni and Carey (Eboni's dog) over. Eboni asks what she thought of "A Harlem Night with Eboni K. Williams". And Ramona tells her she threw a beautiful party with excellent attention to detail. Then Eboni dives into politics, a conversation Ramona notoriously hates having. Despite this, Eboni keeps pressing. Instead, Ramona tells Eboni that after their weekend in the Hamptons, she’s thought about what happened and has tried to educate herself. She learned what microaggressions are and we cut to a scene from a week ago where she tells Lu what a microaggression is. Eboni leads the conversation back to politics and Ramona gets up and walks away. Ramona puts on a butterfly necklace to put her in a happier place. Eboni tells Ramona she is gaslighting her by telling her she doesn’t want to be preached at. Ramona tells Eboni she’s gaslighting her by bringing up politics despite expressing clearly she doesn’t want to talk about it. And Ramona let’s it slip that Lu and Sonja also feel like Eboni can be a bit preachy and would like her to share her thoughts on other things. Ramona tells Eboni that she’s got to go despite being in her own house. Eboni brings up Sonja’s issue with the Ramona's Instagram photos and Ramona says Sonja’s just jealous. In a bizarre twist, Ramona and Eboni make up. Doesn't everyone love a happy ending?
Comments