Play Dates, Play Time, and Playboy

Is Toni Braxton -- THE Toni Braxton, preacher's daughter, Grammy winner -- really going to do Playboy? She says she's seriously considering it. The majority of her family is excited about it, except for Tamar and their mother, Evelyn. Tamar even takes Toni to a photography studio for a mock session, which she refuses to do. Her argument is that she's not showing her "$8,900" boobies to just anyone, if she chooses to pose for Playboy, she'll be showing them to Hugh Hefner. If Hugh Hefner thinks she's sexy and good enough to be in his magazine, then it must be so. She looks at it as a tribute to her present status and her ability to maintain her good looks and spirit despite her health and financial issues. Meanwhile, Tamar, resident drama princess, is planning an appreciation party for her husband, Vincent. The party, however, has underlying motives. Tamar is really using this as an opportunity to sell herself to her husband and try to convince him once again that she is ready to become the solo artist that she has been pressuring him to turn her into. She takes a sexy photo and has it blown up and presented to him in front of her entire family and all their friends. That was his gift to show him how much appreciates him. She asks her sisters, Towanda and Trina, to take a a belly dancing class and perform a sexy dance at this party. How awkward and inappropriate was that? It's obvious this family is no stranger to Tamar's antics and although Toni looked extremely uncomfortable and Vincent appeared to be slightly embarrassed, the whole thing was a mess, but fun to watch. Also during this episode, Towanda sends her mother, Evelyn, off on a blind date with, to Evelyn's surprise, a snow flake (a white man)! At first, Evelyn was a little turned off by the fact that her afternoon date ordered a scotch on the rocks at such an early hour, but once she learned he might have a little money in the bank, she warmed right up to him and seemed to enjoy herself. This is a light-hearted prequel to what's coming up next week when the girls decide to go back their hometown and seek out their father for a Braxton reunion. Being that their parents divorced after 35 years due to their pastor father's infidelity, this is going to make for some emotional and very real final 2 episodes.