Well, it all comes down to this! Part 1 of The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 reunion has arrived, and the women were challenged to salvage this season. They gathered in all-black outfits, seemingly in mourning for the show that was once a top-tier franchise.

During The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8 finale, we watched the Potomac ensemble navigate the aftermath of a nasty brawl. Commiserating over a fight that left Kiearna with 12 stitches was one of the few moments in the entire season where the women seemed to act like a cohesive group.

Since this season was mostly characterized by the women refusing to get along, Andy Cohen opened the sitdown by setting an intention for the women. If the bossman kicks off the reunion by calling the season “frustrating,” you know a lot is riding here. He challenged all of them to find a path forward and take some accountability for what went wrong in Season 8. That turned out to be a lot easier said than done.

Let’s talk about sex

Throughout the season, the ladies struggled to find any common ground. The one thing that seemed to get them talking? Sex. When it’s time to talk about sex, all of their ears perk up. Mia blamed it on the fact that they’re all just “horny toads.” With that in mind, Andy kicked off the reunion by revisiting all of the raunchy conversations the ladies had this season. It was a good way to ease into things.

One sexual topic that seemed to stick was Robyn’s advice on oral sex. In particular, Robyn had some very specific directions about what to do at the end. Andy asked the ladies if anyone had taken Robyn’s advice, and Mia quickly weighed in and said she had been experimenting with her new beau Incognito, AKA Inc.

Talking about sex was a good starting point to get the ladies all loosed up, but it didn’t take long for the shade to start. As they revisited Karen’s comment about how many sexual partners she may or may not have had over the last five years, Robyn walked herself right into a banger of a read. She accused Karen of not being able to keep up with her number of sexual partners. The Grande Dame perfectly responded by saying, “No, that would be Juan.”

Where in the world is Juan Dixon?

Coming to Season 8, Robyn and Juan had an uphill battle with having to explain the bizarre saga of Juan running around in hotels and laundromats with women who weren’t Robyn. They did a terrible job explaining it and an even worse job trying to clear it up at the reunion.

When Andy started asking Robyn about Juan, she said that she felt like he was supportive of her this season. Since Juan lost his job, we saw him pop up on the show more than we had in previous seasons. Still, she admitted that he didn’t watch the show back. He also didn’t bother to show up to the reunion, which seemed baffling to everyone.

It’s been four seasons since Juan last showed up to a reunion. You’d think with his wife in the hot seat, he would take a break from submitting job applications on Indeed to show up at the reunion. Instead, Robyn said he “declined” to come.

Wendy had the best perspective on the issue. She said that Juan should have been well aware that his wife would be under fire at the reunion because of his actions. Even if he didn’t watch the show, it would take just a teeny tiny ounce of self-awareness to realize that skipping the reunion would be more stressful for Robyn.

Wendy explained, “The least he can do as your husband is stand behind you and say, ‘Baby you don’t have to take all the bullets. I can take some too.’”

When it came time for Robyn to address Juan’s situation, there wasn’t much new information to share. Robyn hasn’t changed her story about what happened, and she stood ten toes down on the fact that she believes her man. The other women admitted that they didn’t believe Juan’s story, but who cares? Mia said that as Robyn’s friends, they just have to accept what Robyn is giving them. As viewers, we feel the same way.

Candiace brought the props

The conversation about Juan prompted Candiace to revisit her issues with Robyn. Candiace still felt like Robyn undermined the authenticity of RHOP by hiding the Juan storyline behind a Patreon paywall. She said it was hypocritical for Robyn to have such big expectations for her costars while failing to be transparent herself.

With that in mind, Andy shared a question from a viewer, pointing out how Candiace previously said that she and her husband could pick and choose what to include on the show. That’s when things got weird. Unlike most audience questions, they bleeped the name of this person. Candiace immediately hit back and said she wouldn’t answer the question because it came from a blogger whom Robyn is friends with.

Candiace started throwing accusations at Robyn bout how she was sharing “proprietary” information with a blogger in a group chat. She proceeded to pull out these ginormous poster boards from behind the couch that looked like something you would use for a sixth-grade science fair. Regardless, Candiace pulled them out like a smoking gun and tried to illustrate how Robyn had been communicating with a blogger in a group chat.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Candiace has accused Robyn of being too friendly with bloggers. She had the same complaint at Charrisse’s crab boil. It wasn’t an effective argument then, and it wasn’t effective at the reunion. The fact that they blurred out the screenshots on her poster boards didn’t help her case.

Either way, anytime Candiace starts going on these rants about things that happened online and something a blogger said, it just doesn’t connect. She sounds less like a Real Housewife and more like a conspiracy theorist. She could have spent less time at Office Max getting props made and more time developing a cohesive argument.

Finding a path forward

Since Andy wanted the women to find a path forward, Part 1 was largely focused on Candiace and the Green-Eyed Bandits. Despite Andy’s crystal clear instructions, trying to get any of these three women to take accountability and move forward was like pulling teeth.

Andy specifically asked Candiace what she needed from Robyn to move forward. In a matter of seconds, we watched her transition from arguing and pointing at her posterboards to “crying” and asking for a cryangle. Gizelle burst out into laughter over the theatrics, which Andy didn’t seem to appreciate.

While Robyn and Candiace’s feud still made zero sense, the issues between Candiace and Gizelle were a little more clear. Gizelle talked about how she started receiving an influx of death threats that were reminiscent of Candiace’s “colorist” comments at the Season 7 reunion.

Candiace didn’t think it was appropriate to take the blame for the death threats Gizelle received. She argued that everyone receives death threats, so Gizelle’s experience wasn’t unique. She then started fumbling through her poster boards, seemingly to try to find an example.

On the other hand, Candiace explained that she was still resentful of Gizelle’s comments about Chris in Season 7. They spent a solid chunk of the reunion arguing over what exactly Gizelle said. In Candiace’s mind, Gizelle accused her husband of sexual assault. No one on stage agreed with her, but she refused to back down from that position.

Wendy tried to help her friend and asked Candiace if she was willing to hold herself accountable for any of the drama. It took a while, but Candiace did finally agree to hold herself accountable for her reaction to Gizelle. It was the tiniest little bit of progress, but it still didn’t seem like there was a clear path moving forward. It’s a dead end.

Mia sheds light on Incognito

By the end of the reunion, Andy shifted gears away from the dead end and we revisited the mess that Mia’s life right now. The last time we saw them, they were arguing in their kitchen. During the reunion, they were seemingly on decent terms. Backstage, he even jumped into a Facetime with Inc and greeted his estranged wife’s new man. Talk about a modern family.

Mia added more color to the story about Inc. First of all, he is not a DJ. He is a radio personality. Andy made that mistake, and Mia quickly corrected him. Words matter.

Mia also explained how they were high school sweethearts who grew apart as life took them in different directions. They reconnected at the beginning of Mia’s relationship with Gordon. When things got bad in her marriage, linking up with Inc again seemed natural.

In the finale, we learned that there were some questions surrounding Mia’s son Jeremiah. She said they weren’t sure if it was Gordon’s child or Jeremiah. It felt icky to hear that on TV, but during the reunion, Wendy added another layer of mess to the story. She said that Gordon alleged that Inc came to Mia’s house and tried to take Jeremiah. Mia admitted that even to this day, Inc still thinks Jeremiah is his child. Where is Maury Povich when you need him?

In the next part of the reunion, the husbands (where applicable) join their wives on stage. Gordon is about to have a lot of explaining to do. Luckily, he and Mia seem committed to having a polar opposite approach to reality TV compared to Robyn and Juan.