S03.E01: London Friends Are Falling Down

[OnceSane]

Quote

Marissa is pregnant, but a life-threatening condition mars the joyous occasion, in the Season 3 premiere. Also: Julie and her husband take over his family estate; Caroline Fleming juggles home-life duties; and Sophie is stuck in the middle of a feud.

[Chrissytd]

There's a First Look airing tonight at 10.

[biakbiak]

19 hours ago, Chrissytd said:

There's a First Look airing tonight at 10.

Mostly a last look!

[LilaFowler]

I am finally caught up on this show after skipping the last few episodes of S2 when they aired.  I'm so happy that Annabelle is not back this season.  That miserable, whiny turnip was long past her expiration date.  I'll be sad to see Caroline Stanbury go if there is a fourth season and she's in Dubai and unable to participate.  I wonder if her children went to Dubai with them, or if they're in boarding schools in England?  Her IG would seem to indicate the latter.  Did Marissa's Top Dog restaurant close?  Looks like it.

I do enjoy this show despite its flaws. 

Edited November 25, 2016 by LilaFowler

[breezy424]

So Sophie is a regular this season and she's getting divorced.  Just not feeling her.  Didn't last season.

They're doing a better job with lighting so far this season especially with Jules and Caroline S.  The blond hair isn't looking green. 

This episode was kind of boring but most first episodes of 'real' housewives usually are. 

No matter how anyone feels about Marissa, I'm happy she and her new daughter are ok.

I love the whole England setting.  OK.  Some of the 'words' go over my head but I love the vibe of seeing a different country.

I do like what she adds to the show but Caroline S is a total snob.  Jules didn't cry.  Good for her. 

[biakbiak]

Caroline F comparing herself to the Princess in the Pea when discussing her son eating a granola bar in her bed before a trip, never change. You know the housekeeper was already told to do her sheets. 

I like Marisa and I like Matt and it was touching to see them both get choked up but also glad that it was at the beginning of filming and not her on bedrest  for  a good part of the season.

Edited November 30, 2016 by biakbiak

[Babyfoot]

Lady Julie must have made friends with the hair and lighting crews this season. 

[biakbiak]

I

15 minutes ago, Babyfoot said:

Lady Julie must have made friends with the hair and lighting crews this season. 

Juliet did not. 

[TexasGal]

8 hours ago, breezy424 said:

 

I do like what she adds to the show but Caroline S is a total snob.  Jules didn't cry.  Good for her. 

I really liked Caroline S in the earlier seasons but it feels like she's drank her own kool-aid at this point.  Like her "meanness" isn't authentic anymore but calculated for show.

Between Married to Medicine and the scene with Caroline and Sophie, I am super curious about the IV hangover drips now.  Anyone know if they work?  Asking for a friend, of course....

[bichonblitz]

8 hours ago, breezy424 said:

Jules didn't cry.  Good for her. 

From the previews, looks like she's back at it next episode, lol! 

Caroline S. needs to shut it with her snobbery. She made a mess of her business, had to close it down, hence a lot of people lost their jobs, so she's not as smart as she pretends to be. Of course she's going to Dubai with her husband. What else does she have going on. 

Sophie has amazing hair, but a butterface. As long as woman has fantastic hair, it makes up for the not so fantastic face. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by bichonblitz

[Neurochick]

Is Juliet still on this show?

I don't think I'll watch anymore, I detest Marissa and that one who keeps crying, "SAVE MAPPERTON!"

Feels like they kept all the boring ones. 

Glad it's on at ten pm because I'll be in bed then.

[poeticlicensed]

In past seasons, I liked Caroline Stanbury, but she seems awfully full of herself now. And I cannot stand when she surrounds herself with her glam squad and assorted blonde friends to talk about how way too cool she is. Go to Dubai Caroline, bitch bye. I would like her, however, to address what happened to the staff of the gift library. Poor Raina, I really liked her. I hope she is doing well. 

Marissa is not my fave, but it must have been horrible to be on bed rest and having to deliver early. 

I cannot with Sophie. Another one who is full of herself. 

Jules looks to have gotten a makeover and clearly someone has coached her on staying calm. Maybe getting the title and Mapperton will calm her down. And she's right, Caroline may have money, but Jules has the title. 

What happened to Juliet? She showed up for 5 minutes at the end. 

It looks like the season is shaping up to be Team Caroline vs Team Jules. Please no. Just show London porn. That's why I watch. 

Edited November 30, 2016 by poeticlicensed

[yogi2014L]

I'm happy this show is back!!

I agree that Caroline S needs to tone down the bitchyness- a little is ok( like sarcastic talking heads) but being a totally cruel bully is not cute nor enjoyable to watch. Like picking on Jules who seems to be on the verge of a mental breakdown is just mean. Especially since Jules seems like a nice enough (albeit spazzy and sensitive) person lol. Still can't believe she is a yoga teacher- she needs to get on her meditation game and calm down. I am also a yoga teacher- i don't know if the cameras just stress her out or if she is like this 24/7 but either way she needs to chill!!

I like Marissa and am glad she is ok. 

[JennyMominFL]

 Every time I am in London, the local bus I take goes right past the Bumpkin in S Kensington. One day I will go in. I would like to know which one it is the film in as there are 3.

[Watermelon]

So what's the deal with Marissa's wonky timeline?  She said she was on bedrest for 9 months but then mentioned the doctors wanting her to deliver 2 months early.  She also said she wished she could keep baby girl in longer, so she definitely delivered early....but how early? and how long was she really on bedrest?

I hate when facts dont fall together.

[TexasGal]

1 hour ago, JennyMominFL said:

 Every time I am in London, the local bus I take goes right past the Bumpkin in S Kensington. One day I will go in. I would like to know which one it is the film in as there are 3.

I just looked at their website, the facade of the Chelsea one looks right I think.

[poeticlicensed]

7 minutes ago, TexasGal said:

I just looked at their website, the facade of the Chelsea one looks right I think.

I think Marissa lives in Chelsea, so that makes sense. I am going to London in a few months. Perhaps I should do  Ladies of London tour of all the places they hang out. Too bad Mapperton is so far from London. What was the place where Sophie had her party? I need to start making a list.

[HunterHunted]

I had a handful of thoughts when watching Caroline Stanbury:

• She really is adult Regina George or Stassi Schroeder 
• She has not learned a single lesson or developed an ounce of humility from the closing of Gift Library 
• Sophie said that Alex never stopped partying and everything we've seen from Caroline Stanbury indicates she's pretty similar. I wonder if this just how they were raised.

No more Annabelle!!! I'm ecstatic!

Julie isn't dangerous. She's a wimpy blabbermouth who has an acute case of runteldat. Maybe they don't have that word in the UK. They should add it to the dictionary.

I'm glad Marissa and her daughter are doing ok. It's too bad that Top Dog closed. The initial reviews were decent, but it did seem like it was in a high dollar rent area and needed to be packed to make any money.

Oh Caroline Fleming. Her weird luxuriating in the sun is so typical of her. Her instagram is just like that too. It's filled with product placement, food pictures, and pictures of her in her doorway where she extols the virtues of the sun or air. And it's always a little self-congratulatory like other people don't know how important the sun, air, or water are. Maybe not her dumb friends, but I do.

Juliet. That's all I've got to say about her. I also predict that if anyone attempts deploy a "Bye Felicia!" it'll be her.

Edited December 1, 2016 by HunterHunted

[Neurochick]

Here's an UO.  I actually liked Juliet.  I detest the Mapperton woman and Marissa; I'm just glad they're not in the USA.

[Watermelon]

Julie is overdramatic.  "Dangerous" how Caroline meant it meant it's DANGEROUS to tell her things because everyone will know, not that she's a danger to anyone's safety.

 

Also, I just dislike her face. It's not aesthetically pleasing. 

[lunastartron]

I think that Julie *is* dangerous in the context of social and emotional intimacy. She's not an overtly malignant or abusive personality but I thought that her relationship with Annabelle illustrated a talent for manipulation and propensity for the pretense of weakness/victimhood. 

Yet I nevertheless find her a more palatable personality than Caroline (and I enjoyed Annabelle precisely because she had absolutely no fear of and refused to be bullied by the Stanbury). 

I found Sophie pretty and fun last season but I think her account of her marital unraveling sounds conveniently revisionistic. 

Caroline Fleming and Juliet looked awful; so much lank hair in what I assume were the effects of London humidity. 

[politichick]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Lady Julie must have made friends with the hair and lighting crews this season.  

Or maybe she finally got a decent colorist. I doubt production is doing their hair and makeup. She's all au naturel, commute by bike. yoga chick and was probably buying her color from the health food store.

[tenativelyyours]

7 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Juliet did not. 

Juliet probably did her own makeup and went against the lighting crews advice.  She is her own worst enemy when it comes to styling.  Presentation.  Being herself.  She looked even more feral rodent more than once last night.

 

3 hours ago, Watermelon said:

So what's the deal with Marissa's wonky timeline?  She said she was on bedrest for 9 months but then mentioned the doctors wanting her to deliver 2 months early.  She also said she wished she could keep baby girl in longer, so she definitely delivered early....but how early? and how long was she really on bedrest?

I hate when facts dont fall together.

 

I think that she was on bedrest both before and after delivery if I am parsing things correctly.  I think they did some kind of surgical correction for her reproductive parts as it were but it wasn't fully explained.  I saw something in one of the gossip bits about someone famous who I didn't know going to visit her while recovering and I think it was well after the daughter's birth.

Caroline Fleming is so thirty she could drink the channel dry and walk back to Denmark.  She is nowhere near as interesting as she thinks she is. 

I wonder just how much of an emotional drain Julie had with Annabelle.  The McQueen whisperer was such an emotional leech and played victim so well because she seemed to know Julie's dysfunction so well she could create the right situation to let the tears well and the catch in the voice go at just the right moment.  It was so nice she is gone.  I wish she had gone with Noelle and Caprice when they did.

I'm guessing Stansbury and Sophie use the same plastic surgeon.  How unfortunate.  Stansbury is so out of it that it is kind of funny.  She really seems at times to think being on this show puts her on the top of some kind of pile.   I wonder how many doors her attitude has closed and how much that also plays into the move to Dubai.  Though considering how many lurid types have expatriated themselves to Dubai, I'd be checking that husband's browsing history too.  Maybe it is just a move to play money games with the dictators of the world.  Guess with Brexit, May, Drumpf and the new world order, the joke is on them.  They could have stayed at home and he could work for all the shady post-Soviet strongmen trying to ply their energy wares on Europe he wants.

[RedheadZombie]

I only started watching at some point last season, and since the break was so long, I had to re-familiarize myself with these women. 

One thing that surprised me was Caroline S's and Sophie's ages.  Last season I thought they were beautiful, well-maintained women pushing fifty.  I really find it hard to believe that Caroline just turned forty.  And Sophie looked so different I almost questioned if she was a different Sophie.  Whatever she's done, it's cut years off her face.  I am confused by these two.  Aren't they married to each others' brothers?  I thought they were, but then Caroline said - just because Sophie is divorcing my brother doesn't mean she's no longer family.  Which would be obvious if Caroline were still married to Sophie's brother.

I kind of liked Caroline S. last season, but I'm not feeling it in this episode.  One thing that confuses me is her makeup artist.  She seems like a complete and utter snob, yet her makeup artist goes everywhere with her, lays in bed with her and is overly familiar with her rich friends and family.  It seems out of character for such a tremendous snob.  Maybe he's well born himself?

I don't really care for Royalty Caroline.  She really strikes me as a Stephanie of Monaco type.  She has wealth and connections, knows she can't really be publically disowned, so she gets knocked up by her body guard, and runs off with her kids to join the circus.  Yet still passing herself off as the upper crust.  I didn't care for her when she took everyone back to Denmark.  She was such a braggart.  Claiming she was stalked by the Danish paps everywhere she went, how her grandfather saved the entire country single-handed, and showing off her castle (actually, her father's). 

I'm confused by Marissa.  Is she the one who went to boarding school with Royalty C?  The one the Danish father seemed to vastly prefer over R.C.?  I thought I liked her last season, but I'm reading a little bit of hate here.  She seemed harmless enough.  I am confused about her pregnancy.  She either didn't truly understand her condition, didn't articulate herself properly, or she is an exaggerator.  I was especially confused by her apparent belief that there was a high probability that she and/or her baby wouldn't survive surgery.  And then she mentioned that the placenta would be difficult to remove, which was immediately followed by - and women with hysterectomies can die.  She seemed to equate removing the placenta to removing her uterus.  And women do not frequently die in a planned hysterectomy.  I wonder if she was confused about the whole thing.  It sounded like she may have placenta previa.  With that condition, the true danger is when it leads to placenta abruptio, when the baby is abruptly disconnected from the mother (and a preemie), and the mother can bleed to death.  Treatment for such a severe hemorrhage would be a hysterectomy.  Anyway, the biggest risk is the pregnancy, whereas the surgery would be in a controlled environment, and a planned for procedure.  It leaves me very confused.  I'm glad that the baby seems to be doing well.

I thought I liked Juliette last season, but her minimum appearance seemed unpleasant here. 

I'm glad Annabelle is gone, and I continue to be ambivalent about Julie. 

[TheFinalRose]

Top Dog closed that fast? Wasn't it just a year ago that Marissa was SO BUSY picking out her hat logos with Annabelle and freaking out because she had to set up her Pinterest and Instagram accounts and now it's all over already? It's going to be hard to knock Carolyn's loss of the Gift Library when Marissa bombed faster and harder. That said, I felt for her and Matt and am very happy for them that they got their baby girl safely. 

There was a little too much Sophie last night, and because we never even saw her husband and her interact it's hard to feel anything for her. The best moment was when Juliet Angus showed up .... I had forgotten all about her! 

Ms. Montague looks a little better ... she tried with her clothes, but maybe she should try becoming a brunette. That straw yellow hair still doesn't go right with her complexion. I'm still a fan of Caroline Stanbury, but Caroline Fleming and her Princess and the Granola Crumb and sun goddess schtick is wearing on me. Still, this show beats so many of the other Housewives franchises for location and I'm so excited its back.

[Linny]

I have no idea why I watch this show. This episode was so boring; the next episodes better pick up speed or I'm going to be done.

Julie is definitely an emotional wreck, and I do think she runs her mouth and then feigns innocence, but I can't help but feel sorry for her. It seems like she works her ass off with her kids, while her husband lives at Mapperton. That's got to be tough.

Caroline Fleming's quirky scenes seemed fake as hell to me. Yeah, she's weird, but her scenes felt scripted, like she was just playing for the cameras.

From what we've seen of Sophie I find it hard to believe that she's solely devoted to motherhood and has put her party days behind her. She's most definitely trying to paint herself as virtuous and put the blame for the divorce on her husband. 

Marissa's annoying, but she and her husband seem to be a loving couple, and I'm glad she and her baby are okay.

[pasdetrois]

Somehow I've lost what little regard I once had for this show. I just can't watch a bunch of spoiled, entitled whiners complain about their lives and fight with each other endlessly. Not even beautiful England can keep me interested.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, TheFinalRose said:

Top Dog closed that fast? Wasn't it just a year ago that Marissa was SO BUSY picking out her hat logos with Annabelle and freaking out because she had to set up her Pinterest and Instagram accounts and now it's all over already? It's going to be hard to knock Carolyn's loss of the Gift Library when Marissa bombed faster and harder. That said, I felt for her and Matt and am very happy for them that they got their baby girl safely. 

It was her baby so if she was on bedrest for a significant portion of the year maybe no one stepped up in her absence.

[tenativelyyours]

Restaurants also often can fail with a great menu, a top chef and an excellent location.  It simply does not take or take enough to keep the place from sucking in more money.  It might have even done okay but with the advice of her husband and brother-in-law a closure in light of the change in family just in general with a health risk thrown in made sense because it still wasn't carrying the weight needed to step away from it and let someone else run the place.  That happens a lot with secondary and tertiary businesses. 

Or maybe Marissa waltzed in every now and again, barked orders for her staff to drop what they were doing to run the place and serve her.  Maybe Marissa refused to actually take on the duties of being a CEO or even a COO despite bragging as such and playing as such for the cameras and then act bewildered and peevish as hell when the basic requirements for her business to operate weren't being fulfilled and even maintain certain elements in management that hamstrung the general management without her approval.  Again for the needed requirements to simply have her business perform its proposed model. 

Like Stansbury did.  On camera.  And in a really odd smug way as if she was proud of steering her business like the Titantic right into the ice berg of insolvency.

[izabella]

4 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

Somehow I've lost what little regard I once had for this show. I just can't watch a bunch of spoiled, entitled whiners complain about their lives and fight with each other endlessly. Not even beautiful England can keep me interested.

Me too.  I was looking forward to this, but after it started, I realized I didn't care about any of them.  Especially since it was so heavy on Sophie and Caroline, both of whom I have no respect for.

[Crumpet]

Quote

  I wonder if she was confused about the whole thing.  It sounded like she may have placenta previa.  With that condition, the true danger is when it leads to placenta abruptio, when the baby is abruptly disconnected from the mother (and a preemie), and the mother can bleed to death.  Treatment for such a severe hemorrhage would be a hysterectomy.  Anyway, the biggest risk is the pregnancy, whereas the surgery would be in a controlled environment, and a planned for procedure.  It leaves me very confused.  I'm glad that the baby seems to be doing well.

I thought it sounded like she had placenta accreta, not previa, which is more severe. 

[TheFinalRose]

Quote

Restaurants also often can fail with a great menu, a top chef and an excellent location.  It simply does not take or take enough to keep the place from sucking in more money.  It might have even done okay but with the advice of her husband and brother-in-law a closure in light of the change in family just in general with a health risk thrown in made sense because it still wasn't carrying the weight needed to step away from it and let someone else run the place.  That happens a lot with secondary and tertiary businesses. 

 

Some preliminary research on Yelp seemed to indicate that Top Dog had recently expanded before it closed, so while the bed rest probably didn't help matters, it also seems as if they were enthusiastic enough about the business at some point to bother expanding. 

The mixed reviews that said the dogs were served lukewarm and the buns were hard might not have helped, either. 

[Watermelon]

16 hours ago, RedheadZombie said:

 

I kind of liked Caroline S. last season, but I'm not feeling it in this episode.  One thing that confuses me is her makeup artist.  She seems like a complete and utter snob, yet her makeup artist goes everywhere with her, lays in bed with her and is overly familiar with her rich friends and family.  It seems out of character for such a tremendous snob.  Maybe he's well born himself?

 

See, I don't really think she's a "snob" in that way.  She's just an asshole until she isn't. And once she isn't she's very open.  She has no middle ground is what it is.

[HunterHunted]

Marissa is best friends with CarFlem's sister. I think that Top Dog closed because it was a new business and Marissa's health issues meant that no one was watching it as closely as they needed to.

I think the are likely huge difference between how Top Dog closed and how Gift Library closed. Before the show started, Caroline spent millions renovating the offices, but didn't make any improvements to their warehouse, shipping, or ordering systems. She also acquired a failing competitor. She knew by early fall that some manufacturers refused to deal with Gift Library because of unpaid bills. Others had production issues. And she knew by October or so that holiday orders were so low that the company was essentially closed. Rather than telling her employees that, she let them go celebrate Christmas and new year and then had her assistant let the staff know the first or second week of January that the business was closed. At no point did she stop her own Christmas celebration and skiing. Her management of the business was so atrocious that her father resigned from her directors board. She actively drove the business into the ground.

I didn't believe CarFlem when she claimed she was disowned last season. Her family has issues with her because she's a public flake. She lost her title because she married a commoner even if he was James Bond's wealthy nephew. She broke up her marriage because...she was bored. She got knocked up by a footballer and was dating some 20 year old last season. Additionally, she markets herself as the Baroness. Her family is probably annoyed that she's flaky and uses her family name and title to pursue her newest hobbies and projects.

Edited December 1, 2016 by HunterHunted

[LilaFowler]

10p is a little late for my old ass.  I finally watched the premiere episode. 

Too much Sophie.  We've had so little interaction with her previously that to give her that much screen time right off the bat didn't work for me.  She reminds me of someone--Maria Shriver?  Kind of a blandly handsome woman.  I'm not buying her story about her husband being the one who didn't want to settle down and do the school run as the reason for their divorce.  This is the same woman who said that "the Americans don't know how to party" last season.  I think the Stanburys were raised by nannies and boarding schools and they along with others of that ilk don't really seem to have much interest in parenting their kids.  Sophie and Alex probably got bored with each other and their life (like Caroline Fleming's first marriage) and parted ways. 

Julie Montagu is completely exhausting and I think I would want to strangle her if I had to deal with her every day.  Her frenetic personality bugs.  Her hair does look a lot better this season but then, I don't think it could have looked much worse.

I really like Marissa Hermer.  She's the one housewife that I would actually want to spend time with IRL.  I never got the social-climbing Martha Stewart vibe that others did.  Glad that her health is okay now.

I like Caroline Fleming, too.  Her wacky flakiness amuses me for some reason.  She's got the carefree air of someone who has never had a financial worry in her life.  She was lucky enough to have been born good-looking as well.  I wonder how much effort she'll really give this season with her father being ill.

Juliet Angus is another annoying and exhausting cast member.  She didn't show up until the end and I didn't miss her.  She has a lovely family but that's about it.

I have to say, if this season is going to be Caroline S. versus Julie M. I will be bored to tears. 

[psychoticstate]

Watched most of this last night (been recovering from illness so early bedtimes right now.)  Will watch the remainder tonight.

My thoughts so far.

I am happy this show is back.  I love all things British and live vicariously thru the show.

Totally UO but I kinda liked Annabelle.  Of course I also love Eeyore so maybe her doom and gloomish personality was entertaining to me.  I do hope that Annabelle did okay with her children's books.  I thought she seemed very into them last season when reading aloud to kids at Bumpkin.

Another UO but I like Julie "MappertonMappertonMapperton" Montagu.  Yeah, she can't keep a secret to save her life but she seems relatively harmless. As she mentioned in the episode, most Americans don't understand what it takes to run an English estate.  I certainly don't so I hope we'll learn this season.  I also really wish she would follow suggestions here from last season and offer a yoga/getaway weekend at Mapperton.

Did anyone else wonder how much money Caroline S spends each month on those hangover cure IVs?  I'm sure she got totally pissed (to use a British word) at her birthday party but I'm sure she also gets totally pissed on Wednesdays.  And after watching Sophie last season, I feel fairly confident saying that girlfriend is pissed on any day ending in y.

Speaking of . . . if I hadn't watched Sophie (and wanted to punch her through my tv) last season, I would feel sorry for her now.  However, she seems to have attended the same revisionist history class my ex did.  We all saw her drunk off her ass and being a general douche last season. To claim that she wanted to settle down, be serious, etc. after having her sons while her husband did not is hilarious.  Clearly her definition of "settle down" and "serious" is very different from mine. 

Caroline F doesn't bother me too much.  I liked how eccentric (i.e., down to earth) compared to the other women she was last season.  I also love her flat.  Actually, the only person whose residence we saw that I really don't care for is Caroline S's.  Go figure.

The new person . . . Adela?  Don't remember her name . . sparky, big hair, big boobs, friend of Caroline S's.  Eh.

I like Marissa.  I thought her husband was sweet.  Glad she and her baby are doing well.  Sorry that Top Dog didn't make it but I would imagine with her pregnancy and health issues, there was no way for her to really run it. 

Fell asleep before Juliet made her appearance according to others here.  Juliet's kids are cute but she does annoy me.  She's so shrieky.  And it's okay to speak your mind but there is a difference between speaking your mind and just being a rude asshole. 

[biakbiak]

On 11/30/2016 at 4:55 PM, RedheadZombie said:

I am confused by these two.  Aren't they married to each others' brothers?  I thought they were, but then Caroline said - just because Sophie is divorcing my brother doesn't mean she's no longer family.  Which would be obvious if Caroline were still married to Sophie's brother

Caroline husband Cem Habib is not related to Sophie.

[Rosebud1970]

Juliet Agnus = feral rodent. Mad props to whoever coined this. Simply brilliant. I loathe her. She has no redeeming qualities.

And Caroline Stansbury is such an ice bitch queen that one could cut herself if she got too close.

The Earl of Sandwich looks as if he'd desperately rather be on some other show. Poor thing. I feel for Julie, though. She feels so burdened by everything.

[TexasGal]

On 12/1/2016 at 6:58 PM, psychoticstate said:

The new person . . . Adela?  Don't remember her name . . sparky, big hair, big boobs, friend of Caroline S's.  Eh.

I forgot about "big hair."  Obviously I'm in Texas where we have a different standard for big hair, but I've never heard such a flat mane described as big before.

[NutMeg]

On 12/1/2016 at 4:10 AM, lunastartron said:

Yet I nevertheless find her a more palatable personality than Caroline (and I enjoyed Annabelle precisely because she had absolutely no fear of and refused to be bullied by the Stanbury). 

This is also one of the many reasons I also enjoyed Annabelle - not only did she refuse to be bullied by anyone but, after Juliet tried and failed to, no one would have thought to try and bully Annabelle. 

On 12/1/2016 at 8:55 AM, RedheadZombie said:

I kind of liked Caroline S. last season, but I'm not feeling it in this episode.  One thing that confuses me is her makeup artist.  She seems like a complete and utter snob, yet her makeup artist goes everywhere with her, lays in bed with her and is overly familiar with her rich friends and family.  It seems out of character for such a tremendous snob.  Maybe he's well born himself?

I don't really care for Royalty Caroline.  She really strikes me as a Stephanie of Monaco type.  She has wealth and connections, knows she can't really be publically disowned, so she gets knocked up by her body guard, and runs off with her kids to join the circus.  Yet still passing herself off as the upper crust.  I didn't care for her when she took everyone back to Denmark.  She was such a braggart.  Claiming she was stalked by the Danish paps everywhere she went, how her grandfather saved the entire country single-handed, and showing off her castle (actually, her father's). 

As I see it, the makeup artist is part of Caroline's entourage. Caroline needs her entourage.

I do like Danish Caroline's character, even if sometimes it feels like an imaginary character (i.e. not exactly herself, but a fairy version of herself). But she is indeed stalked by paparazzi (Danish press), according to Danish friends, so that part rings true. 

On 12/1/2016 at 9:18 AM, TheFinalRose said:

Top Dog closed that fast? Wasn't it just a year ago that Marissa was SO BUSY picking out her hat logos with Annabelle and freaking out because she had to set up her Pinterest and Instagram accounts and now it's all over already? 

Not very surprising if she had a tough pregnancy. That was going to be her personal project and obviously she couldn't be as dedicated to it as she had intended. Whereas delegation is easier when a business is up and running, it's much harder with a new business when the owner is the image the brand. 

On 12/2/2016 at 6:06 AM, LilaFowler said:

Too much Sophie.  We've had so little interaction with her previously that to give her that much screen time right off the bat didn't work for me.  She reminds me of someone--Maria Shriver?  Kind of a blandly handsome woman.  I'm not buying her story about her husband being the one who didn't want to settle down and do the school run as the reason for their divorce.  This is the same woman who said that "the Americans don't know how to party" last season.  I think the Stanburys were raised by nannies and boarding schools and they along with others of that ilk don't really seem to have much interest in parenting their kids.  Sophie and Alex probably got bored with each other and their life (like Caroline Fleming's first marriage) and parted ways. 

Julie Montagu is completely exhausting and I think I would want to strangle her if I had to deal with her every day.  Her frenetic personality bugs.  Her hair does look a lot better this season but then, I don't think it could have looked much worse.

I really like Marissa Hermer.  She's the one housewife that I would actually want to spend time with IRL.  I never got the social-climbing Martha Stewart vibe that others did.  Glad that her health is okay now.

I like Caroline Fleming, too.  Her wacky flakiness amuses me for some reason.  She's got the carefree air of someone who has never had a financial worry in her life.  She was lucky enough to have been born good-looking as well.  I wonder how much effort she'll really give this season with her father being ill.

Juliet Angus is another annoying and exhausting cast member.  She didn't show up until the end and I didn't miss her.  She has a lovely family but that's about it.

I have to say, if this season is going to be Caroline S. versus Julie M. I will be bored to tears. 

Yes to most of your post - especially the Sophie/Maria Shriver comparison, which is spot on!, the liking of Caroline Fleming, and the annoyance with Juliet. Where I differ is that I like Sophie as a new character. She's so typical of the English high class party girls or former party girls I know, the way she looks, the way she talks, etc. Even her having previous worked for a hedge fund fits the stereotype (it's either the City, a fashion magazine or other media or an art gallery for a good number of this social strata).

I don't watch any housewives shows and came unto this by accident last year and binge watched two seasons. Caroline S is an interesting Regina George type, I like that her bitchiness comes with wit. Caroline F is a great character, in a Luna Lovegood way. Sophie would be the former girl about town who can still lord it above mere mortals when it comes to partying. Marissa is the nice one, blander maybe but not too bland, and I think her relationship with her husband is one of the best ones I've seen outside of fiction. (How cute that Matt and his sister clearly look like siblings) Julie is hard work, I get why she's still on the show because of her title, etc. but she's not fun to watch. Probably a nice person with a lot on her plate but not made for TV. And Juliet is just very unpleasant to me. I wish she would have been dropped. Also, I'm not digging this friend of Caroline S and hope we don't see too much of her.     

[telemachus2]

^^ NutMeg - agree with most of your post, but question why it's "cute" that siblings look like sibs - obviously, you (weirdly lol) don't spend much time among the cousin-marrying "lower" classes (but - isn't that type of "keeping-it-in-the-fam" a favorite ploy of the Brit royals & nobility??)

Edited December 3, 2016 by telemachus2

[NutMeg]

9 hours ago, telemachus2 said:

^^ NutMeg - agree with most of your post, but question why it's "cute" that siblings look like sibs - obviously, you (weirdly lol) don't spend much time among the cousin-marrying "lower" classes (but - isn't that type of "keeping-it-in-the-fam" a favorite ploy of the Brit royals & nobility??)

Haha, I meant that I'm always fascinated with how the same features on different members of a family result in very different aspects nonetheless.  For instance, a classmate of my son was a girl, 7 or 8, who was absolutely gorgeous; then I got to meet her father, exactly the same features, but not gorgeous at all. I just find it amusing, but indeed this has nothing at all to do with the episode and is more about me :) Sorry, I expressed it quite badly earlier...

[NewDigs]

On 12/4/2016 at 0:23 PM, Sonoma said:

 

I like Marissa, so I'm glad she's back.  Sure she can flip-flop and be a little smug, but if that's the worst of her offenses she's way ahead of the game.  I think she's beautiful, intelligent, and down-to-earth considering the social circles in which she runs.  I don't find her fake at all.  I just think these days too many people unfortunately equate being polite and having manners as being "fake".  I will take a "fake" Marissa over a "real" Caroline or Juliet any day.  I also have a bit of a crush on Matt (think he's adorable) and love their little family.  Let's hope I didn't just jinx them!  But yeah, she's by far one of my favorite Bravo "housewives".

 

 

I haven't viewed the entire episode but agree. I was so touched by their pregnancy/birth plight. They both seemed so real and it was such a private time to allow us a peek. And though the HoWife behavior bar is pretty low Marissa does rise way above. I'm sorry about the Dog places. That intial press pic of her smile being a hotdog was really cute. And I think CarolineS and other HWs made tacky jokes about that. Cem seems wonderful. I misted up when he did the pre-hospital video. Sweet.

CarolineF is just too ditzy. Seems an act and I want to like her but it's been a real eyeroller.

Julie needs meds. Or something. Such desperation! And poor Luke. Surprised he signed back on.

Hangover IVs. Really? Really!?!?! Wow. "My name is Caroline and I'm ..."  And what a cavalier attitude towards her GiftLibrary now unemployed crew. 

[kassa]

On 11/30/2016 at 7:55 PM, RedheadZombie said:

I am confused about her pregnancy.  She either didn't truly understand her condition, didn't articulate herself properly, or she is an exaggerator.  I was especially confused by her apparent belief that there was a high probability that she and/or her baby wouldn't survive surgery.  And then she mentioned that the placenta would be difficult to remove, which was immediately followed by - and women with hysterectomies can die.  She seemed to equate removing the placenta to removing her uterus.  And women do not frequently die in a planned hysterectomy. 

Pregnancy greatly increases the amount of blood flow to the uterus, especially at term, so a hysterectomy at the time of delivery is something they try to avoid unless the mother's life is in danger (which it sounds like hers was going to be.) Sounds like a situation where she was going to hemorrhage at delivery regardless.

[movingtargetgal]

On 12/5/2016 at 6:01 PM, NewDigs said:

Hangover IVs. Really? Really!?!?! Wow. "My name is Caroline and I'm ..."  And what a cavalier attitude towards her GiftLibrary now unemployed crew. 

Hangover IVs needed for two 40 year old women.  Caroline made it sound like she does this on a regular basis.  It sound less like partying to have "fun" and more like a desperate cry for help.

[radiochik]

The scene at the end where everyone was attacking Julie -what in the world was that? I get that Julie has a big mouth but why in the world did Caroline need to press the issue once she heard that Julie in fact wasn't going to confront her at the party?  What a shit-stirrer!!  Plus why Juliet jumped in when this had nothing really to do with her was nuts.  I don't care much for any of them but I was glad Jules kept her composure and left, disappointing Caroline.  

Echoing most of the others here with no need for more Sophie.  Also, while I wasn't fond of Marissa last season, I felt for her here and her and her husband really seem to have a good relationship.  Watching them and their emotions throughout the whole thing was heartbreaking.

[Bugfrey Von]

On 11/30/2016 at 8:52 AM, Neurochick said:

Is Juliet still on this show?

I don't think I'll watch anymore, I detest Marissa and that one who keeps crying, "SAVE MAPPERTON!"

Feels like they kept all the boring ones. 

Glad it's on at ten pm because I'll be in bed then.

Good Lord! So true! I'm glad that Marissa and the baby are OK of course, but I cannot stand her simpering, meek "oh me oh my!" wide-eyed bullshit.   She's got a knife behind her back and she's ready to use it. I wouldn't trust her in a dark alley.  Also, I see you with those little "slips" into Brit. Madonna did it better. 

And yes god YES, SAVE MAPPERTON!  Because God knows that those thousands of dollars every year couldn't be used to help children or families in need in the area. The gardens must be kept! The bushes must be perfectly cylindrical! WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE ROSES?  Julie is seriously one of those people that drowns in half a glass of water. She can bounce anytime now. Buh-bye. 

I can't wait to see Juliet's little rat face throughout the course of the season.  Who will she latch onto this time!?

[candall]

Eh.  I don't know.  I don't think I'm currently in the right place for these people.  Hey graham cracker crumb freakout--go spend a night in Aleppo.  Or maybe don't direct the kid to plop on your pillow for a crunchy granola bar treat, if that's easier.

 

Banana bags for hangovers have been around forever, as in, decades for people with access, like med students.  I've always done okay if I can just remember to swallow those aspirin before crashing, but IV electrolytes aren't stupid.  What's stupid is spending God knows how long having your hair blown out and your makeup applied before you swan onto the bed to have a technician address your enervated state.  How many caterpillars had to die for Sophie's lashes to be glammy enough for her to be resucitated?

 

I was amused at Caroline S. holding court at the party, repeatedly insisting that Julie was "coming for her."  And when someone points out that Julie seems much less fixated on Caroline than vice versa, she says, "Oh, that lack of interest in me is just her clever opening salvo."

Didn't need Juliet popping in at the end to take her shots.  She's like a hyena darting in to snap a bite once the lion brings down the prey.  I would have ditched the opportunistic ferret and kept Annabelle.  Annabelle didn't suffer the slings and arrows or take any shit and that made her worth putting up with the Alexander McQueen nonsense.

 

I'm happy things worked out for Marissa, husband, baby girl.  I'm a little skeptical that anyone would bother with filming talking heads for a reality tv show if they were really worried about the possibility a newborn or a loved one might not survive.

 

Well, but as I said, I'm sure the problem is me, and not them.  Carry on.

[Eater of Worlds]

Not only did Marissa have placenta accreta and needed a hysterectomy, she needed 2 and a half gallons of blood transfused during the surgery and needed her bladder repaired because the placenta had grown into her bladder.  That likely meant she actually had placenta percreta, which is the most severe form of accreta.  It is definitely life threatening and she likely started to hemorrhage uncontrollably during the c-section so they had to do the hysterectomy right then.  Then she probably had to have a catheter for a month while healing from the bladder repair, so I could see how she was on bed rest after the surgery.

[HunterHunted]

On 12/12/2016 at 11:56 PM, candall said:

I'm happy things worked out for Marissa, husband, baby girl.  I'm a little skeptical that anyone would bother with filming talking heads for a reality tv show if they were really worried about the possibility a newborn or a loved one might not survive.

The talking heads are usually filmed after they'very wrapped primary filming, which was 2 to 3 months after Marissa had the baby, but I get your point. I think with the closing of Top Dog and the terrible press and closing of Boujis that Matt and Marissa welcomed any opportunity to portray themselves in a better light.