ladle1

Aw, I kind of like the kooky, lemur-loving yoga teacher! At least she’s giving us something different. (And I REALLY dislike Carl.) I realize that’s an unpopular opinion. On another note, I’m not knocking Lexie’s looks but she seems awfully short to be a model. Or does height not really matter unless you’re doing runway? Or is she more of an influencer-model than a model-model so it’s a non-issue? Genuine question! The entirety of my modeling knowledge comes from old episodes of ANTM.

Um, not the point of this episode but, per West's testimonial: are you even supposed to recycle the plastic containers that you get from delivery places? I didn't think that was the kind of plastic that could be recycled?

Uggghhh, I really, really, really don't want to defend Kyle Richards ever, but I'm not sure what Garcelle wants Kyle to do here. Kyle has said that she and Morgan are just friends. Whether that's true or not, the question has been asked and answered. Whether Garcelle likes or believes the answer, it doesn't seem like there's much else to talk about. One photo of Kyle at Morgan's concert? Garcelle wonders why Kyle would have been back stage and not out in the audience, but that's consistent with Kyle being Morgan's friend (and/or a celebrity). It's possible that the women are right and Kyle is teasing the paps about her relationship with Morgan but to me that's an "eyeroll and move on" type situation. Why does Garcelle care so much? It doesn't really make sense to me. The reason they are talking about Mau and not Morgan is because there was a public photo of Mau kissing a half-naked woman. If something like that came out featuring Kyle and Morgan then maybe I could see Garcelle's point. I do wonder if Sutton and Garcelle had a conversation off camera, in which Garcelle said she was going to come for Kyle this season over the Morgan thing, and Sutton agreed to back her up. That seems to me like the only logical explanation for Garcelle's reaction here. Also I think this gets lost because Kyle sucks and Garcelle is generally likable, but it's icky to repeatedly try to get someone to "out" herself to you if she's not ready.

I'm not on anybody's side, but if I were it would be the side of the editors, for titling the episode "Sutton on Trial at Sea" after Sutton explicitly said "This is not going to be 'Sutton on Trial at Sea.'" The shaaaaade. Far be it from me to defend Erika, because ew, but I don't think she was saying that she needed to know who Garcelle was sleeping with -- she was just pointing out the hypocrisy of Garcelle being all up in Kyle's grill about her private life when Garcelle doesn't share things like that on the show either. I actually thought Erika had a point there! And I say that as someone who generally likes Garcelle and is not an Erika or Kyle fan.

It's funny because I actually feel like I'm in the minority. I'm seeing lots of talk online about how boring the season was!

I can totally understand that! That doesn't bother me, I think, because I don't go into reality TV expecting abject reality. They're not really getting murdered, and it's not really Alan's castle, either, but I just suspend disbelief and get swept away by the ridiculous spectacle of it all. The editors delivered some great twists and turns this season, and whether they were reflective of what was "actually" happening... *shrug*? They were still lots of fun for me! But I totally get where you're coming from and how it would be frustrating to watch if you want to see the actual game play. Same! The first season finale was hard to watch for this reason.

I’m trying to figure out why I loved this season (and every season!) so much, while others seemed to find it boring. And I think it’s because I don’t watch a lot of competition reality TV, so I’m watching this for the spectacle of the show rather than the game play. A Dolores/Sandoval feud, Gabby confusing the periodic table with the multiplication table, Alan doing high camp, and the narrative twists and turns were everything I needed in my life right now. I also kind of like that the monetary stakes are low, so nobody gets screwed out of a truly life-changing amount. The stakes being low is something I enjoy about (non-competition) reality TV in general! There’s something relaxing, in our dumpster-fire world, about the biggest drama being “Will Sutton invite Dorit to her fake fashion show?” With The Traitors, I get to watch a bunch of people who are made for reality TV (okay, plus Sam and Ivar) just being their interesting and ridiculous selves in a gorgeous setting. What’s not to love? However I can see how, if you’re looking for shrewd game play, a season like this might be frustrating.

I mean, in the hierarchy of disgusting things, is one worse than the other? I'm not an ethicist. I don't know. Maybe you're right. But my point is that both are gross.

I mean... I agree with everything you said about Dorit. I loathe Dorit! But I feel like I can loathe Dorit and still think it's gross to use "You're poor" as a retort in a conversation where money isn't even the topic. She also doubled down on it in her confessional, presumably filmed a while later. I don't feel super strongly about it though, because I tend to think they're all pretty terrible (with the possible exceptions of Garcelle, though she also has her moments, and Boz who is still too new to assess). Dorit and Kyle have tortured Sutton over the years, but Sutton has also done shitty things so... meh. So, agree to disagree!

Genuine question, but how was Dorit weaponizing her (alleged) wealth in her conversation with Sutton? It seems like they're fighting about who drinks too much and who called whom a bitch. For Sutton to make it about who has more money was, I thought, really weird -- unless there was more context that we didn't see! I feel like Sutton was annoyed with Dorit, so she grabbed onto something that fans have been saying about Dorit for years, thinking the fans would be on her side in this one. However, she did it too clumsily, so it basically came out as, "You're poor!" Cringe.

I'm Team Nobody because I've disliked Dorit for eons now, and Sutton is not my favorite HW either. That said, Sutton lost me with what she said about Dorit and her wallet. I'm sorry but that was really gross. There's definitely a snarky point to be made about how Dorit pretends to have wealth that she doesn't have, but that wasn't the point Sutton made.

I'll bet she has good industry stories!

I'm not a fan of Erika, but I'd kind of like to see her compete on a trivia-based game show (or The Traitors.... Don't hate me!)

I know it's hokey, but when Sutton was having the conversation with her mom and the camera panned to the women eavesdropping-- the looks on their faces made me literally LOL!

Having watched all of the seasons, I can say with confidence that Carl is also terrible. Jess Solomon may not be hot enough to be a player but his Tall Guy Advantage and Reality TV Guy Advantage push him over the edge. Is anyone else getting the sense that Lexie and Jesse decided they’d enter into a showmance prior to the season? It’s like they can’t even keep straight faces during their interactions.