S06.E22: Reunion Part 2

[jaync]

 Aviva is the weirdest motherfucker that ever motherfuckin' weirded.

 

I so hope her precious Jonathan turns into Josh one day. 

LOL, how weird.

[motorcitymom65]

 

 

Heather does speak in a classless, unrefined way.  She is a know it all and is very cutting in her comments.  I so hope her precious Jonathan turns into Josh one day.  No one wants to cross Heather because she is a junk yard dog.

I disagree. I think the deal with Heather is that for the most part, everyone likes her. They might have had an issue with her here or there, but in general, she is well liked and more importantly, they respect her. They know she is smart, they know she won't back down when she feels strongly about something, and they know she can effectively make her point. She took Ramona on right out of the gate last year, which stunned her because no one ever had. She was more than kind and helpful to Sonja last year and completely showed her to be the jackass that she is. She might get emotional, but she uses reason and logic in her interations, which tends to throw some of these gals off.

And why would Jonathan ever turn into Josh? Josh didn't "turn into Josh", he always was Josh. Kristen just apparently wasn't paying attention.

[zoeysmom]

I disagree. I think the deal with Heather is that for the most part, everyone likes her. They might have had an issue with her here or there, but in general, she is well liked and more importantly, they respect her. They know she is smart, they know she won't back down when she feels strongly about something, and they know she can effectively make her point. She took Ramona on right out of the gate last year, which stunned her because no one ever had. She was more than kind and helpful to Sonja last year and completely showed her to be the jackass that she is. She might get emotional, but she uses reason and logic in her interations, which tends to throw some of these gals off.

And why would Jonathan ever turn into Josh? Josh didn't "turn into Josh", he always was Josh. Kristen just apparently wasn't paying attention.

I  think for the most part people don't necessarily like Heather I think they are afraid to cross her.  Ramona doesn't like Heather, Heather doesn't like Ramona.  Kristen is trying to like Heather but I think she would rather stay on the team than cross her.   

 

Personally, I think Heather and Josh are crappy branders.  I think Yummie Tummie sounds more like a food product and I dislike misspelled brand names.  I think E-Boost is confusing because in current vernacular e or E tends to indicate electronic rather than the age old Energy.  I thought the half-naked guy on the toaster oven box was a bad idea but I can see where it seemed Sonja was unappreciative.  Because their advice is free doesn't make it good advice it just makes it advice that seems it must be taken or the recipient is ungrateful. What Heather and Josh probably are good at is raising capital-which is what Sonja needed.  That was the reality.

 

Heather is formidable because she is a bulldozer.  Anyone can win a Berkshire vs. Hamptons debate against Ramona as her reasons for liking the Hamptons snobbish and pretentious.  If it were merely a debate between shore and mountains the debate is less obvious.  Where I live it is the mountains Lake Tahoe or Monterrey beach area for vacation .  I prefer Monterrey but many prefer Tahoe. Yes, people compare the two all the time.

 

I think Heather and Ramona have a lot in common and I think that is why Heather immediately went after Ramona.  Heather's reasons for initially not liking Ramona is she didn't seem all that interested in all that was Heather.  Heather pushed her agenda and Ramona recoiled.  Kristen claimed the same about Ramona.  I didn't think there was anything remotely interesting about Kristen.  I still don't.  Kristen and Heather may think these women want these very nature type things-Sonja and Ramona expressed they did not.  Heather, LuAnn and Kristen like this "intervention" style confrontation.  They all suck t it because instead of it being about the target-it becomes about them.  Best example-"Ramona I went to a lot of work to make a nice girl's weekend."  Well there wasn't any more or less work that was required whether Ramona left a day early or not.  When Ramona said, "I was uncomfortable," Sonja, the one time voice of reason said, "we should have discussed it." That made it about Ramona instead of how the rest of the ninnies felt. Same with Montana-Aviva's presence or lack thereof didn't impact the planning of the trip.  Far more energy was spent getting to the bottom of why Ramona left early or why Aviva didn't attend.  In real life no one would have pursued it.

 

Where Ramona was smarter-something I thought I would never type,was when Jill, LuAnn and the Gilbert woman boycotted the St. John's trip it became more about Jill realizing what an asinine mistake she made and ended up trying to tag on.  There was not going to be a trip B like Jill thought Bravo would be forced to do.  So failure to engage in a trip is met with less screen time.

[ryebread]

I know, I know, I said I found her sympathetic, but at the end of the day...girls a vile bitch...

They don't have to be mutually exclusive, cyberjawa.  I still am sympathetic to her but she's certainly vile. 

 

I'm sympathetic to all of them, to a certain degree. Carole's loss, Heather's child, and the other 4 for being in crappy marriages.  But they're also vile, to different degrees.

[ryebread]

I think Heather and Ramona have a lot in common and I think that is why Heather immediately went after Ramona. 

And this is the only reason I'd ever want to see Bethenny back.  The power struggle between Heather and Bethenny would be epic. 

 

The 1990's Zinger Competition alone would be worth it weight in gold.  Satchels and satchels of gold. 

 

In addition, Bethenny lived in JayZ and Beyonce's building.  They could cage fight over who breathed more of that rarified air.

[jelliebean]

Poor Aviva just can't stop herself. She got in touch with Buzzfeed to respond to Carole's interview. http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/aviva-drescher-versus-carole-radziwill-help-me

[motorcitymom65]

 

I think Heather and Ramona have a lot in common and I think that is why Heather immediately went after Ramona. 

 

Since I always saw it as Ramona casting the first stone, I see it very differently. As soon as I heard about Heather and her background, I knew there would be trouble with Ramona. Ramona always considered that she was a lock as the business woman that has it all. The handsome husband, the great marriage, the kids, the business. She reminded us endlessly during the first few years about how successful she was and how empowering it was for a woman to make her own money. This was her gig. As far as she was concerned, she had no competition. Along comes Heather - 20 years her junior - and she's got all that as well. I knew that Ramona would find a way to put her in her place very quickly and remind her that there was after all a "pecking order", I just didn't think she would do it so quickly, and not at a party at her own home. And then Heather turned out to be smarter than Ramona. And more articulate. She didn't start shit with folks, say something horrible, refuse to make eye contact, and then run away. She would look the person she had an issue with right in the eye, say what she had to say, and generally make a lot of sense. This is what threw Ramona. She can acquire wealth, clothes, homes, etc. She cannot acquire rational thinking and common sense. 

[FlyingEgret]

Poor Aviva just can't stop herself. She got in touch with Buzzfeed to respond to Carole's interview. http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/aviva-drescher-versus-carole-radziwill-help-me

Thanks for the link - it's unfortunate for Aviva (but fortunate for us) that she just can't keep her mouth shut

[zoeysmom]

Since I always saw it as Ramona casting the first stone, I see it very differently. As soon as I heard about Heather and her background, I knew there would be trouble with Ramona. Ramona always considered that she was a lock as the business woman that has it all. The handsome husband, the great marriage, the kids, the business. She reminded us endlessly during the first few years about how successful she was and how empowering it was for a woman to make her own money. This was her gig. As far as she was concerned, she had no competition. Along comes Heather - 20 years her junior - and she's got all that as well. I knew that Ramona would find a way to put her in her place very quickly and remind her that there was after all a "pecking order", I just didn't think she would do it so quickly, and not at a party at her own home. And then Heather turned out to be smarter than Ramona. And more articulate. She didn't start shit with folks, say something horrible, refuse to make eye contact, and then run away. She would look the person she had an issue with right in the eye, say what she had to say, and generally make a lot of sense. This is what threw Ramona. She can acquire wealth, clothes, homes, etc. She cannot acquire rational thinking and common sense. 

Heather is 45 Ramona is 57.  Not quite 20 years.  Heather went in expecting to take center stage and that is when she got mad at Ramona for cutting her off.  It wasn't just about being CEO of Yummie Tummie, she wanted to give Ramona the whole history. Ramona didn't want to hear it.  Then she met for drinks and wanted to talk about her recently deceased father-Ramona thought it was an inappropriate topic for meet and greet.  Not saying Ramona is right but you can hardly blame someone you just meet for not wanting to hear your life story.  I will say I do think it is hard for any new cast member because the viewers and the new HW know the history of the returning HW. So a natural exchange does not occur. It is on every franchise.  The difference being Heather was going to be heard DAMN IT.   

 

What Ramona did was offer Heather some pretty plebian advice-Heather took it as an insult and Ramona wasn't going to be chewed out by Heather.  I do not like it when someone chases or traps someone into being hammered, only because in real life it would not happen.  If it did, most likely the person pressing for attention would not be invited back.  Heather at that same party also started the stink about Mario imitating Jacques. Jacques was in the wrong with what he did to Ramona and I think Jacques can handle an imitation of his accent.

 

I do agree that Ramona by the time Heather was introduced was having more career oriented women on the show.  Ramona introduced Cindy Barshop and met her through some professional business association. 

[motorcitymom65]

Heather is 45 Ramona is 57.  Not quite 20 years.  Heather went in expecting to take center stage and that is when she got mad at Ramona for cutting her off.  It wasn't just about being CEO of Yummie Tummie, she wanted to give Ramona the whole history. Ramona didn't want to hear it.  Then she met for drinks and wanted to talk about her recently deceased father-Ramona thought it was an inappropriate topic for meet and greet.  Not saying Ramona is right but you can hardly blame someone you just meet for not wanting to hear your life story.  I will say I do think it is hard for any new cast member because the viewers and the new HW know the history of the returning HW. So a natural exchange does not occur. It is on every franchise.  The difference being Heather was going to be heard DAMN IT.   

 

What Ramona did was offer Heather some pretty plebian advice-Heather took it as an insult and Ramona wasn't going to be chewed out by Heather.  I do not like it when someone chases or traps someone into being hammered, only because in real life it would not happen.  If it did, most likely the person pressing for attention would not be invited back.  Heather at that same party also started the stink about Mario imitating Jacques. Jacques was in the wrong with what he did to Ramona and I think Jacques can handle an imitation of his accent.

 

I do agree that Ramona by the time Heather was introduced was having more career oriented women on the show.  Ramona introduced Cindy Barshop and met her through some professional business association. 

This is the clip I am referring too.  The one where Mario and Ramona basically told Heather that she was annoying. I didn't remember Heather forcing any information regarding her company on them on this occasion, but just trying to engage in the conversation and Ramona decided to give her lessons on how to properly communicate. The funny part about this (which I didn't remember) was Heather apologizing for interrupting, and Ramona saying "no, you don't interrupt, you don't listen", then saying later that she constantly interrupts. Ramona didn't even know what the problem was. More than likely she was so stunned that anyone actually wanted to engage her and Mario in conversation she was thrown off. 

 

More stunning is that Ramona would be offended to meet a new co-worker later and have to learn about this person recently losing their father. How horrible that must have been for Ramona. She is nothing if not consistent in the lack of empathy department. 

 

My goof about the age.  I can't find anything about her age, but for some reason I had it in my head (which is indeed dangerous) that she was in her late 30's. 

 

http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-new-york-city/season-5/videos/when-chatterboxes-meet

Edited August 12, 2014 by motorcitymom65

[Talented Tenth]

Shape.com listed Heather's age as 42 as of August 13, 2013.

 

http://www.shape.com/celebrities/interviews/28-powerful-women-share-their-best-advice/slide/4

[motorcitymom65]

Shape.com listed Heather's age as 42 as of August 13, 2013.

 

http://www.shape.com/celebrities/interviews/28-powerful-women-share-their-best-advice/slide/4

Thanks!  Sorry Zoeysmom. You had it about right. 

[jelliebean]

Robin Williams died today. I am gutted. 

[ryebread]

I watched a clip last night from Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio featuring Robin.  It's down today.  I didn't think there was anything unusual or inappropriate in it.  But in light of his passing, perhaps they're going to put something else together in his memory.

 

In it, he quoted some rapper's lyrics to encourage anyone in the audience who was suffering depression/mental illness: 

 

"Everybody's somebody's everything, nobody's nothing."

 

It's awful to think he might have felt like a nothing.  He was somebody.  RIP

[motorcitymom65]

I watched a clip last night from Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio featuring Robin.  It's down today.  I didn't think there was anything unusual or inappropriate in it.  But in light of his passing, perhaps they're going to put something else together in his memory.

 

In it, he quoted some rapper's lyrics to encourage anyone in the audience who was suffering depression/mental illness: 

 

"Everybody's somebody's everything, nobody's nothing."

 

It's awful to think he might have felt like a nothing.  He was somebody.  RIP

Very powerful words. Thanks for posting. A sad thing indeed. Those he left behind will feel forever guilty and wonder if they could have done more.

[ghoulina]

Poor Aviva just can't stop herself. She got in touch with Buzzfeed to respond to Carole's interview. http://www.buzzfeed....dziwill-help-me

 

WOW. I cannot believe she says that "What Remains" was not Carole's story to tell. Her own husband's death, and that of their close friends - not her story to tell??? Aviva is just fucking delusional. That's all there is to it. 

[jelliebean]

WOW. I cannot believe she says that "What Remains" was not Carole's story to tell. Her own husband's death, and that of their close friends - not her story to tell??? Aviva is just fucking delusional. That's all there is to it. 

Aviva said she used the term "on the street" because she wanted to "protect her sources". ONE sentence later she said she named the person on camera to Carole but Bravo didn't air it. Did she protect her source or did she name her source?  She is so broken I feel sorry for her. 

[jelliebean]

Since I always saw it as Ramona casting the first stone, I see it very differently. As soon as I heard about Heather and her background, I knew there would be trouble with Ramona. Ramona always considered that she was a lock as the business woman that has it all. The handsome husband, the great marriage, the kids, the business. She reminded us endlessly during the first few years about how successful she was and how empowering it was for a woman to make her own money. This was her gig. As far as she was concerned, she had no competition. Along comes Heather - 20 years her junior - and she's got all that as well. I knew that Ramona would find a way to put her in her place very quickly and remind her that there was after all a "pecking order", I just didn't think she would do it so quickly, and not at a party at her own home. And then Heather turned out to be smarter than Ramona. And more articulate. She didn't start shit with folks, say something horrible, refuse to make eye contact, and then run away. She would look the person she had an issue with right in the eye, say what she had to say, and generally make a lot of sense. This is what threw Ramona. She can acquire wealth, clothes, homes, etc. She cannot acquire rational thinking and common sense. 

I never thought of it this way. Very insightful. I was surprised that Ramona went after Heather so early on the show because I thought she and Heather would have a lot in common and appreciate the hard work each had done to achieve their success. Your take of the situation makes a lot of sense. 

[chlban]

Poor Aviva just can't stop herself. She got in touch with Buzzfeed to respond to Carole's interview. http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/aviva-drescher-versus-carole-radziwill-help-me

Wow. Just Wow. Even for that crazy bitch this is off the wall. Carole has definitely slipped a bit in my opinion this year, but her book was a beautiful and heartfelt memoir (the first, of course, I have not read the second). How dare Aviva question her right to write it. She was by her husbands side in his battle with Cancer for virtually the entiretly of their marriage. More close to it than his mother, sister, or anyone else. No disrespect meant to his mother or sister, as his wife she was right where she should have been but whatever else she has done, that is, IMO, to be respected.

 

Aviva is truly vile. Truly awful.  There is no reason for her on this show. I know BRAVO likes crazy and bitchy and that provides job security for the likes of Brandi, NeNe and Teresa, but even they seem to have fans. New York already has Sonja for crazy and Ramona for bitchy, they do not need this vile POS..      

[mmepeacock]

Watching Ramona reacting to Andy's questions on her marriage again, I think I can see what went wrong for her.

 

Her strategy was a bright-eyed, plasticly grinning, politely unyielding brick wall--she wasn't going to talk about anything regarding her marriage for Avery's sake, and that was that.

 

But the reality was different--she presented the brick wall, but far more important to her--that she emphasized repeatedly--was that everyone knew that she and Mario were "fine" "together," etc. That her friends hadn't been supportive during this difficult time....because there WAS no difficult time ("my friends are always supportive no matter what's going on").

 

Her need to deny that anything was wrong won over her need to present a calm, neutrall request for privacy and support. And I think this need to insist marriage was perfect (rather than just gracefully defect attention from the topic altogether) was what really launched the tabloids (and possibly Mario) into action.

 

I suppose it's fair: Ramona's done a lot of damage with her mouth--why shouldn't she hurt herself the most?

[izabella]

Her need to deny that anything was wrong won over her need to present a calm, neutrall request for privacy and support. And I think this need to insist marriage was perfect (rather than just gracefully defect attention from the topic altogether)

 

Too bad she put herself in that position by loudly and frequently gloating about her "perfect marriage" all throughout the RHoNY series, and by putting everyone else's marriage down as often as she could. 

 

Imagine if she had been supportive of the other women during their marital situations all along instead of being so smug; she would now be getting some  Tru Support instead of Tru Schadenfreude

[aradia22]

It's been a long time since this aired (I was on vacation!) so I won't write too much.

 

As for Sonja's interns... girl, please. Any college willing to give them credit is shady as hell. I don't know if we'll ever get a straight story about that.

 

It was a weird moment when they questioned Aviva about having one nanny. I think it was mostly Heather but Luanne joined in. It's hard but considering the fact that there are mothers who have four children and take care of them, it's not out of the realm of possibility that together a mother and a nanny could handle four children.

 

I continue to feel that Carole was rude, condescending, and superior to Aviva. That does not justify any of the lies that Aviva spread but I get her wanting to lash out. Carole acts like she doesn't know where any of this came from when she acts like anyone without her credentials would be completely incapable of writing a book on her own. I'm not making a judgement about Carole's or Aviva's writing abilities but Aviva conceivably could have written a book, good or not. It's a not delusion for her to think of herself as a writer. Heck, E.L. James wrote a book. Carole was terrible in a lot of her interactions with Aviva before and after they started fighting. As for the fight on the couches, everyone is wrong. Aviva is wrong. Carole is wrong. Heather is wrong. I've had enough of this.

 

As for the Harper Lee thing, I haven't read Truman Capote to compare their writing styles but I'm totally willing to believe that she wrote To Kill a Mockingbird on her own. It's a lovely book but there's nothing about it that makes me think... oh, she would have been incapable of writing this without the help of a man.

 

So everyone apparently went into this with their chosen tactics. The women on the left couch were just going to jump to each other's defense no matter what and Carole was just going to say "what?" and act like people were crazy. I've said this before but I think acting like you don't understand something that isn't difficult to comprehend just makes you look stupid, not superior. Look, I don't buy Ramona's flashback either but they were nasty with their remarks and their laughter and real world, that's not cool. Really, I just don't like anyone on this cast. I don't think I'll be coming back for another season.

 

I don't know if everything is completely settled with Heather and Kristen but for them it seems to be settled so whatever. 

 

I couldn't care less about Luanne and Sonja's friendship. 

 

Andy messing around on his phone while Sonja rambled on and on was hilarious. This was my one moment of joy. Otherwise, this show feels so heavy to me. I don't know why I enjoy Game of Crowns so much more than this but I do. It makes me happy in a way the housewives don't.

[jelliebean]

Tru Schadenfreude

That really would make her a monster. Aviva is meshugganah . Ramona is a schmuck. 

I think Aviva is crazy and I think Ramona is a special kind of stupid. JMHO. 

Edited August 13, 2014 by jelliebean