rehoboth

Three wrongs don't make a right, do they? Kim was wrong not to give Kyle a heads up. Brandi was wrong to attend after her actions/feelings towards Kyle on Poker Night and Kyle was wrong to take a moment, breathe and then engage the beast anyway. I understand Kyle being flabbergasted by the appearance of Brandi (production doesn't always let all the ladies know what is going on) and being totally thrown as the host of the party. I (sorta) understand her taking a moment and then deciding to Earn Her Bravo Paycheck. But I really wish that when Kyle had a good point (Brandi's "truths" are always wrong) that she had used Adrienne as the example. At least that would have been deeply satisfying to many viewers. I think Kyle really made Lisa's approach to Brandi look like sheer genius. Lisa will always be Sherlock Holmes and Kyle will be following along as Dr Watson.

She was way more excited about seeing "GIGI ON DA BUS!! GIGI ON DA BUS!!" than about anything to do with their studies.

This reminds me of Kim's "relationship" with Ken that sort of sprang up out of nowhere. She was clearly using and lonely and lo and behold she meets someone 'hanging out' by her mailbox who can keep her company and do drugs with her. Convenient. As I recall, the entire family was firmly against him from the get go. It seemed like they had seen this exact behavior before from Kim. Substitute Brandi for Ken. Also, can anyone help me with one of Eileen's lines from this week's show after Kyle and LisaR drive away. I thought it was in response to someone asking if Kyle was alright and Eileen deadpanned with something like "except for the gash in her arm. I think she might need stitches." Or was she still making fun of Brandi going around showing everyone the small scratch on her arm?

I can't believe I am doing this but I am going THERE at least one last time: I don't recall if it was Kyle or Kim who went There first on Limo Night. But it has come out that Kim had been going There all season. Kyle was involved with RHOBH first and got Kim that gig thinking that it would pave the way for a return to acting for her. Filling up Kim's life with actual jobs might have a positive impact. However things did not go according to plan for the Richards sisters on season 1. Kim continually failed to show or showed up hours later to scheduled filmings. She sometimes showed up under the influence. The cast and crew were reportedly tired of dealing with her and wanted to out her behavior but Kyle begged them not to. The last straw was Kim showing up inebriated to the finale. Kyle, who had been pulling all sorts of strings to smooth things over all season, lost her shit. And that's about it. I don't think a lot of thought went into either of their actions. And reports of Kim's house being stolen have been debunked.

The thing that stuck out for me was that it was Monty who took Kim to the hospital. He's taking care of her - I knew this thing would get all turned around and she would become the patient. I think this incident also makes clear that Kim is not sober but really believes that she is. If, as she says, she took a pain pill because she was in a great deal of pain (100%) she may have a legit reason for taking the pill but she cannot still call herself 100% sober. I think in her mind that doesn't count. Take it one day at a time Kim!

"Where's my pizza?" is Absolutely Fabulous!. AbFab came first, RHOBH next and now Kim has brought it all back home again. Kim: 'Were you fighting?' Brandi: "Kyle pushed me and I had to push her back." Kim: "Where's my pizza?" She forgot the Darling or sweetie part but that's ok. In future Kim it's "Where's my pizza dahling?" while she's stumbling down the driveway.

You know, at first, I also thought that it portrayed Kyle in a negative light. But upon reflection I've changed my mind. When you get a phone call at 2 am from someone who brought all this on themselves saying they are overwhelmed, you say back to them "Call me back in the morning and we'll go over it." When you are called second-hand at 2 am by someone who thinks that someone else may be in over their heads by their own doing, a sane person goes back to sleep. Kim certainly can call Kyle if she truly needs her. Don't forget, Kim has three grown daughters who can help her with the wedding (and those girls know their mom is "special"). Monty has other family. Kim has event-planner extraordinaire Kathy to call. Maybe I just hate having my sleep interrupted?

I'm throwing out a theory on Brandi's machinations - Could it be her master plan to manoever Kyle into another season 1 limo situation? I don't usually put the words Brandi and plan together in a sentence because that would imply foresight which I doubt she possesses. I just find it strange how much Brandi is emphasizing how much Kyle drinks. Brandi of all people. It looked very odd to me when she came out with two bottles of champagne and two giant glasses for some pre-party partying. Then she plays up in her blog that Kyle had the same amount to drink as she did and must have a high tolerance. Of course this is not what I saw happening as we don't know what they each had to drink in the limo and one of them seemed fine during the game and the other did not. But was Brandi trying to ensure Kyle getting drunk and therefore more vulnerable for a blow up? Brandi was goading Kyle all night and encouraging Kim. We all saw Kyle's agony across the table and so did Brandi and yet she piled on more. Brandi's taking over physical possession of Kim at the end smacked of her "Bring It Bitch" mode to Kyle. I would like to watch this again, this time looking for clues that Brandi is trying for a Kim/Kyle blow up like the limo scene. Ultimate revenge for game night falling into her lap when she discovers the condition Kim shows up in?

I don't get the furor over Wine Tasting Gate. Kim has been around drinking housewives at all types of venues over and over and over again for the past three "sober" years. Looking back, I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt but after hearing the explanation in Paris, I knew that she never stopped dabbling in her pills. I also tried to give her a pass on all the elective surgery when people on these boards were saying that that was a red flag for someone in the early stages of sobriety. I now think they were right and that she used the surgery (the pain! the pain!) to get drugs. The trigger for Kim taking another step back from sobriety is her dying ex-husband, Monty. It looks to me like she was happy to get back together with her old "drinking buddy" and he brought some really good stuff along with him. Reading items in the tabloids last fall, it seems that the entire family thought that taking care of Monty was a very bad idea. They knew that the pair of them together would mean trouble especially with the added stress of his condition. Kim is a user - she used surgery for drugs and now Monty. Awful stuff.

It was asked way back on page 2 what was Kyle going to do with Kim when she was leaving? Did Kyle want her to expose herself more in front of the ladies/cameras? I didn't see it that way. For me, once my family member was on the way home (limo = great!) my worries were over. They would just go to sleep. For Kyle, I think her worries were just beginning. Kyle may have wanted to say to Kim that falling off the wagon, while not ok, is not the end of the world. And that how you deal with it afterward is more important. To speculate more, Kyle may have wanted to also call someone back at the house to alert them. She may have wanted to call Kim's sponsor and ask them to give Kim a call the next day. For Kim to go back to her black hole of a house in the state of mind she was in was scary to me, let alone Kyle. Having drunken Brandi with her would be outrageous.

This was just a scary, scary episode. The limo ride with Lisa R showed us exactly what goes on inside Kim's head. No wonder she needs to escape from it from time to time,

The Kim who said that Monty "disappeared" sounded just like the nonsense-spouting Kim in Hawaii with her druggie boyfriend Ken. So similar. Things just happen and she doesn't know why/isn't involved. And that's what life was like a lot of the time for her kids. Poor kids. To those who insist that Kyle needs to just let it all go, I want to offer that I have been in a similar situation as Kyle with a family member and I know that you just can't. The embarrassment, the dread over what they may say or do next just comes over and is always there.

First of all, going back a few weeks - I believe that Brandi it desperate to remain relevant and watchable and is invested in inventing story lines for herself (as she really has nothing else going on in her life). I think that the "Superfan" /wine toss was a complete set up. Maybe concocted by Brandi and a producer (who then talked to Eileen about "superfans", maybe they were all in on it. Tonight, I saw Brandi use Kim Richards' illness to give her (a storyline). Make the use with a capital U. She used Adrienne and now she is using a broke down Kim Richards for some relevance. I mean, you never get between family in a situation like this. Never. Brandi is just disgusting and this show is no longer fun. I just can't watch it with her anymore.

Re Skullduggery, I think those two brothers acted like they had been continuously handed money to prop up the business by their dad and their dad had finally cut them off causing them to ask Marcus to bail them out. When the dad finally appeared on camera to tell Marcus to get lost (and to give his boys another bail out), he says that the sticking point with him was that they could not raise the boys' salaries without Marcus' approval. Maybe he wanted (his 50ish year old) sons to learn a lesson but nothing as drastic as not having six figure salaries. They behaved like spoiled brats. No one with any business sense would burn bridges the way they did. Papa should be embarrassed.

I think that the wedding had been unexpectedly moved up so that Monty could walk Brooke down the aisle. For that reason, some of the original plans were changed (wasn't it a beach wedding when she tried on the dress?) and it may have become more casual.

Here's my theory: In the original episode a big red flag was raised when Sharla was told that there was $400,000 'missing' and her response was akin to "Ummm,,,, ok. I'll put that on my TO DO list to start looking around for it in the morning." This in turn implied to many that she didn't need to look for it because she already knew where the money went. In this episode, Marcus seemed like he had the same attitude as Sharla about the money. "$400,000 was missing last year? I guess it was found and aren't the desks much neater now?" I think Marcus was nonplussed because he, too, now knows where that money went. Maybe it was a problem that was taken care of (drugs/gambling/custody battle with rehab/legal issue settled) so he could be comfortable with her now. This episode doesn't make me comfortable with either one of them.

This was a sticking point for me as well. Since she didn't bat an eye at the report of missing money, she knew where it was or had gone. She can't be scamming the IRS on the business end if the money is duly reported as income on her books. BUT if she 'paid' herself the money for her own personal use and didn't report it as her income, would that be scamming the IRS?

Good insight Neurochick about the possibility of government assistance. On the one hand, he just started paying himself a few months before. On the other hand, why would a seemingly intelligent, got-it-together woman leave herself so vulnerable? As Judge Judy would say, these three are 'playing house' together and it seems like that situation never works out well for the woman. As far as the other raging debate in this forum, some of the studies about pay discrepancies are for equal pay for equal work (which may or may not take into account experience, background, education and breaks in service) and many other studies are pushing equal pay for comparable work (administrative assistant vs engineer). You can probably find a study to support whichever side you come down on. Altogether, this was an unsatisfying episode.

I saw the Planet Popcorn episode for the first time earlier in the day. I thought it was obvious that she knew exactly where the missing money was when she was not the least bit concerned. The worst part was not that she was might have been scamming the IRS but that she definitely was scamming her mother. As far as ASL, I felt bad for the father and really, really bad for the girlfriend. I'm sure the talented designer will be moving on. I'm glad there was no handshake.

I'll weigh in on the biscuit debate - if Ms Lynne and Ms Lorraine (the mom?) are happy, I'm happy. What a cute little family! I loved the trip to NYC - that was the best kind of drahma. I'm glad that Ewell went back to his government job. Sometimes things that are ok for government work just aren't good enough for the real world (speaking as a former gov't employee). Best line of the night: "Don't say Facebook again. I'll get Shuler to do Facebook."

Ewell was an interesting character. He never committed to the business from the first time he was asked about it. Marcus did give him an opening when he said that someone needed to be constantly checking the quality/food costs and it shouldn't be the owners and Ewell kept quiet. I don't think Marcus knew what to do with Ewell who really had a one track mind. I don't think Marcus sets out to pit people against people as much as he gives resources to whats working and takes away from what is not. That's why the Amazing Grapes episode was so satisfying because ownership was given to the managers who hung in there for years and kept the business afloat and it was taken away from the absentee-owner.

I don't see a topic for the new HWs so I will post this here. I have never watched DooL or ever heard of Eileen Davidson but I did watch a Dog Whisperer episode (the only one I have ever seen) and she and her family were on it. They had a very hyper Wheaten terrier who constantly ran around, jumped, scratched and knocked over their five year old son. Cesar observed the family/dog interaction and when they all sat down to talk about the dog, he said, in essence, "No the problem is you." He said that the son and the mom and dad mimicked the dog's behavior. And they did - when the dog was in the room, they all started running and jumping (playing) too. Cesar told the parents that they had to act like parents and set the tone for the child and the dog. He got the parents in line, the little boy in line and then the dog was much calmer. Those of you who are familiar with her, does this show any insight into her character?

I think the "You stole my House!" statement was explained on TWOP but I do not remember the source. As I recall, the 3 daughters inherited the house and they divided all the bills (taxes, routine upkeep, etc...) by three. Kim was always late/did not pay most of the time. There came a time when Kim needed a lot of money quickly ($200,000 ?) and the girls decided that Kathy (who did not want the house) and Kim would sell their share to Kyle who did want the house. Kim was always welcome to come with her kids and stay there whenever she liked. A year(s) later, Kim came back and said that the money given to her had been a loan that she could now pay back and she would still like to be an owner. Kyle and Mauricio said no thanks to that. When I read this, the entire situation made sense to me: 1) I don't believe that Mauricio would be involved in any type of shady real estate deal especially when he was first starting out. In real estate your reputation is everything. 2) I can see Kyle, Mauricio and Kathy breathing a big sigh of relief that they no longer had to deal with getting money/decisions in a timely manner out of Kim. 3) It makes perfect sense for Kim to be collecting big checks from ex-husbands and yet still not having any money due to bad management. I also can see her bending the facts to suit her, coming to believe it and having it be a sore point years later.

I thought they did have a deal because Marcus brought them a uniform contract from one of his other businesses. Of course on this show, a lot of the handshakes become un-shook due to various circumstances (lies).

Loved the DRAHMA inherent in your posts, Vrocotamy. I will forever be looking for the skulls reflected in the glass in Yo's fridge and Lisa's boudoir. I do think you have put more thought into this than most of the howives. I enjoyed this entree back into our BH gals. It was like old home week and I was glad to catch up with everybody (sans Brandi who spent most of her time lurking in the shadows anyway). I truly like it when they get along and I don't care much for the manufactured drama. Kyle and Lisa splashing each other in Lisa's pool last season was one of the highlights of the show for me. But I also enjoy when the drama is organic, such as Kyle trying to explain herself to a (deliberately) non-understanding Camille in NY in season 1. This first show has made last year seem like a bad dream.