Umbelina

I'm not sure Brandi is an alcoholic, she's stone sober on Celeb Apprentice, seemingly without issues. I think she's sloppy and a drunk on RHBH now, too big for her britches and Bravo's notoriously "delay shooting, get them drunker" stuff helps that. She should be able to monitor herself better, but alcoholic? I'm not convinced. Yet.

It's weird. I never liked Kim, wasn't a fan of her childhood stuff, didn't like her on RHBH. The first time I ever liked her was this season, watching her with Monty, AND knowing she took him in. It's a very hard thing to do and face, and I like her more because of that, and because of the lovely things Monty put on his Instagram, and the tweets to him and Kim sent with so much love from their families. I also liked that she was able to remain friends (and co-parents) with him all of these years. She was so kind to him in the scenes before and during the wedding, and he looked pretty weak to me in those. My heart melted a bit towards Kim after that.

He was told he had 2 months to live, right? Unless we think he was lying in that update. He rallied, which can happen. Still, since it's spread to (at least) his spine and brain, and he's stage 4, unless a last minute miracle drug is found, he's a dead man walking. Looks like he's spending his final days doing as much as possible though, so good for him. Why do I keep thinking of Walter White? Probably just because they share terminal lung cancer, at least Monty is loving his family and not making meth. ;)

I love that link! I think Lisa turned a so-so house with a fabulous view into something really amazing. It was nice to see the details of that!

He was. Kim said he had just returned from being gone for a few days, another reason why she really didn't want to go. So we know that was filmed in August! Hmm, they celebrated his birthday at SUR. http://instagram.com/p/sEXrlrQfE7/?modal=true ETA Looks like he went to Vegas for the fight that same month. Also had dinner with Kim, Kathy, and her husband. Lots of shots with Kim and Kingsley too. I wonder if that was where he was, and if Kim just forgot, or made it sound like he left without saying anything for sympathy?

It's too soon to tell for me. There are a few red flags for me. 1. Lying about being friends with Kyle. 2. Lying about watching the show and being up to date on all that's happened. Hell, she's been on WWHL talking about "her addiction" to the show. 3. Not visiting her parents more. Medford has a direct flight from LA. It's 2 hours and 15 minutes, and obviously, money is not an issue. She's not THAT busy. So far, all of her good TV quips have been bashing Brandi. We shall see if she's got anything else. I do think she seems to be a really positive up beat person, and I think that's real. I have a friend very much like that, always busy, always going, and almost always extremely positive. Even with small children and a hugely busy life/career, and the normal complications, she managed to visit her parent much more often when they were declining, and also arranged and paid for excellent home care for her mother when she developed Alzheimer's. With Lisa's greater resources, and her parent's obvious despair at leaving their home, you'd think Lisa could have worked something out, or at least brought them to LA and set them up so they could see their grandkids and daughter more often. There are quite a few elder care facilities in Medford Oregon, and I'm sure it's a nice one, but it's not family. We'll see if Lisa comes up with anything more interesting that Kyle defending and Brandi/Kim bashing in the future. She's in a Honeymoon stage right now.

To me, it's just not an "either/or." I can dislike all of them. Kim or Brandi being assholes doesn't make Kyle LESS of an asshole to me. I do think Kyle wanted her camera moment/martyr scene with Kim, for example. Does that mean Kim or Brandi behaved appropriately? No. I do think Brandi's initial reaction was about protecting Kim, by preventing Kyle using her issues for a Bravo scene. Then it just all disintegrated, and Brandi's subsequent motivations were messier. Kim really seems to not be able to cope with her extreme love/hate motivations with Kyle, and her (whatever the substance was) tends to make her brave or angry enough to try to "get" Kyle. I think Brandi was really shocked that Kim wanted to go back. (To FIGHT.) She was too inebriated to cope with that. She certainly should be reflecting on that now though, although maybe she knows more about why Kim dislikes Kyle so much, so understood it, or thinks she does?

Good point wirewrap about Ken carrying the stuff on camera. That may very well be true.

Kyle is like the "green eggs and ham" poem to me. Actually, I could choose any stanza of the poem. Ha. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/dr+seuss/green+eggs+and+ham_20208487.html She just bugs the crap out of me. I think she's a mean girl, wanna be Queen Bee, childish, immature, selfish, and vindictive woman. I am so very tired of her victim routine at this point. It's not that I don't believe she is, or has been one, or won't be one again. There is just nothing likable about her to me. She always seems so calculated, until she loses it on camera--about the only time I think we see the real Kyle.

I'm not about to try to change an 88 year old man's generational chivalry to stand up for feminism. Ha. It was her great uncle, not mine. At a certain point, respect for elders is my go-to. Also, most men do have greater upper body strength than women, and while I am a feminist from WAY back, I don't mind men carrying the heavy stuff for me. In that particular case though, I was shocked and tried to stop him, but he out ran me up those stairs! (I need to exercise more!) BTW, he's had both hips replaced and a few other health issues, he just refuses to let any of that stop him. He happened to be there when we were leaving, and I deliberately snuck down the stairs with my heavy stuff while he was distracted by the view though. I did ask him to carry two very light items so he would fell useful and manly though. I also told him I'd emptied most of the suitcase into smaller bags when he protested me carrying that heavy thing myself. My point about Ken and Lisa stands though. I think Ken loves taking care of his wife. If he didn't they would call servants to do it. I agree that Ken is over the housewife bullshit, and I don't blame him at all. Last season was atrocious for him.

I'm seriously glad that Max investigating his real parents will put that old chestnut that Ken is his dad to rest. I think Ken and Lisa have an amazing relationship, and frankly, if Ken had a love child, I really don't doubt that he would be truthful with Lisa, and that Lisa would accept that child. I think there are a few reasons we haven't seen much of Max up to now. Max didn't really want to be on the show. He went away to college, dropped out (right, I'm fuzzy on this?) He began using drugs, Lisa sent him someplace to get clean. (again a bit fuzzy) While there he decided he loved instruments or music, so Lisa and Ken supported that, and paid for him to study that. He got bored again, dropped that. He came back, working at SUR or one of mom and dad's restaurants. He started seeing an older waitress there, one that isn't on VPR (yet.) My guess is that Max is going to show up on VPR, this is kind of an introduction/cross over to that show, or an audition. More money for Max.

I think it was Halupki (stuffed cabbages) too. It's too bad they didn't show it. I was friends with an (escaped) Russian a long time ago, that's what he made for me one night. I think Elizabeth is fascinating. In this episode she seemed to revert a bit. She'd softened up last season, fell in love with Phillip, and seemed a bit more motherly too. Both Phillip and the kids always seemed simply like tools to her, tools that enabled her to do her job. This episode, she went back to that frame of mind a bit. She's the dedicated true believer here. It's kind of interesting if you flip the script and try to picture American patriots trying to pull this off in Moscow. The "true patriot" would be the hero then, and Phillip, the seduced by the culture guy, would be more of the traitor/weakling. Although, reportedly, the US never successfully placed this kind of long term agent-couples in Russia. Language and customs were just too difficult to master. Also, I remember reading a real spy say that, although there were many of these couples placed in the USA, none of them had the perfect American accents that Phillip and Elizabeth have. They said that was the most significant deviation from reality with this show. The whole marry other people thing really did happen, but mastering perfect American english was as tough for them as it is for an American to master perfect day to day Russian. Obviously, the closed society/more of a police state in Russia was another problem as far as placing American's there.

Martha made a comment to Phillip last season that she knew he wore a toupee. She thinks he's ashamed of a bald spot. I loved that they added that in.

Ken doesn't work for Bravo either. Husbands are not paid according to a recent tweet to/from Simon (RHNY) I thought them leaving that ambush Kyle arranged in Puerto Rico was brilliant and the only sensible thing to do. It was bullshit, and Yo and Kim were vicious as well. Why should Ken want to "right" it? When he and Maurice (as Kim calls him) did try to work it out later, Yolanda interrupted and was a complete bitch, then accused Ken of assaulting her! He doesn't need that crap.

Yeah, and this all started when I simply tried to find out the date Kim married Gregg. Much like Adrienne Maloof, the web's been wiped.

I love her house. I wonder how many of the staff get to live there? I've always gotten along well with swans for some reason. Heck, I'd work for her if I could live there. It would be interesting to know where/how the servants quarters are if they do live there.

Interesting. On the web it implied she married Gregg very soon after Collette died, and just says "soon divorced" and that it was a bitter divorce, but again, no wedding dates. Although it does appear her divorce was final before their second child was born, so it was confusing. I'd love to get actual dates so I could figure out what the heck happened there.

I don't think the bruises had really set in yet on her face, or she'd already covered them up a bit. However, two highly trained observers, FBI agents no less, saw her face up close, dark or not. If this sketch isn't pretty close I'll be bummed. Regular people aren't trained to notice the unchangeable things, and might focus on hair or a nose ring or tattoo, or clunky glasses, but spies should be able to notice eye shape, nose length and width, chin, etc. That disguise wasn't THAT good. (no fake nose, or eyes hidden by huge glasses, birthmarks, etc.)

Thanks Quinn. Monty really posts some lovely, hopeful, thankful things. I liked this, and it addresses a few questions raised about his cancer here: Lots of pictures of Monty with Kim and thanking her, saying he loves her. She can't be all bad.

Moving this one to Kim's thread too.

I think he's furious at the way he and Lisa were treated last year, and just over the whole damn mess.

I read a lot of supportive and positive posts about Brandi around the net. She isn't hated everywhere.

Well, those secrets are already out. I went looking to see if the family tradition of getting pregnant first, then married, continued, but all actual dates of Kim's second marriage to Gregg and birthdays of his kids are wiped clean from the net. It's really strange because Kim got pregnant soon after her divorce from Monty, but also the murdered true love is sandwiched in there between her quick marriage and divorce from Monty, and then still very quick marriage to Gregg (very wealthy Gregg.) Kyle was pregnant for both of her marriages, and so was Big Kathy, Kim for the first, and probably the second (but no dates!) I think Kim and Kyle's kids will break the chain of marrying money, and not going to school, so kudos to them and their various baby daddies (husbands and one boyfriend) for that. I don't think any of them will follow in Paris' footsteps with a sex tape. Monty has a twitter, but hasn't posted in a long time, the posts there were pretty heartwarming, lots of love to him and Kim from kids and step kids.

I would adore watching an in depth, truthful story about Big Kathy! She's the most fascinating of any of them, including their spawn. Heck, I'd even settle for a CITIZEN KANE type adaptation.

I adore Ken. He loves his wife, and he won't put up with too much bullshit. As far as him carrying Lisa's bags? I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be treated as a doddering old man. He's only 70, and I think he loves doing stuff like that. I doubt he considers himself "old." As an aside, I stayed at a lovely beach house on a high cliff over the ocean a few months ago. The great uncle (and his wife) of my friend dropped her off just as I arrived with a bunch of stuff to carry, including a very heavy suitcase. I had no idea their would be so many stairs and several landings! They were coming up to watch the sunset. He's 88, and his wife was about 80. Before I could stop him, he picked up my heaviest suitcase and practically sprinted up those stairs. I was struggling with my other stuff (much lighter) and he was semi horrified that I was carrying anything, calling down to me "I'll get that stuff next, you come up here and relax!" We were so much younger, but that gentlemen side of him couldn't stand the idea of women having to carry suitcases. Adorable, and vital, and he went on a 8 mile cliff hike the next day.