haydensterling

First things right off the bat--what is this 'my gays' shit? Maybe back off on that shit a little, Kyle? Gay men are not your pets, FFS. If Max wants to learn his heritage/contact his birth mom, Lisa V. needs to have a seat. That's Max' decision, not hers. Of course, Yolanda is avoiding this party like the plague. Who wants to take the chance that Brandi will talk some shit? Speaking of talking shit, Kim, are you are still high on something sitting there on that couch with Brandi? You sound a little bit high to me. You look a little bit high to me. So nice to see Kim finally busting out with a cough, though, isn't it? Is this evidence of acting skills, or the dreaded 'pneumonia/bronchitis' we heard so much about? She's worried about herself being terminal? Talk about someone with zero sense of boundaries. Kyle feels there is something wrong with you because there is, and Brandi telling Kim that she knows she is clean and sober while Kim does not appear to be clean and sober is pretty funny to me, but maybe I have a fucked up sense of humor. Kim sure does enjoy having someone kiss her ass, doesn't she? Good lord, Kim, wipe the lipstick away. Brandi will do this for you, but it's coming at such a high cost. You also might want to check Monty's pills, because I have a feeling Brandi would have no trouble jacking some of 'your' part of Monty's stash. Is it just me, or is Kyle's hair a little too red right now? I like the color of that dress though, and it's kind of a fun look for Kyle. A little more glitzy than I'm used to seeing her in. Lisa R.'s tailored dress is doing it for me too, and sadly, Brandi's. True confession: I often like Brandi's 'formal' wear, though I could have worked that kind of thing a lot harder twenty years back. I also love the lace top Eileen wears in her TH. Brandi, no one is going to let bygones be bygones. You have stirred more shit than anyone on this program. Production could not force me to go to that party. I'd be like, nope, sitting this one out. Everyone there dislikes her at best and actively loathes her at worst. I love how doofy Lisa R. is. She is such a charmer to me--as presented through the magic of editing, this season, anyhow. Does anyone notice that the Richards sisters play with each others' hair a lot when they're pissed with each other? Okay, here comes my all caps freakout: BRANDI, ALL OF YOUR APOLOGIES IN THE HISTORY OF EVER ARE PREFACED WITH THE WORD 'BUT' SO FOR THE LOVE OF GOD CAN YOU PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP. DO ME ANOTHER SOLID AND STOP THREATENING TO BEAT PEOPLE UP BECAUSE ONE OF THESE TIMES SOMEONE'S GOING TO CALL YOU ON THIS SHIT AND BRING THE COPS INTO IT. KIM YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT FUCKING DAY IT IS, SO GO HOME AND EAT SOME MORE OF YOUR PAINKILLERS, OR YOUR EX-HUSBAND'S PAINKILLERS, OR SCRAPE SOME LINT OFF THE CARPET AND SMOKE IT, JUST GTFO MY SCREEN. Bravo to Kyle for telling the both of them to fuck off, but she should have done it with less whining and now I AM WHINING BECAUSE THIS IS A TWO-PARTER? FUCK THIS SHIT! *flips Andy the bird* P.S. At least Kyle knows who was leaking the 'Mo is a cheater' rumors now. Brandi tossed that barb for maximum effect.

Ugh. I think this whole thing is so gross, but I wanted to say a few things--Cedars Sinai is a great hospital. I have terrific doctors there (when I'm in Cali) and the ER is beyond awesome. They triage fast, they treat you well, and it's probably the cleanest hospital in the area. Having said that, if they think you are in pain, yes, they are going to give you pain meds, and that's not inherently bad, unless you're an addict. I just hate to see it being talked about as though it's just a hotel for junkies. I was very ill once with an infection, and my PCP came to visit me there, after hours because she was so concerned. That's never happened to me in my life. Second, benzos are not inherently bad for people with anxiety disorders, though I'd be lying through my teeth if I said I was happy to be on them. Luckily my tolerance has stayed relatively steady over the years--I haven't had to increase my dose very much to keep receiving the benefits, but ultimately I think they can take a very high cost. In a year and a half, I'll have been taking them for twenty years, and while they were the drug du jour back in the day when I was first diagnosed, the long term effects are there and they're real, especially when it comes to cognitive issues. If Brandi is mixing booze and Xanax, she is walking a very dangerous road, not only with respect to the aforementioned cognition problems, but with dying. Benzos and booze do not mix--unless of course, you have a tolerance to both; which sort of tells me exactly where Brandi's at. It's an irresponsible, beyond stupid thing to do, especially when you have two children who are relying on their mom to be there for them.

After last week I thought I'd have a lot more to say, but there was nothing in this episode that was particularly enlightening--Yo tells Brandi to stop being a drunk, Brandi doesn't like it. Eileen tells Brandi she felt that Brandi was being rude in her home, Brandi doesn't like that. What does Brandi like? Besides being a shit-disturber? I was happy to see Jennifer there, kind of eyeing Brandi in a pointed fashion during their very brief time together. I'm glad that Lisa R. took the time to talk about Brandi's problems with booze--it's a way to discuss Kim without discussing Kim directly to Kyle, and as she said, she doesn't want to get in between sisters, but she does have some understanding of addiction because of Harry's family. Can we skip Yo and her obsessive need to keep tabs on all her children? Lisa V. hit the nail on the head at the close of the episode when she pointed out (cattily, I'll admit) that you do not want Brandi around your sister. Way to go, Pinky. Honestly I'm more interested in next week and Kyle telling both Brandi and Kim to fuck on off. I hope it sticks this time. Kim is in the hospital for nothing other than the drugs they are shoving into her IV.

I need to watch this again.

I believe that Lisa R. would go toe to toe with Brandi in a NYC minute. She is not afraid of her. I for one would pay to see this go down. Maybe because I believe Brandi would be laid out flat on her ass quicklike.

If Kyle jumps in on Lisa R. I will pitch my own personal shit fit. Kim, you were fucked up on drugs, and everyone who was there was very, VERY aware of said fact. No one needed to 'tell' anyone anything. It's as plain as the new nose on your face. Go destroy your life somewhere else; I don't want to look at you anymore. Bravo, please, for the love of god, get this woman off the show.

Hee!

Brandi is disgusting, Kim is a needy attention freak, and Lisa R. and Eileen are rapidly becoming my favorite people on this franchise. Brandi, get the fuck off Kim, please and let the sisters speak to one another. God, she is a clusterfuck of a human being.

Well, that cough syrup is generally (though not always) an opiate, though usually mild. I used to get bronchitis every winter as a kid and sometimes still do, every few years or so. Sometimes my throat starts to tear up because the coughs are so bad. My doctor has always prescribed Hycodan (opiate) or Phenergan with codeine (antihistamine and anti-emetic with opiate) to stop the coughs. A good side effect of mild opiate dosage is that they depress the respiratory system, so it gives you a break from the absolutely relentless coughing that bronchitis can cause and help you to get some sleep. I never saw any sign of Kim having bronchitis anyhow, though, so...yeah. :)

zoeysmom, I just saw this post right now. Really fascinating stuff and gives us a bit more insight into the very complicated psychology of the Richards girls. Thanks for sharing this.

Co-signing on this, too.

This, a hundred times over this.

I just want to know how Brandi can mistake a blini with (probably) salmon mousse for a 'kid's pancake' with 'weird colored salmon'. Oy vey.

Let's start picking, I'm over TasteGate. /grin I thought that initially Kim was referring to Mauricio, but then I was wondering if it was something even worse. Kyle's face in that moment was such a blend of confusion, horror, sadness, fear--it could be almost anything. Like I said before, I really think these sisters have a way of holding secrets over the others' heads in order to guilt them or shame them into staying in line. A nice trick Mommy taught them. I just hope Kim wasn't referring to anything abusive that may have happened to Kyle in the past. My mind instantly went there for some reason, and I don't know why, but if it had to do with cocks, I'd rather it be a nasty joke about Mauricio's dick size than something else. Addicts can bust out with some very hurtful stuff. I don't know. This whole episode was insanely confusing and just plain weird.

Quick question: do we have a definite "yes" that the poker game took place one day after the wine tasting debacle--which has somehow become the most fascinating thing about this entire episode? My timeline is Spa Day, Eileen leaves early. Bus ride home, Brandi makes creepy fantasy comment. Kyle and Kim have lunch to discuss what happened at Spa Day. Kim assures Kyle there is no trouble, says she laughed it off. Lisa leaves for Cabo? Sometime around here? Poker Night, Kim is apparently shitfaced by the time she arrives at Lisa R.'s place and Lisa R. is sure of said fact after a few minutes in the car with Aggresso-Kim. Things go to hell in a handbasket rapidly. Since the board implication seems to be that Kyle's behavior on Spa Day is somehow a triggering incident for Kim to relapse--correct me if I'm reading this wrong, I may very well be--then it might be interesting to know if Poker Night was in fact the very next night. Also, wouldn't that have meant that Kim and Kyle went to lunch earlier that same day? Also, editing.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, then, Lola16. The industry must have changed dramatically from 2009 onward with regard to talent and what they are allowed to request from production.

I'm just going to share very briefly my experiences. I worked for MTV in NYC (old Viacom) from 1994 to 1999 and then based out of LA until 2009 for various Viacom owned channels. On set, as a member of crew, while tape is rolling. I was a set decorator and for a very brief period, designer in art department, but you'd be surprised at how much tweaking there is even on reality shows, two of which I worked on while I was at MTV. That wine tasting room was lovely, but I can guarantee you that things were brought in to fill camera space. Anyhow. The person who is going to decide if things are going to be adjusted, or to 'have food brought in' or anything that has to do with what occurs on the company's dime is a producer. Not Kyle. Because time is money, and you don't waste time. The one person who may have some clout in this regard is Lisa, but that would have to do only with VP, not RHoBH, as she is (to my understanding) an executive producer on said program. I'm sorry, but from my time in the industry I can't agree with your statement.

Props to you for being at that stage. Maybe Kyle is not.

Forgive me for asking this, but who would have done this? There is a crew there. There is additional lighting which has been set and rigged. There are line producers around. Bravo does not give a hoot about Kim or Kim's condition. In fact, they are the ones who want to see something big happen, because ratings go up. So again. Who is going to make this 'last minute adjustment'?

Addicts can only hold you hostage if you let them. They can also hold you hostage if you've lived with their manipulative behavior all your life and are completely stuck in a shit pattern yourself. Sometimes, they can hold you hostage in conjunction with the bizarre mother who was by all accounts a very peculiar woman w/r/t her daughters. Or, if you've never really addressed the problem because it's incredibly painful for you, no matter how your actions appear to others. See how this works? And I don't even like Kyle.

I just think that unless you've had the exact same life experience as the person you're judging with regards to their behavior and the way they treat a family member who's an addict, it's really tough to have a leg to stand on. I don't particularly like Kim or Kyle as they're presented to me on the show, but I do feel for Kyle and I hope she's in Al-Anon. She needs to be in Al-Anon. Kim is an addict who doesn't appear to be in a twelve-step program, based on what she writes in her blogs. That's the extent of the serious, for real judging I can do, which is to say not much. Everything else is extrapolation, and it's a heavily edited show. Editors write the story on reality shows. No, you can't be called to the carpet unless you've actually been an asshole, and that's something I can pass judgment on when I see it, like Brandi being...Brandi, nine times out of ten, but I can't definitively say that Kyle is being patronizing/tolerating/hurting her sister's recovery.

I'm not sure that I see Kyle acting as a martyr as much as I see her acting as a family member of an addict. There are all kinds of weird things you do when you have an addict in the family. You end up acting kind of fucked up too, sometimes. The distinction may not be huge, but for me it's there.

I think Kyle was terrified because her sister was clearly on something again, and I think there's a ton of emotions that go through a person when they realize that. I think part of getting up from the table was to compose herself, but I think part of it was also to get away from what Kim was doing, which is to say, being a vicious asshole. I also think that there was something very weird and pointed about that cigar case business, and I have no idea if Kim was making some veiled threat or remark regarding Mauricio or perhaps something else in Kyle's past, but it made me feel very uncomfortable. The Richards family strike me as nothing if not extremely good at keeping secrets until they want to brutalize someone else with them, even if that someone happens to be a member of your own family.

Okay, so I finally watched the episode and read the thread--I know we can just jump in here but thanks to all those who shared stories of addiction, whether personal or in the family. I think that was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen on television. From the second Kim got in the car, it was plain she was blasted on something. Perhaps a few things. Did anyone notice that while Kim and Lisa R. were in the car together Lisa had either just said 'You're a tough bitch' or 'You're a good girl'--can't recall which--Kim sort of kicks her leg in Lisa's direction? She was acting so aggressively that it flipped me out. I give tons of props to Lisa R. for being in that car with her, because Kim was downright scary. I've actually never seen Kim as anything other than an annoying chucklehead, but that was a ready to fight, nasty, messed up woman. Over at TWoP I was always saying that Kim was way more than an alcoholic. There's no way that she just has a problem with booze. She has a problem with opiates and a problem with benzos and a problem with whatever she can get her hands on. It shocked me to see her being so fucking off the wall, though, and I wonder what she had been taking or if it was just the added stress of Monty that was making her act out that way. TBH I have a feeling she's done that kind of thing way more than we've been privy to and it was all left on the cutting room floor. She was vicious on Game Night, but this completely topped Game Night, IMO. I feel for Kyle in a big way, and in keeping with my general feelings about the Richards sisters, I've actually never seen Kyle as anything other than a mouthy asshole. Her palpable confusion and growing fear while sitting at that poker table--unreal. You could almost feel her terror. She looked scared to death. I can't imagine what was going through her head in those moments and there's no way I'm going to judge her. What the hell was Kim implying with the goddamned case the cigar she was smoking came in? That flipped me out too. Was this when Kyle got up from the table to go to the bathroom? I sincerely hope Kyle is in Al-Anon, or this pattern will never end for her or Mo, which is a hellish way to live. Big Kathy did such a number on those kids' heads. I wanted to say that regardless of whether or not this was meant to be a wine tasting or pairing or what the hell ever, Kyle had nothing to do with the setup. That end of things is production all the way, and the only reason I can speak to that is that I worked in production for Viacom for almost fifteen years, until my anxiety got out of control. Once you're there and in it--as you can see by the photos which show crew crawling all over the place, there is an added pressure on the people being filmed to go through with whatever's happening, whether they're uncomfortable or flipped out or not; it's a trick that producers rely on to get the 'good' shit. Eileen and Vince are saints for putting up with that crap in their home. I thought Vince was either actively enjoying the shit out of the weirdness, or he's just completely clueless. I love the way that Eileen is sort of this dispassionate observer of these women--after the Brandi wine toss, she has a tendency to look at them like they're a bunch of stick insects--curious, but ultimately doesn't give a fuck. She and Lisa R. always look to be floating a bit above it all, and they give a much needed perspective to this season that I really enjoy. Lisa R. especially, and I sincerely hope that she doesn't get shit on by Kyle for speaking some home truths in that car, as we saw in the preview, though from that brief edit it appeared that Lisa may have been alone in the car when she was talking about addiction, it looked like a wide angle lens that would have picked up Kyle in the shot and I didn't see her, but I have to watch again, as I just caught this episode. I've said this before and I'll say it again. Kim needs to be off this show yesterday. She'd probably relapse in a big way and make it all about Bravo, but they need to get her off the air. A reality show is no place for an addict.

zoeysmom, yeah, you're probably right. I mean, I think that releasing a sex tape would not look good to a judge in terms of custody, as I said, but this is the only RH franchise I watch! jinjer, I haven't any idea about the other HW's, and so I picked Brandi by default. Which doesn't speak very highly to my opinion of her, I suppose. I just see her as trying so hard to stay relevant that it felt like a logical next step. That sounds so mean of me, but ach. I think you're right that someone worried about a stolen laptop is probably a good sign that they may be the one who was looking to make money off of a sex tape. Brandi, Brandi, Brandi. eta what jinjer clarified.