queenjen

Also, during Bethenny's faux concerned slow reveal of the Tom nastiness to LuAnn, there was an instant where things could've gone another way. LuAnn had just heard the news, she and Bethenny were still in the hotel room. Lu and she were both talking at the same time. This is where Lu first gives a sense that she's going to stick to Tom and soft pedal whatever he's done. At the same time, Bethenny is as usual speaking over the top of her and says something like 'you can't stay with this man', her tone suggested to me that Bethenny had a whole other alternative universe ending where she swooped in and organised Lu's post men are pigs life. Those would be the only terms for détente between Bethenny and LuAnn. LuAnn, and anyone else in Bethenny's inner circle (looking at you, Carole), must be prepared to get down in the dirt and back squirm with their tails between their legs. Anything else is a threat and will be dealt with as such. In Part 2, Dorinda deliciously goes at Carole over the failure of their friendship to grow this season. She places the blame squarely on Carole's sycophancy with Bethenny and cites how hurt she was when Carole said the Berks' house had Dorinda's husband's ghost in it. All Carole can do is gape like a guppy. Fair cop.

I felt sorry for Angela after the first episode because she seems spectacularly unselfaware. I thought her babbling at the birthday party might have been nerves. But no. She made this episode all about her, her shabby styling business and she revealed her small and nasty side. Unless she's gone in like Bethenny with a view to owning the franchise, but it ain't going to fly. Gilda was golden. She's going to be celebrated for her fabulousness, she just sat back with that look of cool disdain and let Angela commit social hari kiri with a butter knife. Angela just managed to alienate the entire dinner table. When Michelle's husband forgot to give her a glass of champagne, it was a reality tv sign. Like not getting a white rose. I don't even know why she has such a hard on for Gilda when Michelle was the person who was genuinely rude to her. What a foolish woman. Surely she would have rethought handing out her shabby self promoting style guide after episode 1, but no, she doubles down this episode with not only the book but hauling a whole rack of crap, unsolicited, to Anne's afternoon tea. I certainly felt lethargic watching her schlep it over the doorway and onto the marble. Who does that? Michelle's dinner party looked pretty uninspired. At least pop for in house catering instead of a bunch of platters you've just torn the glad wrap off. And serve champagne in flutes! Was Angela in a taxi at the end, too? This is Howives Lite.

I don't think I've ever seen such a visual display of fucks being given as I just witnessed (for the 3rd time) by Scraggy Girl after her phone witness. Bethenny, you were handing out fucks like samples of lime SKG at a St Patrick's Parade. She was a ghoul dancing on the grave of the Countess title. It was actually sad to watch. Bethenny was so close to drooling with glee that I'm sure Carole was getting ready to repurpose that thing she was wearing as a hankie. (Alexander McQueen will be spinning like a top too, speaking of graves.) What does this high energy display of spite reveal and even achieve? It's got to be linked to LuAnn's cavalier and dismissive attitude toward the soon to be SKG mogul from 7 (?) seasons ago. Her BRAND goddammit. Something which she definitely gives a gazillion of those fucks about. Which LuAnn then went on, as if we all need to be reminded again, to claim joint responsibility for creating. All another delusion in the mind of the uber delusional beast that is the Countess. A grudge that will become the stuff of legends. So is that it? I have to ask: what IS your higher purpose, Bethenny? Apart from returning the word 'mogul' to our vocabularies, what is this once-was human being aspiring to in this life? She has claimed that she has it all now, more than she could ever need and that anything else is a bonus. I assumed that meant having a child, a marriage, a home and a business she legitimately created and built herself. So she's now got the rest of her days to spend in bonus time. Which leads me to my next query: I think I'm missing something in my life. It's a secret that all these women are in on. Apparently there is a state of blissful altered consciousness, a nirvana in the shitty city, that opens up to women when they get a rock above a certain size put on their ring finger. I saw the incredulity during the reunion when they all questioned Dorinda as to marrying John. Because that's what you do, Dorinda, you village idiot! Here she is, with a perfectly acceptable male that she sees 3 times a week, who is limited to a schedule for visits by Dorinda. who still wants to marry her! The women all leaned forward, presumably to activate higher oxygen uptake to their brains due to the Spanx constriction on reunion night, so they could best process the conundrum that is Dorinda. Marriage is the ultimate prize here. Look at Lu this season. Maybe Dorinda is more immune to this Xanadu like plane of pleasure that she eschews, because of her alleged partiality to coke! Perhaps this is why Bethenny has now got time stamped evidence of Dorinda's drug use when she went sleuthing for the answer to Dorinda's obtuse resistance to snapping up another marriage, when it's right in front of her and ripe for her picking. Because marriage is the ultimate prize, the raison d'etre and the end to which we've seen any means is excusable and girl code be buggered. So I really want to know what Bethenny's purpose in life is now. She'll obviously hustle Shields down the aisle as quickly as she can get the prenup past him. Maybe she'll even get there before Lu is separated from Tom. Or before Ramona and Sonja shrivel up leaving nothing but a hat and a gown on the pavement outside the Regency. Carole's almost gone already. And speaking of Sonja: she is spoiling for a brawl. Before the reunion proper began even Andy seemed taken aback by her vehemence. Resentment, Sonja said, has built up in her for the first time. For what, I wonder? Losing Tom to LuAnn ? Who proved she really didn't give a 'flying leap' (that Countess malapropism in particular makes me shudder) for the friend that had graciously put her up and sheltered her during a particularly difficult and homeless-in-NYC summer? I suspect also that Lu and So pinkie swore to each other that they'd stay united in the face of Bravo as they held out for more money. But the season has rewarded Lu with the pay by appearance screen time while So has had to resort to vagina resurfacing during her Dorinda ordained Berkshires ban to get the producers' attention. She was mauled by Scraggy Girl. She's been declared drunk and unlovable by the 'ladies'. Sonja. Is. The. One. This reunion should be Sonja's swansong. She could well fail to be renewed next season. Her mien on the lounge next door to Dorinda during Part 1 has been barely restrained. What she HAS said has been quite earthshattering (everyone knows Dorinda does drugs) but unlike the Scraggy Girl, who adopted Version IIa of her faux concern for victim's wellbeing facial delivery system recently seen in a Miami hotel room, So was offhand. This has got to be a harbinger of bigger fish to fry. Also during this segment while Dorinda calmly asks Scraggy Girl if the drug allegations concern John, because she needs to know, SG ALMOST says a name. There is the hint of a consonant before she clamps her jaw. Which surely means it's someone the other Hos and the audience will recognize. Surely not Hannah? Bethenny's soul has got to be a serious concern to somebody. I can't even visualise her 'game' with Shields. We've seen it with Hoppy. That was hard to witness but it resembled human like behavior. Distasteful though the exercise is, it's possible with LuAnn also (booze, cigarettes and baby talk. I wonder if she pins him to the bed while growling 'Chic. C'est La Vie'?). But Bethenny? What is her higher purpose? Very sad. She's become a spiteful, nasty meangirl. And all that bulldust about empowering women? Nuh uh. Not anymore after the sister slaying she's embarked upon this season.

Just chiming in with a random factoid: I've worn grapefruit scented body butter since I read that a study on scent had found that men guessed a woman's age at on average 5 years younger when they were wearing grapefruit scent. I'm not even embarrassed about my pathetic attempts to do what I can about the fact that women over 40 are devalued. I know this is a bit esoteric, but when the grapefruit comment came up, it's what I immediately assumed was being referenced. Then I saw all the confusion here but for some reason tech related I haven't been able to comment until now. Maybe it's an Australian thing. I haven't read all the comments here so I apologize for going over old ground. I was expecting another epi seething with Bethenny's reproductive issues (cue gazillions of opportunities for Carole and Beth to insert 'vagina' into their dialogues, with nary an opportunity missed). Instead we are treated to Beth wriggling with glee, trotters in the air as she drip feeds the Tom revelation to Lu. And the faux agony she goes through with her 3 closest friends deciding when where and how. I'm not a Bethenny hater, but this performance reeked of the disingenuous and that's the kindest thing to be said. The bed scene with Beth ensconced in triumph, waving away So, Ro and the redundant Carole, with a dismissive 'Go!' (with the mental wheels visibly spinning: this scene needs to be about me and Lu only! Away irrelevant bit actors! ) And off they scurry. Did they exit through the same door Lu entered through? That's got to have been awkward! Meanwhile we know Jules is dealing with m***** Mike and his wandering wiener and it's going to result in an actual divorce. Jules is dismissed the way she was in the Berkshires where Lu again displayed her par for the course spectacular solipsism, ignoring Jules' attempts to bring up the personal pain she was in with her father's illness. Watching that weirdness at the end, where Michael was acting like a matador and had Jules debase herself into pretending she was a bull. ..that was so creepy to me, I don't know why. Ro behaving on message with her ungracious comment about giving away her piñata jewelry, maybe because she lost a shoe in her greed frenzy? Sour grapes. Has anyone else noticed the way this woman seems to make a point of NEVER saying please or thankyou to waitstaff? It's more 'you should be honored to be serving me! '. Personally, the way a prospective friend or love interest treats animals and those in the service industry is a make or break test for me. Good luck Ro, I know I'm not alone here. We love watching them so we can experience outrage at some level. And they always deliver. At the beginning of this season, didn't Lu and So seriously overestimate their value on the show with the producers and end up being put on a 'pay by screentime' type deal? If so, Lu has leveraged herself into a higher pay bracket with the insanity around Tom. Maybe this has something to do with the reek of hinkiness around this relationship. I actually, for Lu's sake, rather hope this is so. Because the alternative, that her eye ticcing desperation around getting this creep down the aisle (and THEN what, btw? ??) , is for real....well I fear for her mental wellbeing. Next season they could cut Carole and possibly Sonja easily. Jules too, though I'd be interested to follow her life post divorce. Bethenny is making publicised noises about leaving probably in order that she secure even more cash. You'd have to lever Lu off her contract with Bravo with 1 of those oyster opening tools. No shame with the Countess. Vicki from OC, the 'OG' is another who is seriously losing viewer interest. But BH has retained that uber irritating girly shriekypants Kyle, though some interest remains in watching the depths she'll plumb in her bizarre friendship with LVP. Bring on the NYC reunion. This is still the best of the franchises imo.

Apparently you must leave it in the tin unopened. Remove from fridge an hour before serving and open to serve. Caviar services are probably out of the price range or reality for most, including the fine dining establishments where I have been fortunate to encounter it. Once it's opened there's no turning pack. Air degrades the eggs and the whole thing has to be consumed or discarded within a couple of hours. They say it's better to buy 2 small tins instead of opening and potentially wasting a larger 1. As to origin, some caviar is definitely considered superior. I think Beluga and Sevruga are the best and there's Os something. Everything else is just roe. So displaying the tin has a purpose beyond just label flashing. Love it to death, I have to say. But like diamonds, there are ethical considerations involved.

Re the serving caviar question: I've has it served that way, in the tin on a little crystal pedestal surrounded by crushed or shaved ice, with the blinis, sour cream, chopped egg and onion underneath. This is fine dining, and usually vodka shots or based drinks. So seeing Bethenny's setup didn't phase me. I think the serving spoons are specialized also and made of mother of pearl? That was what Bethenny was aiming for. It must be traditional. I don't know what the usherette/cigarette concession girl added to the experience. I'm surprised Ramona didn't have her shoveling in spadefuls. First time I saw this presentation, there was cognitive dissonance. Fine dining and a tin with product name and logo? It just seems to be the way it's done

Oh, I forgot the caviar. Could you shovel any more in their Ramona? I've known women like her. Wealthy, socially connected types who would've done the same thing: they are utterly shameless about being grabby with freebies. It's tacky and it's classless. It's Ramona.

Hodown in the Berkshires!!!! And it's looking like LuAnn. I think this'll be the high (or low) point of the season. If it's just Bethenny's health scare to come. .I doubt it's in the Big Ang league, probably just a Kim Kardashian elevated blood pressure during pregnancy league scare. Next episode sounds like the apogee. WHAT was the last of Jules' list of creepy words? It went moist, ointment and then? ? Anyone? Ramona jumping to pontificate on Sonja's need for alone time was way too much as her gross animal hunched and clenched all over the hostesses immaculate home. And cherry on the top, she tracks it all over and was she washing her disgusting shoe in a kitchen sink? While Dorinda ran around with a roll of towel and spray and wipe? And Sonja is sent to Coventry? There was glee in Bethenny's face as she started on LuAnn. And you can tell starting was all this was. Has LuAnn getting remotely more solid with a place to stay and a regular punch unsettled Bethenny? Soiled exRamona goods though he be and who would want that? It'd take years of therapy before he was any kind of catch. Platonic my arse. Dorinda described him as someone who liked to party, go out and have sex. Yeah, sounds platonic. I prefer this to BH also. So over 'my journey' and Kim Richards always hovering in the background and smarmy squealy Kyle. Bring on next week, wish I could see WWHL here!

I'm REALLY over Carole's contrived quirk. I feel I'm not alone here. From dropping the 't' in kitten...actually the whole 'what ever is this strange, rare and mythical creature that has appeared in my eccentric writerly digs?' schtick. Carole, like LuAnn has visible desperation wafting from her corpus this season, like Pigpen in Charlie Brown. And her slouching on the couch with her laptop while her vegan chef hottie is in the kitchen. And her humorous quips about processed food. So Odd Couple! Could there be a storyline here? ! I'm really over injections of puppies and kittens in the Howives franchises. Don't insult the audience, we're here for the bitchery. This is not Mother's Day. I'm solidly with Beth too. While she probably didn't need to squash Sonja like a bug, I felt this was symbolic for Beth. She has worked hard. Her business is all she has (apart from invisible daughter) and I bet she was totally across every aspect of Sonja's shady prosecco, its true creators, shell companies and whatever else behind the scenes. Sonja just wants to get back to where she was. Without getting out of bed before 11. Without breaking a sweat (god forbid). Sonja is in denial about the fact that lightning doesn't strike twice. She's 50 plus and rich old guys don't go for that. Beth sent a clear warning to all wannabe pretenders and rightfully so. You do NOT mess with a person's livelihood. I could see how Beth, in that exchange with/annihilation of Sonja, had her 'business' face on. She could feel compassion on a personal level, but this, dear Sonja, was business. You can't be smart and stupid either. Forcing her to do the walk of shame, babbling about pocketbooks was a reality check Sonja needs to play back. And Jules. Jules has read a couple of those nanny expose books that appear semi regularly. Of the lifestyles of the rich and shameless ilk. This is what she's aspiring to. Oi vey Jules! You're such an eccentric cool cat! Sample sale lines, blow outs and bilingual babies! They run you personally so ragged you don't have time for a bath even. Or to mention your Jewish Asian heritage or your period this episode, which is either a blessing or a harbinger of what's to come: 1 or the other, motherhood or background. And Jules was 'look at me, I'm eating!' in this episode also. I sense an agenda behind that scene. And Rey. What an insight into the Countess after dark he was! That person was pathologically monstrous. How drooling fall down drunk does LuAnn get? Ramona only stood up for him because she saw the percentage in attacking John. The leaning over/into and the voice! Prior to that, I was obsessed by John's doppelganger with the front tuft combover hanging about in the foreground. Maybe he and Rey were out on the prowl together. That was definitely the best episode this season. Across all of the franchises. Bethenny bloc's absence allowed the rest of the cast to show us exactly what they're capable of.

And Bethenny has a line of her 'fashion oneliner' tshirts. I cringed seeing her in that 'get off my jock' shirt. I enjoy watching her but have zero desire to emulate her and no desire to get round referring to my jock and big steel balls. This never sits right with me

Personally I find the mandatory cake fights wasteful and childish. I'm rereading threads here so I apologize for this but I found Asa rubbing the cat cake into her MOTHER'S face low rent, wasteful and disappointing coming from Asa. Not 'silly'. It's arrogant.

I've been a bit obsessed with Mike and Jessica's marriage. Her mitzveh on the beach actually made this jaded reality hound tear up. But Mike. It's all show and no go with him. He doesn't expect to put in any hard yards. He wants to be a 'successful business man' but if you asked him what business, what's your business plan, I'm sure he'd be dumbfounded. 'No, I wanna be in business? You know? ' So it's all leased luxury cars, stupid financial decisions to keep up appearances. Fake it til you make it is all very well but you have to be making something other than full side bus ads and bodgy shoes in the already saturated market. He simply doesn't have the name recognition. And it seems Jessica is not innocent either spending thousands on a dinner service at this stage. It would not surprise me at all if Mike refused to accept money from her parents due to some dumb ass patriarchal attitude he seems to cling to. The world is not your family, Mike. You're just another pretentious wannabe believing your looks and charm guarantee you a living. I saw a glimmer of hope for him when he reunited with Reza and apologised for and owned up to his laziness and lack of commitment to their joint venture. You could see Reza's doubt and discomfort over Mike trying to sell him on the bus wrap. Mike seemed to think that this was all he needed to do to start the big money rolling in. It didn't. Whatever else they are up to that's questionable, I believe Reza and MJ fully understand how hard they both need to work. Mj is still in an apartment. And poor sweet Jessica with her conversion to Judaism and her commitment to becoming a more traditional wife than most modern women would accept as fair. Contrast this with Mike's comments about the pigsty he now finds himself in lacking elaborate Persian/kosher meals on the table. I'd be insisting he showed enough respect to her effort to put his phone down at mealtimes too, especially given what she suspects is actually happening on the phone. Then Mike's veiled gleeful comments to Rez, who almost lost Adam due to his own fickle behavior, about how women are still throwing themselves at him. None of this augurs well for Mike and Jessica's marriage. Mike wants the little traditional wifey at home catering to his every need and also down with him feeding his considerable ego with sexual conquests. Jessica has made so many sacrifices in order to enrich their lives but Mike has spat on this by being the spoilt indulged brat he is. It's time to grow up. It's probably too late. I hope Jessica got him to sign a prenuptial protecting herself. She is apparently ready to walk with nothing including the gaudy and stupidly overpriced ring. I have recently converted to Golnesa's biggest fan. Poor angry hurt darling that she is. She's a lost child and Asa is her biggest support and role model. I utterly dislike her acting out with violence and knives etc, but one day she'll realise it's not necessary. She's deeply insecure and really quite ill. On top of that there's a warning. I got an autoimmune disease some years ago and it's manageable. BUT I was firmly warned that the pattern is often for another to swiftly follow if you don't change everything up. She doesn't know who she is, so like Mike she mimics 'ghetto aesthetics' and it just doesn't work. Glad she has Sherv. Was that a date Sherv was actively trying to fail with or a beard he was interviewing? Better still the very grounded Asa seems to also see her pain and refuse to be pushed away. I love Asa. Reza and Mike will end up desperate old unattractive sleazy men if they dont drop the belief they are entitled to 'persian boys will be boys'. Your spouses are not your parents! Don't make that mistake. Mj. Sorry for her and her Vida created issues. Behave the way you wish your Mum would behave. Mike wants Reza's success but assumes he doesn't have to do anything. Jessica has worked this out and is legitimately suspicious of Mike's 'phone business' which is probably what drove her to check. Her beating him running up the hill was probably a way of her trying to show him that 'dope' fitness wear and shoes don't actually count for zip when you compete. They don't make up for lazy and entitled. Very sad. Tommy is a real and easygoing human with a thick hide. Hope MJ doesn't just jettison his ass when he fills his purpose. That'd be cold. I've wondered about Asa's gorgeous home and assistants myself and the big silence on her love life. Now I've read what I read I respect her more. But true also is that her constant family scenes are getting a little trying. She has an incredible ass which she carries beautifully without it becoming it's own storyline. I do love this show and what I learn about the culture history language and traditions. Salamatee and thankyou

I think the tagline for Tipsy Girl is irrefutable proof that the product is a cheater brand by Bethenny's definition. As a poster commented above, who wants to drink like a lady when you can drink like a celebrity? Can't you see sleazy Peter and his marketing team high 5ing each other over this? Next step, exploit the connection to RHONYC by opening a bar called Tipsy Girl where the product is marked down for happy hour. The guy seems to be intent on wringing every potential penny out of the association. Woe indeed to Sonja being desperate enough to shill the swill. Beth is going to pillory her and her product and the team behind it on the Brooklyn Bridge. It's so crude and so obvious, the reference to SG's 'drink like a lady', it makes me wonder whether Beth and the Bravo machine set the whole thing up to start with. Discuss.

Re Skinnygirl merch, it IS visible in Australia. I go into a liquor store maybe once a year and I've seen it. We must be on speed dial with every shonky merch shill company attached to the Howives franchises because it's easier to find the merch than it is to access the shows. Case in point, the heinous 'Black Water' being flogged by the Manzo offspring. It's here, I've seen it, I kid you not. This sends my head into loops of speculation: they were working on that years ago, surely? Before Caroline got her own Manzo spinoff? How does that work? Was it remaindered all over the US so they shipped it here instead? Does it taste as sulphurous and smelly as it looks? I've not clocked any of Beth's other merch here from shapewear to iced treats which makes me suspect that what I have seen is just the fruit of her sale to Jim Beam. I enjoy getting into conversations with the people behind the counter who know the association with the Howives. It's like a secret society. I did buy some bottles of marked down Skinnygirl premix once. I do recall most of it going down the sink. Directly from the bottle. I did love Beth's comment to Sonja that a lifestyle fashion brand doesn't mean anything. She's doing the same thing. They all are. Gina Liano and Chyka Keebaugh are thrashing their howives lives as hard as they can. Jackie Gillies has a tequila brand (because Australia and Mexico, the connection is so authentic! Life vodka from New Zealand) and cookbooks and on and on. A previous poster commented that the one thing they would purchase is a book from Sonja. As would I. But come on! Privacy! This is a reality TV show after all, you can t expect people to want to open up!

John and the fork stab made my survival hackles rise and I don't think this was lost on Dorinda, either. That wasn't cool. Sonya and Lu. I actually felt uncomfortable watching Lu explain what a regift was from her current planet which is galaxies away from Planet Countess and also from Planet Cool. I think she's trying (trying oh SO hard) to rebrand herself the way British Royalty moved into the 70s. Like when Princess Margaret was hanging out in the Bahamas and getting her freak on with photographers etc. I think that looks pretty good to Lu about now. She's obviously destitute and can't even afford a gift that isn't also some kind of investment/endorsement/ prototype. Sonya has already got dibs on the 'courtesan' persona, Lu could opt for genteel poverty but she needs to brush up on genteel. Beth is now in the ascendancy and Lu's Bethenny chickens are coming home to roost. I missed a couple of series due to rotating between the Gobi desert and Antarctica and it's actually pitiable observing the difference in Lu. Sonya has evolved survival mechanisms and an exoskeleton to cope with having her lifestyle yanked from under her and Lu probably feels a bit safe with her as a role model. Hence the living arrangement. Lu is desperately trying to stay relevant and pay homage to Bethenny, who she recognizes with her lizard brain antennae as the real power in the group now. Please take this exclusive bag as an offering. .did anyone else wonder why this was in cheap plastic and pulled out of a paper sack, more product than gift? And Sonya, with the hot pink dressed 'ghosts of parties future' floating around her launch/ birthday party, is straight faced when she answers Jules 'I love Bethenny, I wish she was here' on the Tipsy Girl brand launch. There's only one way this is going to go with Bethenny. The listing lady in the pink dress and the random guy in the loud parka. ..That'll be more than you'll be able to aspire to when Beth is done. I really felt Sonya knows this. The mention of Mario at the psychic reading gave me a vision of Maurizio and the future for Kyle Richards. Carole's eyes definitely glazed over when she had bonding time with Jules. Jules looks tubercular. All of those images that flare in my mind when I think of 'Ethiopian Famine' bluntly contradict the fantasy she's selling that being capable of giving birth means you're eating enough. Fingernails and hair grow after you're dead too. I kind of miss Heather and even weirdo Simon's wife who's name I've forgotten, in the same way I don't miss Aviva. John's reaction to being called immediately by some just introduced random on being obviously 'wired' is again telling. No surprise and no denials, more 'shit, is it that obvious? Oops!'. I think Dorinda has been on a 3 year grieving binge and while it persists, John will remain.

Lydiot and Gina have very obviously taken a page from the LVP playbook. The 'I'm only apologising to shut them up' line is used by Lydiot with the confidence delivered I suspect only because she saw the last few episodes of RHOBH. Gina I believe was steaming because we all know Gina claims to know LVP and has cast herself in her role on this franchise, with the denials and oblique slithering when confronted and pursuit of tangential rubbish. Actually quite Clintonesque. Gina has fun with these girls sometimes but she sails close to alienating her fanbase with her superiority. Finally!!!! Susie is my fckn hero for telling the Joanna story and revealing and addressing Lydiot's foul and repulsive racism. I think one of the most coldly vile throwaway lines from Lydiot to Suzie tonight was on this topic when Lydiot says dismissively 'we all speak like that, don't we? ' and Suzie lines her up like a missile launcher 'no, I don't'. And Suzie's calm yet surgeon like deconstruction of Lydiot's 'Joanna Creation Myth' where Lydiot claims to have found Joanna wandering on the street. No. Apparently she worked first for Suzie, she wasn't 'poached' by Lydiot, but Lydiot met Joanna first in Suzie's employ. Suzie says she was happy for her to earn money with another job with Lydiot. But adds she'd never have supported or encouraged this arrangement if she had known how Lydiot would treat her. Women like Lydiot represent a truly ugly side of Australia. This attitude is unacceptable and totally unrepresentative of most Australians. Or is it?!! I actually can't claim that as this country has a disgraceful history of race relations and is currently sliding backwards in its human rights abuses of refugees and Indigenous Australians. So maybe having Lydiot on the show is reasonable. If that's true, then I'm more grateful that Suzie relentlessly stood her ground like the ex housewife she's probably about to be and kept firing implacably at the bigoted moron that is Lydiot. Ffs. Even Alex Perry was driven to a mantrum at 1 stage and was by the end of the reunion blatantly dismissive of and obviously disgusted by Pettitfleur and Lydiot. The only regret Lydiot claimed was the obvious 1: she regrets she's burned her bridges with the real power in the group, Chyka. Her countenance becomes fearful when questioned about pissing Chyka off. Lydiot hasn't survived this long without well tuned social and wealth divining antennae. She's a glossy locked cockroach, truly and could give less fcks than Alex about anyone else. PPF remains a pathological narcissist. The neuro typicals in the rest of the cast are visibly exhausted by proximity to it. And this is it. This is all the Australian franchise could manage. Even Potomac had a 2 part reunion. We're into Season 3 and the show is half the length of its American cousins. We are so parochial and backward. I hope Cheshire is good viewing in the meantime.

Watching the bitchfight at the end in all its glory, one thing kept going through my head: WHAT was going on with Chyka's NECK during her predinner Mobwives 'sit down' with Lydiot!? At first I was mesmerized by the blocky blingy 'I've Got The Key to the Door!!' earrings as they swung and shuddered. Then I found my eyes drawn to her décolleté area and neck, which was probably the point. Wtf was going on? Chyka starts getting redder and more swollen...is she getting off on schooling Lydiot or is there a pathological issue happening? I was waiting for the epipen to come out. Admittedly, it isn't that surprising given the proximity to Lydiot. It was fixating to watch and certainly highlighted Chyka's neck creases. Bad makeup or a medical issue? I'll now be watching Chyka's neck instead of her face. Maybe that's why she was a no show at Gina's perfume launch? Btw, I suspect Kylie Minogue, currently battling legally with Kylie Jenner over use and ownership of the 1 word sobriquet Kylie, is just heaving a big 'whatevs' at the universe over Gina's claim that she is the first Australian celebrity with a perfume. Seriously? ! There was some campness occurring with the segue into the launch segment (I'm aware of the irony, bear with me). We get Jimmy Choo, Gucci then, wait for it, Chemist Warehouse! For those outside Australia, this is a discount chain of chemists with a line in flogging cheap celebrity perfumes that don't share shelf space with reputable and luxe brands in upmarket department stores or specialist perfumeries. They do sell a lot of weight loss supplements and aged care aids. I was in there purchasing enemas when I spotted the cardboard stand with Gina's new product (I'm deliberately not using the word perfume) and cautiously spritzed a little away from me. It is in the ballpark of Issey Miyake's summery fragrance with the water and melon notes, that comes in the slender pyramid bottle. At least it's not another fruity floral. That was a pretty underwhelming season and finale when PPF even manages to scrape through with some integrity. Lydiot's desperate attempts to deflect the accusations at Jackie were laughable and no one was buying it. Lydiot came to the final dinner looking smug and self satisfied in the after glow of at least not having been assassinated on the spot by terminally neutral Chyka. Her vindication was not to last. Jackie was just the messenger: 'Lydiot, we hear you've been spreading nasty rumors and we're over it'. From this, Lydiot has developed a case (and she's stuck to it for the last 3 episodes) that claims it is all Jackie's fault, Jackie is a liar and 'a little troublemaker'. Lydiot is 1 of those people who believes anything and anyone is fair game at any time, as long as you don't get caught. That's all she is sorry for. Chyka is in the LVP and Kyle class of heavyweight champions for under rug sweeping. Chyka gave Lydiot a pass. Not so the rest of the HWs. And it got ugly. Lydiot's true immature colors appear when she's under fire. Mimicking Jackie only made her look hideous. Calling Jackie a pig... Lydiot's MO, like PPF'S, has always been to deflect whatever she's been accused of back at the injured party. This is old hat. Look at Lydiot's face as she calls Jackie a pig. I was surprised she didn't start grunting and squealing when she'd finished. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we don't have to endure this crass racist moron on our screens again. If she'd been called on her casual racism last series, then having her continue into this 1 would have made sense. But no, and the fact she mimicked PPF'S accent in the heat of the dinner also did not go unnoticed. People's true colors appear when under pressure. Lydiot's denials and Clinton like repetitions and 'don't remembers' almost just gained some traction until Suzie jumped in and Lydiot had the audacity to claim she couldn't remember Suzie's wedding either. That was the end for Lydiot and finally gave Suzie a purpose for being on the show, something I couldn't figure out until this segment. But please fix your teeth!!! Big push this epi to make PPF more palatable. The producers wheeled in both Nathan, her son (sans girlfriend/fiancée though) and sister Gillian (who has extremely strong facial features) and viewers are now expected to find PPF more relatable which would indicate she'll probably still be with the cast next season. If there is one. Roll on reunion. If they are going to give any more screen time to Lydiot's vacuous and nasty life I hope they are even handed about it: for every 2nd of dog montage, please show same of Lydiot being the racist she is deep down in her appearances with Joanna and Joanna's family in the Phillipines. Ps. Had to laugh when Lydiot invokes car salesmen and how one should behave with them, given they can't be trusted. Lydiot's behavior with the car sales person at the Porsche dealership was telling.

Like Gamble in RHOM, I think there's is a lively intelligence possibly lurking behind Brandy's dimwit faecophile baby voice persona. The poop references are tired already but the girl seems to be gunning to give the haters and judgers a major fu at every opportunity. Maybe because she's juvenile but also because, unlike LeeAnn, she presumably CAN. As she likes to remind us, her and her husband donate. Something the wild eyed and desperate LeeAnn will never be capable of doing. I imagine LeeAnn goes home at nights and sticks pins into voodoo doll facsimiles of everyone she knows. They'll never accept her and Brandy is immediately aware of this major Achilles heel LeeAnn has. Speaking of desperate. Cary (is that her name), the doctor's wife. And Taylor Armstrong. Many similarities including that 'I'm screaming behind my eyes' look. Watch for it.

But the most bizzare scene of the whole epi for me was Jules and her hubby in the vehicle. The kids are way in the back in car seats, and there is some weird high partition between the parents in the front and the nanny and kids in the back. The nanny was behind the hubby's seat, facing the children. I don't know Exactly. I clocked that too. I'm watching RHOM and RHOD as well atm and I'm really getting over DUMB What is it with the franchise producers, given Housewives' audience HAS to be majority women, that they think pitching the 'dumb' girl storyline is going to convert to better ratings? Was Jules run past Bethenny first for approval as skinnygirl cannon fodder? We've now got Jules, Brandy and Lydiot on our screens as weapon grade morons. Not fun and not funny. The coffee making scene with its undertones of 'look at me! I'm a subservient idiot, but I'm cute and I don't take up ANY space! ' is just boring and insulting. Bethenny I have always liked but her bitterness is really starting to grate and she does appear to be a de facto producer now and out to settle some major scores. The early season Beth was far easier to relate to in a lot of ways. She seems to want to be Joan Rivers for the 21st Century. Lu seems to be losing her mind and they better find a storyline for both her and Son because they are fast becoming redundant. Everyone's storyline seems to hinge on the Beth fulcrum: screen time converts to how much of an impact in relation to her. And what indeed gives with Beth narrating! ?? No! Lastly, watching Dorinda hurts my sinuses. Maybe it's an allergic reaction to alcohol. Or maybe Beth's nasty insinuations are actually founded in real reality?

More off camera stuff re Bruce I think. Lydiot needs a muzzle. I doubt she'll be there next season. I actually find Chyka a snooze. I guess she anchors some of the drama but the whole HR101 worldview, which some of the cast has alluded to (fencesitter, Switzerland), triggers my FF finger. The Bruce rumors might enliven her storyline. I just lost a reply I typed so I won't double up. But Terminal Preppy, I love your work. (I'm an old DKs fan)

Yes. The rumors. Always frustrating when off camera stuff is referenced and riffed on and it happens a lot here. PPF'S epic finale meltdown (2 drinks! You are all liars! ) is the best case in point. However, Chyka's departure from neutrality and relentless positive spin is gratifying. Lidiot is extremely trying on the screen, it boils my brain when I try to comprehend her as an actual sentient human less than 24 hours from where I live. Watching PPF and Lidiot at the pool was hilarious. This is how an NPD support group would roll. Hi! You look fabulous! I had SUCH a bad time! So did I! Mine was worse! MINE was worse! All you care about is you! (X 2) Fck you! You too! You look fabulous! (X 2) We just witnessed the maximum human interaction either of this pair is capable of. They are both reptiles. Lidiot is a racist reptile, is the only difference between them and for this she needs to be axed. It's not funny, it's embarrassing and it's not being addressed on the show. This wouldn't fly in the US franchises, I'm sure. Why is Susie on the show? Anyone? I do feel sorry for Gammy. She's the only 1 I really like. This surprises me, but she's revealed herself to be at least capable of self reflection and humor. LOVED her CWA Toorak song which Suzie sconebaker really didn't know how to take! Gammy knows how to have fun and she'll learn that yes, Georgina can also be a ruthless reptile. The friendship will have to go down the Kyle/LVP route if it's going to survive. Which is cold. Dubai is a sad and sick place and Chyka making buckets of dough out of it isn't surprising. No ethical business would go near the place but this is Househos so no surprises there. When you land in Dubai, you cease to exist if you are a woman. I wouldn't be spending my hard earned there. I'm gagging to see the slapstick that's coming as Lidiot gets underbussed and PPF is her only ally. Classier women exist in Australia. These aren't representative except to our tv networks who are permanently encrisised in a poverty of imagination.

Ok Pettitfleur. Poor Pettitfleur (PPF). Mark my words, she is barely BARELY keeping it together and I predict a full blowout/psychotic break to occur in the Dubai episode. She very nearly got there at the reunion. Gina and Jackie pushed her right to the limit. I do believe that if either of those wives saw what I saw, that PPF is actually dangerously unstable, they'd lay off her out of pity. I was about to write PPF suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but people with NPD are never the ones that suffer:it's everyone around them that does! PPF came onto the show at the same time Gammy did. This might explain PPF's behavior toward her. In PPF's mind, she belongs with the ruling clique in any situation. So her mission thus far in the show has been to suss who the coolest HW is and to then take up her divine right as BFF. While she determines who this person is, PPF hasn't been idle. She knows it can't be Gammy, because Gammy is new. Gammy is therefore useless to PPF and she has set about trying to destroy her. Take the scene with Lidiot for example. PPF assumes that Lidiot, being OG, will recognize her for the superstar HW royalty she aspires to be and immediately enacts her MO, which is to sink the boot in to Gammy, her inferior. Her FACE, as she unleashes an unsupported torrent of bile about Gammy and the wedding. 'Black Widow', Sugardaddy.com etc, it even took nasty shallow Lidiot aback. Naturally, Lidiot being the spectacular human being and friend that she's repeatedly revealed herself to be, immediately wobbles off to Gammy and barfs all of PPF's confidences into her lap. Then the transparent mindfck PPF attempted to pull when Gammy invited her to her wedding, most graciously. In PPF's world, she was pulling rank on Gammy and Gammy should have darn well dropped to her knees and kissed PPF's ring. In front of the whole cast. Unfortunately, PPF is so noxiously unpleasant that she's ringing alarm bells even in Lidiot's thick skull and PPF remains at the bottom of the pecking order if one even exists. I am so intrigued by this, to me, visibly unstable and delusional choice of HW, that I went back and rewatched the Phillipines trip and the reunion. Again, when PPF faces off with Gammy, the mask comes off and her inner nastiness steps up. Her attempted interrogation of Gammy about the source of her income was disturbing and painful to watch. Gammy generously gave PPF every opportunity to cease and save face, but PPF lumbered on with her crass and tasteless barrage of questions and snide comments. Good on Gammy for staying firm with her boundaries and walking away. You can't argue with crazy, all it understands are boundaries. Her son and future daughter in law have obviously also come to this conclusion. Again, PPF shamelessly tries to manipulate him out of his relationship and back into her house. Stooping so low as to attempt a 135k bribe along the way. It must have been tough after the whole piano buying scene for her son to stay firm and refuse to concede even lunch to his mother. But the body language between he and his lovely fiancee seemed to shriek 'we've been here before! Do NOT give in to her! It's for her own good!' WHAT has this boy experienced with this mother to get to this point?! Jackie's attitude is also telling. She can sense something rotten in Denmark with PPF also and she physically can't handle being close to her. She looked like she was going to be sick when PPF kept bodily hurling herself at Jackie in Chyka's tent. She couldn't get away quick enough. Animals sense instability and evil and Jackie is tuned into vibrations most humans are unaware of. But Jackie will not concede an inch when PPF starts attempting to throw her weight around either. There's going to be a meltdown more intense than the reunion. Like the reunion though, I bet it won't be televised. I can't see PPF lasting beyond this season. And not out of her choice either! In her mind she's Vicki from RHOC. The other wives won't want to continue with her. The only wife she MAY be tolerated by in the meantime is Lidiot. They deserve each other. Lidiot is an ignorant racist and should have been pulled from the show with apologies made to Joanna, her housekeeper, after the dreadful yawn of a storyline where Lidiot is out a luxury car for a while and Joanna has to chauffeur her around in her NON LUXURY CAR!!!!! How hilarious will that be? !!? Not at all. It was as funny as this episode with the endless sequence of Lidiot babbling and cooing to that unfortunate looking animal. I have no interest in watching a grown woman babytalk to her wet pet. And I find the more and more frequent talking heads featuring Lidiot and her malapropisms irritating and more yawn worthy. The woman is a weapon grade moron and the producers are encouraging her? Worse, they seem to have decided that we discerning viewers will find Lidiot's idiocy funny? We get enough of Lidiot earning her nickname just watching her interact with the others. They've consigned her to the outer reaches after her questionable behavior last seasons. And it's where she belongs. Lidiot will NEVER give Lisa Vanderpump a run for her money so stop with the boring cutesy dog storyline. There's no story here, it's just filler! The most amusing moment was PPF telling Lidiot (with a straight face!) 'You've got too much money, girl! ' on viewing the hideous portrait of the dog. This while the ink still dried on the piano cheque. This from the woman with an equally tasteless portrait of herself hung over her fireplace (did you know it has SEVEN balconies, darling?). Bring on Dubai where I really expect a major Switch of the Bitch to occur! Ps . speaking of that insane book, it has a 1.5 star rating on Goodreads. PPF has also forced one of her own staff to put a review up on that site! It hasn't made an iota of difference. I'd actually love to read it because it's apparently filled with 'personal anecdotes' of PPF's journey to self empowerment, which might be telling in investigating whatever pathology is cutting loose inside her head. On another site I learned that someone calling themselves 'Melbourne Criminologist' (friend of Gina's perhaps?!!!) had left a really long and really nasty critique of Switch the Bitch on Amazon. Hilarious. After predicting the book would be a best seller and gloating over her future career as the actress playing ALL the roles in the movie version, PPF has not been at ALL talkative on the subject of her book this season. Wonder why? ?

What a shambles this episode was! I was so moved to point this out that I stupidly went to the Arena FB site and posted a lengthy critique there only to have the admin delete it! Apparently this happens regularly on this site. The RHOM producers/legal people are VERY antsy about what is said about the HWs on social media. Never again. Imma let loose here instead

I find Lisa Rinna uber irritating. The banging body and the worked up face just barely conceal desperation. She's always leaning too far into whoever she's communicating with, trying to get ahead of whatever the theme du jour happens to be. She was all sensitivity and concern superficially during the recent get together where Yolo's health was being discussed but then you could almost see her sense the mood change and she switched on a dime to follow the soon-to-become Munchausen's theory. We're behind with the episodes here, so it doesn't surprise me to learn that Lisa has filled the role of chief researcher into Munchausen's, relieved at finding a role where she feels indispensable. She can barely get through a segment without referring to 'Harry Hamlin'. Others found this habit endearing, I think it reeks of insecurity. Hanging on to Harry Hamlin must be a full time job for 51 year old Lisa. I actually like Yolo, but I find her fawning over David Foster equally disturbing and disappointing. These women seem to live in terror that should they miss a week of workouts or a facial procedure, their husband will cheat or walk and be justified in doing so! Lisa Rinna looks like she'd happily disappear up Harry's rear and she looks as though she's been dieting in preparation for just such an honour. She seems to live in terror of being left out or the last to be in on a joke, like Taylor. Lisa at least seems blessed with neurological function, unlike Taylor, who seems perpetually stunned. Or that could be the result of her surgeon. And watching Lisa rearrange her face when she casts herself as therapist/sage/wise woman with the other HWs would be amusing but for the desperation running just under the surface. She says she never says 'no' to work and I guess that means she will fill whatever role she thinks her cast mates require at any time. She switched from compassionate girlfriend mode to leader of the lynch mob in a nanosecond when she perceived that was what everyone else was thinking with respect to Yolo. It was creepy and nasty. But that comes from insecurity. I wouldn't want to be the person who comes between her and Harry Hamlin! Finally, I also find her role as self appointed cast comedian extremely irksome. Every interview and every opportunity (such as the segment where she called her parents and got to say...wait for it... PENIS!!! How hilarious is THAT word?!) Lisa will attempt to be Boom Tish! amusing. She should stick to chasing her tail over what role she's supposed to play on this show. I'm bemused because as she herself will frequently remind the viewer, she has plenty of work, she seems to be capable of supporting herself if, God forbid, she had to, so is it an inability to exist unless she does so relative to Harry Hamlin? I think she has deep seated identity issues. Plus she was mean to Yolo. And I DO like Yolo (don't shoot! )