Basketball Wives Season 4: Detective Tami and the Dead Horse

Is it just me or did that episode of Basketball Wives feel like it crammed a whole lot of information into an hour?

I mean, we got the reintroduction of each of the wives, with progress reports on what they’ve been up to during hiatus, along with information about what really led to the downfall of Evelyn and Jennifer’s relationship, the debut and first impressions of newbies Kenya and Kesha, and about 302 separate lunches, brunches, and trash talking sessions. All of this, linked by somebody trying to find out something about somebody else, made for a fast, entertaining hour that definitely set up season four to possibly be the most turbulent that Basketball Wives has put forward.

I have to say, though, that I really enjoyed the addition of Kesha more than I thought I would. She seemed like a laidback, normal girl that didn’t revel in the drama like some of these jackals do and I like how her presence on the show gives Royce somebody to play off of besides tired ol’ two-faced Suzie. Most importantly, she was very perceptive, nailing the personality of each of the wives she came into contact with, and I think having that ability to read people can come in handy on a show like Basketball Wives. I didn’t get much from Kenya in terms of personality, but it strikes me funny that one of the first things they mention about her is her recording career. I’m willing to “get to know” her as much as the show wants me to, but that just reads as blatant opportunism and I don’t know how I feel about that. The other wives have gone on to do a lot with their fame from the show, opening companies, acting, and landing product deals, but I don’t recall any of them coming into the game waving their “I want to be in entertainment” banner proudly. Kenya can do whatever she wants with her life, but if I’m supposed to give a damn about you and root for you, try making it less obvious how thirsty for fame you are.

Speaking of thirst, what was Suzie doing tonight? The shade to Royce (“I’ve never seen you wear this much clothes, ever.”), the BJ lessons at dinner with Kesha & Kenya, the continued denial about her actions last season not being due to her new “circle status” – five minutes into the episode, I was beyond over Suzie being extra and playing the martyr once again and it didn’t improve from there. People talk about how Tami starts stuff and how she can keep a problem going instead of squashing it, but the reason I like Tami so much is that she’s honest about her actions and makes no apologies. She’ll tell you right to your face why she’s doing what she’s doing and if you don’t like it, the door is right there. Suzie, on the other hand, still insists she only plays the middle, never taking responsibility for her actions and never owning up to her real motivations. Just look at tonight’s episode, where Tami tries to get Evelyn and Jennifer in the same room to talk about their rift. Suzie would have went blue in the face talking about how she only wants everybody to get along and that she made a cake filled with rainbows and smiles for us to share, but Tami kept it real. The meeting with Evelyn and Jennifer might not solve anything (spoiler alert: it didn’t), but everybody knows where the other stands now and that’s better than being in the dark and having to go through other people to figure out how one another feels.

But boy did Evelyn let Jennifer know how she felt then, huh? Her reaction, while entertaining, was way overblown for the “crime” that Jennifer committed, at least from what we heard tonight. It sounded like Evelyn still had some residual hurt from their Italy rift and Jennifer’s blog kind of stoked that hurt to the point where Evelyn’s masking it by acting a fool and then some. Add in the fact that Evelyn gives off a vibe that she’s one of those chicks that just has to be mad at somebody and boom, instant explosion. For the moment, consider me Team Jennifer, as I genuinely think she didn’t mean to upset Evelyn and when Evelyn blew this thing all out of proportion, she knew she had to act like she didn’t care or she’d come off looking pathetic on TV. She may talk a big game, but Jennifer is more sensitive than she lets on and you can tell that this is weighing on her much more than it is on Evelyn. Evelyn’s over it and onto the next one, but I don’t get how you can ditch someone you’ve known for 14 years, no matter if you’re only casual friends, over something as petty as a blog. It’s a shame that Evelyn’s bullheadedness could be cutting off somebody that likely had a decent role in her life, because you just know that, had she not come to the final meeting ready to fight, Jennifer would have been more than willing to talk things out.

If the rest of the season is as packed as the season premiere of Basketball Wives, I think we’re in for a pretty wild ride over the next 14 weeks. Already, the circle has been detonated, with the two core members at odds and nobody able to put to two back together again, and we’re on week one. Of all the ladies, I think Royce will be gaining the most strength socially, thanks to Kesha and the fact that season four looks like it’ll be more fractured than previous seasons of Basketball Wives. Now that it looks like there won’t be a central monolithic figure lumbering around Basketball Wives, it’s every woman for herself and I’m looking forward to seeing how different things look at the end of the season once the drama has been set all the way off.

Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“I don’t got time for this chick stuff.”
-“The horse is dead in the street, girl.”
-“Wait a minute, this doesn’t look like a Kesha.”
-“I’m fighting a cold. It’s winning.”
-“Are we in my living room or are we, like, in public?”
-You guys! I’m so happy we’re back together to dissect this mess. Let’s do this thing, shall we?
-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Any couple that has to flaunt how “in love” they are is just posing for the public, y’all. I say Evelyn and Ocho make it down the aisle for a Basketball Wives special, split their coins, and milk their divorce for all it’s worth. Plus it’ll give Evelyn a more redemptive storyline in a future season.
-Jennifer saying she’s not into meeting new people while meeting new people was too damn messy.
-Get a look at the fashion of Tami and Jennifer.
-Here’s a background of the Evelyn/Jennifer feud, as put together by yours truly.
-To find out what’s happening this season on Basketball Wives, be sure to check out the supertrailer.