My oh my, Bravo TV really brought the heat and the tea on Sunday night, December 6th, on The Real Houswives of Potomac (RHOP). We’ve got to be honest, the ladies in Potomac have really brought it all season long. What we thought was going to be another franchise of Real Housewives that was not going to make it is obviously here to stay and after season 5, we see it now!

As we know, the season kicked off with a barn style brawl between cast members Monique Samuels and Candiace Dillard Bassett. Once friends who considered themselves “big sis” and “lil sis”, are now in a dark place after they were both involved in a physical altercation that really shook things up this season. Definitely a shocker, because we as viewers always looked at RHOP as the “uppity” cast who wouldn’t dare be caught on cam laying a finger on each other let alone fist to heads and wine glasses to the faces. Sadly, things were taken there this season. With that being said, we knew it would a downward spiral from there with certain people taking others side.

In the finale of season 5, we see Gizelle Byrant who’s currently dating a mega pastor from Atlanta, GA, Jamal Bryant (her ex-husband) who still seems to can’t make it to a gathering while her girlfriends are still waiting to meet him. Now, we’ve got to be fair, its clear they’re all into each other but is it production that’s making it look like Jamal is bailing on Gizelle at every chance he gets or is it just that he doesn’t want to be around the ladies and their husbands? Needless to say, it’s not giving Gizelle much “man credit”. Not to mention, their three daughters never seem to be excited about their dad when he’s mention. Nevertheless, Jamal is still considered as “phone boyfriend” as he’s only seen when it’s a facetime video phone call. Per usual, Gizelle and Karen friendship is still rocky. Undetermined terms is the best way we can describe it. Can we all just get alone?

Wendy Osefo, this season’s newbie – the verdict is still out. But, one thing we know for sure is she has FOUR DEGREES! It was a running theme for her this season. For me, her coming in with such a strong opinion on everything was a bit much. If anything, it would’ve been nice to see more of her professionalism versus her having an opinion on everything, especially considering she hasn’t been around the ladies long (I think she was a faithful fan/viewer prior). I definitely think we’ll see Wendy (and her four degrees) back for another season, perhaps showing her more as a working black woman, a mother, a wife and the family dynamics between she and her in-laws. Hey Wendy, that’s your story line for next season. Thank us later.

Meanwhile, the grande dame is not playing with us and her brand! Karen Huger is building her fragrance empire as she debuts her La Dame perfume on HSN. Nothing is more vindicating when something that was mocked fun at (when she first introduced the idea to the group) and now is thriving. But, with ups are still downs. Of course, Karen and her husband Ray Huger aka the black Bill Gates are still working on bringing the spark back into their relationship and her on going disputes with the girls are out of the roof. Candiace is still in rage that Karen is in support of Monique after their fight. The two clashed at Robyn’s winter wonderland party over Karen’s wig party that took place during the season – with Candiace and the girls still blaming Karen of trying to set Candiace up to run into Monique. Between Candiace and her beef, its hard to keep up with who she’s beefing with…but, we like her Go-Go remix of “I See You”.

Speaking of Robyn’s winter wonderland party…it was a success and probably one of the BEST season finales within the housewives franchise. Robyn Dixon and her ex-husband Juan threw a holiday shindig (with an open bar – take notes Candiace and that cash bar you had) and it was the ultimate party. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve always rooted for Juan and Robyn, so it was exciting to see Juan drop to his knee and propose in front of everyone. A classic moment and it was obvious Robyn had no idea it was coming. Shout out to Gizelle (who can be a bone collector) for not spilling the beans and giving Robyn a hint. But, y’all know all isn’t well with conflict. While Candiace was doing what she does best… screaming at the top of her lungs in public, while blaming everyone else but herself for her actions, followed by crocodile tears -- things were heating up at the bar between the fellas when Michael Darby (Ashley Darby's husband) and Chris Bassett (Candiace’s husband) got into a confrontation.

Now, we know what we see one TV is a mere couple of minutes of hours of taping at these events... so, it’s clear to say that it is about time this happened. The cocktails had been flowing heavily. But, as adults its probably best to hold your liquor before getting out of control. And we’ve seen Michael get out of hand quite a bit. Production this season held nothing back, first by showing the entire altercation between and Monique and Candiace and secondly all that went down with Michael and Ashley at this party. Needless to say, it was shocking. No one, not even Juan (Michael’s bromance partner) could contain Michael as he blew off the hinges. The aftermath of the winter wonderland was crazy, but I loved how it highlighted the happiness of Robyn and Juan.

Last but not least, Monique Samuels. She really had a rocky season. Of course, when we see a fight during the season (especially on the housewives franchise) we immediately think this person is going to get fired. And lets be honest… the throw down between she and Candiace was bad. I was shocked to see it happen so early on in the season, so for me, that’s how I knew it was going to be a good season with lots of drama. Stuck between a hard place of fulfilling your contractual duties while keeping distance from someone who has brought the worse of out of you, Monique found herself with little TV time and casted out by the ladies, seemingly only having scenes with Karen and Ashley. Do we think it was a lesson learned? Yes – for both ladies as all charges have been officially dropped after a scare from both parties when lawsuits were filled. But, the question is, where do they go from here?

I guess we will have to see at the Real Housewives of Potomac three part reunion, set to air on December 13th, 20th, and 27th on Bravo TV.