Fresh off their stint at sexologist Ava Cadell’s intimacy retreat, Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett are finally starting to get back to the happy-go-lucky couple they were pre-scandal. So, naturally, drama pops up thanks to an unexpected source.
The episode starts off on a comedic note, though, with Wilkinson taking bestie Jessica Hall to get her very first colonic. The ladies have Hugh Hefner’s Midsummer Night Dream party coming up, and they need to evacuate their bowels in the name of 5 pounds.
When Wilkinson lies on the table, the technician explains it’s best to be, uh, hydrated. To which Hall quips, “Fill ‘er up.” Then, when it’s her turn, Hall exclaims, “How far do I have to stick the thing up there?” And, seeing the tube, “I hate everybody right now.” These girls are hilarious!
Meeting a new member of the fam
Wilkinson is still basking in her post-colonic glow on the patio when Baskett comes outside to remind her that her dad, Eric, will be there soon. Wilkinson and Baskett are both a bit nervous, given that Eric warned them before his arrival that he had a big surprise.
And, well, he wasn’t lying. “This is Amy… and Amy is my fiancée,” he announces to a rather shocked Wilkinson and Baskett.
Understandably, it’s a lot to take in. “I just reunited with my Dad, and I’m not ready to share him yet,” Wilkinson says before conceding, “I wanna like Amy. I really do. I mean, she’s gonna marry my dad. So my goal is to get to know the woman who is going to be my stepmom.”
She’s going to have to figure out a way to come to peace with the decision sooner or later, since Eric asks Baskett to be his best man — and Amy wants Wilkinson to be in her wedding party, too. Wilkinson laughs hysterically, ’cause that’s kind of her thing.
In a moment of foreshadowing, Baskett tells the camera in an aside that he predicts he and Wilkinson will actually be the parents in this group dynamic. Based on the wild and crazy nude photo Eric and Amy show off, that seems like a safe assumption.
The Playboy party that really went south
As her first act as a bridesmaid/future stepdaughter, Wilkinson invites Eric and Amy to tag along to the Midsummer Night Dream party at the Playboy Mansion. When Amy gushes over this, explaining how she has been obsessed with Playboy for years, little red flags go up in Wilkinson’s brain, prompting her to distrust Amy’s intentions.
At the party, Wilkinson, Hall and their respective husbands are pumped to “get down and dirty, like old times.” A few minutes and several snapshots of celebrity partygoers later, Wilkinson and Baskett are home in bed at a relatively reasonable hour.
Their early curfew apparently had everything to do with Eric’s future bride. “She was wasted when we left,” Wilkinson tells Baskett. “It’s like she was trying too hard. I had the misery of being with her all night… Oh my God. Oh. It was brutal, dude.”
Then, the phone rings — and Baskett’s prediction about parenting the parents comes true. “Kendra, I’m still at the Grotto right now, and Amy has had a few drinks,” Eric tells Wilkinson. “It appears Amy is in police custody.” Well, that escalated fast.
The next episode kicks off with a dutiful Baskett (the only person in their party of four who didn’t drink at the mansion) headed out to rescue Amy and Eric from police custody. Wilkinson calls Hall, because what girl doesn’t call her BFF when she’s got some juicy gossip?
The next morning, Baskett tells Wilkinson he rolled back home around 5 a.m., thanks to Eric and Amy’s shenanigans. But with both he and Wilkinson still exhausted from the drama, Baskett has to head out of town for a week on business.
Mommies’ morning in
Hall comes over after Baskett leaves to help Wilkinson sort through her feelings and, you know, gab about what went down the night before. It’s pretty adorable seeing Wilkinson and Hall gush over getting their too-cute-for-words kids together, but it does make you wonder if there is a correlation between Kendra’s confidence and the amount of time she spends at home with her family. At the moment, her confidence is high, and she is spending more QT with her kiddos.
“As a mom to three children, I find that my confidence is at its highest when I am with them,” echoes SheKnows parenting expert Lori Pace. “So, when I am away from them for a while, I actually have less confidence and happiness. Maybe I am wired differently, but spending quality time with the kids should be a priority over everything else.”
While having Wilkinson around is invariably a positive for the kids, realizing how happy she is when she’s away is potentially damaging, says Pace. “I think that if they see that Mommy seems happier away from them, it can only do harm to their own self-esteem. However, given the drama over the last year or so happening at home, I can understand why she would not be as happy there. But, for the kids’ sake, she really should find a way to spend quality time with them no matter her confidence levels. She will regret it later if she does not, I think.”
After Hall leaves and Wilkinson meets with her dad to talk, she ultimately decides she can’t stand a rift with her dad. And since Eric reiterates how much he loves Amy and wants her to be part of the family, Wilkinson plays nice when Amy calls later to apologize. So, even if Amy did embarrass Wilkinson in front of Kylie Jenner and Justin Bieber, she decides to forgive her.
The calm before the storm
But even though it seemed to be smooth sailing between Wilkinson and Baskett this week, SheKnows dating and relationship expert Laurel House cautions intimacy can be confused for recovery.
“Hank and Kendra seemed to turn a corner in their connection by re-sparking some of the intimacy in their relationship,” she explains. “But sex is a Band-Aid. In order to experience real healing, both of them need to be dedicated to repairing the holes. If they don’t, their relationship is like Swiss cheese, and sometimes those holes are exposed, causing a fight.”
Judging by next week’s teaser, in which Baskett storms out on Wilkinson, that assessment feels spot-on. The good news, though, is that this is just another leg of the healing process.
“They are still very fragile and, therefore, prone to misunderstandings… and even experiencing huge blowouts. And that’s normal. Two steps forward, one step back. It will take time before there is true safety, consistency and trust in their relationship.”
So what if, after all is said and done (after the Marriage Boot Camp, the individual counseling, the sex therapy), they still can’t land on the same page? What do they try next?
“What Kendra and Hank really need is time away from the camera,” says House. “They need a cameras-off couple’s retreat that allows them to be truly vulnerable, stripping down their walls — many of which are maintained for the sake of their public personas — and focus on their foundation.”
More on this season of Kendra on Top
Kendra Wilkinson & Hank make serious strides in their struggling sex life
Kendra’s intimacy issues stem from this person, says insider
Kendra on Top insider clears up Holly Madison’s wild claims against Kendra
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