Lemondrop 16

I haven't posted in a long while and never on this thread, but I now know someone with the show! I used to watch Atlanta, but I've only seen a little bit of this show. Anyway...onto the good stuff.... Kim was taking time at the start of this season to get to know the crew. The person I know was pleased to see this as she usually doesn't show any interest in them. Well one of my friend's coworkers (the number 2 or 3 guy this season) was trying to make a good impression with Kim as she could be difficult. So this guy was a little ill at ease with her trying to say the right thing and not do anything wrong. This of course sounds like a smart thing to do except...he didn't know that a little earlier Kim had visited her fortune teller (I think it's the person who read her palm and told her she was going to get married and have sons a season before she met Kroy) and she told Kim to be careful because someone close to her had some bad energy. Kim was told to be wary of this person as he or she could somehow hurt her. Needless to say that careful crew member now has to do all of his work in an isolated office by himself!! Not only that, but a producer of the show, and a friend of the poor guy with the "bad karma", wasn't allowed into the home after this. He had to wait outside for twenty minutes while he was saged (is this even a verb!!) by Kroy!! OMG! I was so excited to hear this I just had to share! I also heard that Brianna makes $20,000 a month off instagram. She is apparently as difficult as her mother! Well I hope to hear more. And if I hear more you will too!!

I suppose I could begrudgingly watch Taylor again, but I can't believe even Bravo would be cold-hearted enough to bring back that poor little Kennedy! Can't the network have the decency Taylor lacks and film the mother and not the daughter? That girl deserves better. God knows, she's already suffered enough!

Is anyone else thinking Bravo might be planting the seeds for a twist on the Beador's dysfuntional marraige story line? I was expecting it to be a season of Shannon not being able to stop herself from pushing David away further, but I'm wondering ... the strange story David told about some woman he saw at the beach, and the short scene of his taking Shannon into the pantry (or whatever that room was) without any explanation made no sense to me. Why show that? I don't find it a stretch that David could be manipulating Shannon.

I always go into a season of the housewives rooting for someone as if it's a kind of sporting event. The winner looks good at the end (or at least better than the others, or better than their nemesis, or better than they do most seasons, or...). The reunions are like the superbowl to me. I think this is why I get so frustrated year after year at the reunions when Andy doesn't ask the tough questions of a housewife, or doesn't follow through when a housewife doesn't actually answer the question, and so on. In that same way I hate that Betheny has been favored all season. Not only has she gotten the vast majority of time on each episode, she sometimes is the only one to give her opinion in the TH (as many others have mentioned), and with the therapy sessions and visit with her step-father I think she has had special treatment to actually write most of the plot for the entire season. As someone who likes Heather, I can see the cards are stacked against her! What hope do I have that Heather can come out on top? I mean some supporters might have thrown in the towel at that damned meatball fiasco! Yet in reading this forum and seeing (actually just hearing about) the polls from WWHL I'm heartened to see that even with the umpire against her she might have a chance to come back before the whistle blows. And then I find that Betheny (with her minions at Bravo's help) gets to change every thing up with some last minute THs* and editing help. I guess Heather will come out ahead at the end (which you might think is enough for someone who likes her), but I was also kind of hoping that Betheny would lose - or at least be called on all of her arrogant and rude ways. But apparently she just changes sides as if we haven't watched all season. Ugh! *I know TH can be thrown in late, but I think this seasons don't feel like they've been added just to help the overall storyline but rather to help Betheny look good.

I kept looking for Pettifleur's eyebrow lady at the book launching party, you know, the one who wrote the book! It would have been nice since they are so close! I sure hope she wrote enough words...or at least 15 chapters (isn't that how many a book should have?).

It's pretty impressive that Kyle never really responded to Kim's assertions that she and Mauricio stole Kim's GD house. She said very little about it at the reunion or since, even though there was a lot of speculation on it. I can't imagine any other housewife letting that sit out there for four years when you have proof (actual cancelled checks) that its a lie. She didn't even bring it up last night (maybe it was bound to come up as they were at the new PS house, but still). That speaks more loudly than any words ever could!

I think we're getting a glimpse into how Brandi behaves when she is on the outs with a man. I'm sure she fights, plays emotional games and simply pushes the man away. Later when she's lonely or God forbid, sees him with someone else she's desperate to get him back. Then she follows him around promising all sorts of sexual favors (like she told Lisa at the charity tea). Cornering Lisa and trying to get her to kiss or slap her is probably what she's done a hundred times with guys before, and with some success. She's been desperate to "win" her back all season, and now as Lisa gets closer and closer to Kyle she's going out of her mind with jealousy. It's weird to see as a viewer and I'm sure it's creepy as hell to Lisa! Sorry if this has already discussed, but being on the west coast it's hard to catch up on all the posts.

I still haven't caught up, so apologies if this has already been mentioned... but I can't get over how controlled Kim seemed at the table, after the incident, and during the non-apology meeting with Lisa. For someone who doesn't like confrontations, she sure seemed to be holding her own during that confrontation. Putting aside the fact that she had to try and use blackmail to win an argument, Kim's voice was firm, she wasn't at a loss for words (though the words she chose weren't particularly powerful, I mean eat some bread, come on), she didn't sputter, she kept eye contact, her body language looked aggressive, and she didn't backdown even when Lisa went for her. When the other women left, they all seemed so overwhelmed and shocked by what had transpired. They were hugging and trying to make sense of it. They broke down in tears. Kim looked triumphant. She didn't second guess herself. She didn't seem the least bit phased by any of it. Just offended by how rude Lisa was and surprised at how she went there. The next day she just walked into Lisa's room and stuck by everything. Again she made eye contact, didn't take any blame for anything that went down, calmly told Lisa why she was wrong, and smugly accepted Lisa's apology. The Kim that has always been described as a kind of broken bird was nowhere in sight. The Kim we saw did not seem the least bit weary of confrontation. In fact she seemed quite pleased.

This is what got Brandi so upset. She was happy to out Kyle as a hypocrite, but then when she heard Kyle explain how she didn't want her kids to know she sometimes smoked because she wanted to be a responsible parent, Brandi took it as an insult to her own parenting. She hadn't even considered keeping her smoking private for her kids sake. Then she started brooding about how Kyle painted her as a bad parent, and hey even insulted her!! So she had a stupid little breakdown in the street. She's insecure (I personally think she sees herself as a bad parent, which is her darkest secret). Sorry if this was already put out there...I can't catch up on all these posts!

Last week Brandi's blog was surprisingly positive and mature. Very unBrandi like. Perhaps she was trying to put a good spin on things right before the reunion*. I can not wait to read this week's blog!! I'm hoping it's even whinier and nastier than usual! ; ) *Someone suggested this on another thread and it makes sense, at least I can't think of another explanation of Brandi having a positive or mature blog.

Lisa"s storyline with Max could prove interesting. It's amazing what they are able to find out through DNA testing, from health information to ancestry or ethnic heritage. Unfortunately that latent unambitious gene continues to elude scientists.

Joanna Krupa was an ugly drunk in Miami. Every bit as bad as Brandi. She was told by her family, boyfriend (I can't remember his name but it was spelled like a vegetable I think), and co-stars that she was an embarrassing bitch when she drank. I think it was at the reunion of that year (after seeing herself on film) she said she wouldn't be drinking on camera anymore. It goes without saying that she "brought it" when she was so out of control. She stuck by her pledge though and didn't drink the next year (or at least she didn't get drunk ). That self awareness and effort redeemed her a bit in my eyes. Brandi said something similar towards the end of last season. The fight with Lisa seemed a little out of hand and she wanted to keep her wits about her. She said she wanted to be careful and so she wouldn't be drinking around the other women. She was sober for the last part of the season. Now she seems to be drinking as much as ever. She's done worse (in my opinion) this year throwing wine, a physical altercation, being BFFs with the mess that Kim has become. Still she drinks. She's drinking because she doesn't care how she comes off, she wants to "bring it" to each and every event she attends and, I think, she just can't stop anymore. The little self awareness she had seems to be gone.

I'm just going to throw out a crazy idea based on pure conjecture and boredom with this episode. Now this conjecture is based on a couple of solid facts (like all the best conjecture). we know... Lisa is smart, reality TV savvy, this topic made her look bad. We also know Lisa and Brandi talked a lot when they were friendly. Brandi has threatened to out people's secrets if they weren't good to her (she told Kyle in Ojai to behave because she knew things about her and could destroy her if she wanted, the "veiled" threats on twitter to Lisa to out her treatment of Rocio and her fur closet). What if (this is the part that has no facts to back it up whatsoever) Lisa was stratergizing that before Brandi could out her on Max' lack-luster life she would put that story-line out herself? This would be a bold and impressive move. Of course the comments on his genes and comparing him to Pandora still looks bad, but I'll leave that for others to discuss.

The most interesting part of this episode was the preview for next week!

And you're not likely to see him again, huh? : )