S01.E08: Hot Tub Confessions

[tvfanatic13]

On 12/31/2020 at 12:05 AM, JAYJAY1979 said:

From what I read...Mary started filming part time from this point on.

Seeing Whitney's dad...it makes sense why she went for her current hubby...father figure.  I imagine she and Ashley from Potomac would click.

Love is either blind, or absence makes the heart grow fonder...only explanation about Mr. Shah's feelings about Jen.

Heather is still my fav.

Interesting that you say that about Mary. While watching I was thinking, "this must be the episode where everyone realized that they could not stand her, and refused to film with her anymore."

I base that on nothing, but speculation that there must be some BTS stuff with her and the rest of the group.

[Baltimore Betty]

1 hour ago, GussieK said:

Thanks!  I was looking for pics of Birkin bags LOL. I have a GE microwave with little rubber legs. Have had it for years. 

This oven is on tall legs and for some reason I am captivated by it, my world has gotten so small.

[For Cereals]

On 12/30/2020 at 8:05 PM, Pi237 said:

Meredith...and.....her. Husband.   Speak...soo....haltingly?....like...they...forgot. Their. Lines?...or..like. They’re....high? ...and oh hi Brooksie! Hey Brooksie! Smoochie love you, genius gifted special child!......... “Ugh. Thanks for missing my show.” 

Painful. 
 

 

They’re hard to watch mostly because poor man’s Bruce Willis has been pulled to tight...

[Alonzo Mosely FBI]

Mary is interesting. It feels wrong to me that the leader of a church has that kind of wealth, and ostentatious lifestyle. 

Then her son comes along also also feels empowered to spend ridiculously on his g f. That money comes from donations from parishioners right?  I do not get it. I think of Pope John Paul II requesting burial in a simple cypress wood coffin. Prob cost less than the purse the boy bought on Mary's CC. 

[Chatty Cake]

Whitney’s dad reminds me of a family member that used to use and now won’t get a job but has every intention of starting up his own company. Even the language her dad used about  “getting back in the game” is similar. It’s a load of crap. Best he can do at his age is work for someone else and see how that goes. Whitney’s done a lot for him, now it’s time to let him do for himself.

Merediths separation seems like a storyline of convenience since he was traveling although maybe she did have a fling with someone else.

Lisa is so impressed with herself which is good because I doubt anyone else is. I’ve never heard of her tequila and add me to the list of not knowing what is keeping her so busy. 

Coach Shah is a much needed addition to his wife’s scenes. 

[LibertarianSlut]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:58 AM, SweetieDarling said:

I don't know why this attitude surprises anyone. I see it all the time in "good church going Christians". I once heard a woman rationalize that one could "cheat" during Lent on Sundays; because if you eliminate the Sundays, you're left with 40 days of sacrifice (no chocolate, etc), and somehow that number was the correct amount of days to go without. I see people that claim to be good Christians with far from Christian attitudes; Look at Mary Crosby. The fact that people are picking and choosing which tenets to follow and bending the rules to suit their lifestyles is not unique the Mormon 2.0s. 

I think it “surprises” me that Lisa doesn’t have her story straight about her religion, because she is on a reality show where she doesn’t stop talking about it.  I wouldn’t even characterize it as “surprised”; I am more dismayed that a woman who converted to Mormonism and drinks/sells alcohol and is asked about it doesn’t have a ready response, and she just descends into talk of being spiritual and personal.  Coach Shah asked a direct question to Lisa whether there is “some religious proscription that says you can’t have an alcohol company and still practice” and “is that at odds from a religious standpoint?”

If it’s allowed to be sold, but not drunk, as someone suggested vis a vis Marriott upthread, then perhaps Lisa should have said that.  I would have accepted an answer such as, “no, we can sell it, but we are just not allowed to drink it” (and then she might have to explain why she was drinking earlier in the episode) or “yes, there is a religious proscription against selling alcohol, but I choose to anyway” or, “I don’t know,” which would ring strange to me, considering that the woman converted to the religion, so one would expect she knows something about it.  I think she does know, but she is being deliberately obtuse, and that’s where my consternation originates.  

The stuff Lisa said about not being a cultural Mormon is bullshit to me.  The church has a strict stance on alcohol.  If Lisa and her husband want to ignore it, they are departing from their religion, which is fine, I guess, but the religion does not bend to meet Lisa and John at their comfort zone  That’s not how this works.  I had to agree with what Jen said in her talking head “that is not the Mormon Church or religion that I grew up with...it’s really not the Mormon Church; it’s like the Lisa Barlow church” after Lisa and John mumble-answered that they don’t care.  If Lisa had said point blank that she didn’t care, I would have had a lot more respect for that answer.  When Lisa says in a talking head that God doesn’t care that she owns a tequila company, maybe she’s right, but the religion that she converted to is unambiguous that it does not wants its adherents drinking, and there’s no getting around that, so why not just be honest and say money is more important than following the faith to the letter?  It’s not like she’d be burned at the stake; everyone probably just would have shrugged and moved on.  

I don’t think Lisa is used to people asking her very direct questions like Coach Shah did, and I subtract points for unpreparedness, especially  on TV.  

I’ve been this way my whole life—I expect religious people to adhere to their religion, or what is the point?  I don’t think it is unique to Mormonism; I used to think it was kind of...gross (for lack of a better word) when my Jewish grandma would say she was going to fast for Yom Kippur and hopefully lose a few pounds, and when I would ask her why she was actually fasting, she would get defensive and not know.

I mentioned in an earlier episode’s thread that where I’m from, a slim majority of the people are Catholic (not me, I wasn’t raised with a religion) and the hypocrisy was overwhelming to me.  In the office where I worked in college, people would be horrible to each other, but no meat other than fish was consumed for lunch on Fridays!  And in another office, there was the secretary who had a child out of wedlock and was currently on artificial birth control (hopefully at least), and when it was time to get paid time off to run down to church to get their ashes for Ash Wednesday, I don’t know who was quicker to leave the building first—her or the attorney who was sleeping with a different girl every week.  I don’t get that stuff.  I never have.  

Maybe it’s easy for me, because I wasn’t born into organized religion of any sort, and it was only in my twenties, through inquiry and reason that I arrived at the conclusion that I believe in Christian principles and I am, for all intents and purposes, a Christian, but the only things that really requires is for me to believe Christ died for our sins, He was resurrected, and I should try to be a good person.  I’m not prepared to make religious sacrifices, I’m not prepared to tithe, I’m not prepared to attend church, so I don’t commit to anything, and I don’t claim to do otherwise.  And I guess that if I have my attitude, it makes it hard for me to see it differently.  Maybe I would be different if I was “born into” a religion (highly doubtful), but Lisa opted into this religion, so that makes it all the more puzzling to me.  

Then again, there is that famous quote by the Catholic woman—I forget her name—but when they asked her how she could simultaneously be so Catholic and so rude to people, her reply was like, “Can you imagine how bad I would be if I wasn’t Catholic?”  At least that’s witty though, at least that’s something.  Lisa looked like a deer in headlights, and like she was in physical pain when she was asked a direct question about her religion and business.  This is why I think Coach Shah should get a snowflake and a tag line.  I could not imagine any of the women on this franchise having the balls to cut to the heart of a matter without being offensive or awful about it.  He just respectfully asked Lisa what was the deal with regard to her religion and her business, and she crumbled in on herself like a dying star.  

[Chatty Cake]

The only one that doesn’t drink is Coach Shah, correct? 

[emmawoodhouse]

3 minutes ago, Chatty Cake said:

The only one that doesn’t drink is Coach Shah, correct? 

It's looking that way.

[Booger666]

35 minutes ago, LibertarianSlut said:

The stuff Lisa said about not being a cultural Mormon is bullshit to me.

Completely agree.  Especially since she went on and on about how Mormonism appeals to her because it is all about the quest to be perfect.  It’s obvious drinking alcohol would make her “imperfect” so she lost me with her BS.  

[howiveaddict]

9 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

OH DEAR!!! I am glad that I could brighten your day, get well soon!

Who is Frank Gallagher?

Main character on Shameless.  Alcoholic, drug addict.  Tries to get everything paid for him.

[NYCFree]

Whitney’s dad never actually talks about working per se, he talks a great deal about owning a salon. It seems like he has absolutely no interest in having a chair in someone else’s salon, then saving money to open his own. He also seems like he fully intended to have his family house him because he’s too precious to have a roommate, and “he made that clear.”

[Bridget]

On 12/31/2020 at 5:05 AM, Duke2801 said:

Whitney’s dad making a list of all the financial expenses that she “owed” him is seriously gross.  How incredibly manipulative. I’m glad she didn’t give into his demands this time (at least not on camera). 
 

Brooks and his flat affect/vocal fry can take a hike. That kid (and I do mean kid —despite the fact that he’s 21 freaking years old) needs a serious reality check. Although to be fair, Meredith totally enables his selfish and entitled behavior. Telling her husband that “he needs to apologize to Brooks” for missing his fashion show—when SHE was the one who basically told him that he should stay away because she needed space—was annoying. The whole family’s dynamic is bizarre. 

Heather continues to be great. Between her singing Grease 2 lyrics on the snowmobile to her unwillingness to gossip about Meredith and Seth’s marriage, my affection for her grows weekly. Also loved her TH about people feeling sorry for her being a single rider/single in general: “I feel sorry for YOU.” She’s a Cool Rider indeed. 
 

I don’t recall a snowmobile accident on OC. I do remember the ATV accident in Glamis though. That was scary. 

*Victoria Gunvalson has entered the chat* 

That could be true! I actually read the opposite about Mary—that she initially had a “friend of” role then promoted her to full time at some point.

In any case, I don’t care for her and didn’t miss seeing her. 

I need a C-O-O-L...R-I-D-E-R....

One of my absolute favorite movies + my absolute favorite housewife = one of the best parts of 2020. 💚

 

[MaggieG]

I cracked up at Heather's "love is truly blind" comment when Coach Shah mentioned how nice Jenn was 😂. Also, what exactly is Jenn's job where she has that huge office, multiple assistants and she's traveling??

 

[ichbin]

On 1/1/2021 at 12:51 PM, KateHearts said:

I was fascinated by Meredith's talking heads (blue dress) where she is wearing a witness-protection type wig and her giant boobs over that itty-bitty waist made her look like an anime figure or someone's bad instagram alteration. And her left upper lip seems stuck down so she always has a very lopsided look to her mouth. Too much botox, perhaps?

I can't help but feel some of these women are disliked by production considering the way they allow them to go on camera.  Whitney has that talking head with her hair kind of slicked back where the total look is off.  In the last episode it looked like the top of a clip on hair filler was sticking out of the back of her head while she was talking to her husband.  Surely someone could have given her a heads up if they wanted to.  

[Marley]

This show is so boring. Probably my least fave housewife show. When they were at Jens house their convos were just so blah. The only person I didn’t mind was Coach Shah.

Meredith and Seth are so fake.

Mary sucks and is too weird.

The only reason I’m still watching is because there’s nothing else really on.

[Baltimore Betty]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:19 PM, Alonzo Mosely FBI said:

Mary is interesting. It feels wrong to me that the leader of a church has that kind of wealth, and ostentatious lifestyle. 

Then her son comes along also also feels empowered to spend ridiculously on his g f. That money comes from donations from parishioners right?  I do not get it. I think of Pope John Paul II requesting burial in a simple cypress wood coffin. Prob cost less than the purse the boy bought on Mary's CC. 

I do not believe for one minute there was a purchase of said bag, Mary was not waiving around her credit card bill, no flash on a photo of a blurred out face with a Birkin on an arm, the kid looked like and acted like he was playing a scene. It was a fake as the bag that kid might have bought for the alleged girlfriend.  Authentic Birkin bags usually means the buyers are usually put on a wait list so I am betting on there was some bag bought from a knock off website much like how Mary has filled her closet.  

 

[Alonzo Mosely FBI]

54 minutes ago, Baltimore Betty said:

I do not believe for one minute there was a purchase of said bag, Mary was not waiving around her credit card bill, no flash on a photo of a blurred out face with a Birkin on an arm, the kid looked like and acted like he was playing a scene. It was a fake as the bag that kid might have bought for the alleged girlfriend.  Authentic Birkin bags usually means the buyers are usually put on a wait list so I am betting on there was some bag bought from a knock off website much like how Mary has filled her closet.  

 

Good call! In all probability this is not far fetched. I don't like the ostentatious show w/these ppl, put on or real.

[DeeplyShallow]

3 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

I do not believe for one minute there was a purchase of said bag, Mary was not waiving around her credit card bill, no flash on a photo of a blurred out face with a Birkin on an arm, the kid looked like and acted like he was playing a scene. It was a fake as the bag that kid might have bought for the alleged girlfriend.  Authentic Birkin bags usually means the buyers are usually put on a wait list so I am betting on there was some bag bought from a knock off website much like how Mary has filled her closet.  

 

I agree it’s BS but I believe they were talking about a Prada bag, not a Birkin

[Baltimore Betty]

2 hours ago, DeeplyShallow said:

I agree it’s BS but I believe they were talking about a Prada bag, not a Birkin

Tomato tomah-to, lol.  Same difference, that kid did not purchase any designer bag that cost $1500+ using his mother's credit card without a second thought and have no consequences.

[AryasMum]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:58 AM, SweetieDarling said:

I don't know why this attitude surprises anyone. I see it all the time in "good church going Christians". I once heard a woman rationalize that one could "cheat" during Lent on Sundays; because if you eliminate the Sundays, you're left with 40 days of sacrifice (no chocolate, etc), and somehow that number was the correct amount of days to go without. I see people that claim to be good Christians with far from Christian attitudes; Look at Mary Crosby. The fact that people are picking and choosing which tenets to follow and bending the rules to suit their lifestyles is not unique the Mormon 2.0s. 

I find it strange that Heather considers herself Mormon, but dislikes so many of their beliefs. From what she says, they're more judgemental than Dana Carvey's Church Lady.

I wonder if they have a high suicide rate.

A cursory google search showed that Utah suicides are high, but “leveling”. 
 

I do know that at one time, and possibly currently, Utah had the highest Xanax Rx per person statistic in the country.  It’s hard work pretending to be perfect. 

[DeeplyShallow]

5 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Tomato tomah-to, lol.  Same difference, that kid did not purchase any designer bag that cost $1500+ using his mother's credit card without a second thought and have no consequences.

Well... no...a Prada bag is a lot easier to get than a Birkin. Again, agree it was all for show, but the post also went on to talk about the exclusivity of the Birkin bags and waitlists. If she said Birkin it would actually have been more unbelievable.

[Baltimore Betty]

56 minutes ago, DeeplyShallow said:

Well... no...a Prada bag is a lot easier to get than a Birkin. Again, agree it was all for show, but the post also went on to talk about the exclusivity of the Birkin bags and waitlists. If she said Birkin it would actually have been more unbelievable.

I called the Prada a Birkin by accident, sorry.  My point was the kid didn't buy an expensive designer bag, I apologize for the designer mix up, so as Sutton Stracke (RHOBH) would say, "you've had your fun now stop."

 

[Lassus]

On 1/1/2021 at 3:19 PM, Alonzo Mosely FBI said:

It feels wrong to me that the leader of a church has that kind of wealth, and ostentatious lifestyle.

It feels utterly normal to me, based on - checks watch - the last 2,000 years of organized religion.

[Alonzo Mosely FBI]

2 minutes ago, Lassus said:

It feels utterly normal to me, based on - checks watch - the last 2,000 years of organized religion.

I totally feel that. I guess I like my organized religion with money blown on corruption and real estate not designer clothes.  It is a road too far lol. 

[Lassus]

On 1/1/2021 at 7:46 PM, LibertarianSlut said:

I mentioned in an earlier episode’s thread that where I’m from, a slim majority of the people are Catholic (not me, I wasn’t raised with a religion) and the hypocrisy was overwhelming to me.

It feels utterly normal to me, based on - checks watch - the last 2,000 years of organized religion.

[SweetieDarling]

I FINALLY got around to watching this episode...2 things, so far:

Jen and Lisa are wearing the same ski pants (in different colors) to go snowmobiling. Is that a fashion faux pas? Who do you think was more annoyed? I'm going with Jen.

Was anyone surprised that Lisa drove the Barlow snowmobile? Me neither.

[Tess23]

Just one thing, Lisa. When they were growing up, there were days when my kids were mad at me or tired of me, but not once did they go to bed and wonder if they were loved, which seems to be your night time mantra. Good grief, woman, priorities much?

[princelina]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:45 PM, Pi237 said:

It’s amazing how many Housewives go on and on about how ‘busy’ they are and how they take care of everyone else except themselves...yet, we never see them actually doing anything except talking about how busy they are. 

While we watch them taking care of themselves 😄 

On 12/31/2020 at 7:53 AM, sugarbaker design said:

He hasn't changed at all.  With typical junkie grandiosity he is too good to share a room, refuses to rent a chair and rebuild his business, but is more than willing for his daughter to bankroll his new salon.  He'll be using before long.

Yep - and it will be All Her Fault. 🙄

On 12/31/2020 at 8:05 AM, Duke2801 said:

Brooks and his flat affect/vocal fry can take a hike. That kid (and I do mean kid —despite the fact that he’s 21 freaking years old) needs a serious reality check. Although to be fair, Meredith totally enables his selfish and entitled behavior. Telling her husband that “he needs to apologize to Brooks” for missing his fashion show—when SHE was the one who basically told him that he should stay away because she needed space—was annoying. The whole family’s dynamic is bizarre. 

Indeed.  In this episode I was thinking that it seems like they wrote a whole storyline for themselves and are now just acting it out.  Was their goal to be the least likable people in the RH world?

On 1/1/2021 at 7:46 PM, LibertarianSlut said:

I think it “surprises” me that Lisa doesn’t have her story straight about her religion, because she is on a reality show where she doesn’t stop talking about it.  I wouldn’t even characterize it as “surprised”; I am more dismayed that a woman who converted to Mormonism and drinks/sells alcohol and is asked about it doesn’t have a ready response, and she just descends into talk of being spiritual and personal.  

I actually find this to be a very "21st century" response - people don't like to be told what to do even by God or their religion, and are no longer shy about saying so.  The Bible warns a lot about false converts and false teachers.

On 1/2/2021 at 11:59 AM, MaggieG said:

I cracked up at Heather's "love is truly blind" comment when Coach Shah mentioned how nice Jenn was 😂. Also, what exactly is Jenn's job where she has that huge office, multiple assistants and she's traveling??

Yes!  What is Jen's job?  Does anyone know? Coach Shah mentioned marketing or something like that, but I want details!

[Stats Queen]

7 hours ago, princelina said:

Yes!  What is Jen's job?  Does anyone know? Coach Shah mentioned marketing or something like that, but I want details

Same here. 
Does it involve more even more personal facial produces?

[ladle]

Just catching up on the season now, and I think the main issue I'm having with this show is that it expects us to get invested in these secondary and tertiary characters (Whitney's dad, Brooks, etc.) when it's the first season and we're not even invested in the main cast yet.  And that's likely because the main cast either doesn't have too much going on (Sundance Woman) or are unlikable (Jen) or somehow manage to be both boring and unlikeable (Mary) but... yeah... it's not really working for me.

I'll continue to watch, though, because it's one of the only shows not stuck in Covidland right now and I need the escape. 

Also I continue to like Heather very much.  Her journey is interesting and I find her compelling.  

[ladle]

I thought it was pretty shitty of Seth not to show up at Brooks's fashion show and then passive aggressively blame Meredith for it.  You can't go to your son's event and just be civil with his mom for a few hours or whatever?  Even if it was a "fashion show" of a single track suit, it was still clearly a big deal to Brooks and it didn't seem like Seth legitimately had to work or had anything that actually precluded him from being there.

Note: I say this as someone who really can't stand Brooks.

[ladle]

On 12/31/2020 at 8:05 AM, Duke2801 said:

On 12/30/2020 at 11:45 PM, Pi237 said:

It’s amazing how many Housewives go on and on about how ‘busy’ they are and how they take care of everyone else except themselves...yet, we never see them actually doing anything except talking about how busy they are. 

*Victoria Gunvalson has entered the chat* 

She works!  She WORKS!!  

[RealHousewife]

On 12/31/2020 at 9:40 AM, Alonzo Mosely FBI said:

when Whitney is alone with her dad they are like a couple. It’s a thing. They have some boundary problems. There is more chemistry between them than her own husband. What is the age diff between her dad and her husband ? Her husband is more of an old man than the dad.

I find  them compelling . And Whitney’s half infantilized voice and “Wild” (I think she thinks it is wild) sexuality expression is something to watch. Yikes. 

I like Whitney so far. She seems sweet. I also think she's gorgeous, but I've noticed her family dynamics are a little different and the voice. In one episode, she was straddling her brother. Now I don't have a brother, but I'd imagine that would be awkward? 

Whitney is one of the youngest housewives in all these shows. I normally look at these women and think "She's a beautiful woman. I'd love to look like that at 45 or 50 or whatever." But she's a fresh-faced 30-year-old, still quite young. The voice however sounds about half of that. When I was in my early to mid 20s, sometimes I would be asked if I were at least 18 if I called to inquire about a job or something. I still sound younger than my age, but thank goodness I finally sound like a grown woman. Maybe Whitney's voice will continue to mature too. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by RealHousewife