Sweet-tea

I agree! Watching her my first reaction was, “She really needs a a “makeunder.” Tone everything down! Lighten the hair, ditch the eyeliner and please leave the lips alone! The frosted pink lipstick was hideous. The red was better but not much. Still too much lips! She looked so much better with her natural lips. Looks like she’s using a lot of filler too because her face looked pretty full in the ending interview. Her whole look needs to be softened. The super straight hair wasn’t flattering either. I can’t remember what magazine it was that used to do makeunders but Benita would be an excellent candidate. I wonder if Pretty Woman is one of her favorite movies. A little strange as the Julia Roberts character is a prostitute, but the fantasy elements are there: being rescued from a lonely life, whisked away, an extravagant shopping trip... so many women still dream about this kind of stuff. They still do it on The Bachelor. They’ll have dates where the guy takes the woman shopping, she buys a bunch of expensive clothes and they travel in a limo or helicopter to an extravagant dinner (that they don’t eat). Sometimes he’ll cap it off by giving her the perfect diamond necklace and earrings to go with her dress. It’s all fantasy, a modern-day Cinderella story. Another one: Richard Gere in dress uniform in An Officer and a Gentleman strutting into the factory and lifting Debra Winger into his arms and carrying her out of that horrible place while the other poor women cheer. I guess some women still want a version of this story, even Benita who had a career, a child and seemed to be earning a decent living. Where was her gut feeling? Where was that little alarm going off in her head that something wasn’t right?

A two-hour show and I still have so many unanswered questions: who was the woman in Barcelona? Was that actually his wife and there wasn’t a wife in Italy? Benita said she knew he was married, so why was she planning a wedding with a guy who was still married? Wouldn’t she want to verify he’d actually gotten a divorce? Who paid for all the lavish trips they went on? How could she look at that ring and think it was worth $100k? It was obvious the ring wasn’t extravagant. What about his education? Did he actually graduate from medical school somewhere? If so, where? We know he faked a bunch of other credentials so I really wanted to know exactly where the chain of lies started in terms of his education. And why on earth weren’t some of her friends and colleagues in “investigative journalism” raising questions about all this, especially when he took it to the level of the Pope officiating their wedding! Come on! Frequent absences, cancellations of trips and dates, not wanting her to see where he lives, multiple phones. Uh... in my world that means he’s MARRIED and not in name only. I mean married and still living with his wife. How could this woman be so clueless? I was into this until the last 15 minutes. They really dropped the ball. There was no payoff because the guy isn’t even in jail. Are there lawsuits pending against him or the hospital? I think they only mentioned one, which surprised me. Seven people died! Where is the guy living now? Is he still with his wife? They didn’t follow up on a lot. It just kind of dropped off, especially in the last few minutes. I wasn’t even sure it was over until I saw the credits roll.

Watching the Anna Nicole Smith story made me wonder why this hasn't been made into a movie, either TV or maybe even theater. There was so much drama in her life. It seems like a story made for the screen. It would be interesting to see who they'd cast to play her though, because she was a larger woman and most actresses are so skinny. I don't really understand how antidepressants and Methadone caused her son's death unless he was taking more than prescribed.

I don't know why Tiffany talks that way but it is hard to hear. Super slow, over-enunciating. Ugh. I don't like her and fast-forward through most of her scenes. I expect we're supposed to sympathize with her for the pressure she got from her mother, but I don't. I am just not interested. I kind of miss LeAnne. I know she was a piece of work but she could be good TV. Not many people I like on this show. Probably just Stephanie.

I agree with her when she said she didn't really fit in with the group and didn't want her participation to seem forced. I thought that was the case last season.

Me too. I just wish he would have stipulated that point, but Andy seemed intent on shutting him down. Andy seems to favor Madison. Agree about Craig's hair! What on earth happened? It looks like a bad hairpiece. Kathryn looked good except I didn't really like her hair color. It looked unnatural. I liked the style though and she's lost a lot of weight. Her makeup also looked good. I saw a clip of Cameron explaining why she left the show. I'll post it in the media thread. Why doesn't Patricia come to the reunions?

The biggest change is how much weight she has lost. She is skinny now! I like her better as a redhead.

ITA! I do not like Leva and wouldn't want to be anywhere near her. I think she's mostly after screen time and listening to her harping on people is hard on the ears. I am concerned about Dani. She doesn't look good and seems emotionally fragile. Madison is not coming off well at all. I hope Austen stays away from her. Assuming Cialis is a prescription medication, his trainer should not have given it to Shep (unless the trainer is a physician). Was Austen drinking and driving? It looked like he had an open can of beer in the car with him when he got out of the car. Not sure though. Maybe it was unopened.

Danni looked drunk to me, so maybe that fueled her emotions. Actually most of them seemed inebriated, thus all the fighting.

There's a saying "as American as apple pie and baseball." I think that's what the OP meant. Some foods are popular here. It would've been all right if Kameron had made her point and moved on, but she repeated herself and made it into too big of a deal. She should've stayed away from the cultural argument and just said she didn't like being pressured to eat something. I've also noticed Tiffany's exaggerated way of speaking. It's annoying and reminds me of people speaking to small children. I think in some of the stories about her mother she's trying to be funny. Not sure she's succeeding. She seems to have some resentment for her mother and is kind of cloaking it with jokes. It sounds like she felt really pressured by her mother and hasn't come to terms with it yet. Kary isn't one of my favorite HWs. She did look really good in the photo shoot!

I hope he is still going to Alanon. Gosh, he probably needs a lot more help than Alanon. Sorry Mu Shu. You already said it. I can’t watch anymore. I detest Braunwyn and she’s the focus of the show this season.

Not surprised at all. He didn’t seem as into her as she wanted him to be. It actually lasted a bit longer than I expected. Clare needs to grow up and calm down. She is impulsive about relationships and it’s hurting her.

Seems like she’s in search of a storyline.

Not buying COVID as the main reason why Robyn and Juan aren't married yet. They stopped filming months before COVID. IMO if they really wanted to be married by now, they would be. Also haven't heard them even mention a date or timeframe--six months from now, a year from now, nothing. I still think Juan is dragging his feet. (And I didn't say Robyn's worth was based on whether Juan marries her. I just said he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do so.) Hopefully they'll get married and I'll be proven wrong. I was surprised Gizelle and Ashley got off as easily as they did. Andy gave them both a pass. Also surprised both Jamal and Michael weren't there. I think the husbands' segment would've been more interesting with them. If Candiace comes back next season, please give her a different storyline. Do NOT make it about her extended recovery over the trauma of the fight. Just enough of it. The storyline has been beaten to death (pun intended). I don't find Wendy that interesting but I don't dislike her, so I'm fine if she comes back or doesn't. Ray still doesn't seem into Karen. I hope their marriage lasts. If might be better for them as a couple if she doesn't return to the show, but I expect she will.

Robyn and Juan got engaged what... a year ago? Isn’t that when the show aired? And the reunion was filmed last month and they’re still not married. They didn’t even mention a wedding date. Doesn’t look like Juan’s in any hurry to marry her to me. Wondering if the engagement and ring were just a stall? I’ve been watching old episodes of ATL on Hulu. Porsha was technically reduced to “friend” status after the fight with Kenya, but you couldn’t really tell watching the show. She wasn’t in the opening credits for the next season, but she was in every episode of the show. So in terms of exposure, it didn’t look like she was punished much. Gizelle didn’t look very good. I didn’t notice it as much in the first reunion episode, which is weird. Who’s betting she’ll have a lower facelift before the next season? I don’t believe most of what Karen says. She is fast and loose with the truth. She likes to create her own version of events. If she is smart, she will NOT renew her vows with Ray. Not a good thing to do on these shows! Wondering why they spent so much time discussing the Monique/Chris/Trainer stuff when they didn’t air any of the footage. I liked the group slither-out at the end.

This is a pro-Monique site but according to them, Monique was offered a poor contract (as is typical of Bravo when they want to get rid of someone) so she quit.

I think Gina, Elizabeth and Emily are overweight. However, I don’t think Braunwyn has a good figure at all. She is thin but as others have said, so sinewy it’s not attractive. Her stomach looks odd in some scenes. I wonder if she had a tummy tuck. IMO Luann from NY has the best body of all the women across the franchise.

Even the way she told her kids about her test results ticked me off: the dramatic lead-in "I wasn't supposed to get my results back until tomorrow...", then the little pause and the declaration: positive. Seemed like she was milking it for maximum effect/drama. It reminds me of my NPD mother who is either always sick or claiming to be sick, usually to get sympathy. She has actually faked a number of illnesses including cancer and Alzheimer's. Not saying Shannon is doing that but she certainly seems to enjoy wallowing in misery and making sure her family members are also miserable. In contrast, Emily is doing her best not to focus on herself. I wonder if Shanon will even notice this when she watches the show? I'm guess it's doubtful as she seems to have little self-awareness.

It almost seemed like Shannon wanted to test positive so she could bask in her victim status while blaming her daughters. I feel for them. They will likely end up attending ACA or Alanon meetings to deal with the codependency they developed living with a narcissistic, histrionic mother. I don't know how John stands her.

This was the case with my father. He was abused by my mother for over 50 years. One day he had finally had enough. I went over to see him and asked him to leave with me. Previously, he had always said no (out of fear). This time he said yes. He was a frail old man with dementia who could no longer wait on my mother, so her abuse had gotten even worse (turned physical). My mother was yelling and berating him even as we left. I'm confused by Braunwyn and Sean's relationship. Are they staying married or getting divorced? What about all the kids? Who will have custody? I also feel sorry for those children. If she was drinking as much as she said and her behavior over the years was as bad as what we've seen on the show, then the children were neglected and living in an abusive, alcoholic household. As someone who grew up in one, I can tell you the effects are long-lasting. It doesn't seem like she was paying much attention to her kids at all, and that's putting it mildly. And I wonder how Sean, her husband of 20 years and father to her 7 children felt reading her statement "I’m not attracted to men and I never have been.” Was that really necessary? Here's an idea: maybe get a divorce before you start doing PR with your new girlfriend! Sheesh! I hope she isn't coming back next season. She is unbearable. I cannot stand her. Actually, I'm not planning on watching it anyway.

Wow, in those flashbacks of Kathryn you can really see how much she has changed in just a few years. She looks much older now IMO.

The fit of Monique’s dress looked good from the waist up. I didn’t get a good look at her standing up. I thought Ashley’s face looked lovely. Robyn looked terrible from head to toe from me, including her makeup. The dark lipstick was not flattering. Whatever Karen did to her nose didn’t seem successful. I don’t usually like Candiace’s looks because she overdoes her makeup. It’s just too much for me, especially with the false eyelashes. Giselle looked good from the neck up. Wendy looked very different in the face to me. Did she have something done? I can’t put my finger on what’s different but it may be her nose. Monique seemed very angry but I’m kind of glad someone called Gizelle out on the fake relationship and all the women Jamal has, including the current one who recently had a baby. Gizelle looked shocked and was (for once) speechless.

I hear you but Bravo has always been political and one-sided. They just have a better forum for it now. Shannon really got on my nerves. She is a basket case. So dramatic and self-absorbed! Braunwyn is also insufferable. She gives recovery a bad name. I now understand why everyone stopped speaking to her. Watching it I felt like I was cooped-up with them. It was unsettling so I fast-forwarded through most of the show. When is the last episode? It can't end soon enough. I just want to see the reunion.

Agree. Looks like Michael also has a drinking problem.

I thought the scene of the QE giving MT the medal was so affecting. MT looked so vulnerable and broken, and QE’s gesture was kind. It was a rare moment of affection from her made especially powerful given how cruelly she dismissed Diana. It seems the RF never realized Diana was an asset to them because the people loved her. She embodied warmth, compassion and someone who was relatable. They saw it as vulgar and grandiose behavior. Perhaps it was to an extent, because Diana did seem to crave approval. It’s understandable though given what she was dealing with living in the ice castle. Overall, I liked S4 but S1 is still my favorite. Next is S2, then S4. S3 was my least favorite. I wonder how long it will be before S5. It seems like there wasn’t as long of a gap between S3 and S4 but maybe I’m wrong about that. It seems like it took forever for S3.