Cat

Well, I just finished. I thought it was a great reunion to an outstanding season. All these women need to come back next season-- this cast has finally gelled together, and even amid the animosity sometimes, you can feel the bonds these women have with each other, the shared experience. Like when Meredith blithely admitted to Jen Shah calling her, and everyone was like 'After the trauma that woman put us all through?' With Jen Shah gone, it kind of bonded the women together, upped their confidence... with the exception of Meredith who IMO has been striking out in all the wrong directions. A confident women, like S1 Meredith, would not have taken that call. Honestly, when Meredith threatened to walk off the set, I was like OK, go! I didn't care, and I usually love Meredith and her shaky diction. Mary is truly MVP of this group, and i was outright sobbing when she talked about Robert Jr. Andy Cohen is one of those superficial people who glides through friendships with these women, but it honestly seems like Mary genuinely moves him and he cares for her a little more than everyone else. She absolutely grounds and stabilises this show. And she's legit hilarious without even meaning to be. Lisa is a deeply narcissistic, superficial person and that will never change. But she does contribute to the SLC cast, and clearly her marriage will be in the spotlight next season. Certainly, I didn't buy Little Girl's promise that she'd never raise it again. Little Girl has dug a lot of dirt up about everyone and thinks she can threaten them with it, but the women have her number now and she's a checkers player, not a chess master. I am Team Bronwyn and Todd. Unapologetically. I think Todd showed how much he cares for Gwen and his family. I very much hope Bronwyn is back next season, but I have a feeling Todd will refuse to film next season. Heather is Heather. I hope she drops the self-deprecating act now after admitting to having more confidence now. She was suspiciously quiet during the talk of Jen Shah. I really hope she's not still pinning her RH future on that felon. The show has moved on from that. Angie has grown into her own, although she still goes OTT when she's against someone. I get it -- as Shawn said, its hard to live the rumors down which have followed him for two seasons. What's interesting for next season is how Meredith is clearly jealous of her friendship with Mary. Like @NothinButAttitude I agree that Brittani is thirsty and not very bright and much better as a FOH rather than an actual HW. But we will see. I am already looking forward to the next season starting later this year. Honestly, SLC was SO good, it was like it gave the RH brand hope and a new lease of life. Which is rather miraculous! I hope it preserves that particular chemistry between the cast. It was well balanced this season.

RHOBH: Wait, this reunion is,stretched out beyond two parts? What an unwelcome surprise. I thought Garcelle was going to walk away at the end of this episode, and that i could walk away thereafter! Instead we got Dorit 'my house in the Valley is in foreclosure' sneering at Sutton's home on a busy street? What a cliffhanger. Sure, I've always thought Sutton buys people's friendship, as she seems to be an anxious and insecure person in her relationships. That doesn't mean she's Lisa Rinna level of evil. Jennifer Tilly's jewellery collection is top-tier. But why was she so deferential to Erika? Kyle spent the entire episode gaslighting everyone, including producton, about hiding her private life and co-opting the rest of the cast into doing it for her. She's somehow convinced Sutton that by doing so, she's letting her into her 'circle of trust.' But as Garcelle pointed out, it's all manipulation to intimidate others into silence. Everyone else sat there without saying a word, because (again, as Garcelle intimated) Kyle is de facto chief EP of this show, and everyone wants to keep their job. She has killed this show. All the other RH shows (especially SLC and OC) are showing it up for what a scripted borefest it is. Cue that iconic Charrisse gif 😆 Porsha is doing too much, now that Simon has left her without the money she married him for. Maxim! I am also catching up on SLC, an absolute FIRE 🔥 season, and I'm so thrilled I'm not the only one discovering it in real time! Im on the last episode of reunion and will post on it later. That read on Little Girl was harsh but also Chef's Kiss. 👨‍🍳 Long overdue. Whitney needed to hear it, as Heather needed to hear her's. I actually gained a little more respect for Heather after her response to the text. So, I felt a similar way about Todd, and then watched the second reunion episode and did a 180. I think his heart and principles are in the right place and fundamentally he's an OK guy. Will be interesting to hear your take. As for Angie... i both really enjoy her and what she brought to SLC this,season... but I also acknowledge the truth of your words on Angie. She's thirsty and does too much sometimes and can be vengeful. She's got to be very careful about balancing that going forward. Her talking about her mom, her family, and her friendship with Mary, are winning me over to her. Mary is essentially this show's breakout star.

We also forget that Garcelle and Sutton (or just Garcelle this season) contribute a few things of importance, which is to ask questions of these women (who have already decided beforehand what can be discussed, and what cannot). They deflected onto Garcelle the 'don't talk about the son' thing, but really it is their sh*t they want hidden. The Kemsleys' financials, Erika's ongoing law suits, and of course Kyle who paraded Morgan around last season in an effort to turbo-charge her career, only to play coy this year. Without Garcelle, it will be another season like S8 or 9 which were absolute bore-fests of scripted nothingness. And yes, the background looks tacky. I caught a Miami episode recently, and those cinematic vistas are on another level compared with BH.

If Rinna, the soulless ghoul, returns, you can forget about me watching BH at all. I cannot put myself through that again, and I'm not interested to see her rewarded for her terrible behaviour.

Erika was horrific this reunion. She's bored by Garcelle? This superficial poseur co-opted Martyn Lawrence Bullard's personality in place of her own for like 9 solid episodes! She also seemed especially bitchy because she got last chair. It was clear that Ozempic Alien (Erika), Dorit, Boz and Kyle all conspired to bring down Garcelle. Everything was just too tightly orchestrated and scripted. Ozempic Alien's eyes darting between Dorit and Kyle as she waited to insert her rehearsed 2 cents. I was surprised as I thought Sutton would be the one getting roasted. This leads me to believe that the Kyle vs Dorit SL was a fakery, because the group could barely muster up interest about that either. As I said before, the Coven have been biding their time to eject the popular Garcelle, and this was their chance. I'm wondering how much Sutton knew and why she didn't have her friend's back. Next season, she's going to be toast. The Coven wins again, and I'm over it. This show feels like an empty, vapid void. There is no there there. Even the shots of Beverly Hills, Malibu, the houses, the restaurants, don't have that same glamor and sparkle.

I have not watched Cheshire since the very early seasons. I remember Magali, though, and she has not changed a day. Ampika also still looks very much like Ampika. Dawn OTOH... I don't know what she did, but her face wasn't looking Picasso-esque on the last season on Dubai.

Yikes. TJ looks about 75 in that screenshot.

Avengers need to assemble because we cannot let the Coven reunite

My impression catching up on SLC posts as I watch in real time (it is SOOOO GOOD) is that @Cheap21 watched the most recent season and liked it! Maybe it was a while back. I myself peaced out of S2 and S3.

And they will turn on her, make no mistake. Look at Sutton, who is desperate to be part of the 'cool group' but continues to be humiliated and denigrated by Kyle et al. I don't usually watch the BH After Show, but there is one amazing clip this week with Jennifer Tilly, Sutton and Garcelle. Jennifer Tilly tells Sutton straight up: Kyle may be nice to you sometimes, she shows you the ropes, you rent a house from her. But she is friends with those who are mean to you, and she's laughing along. That means she is not your friend, Sutton. Garcelle was like 'Speak on it, Jennifer!' Jennifer is a smart cookie and has Sutton's best interests at heart. And so, I believe, does Garcelle. I am horrified that the Fox Force are back in the driving seat. Honestly, I found the reunion trailer a little depressing to watch, especially Garcelle walking out. It's like the FFF triumphed. Two years ago, they set up bots to go after Jax in an attempt to force her to quit, and I think she was ready to then and there, because she saw just how vicious and dangerous some of these women are. Now the FFF has got what they wanted all along. I'd even go as far as to predict that Teddi, after her cancer treatment and marriage ending, will be back on BH next season, and she's always going after Garcelle (and Sutton) on that podcast. Thinking back to when Garcelle first joined BH, right after LVP had left and the FFF were getting dragged by the audience. Even before filming started, the online reaction to Garcelle joining was HUGE. As quiet and cautious as she can be, Garcelle radiates a certain X-factor. She had a great first season as Denise's close friend, but even at that reunion, the FFF showed they were already petrified of her presence and popularity. Erika remains what she has always been: a glorified hooker with zero moral compass. She doesn't have the courage to parade the wealthy old marks she may have met on Raya and who probably strongly resemble Greg on White Lotus. She only likes things (money, clothes), not people. After denigrating Garcelle on WWHL (and Bozo joining in with her "Oooof! Oooof! Girl"), that 100% confirms to me that Garcelle, in terms of character, is way above this soulless preener.

I mean... who saw this coming??🫠I'm sure you suspected it would end up this way, as most of us here did. Especially as Teresa is not getting a Bravo check this year. By my calculations, that is $4,100,000 in debt on these 4 items alone.

Oh my God! I did not see that coming. I came on here to say how great she looked in her reunion look -- a nice nod to the 90s, too. Speculation could say 'Oh, something happened at reunion yesterday to prompt this decision,' but the planned statement suggests this may have been on Garcelle's mind for some time. I noticed Twitter had gotten b!tchy and dismissive of her as 'a bore,' and I wonder if she decided she had gleaned all she could from the franchise and now was an opportune time to leave before things possibly soured. OR! Lisa Rinna is coming back, and so Garcelle peaced out. Either way, I like her. Her arrival marked the beginning of the end for the Coven/Faux Force Five, and for that I say, Garcelle, Thank You.

@Taoboi I finally reached the SLC finale. What a season. What a turnaround! I can't believe that i was going to ditch watching. After last season ended, my take was that I did not like most of the women. Lisa is a superficial narcissist. Little Girl a smug, dirt-digging annoyance. Heather a smug, wannabe-OG, ass-kissing, pretend-victim. I liked Meredith but she was erratic. Mary, my fave, had been sidelined halfway through the last season. Anti-heroine Monica had started believing her own hype and blew the reunion big-time. I really feared we would have another S3 on our hands going into S5. Thank heavens you talked me around, because this was one of the best RH seasons across any RH franchise the last 5-10 years. It's actually a complete fluke/miracle a season like this even occurred. SLC was having trouble gelling it's cast organically as friends. It had sidelined last season's story maker. And yet, it came into S5 light-hearted, the women somewhat bonded by the Monica of it all, Little Girl rightly being called out for her shenanigans as she tries (and fails) to play with the big girls. A wealthy, big-personality newbie, the Bob (!!!), really helped to change the dynamic. FOH Brittani was comic relief. And Angie finally came into her own. I loved her this season; the friendship with Mary helped, but she also seemed imbued with confidence, while last season she felt full of insecurity. And Mary! This woman has taken her rightful place as the vulnerable heart of the show -- a place that was already unofficially her's in S1, but which Jen Shah coveted, and which Jen Shah schemed to sideline her. I know it's more complicated than that, and I can't speak to the Faith Temple hustling of it all (!!!). All i know is that Mary showed her vulnerabilities multiple times this season, and it made me warm to her even more. In the finale, her telling Angie she felt abandoned by her, and where that came from, her childhood.... it certainly touched me and felt completely genuine, and not an excuse for immature behaviour. Angie and Mary seem to have forged a true bond. As for the finale dinner.... I loved it. Even though it was scripted as hell. Production sat down and thought 'After last year's finale, we really need to do something that ties up loose ends in dramatic fashion.' Heather in OG-wannabe mode was reciting the script she had learned. She did not expect Mary's text to knock her off her feet, though. Mary's words were tough but truthful, and that's why they hurt Heather. But I will give H props for saying that she was now the more confident person she had always dreamed of being, that she knew she was deep down. The other texts? Angie's excoriating words to Bronwyn, and i felt bad for the Bob. They were super hurtful. Bronwyn, as flawed as she is, is a great addition, not least the way she exposes that narcissist Lisa who, it looks like, is going to see her marriage in the spotlight next season, as Bronwyn will likely see her's. Fantastic season focused on organic relationships. Who knew SLC had the old-school, character-driven, back-to-basics RH magic in them? I sure didn't. Now I can't wait to watch reunion!

100%. Every episode has been the same configuration, different locale, but even St Lucia cannot save us from the repetitiveness now. I hope the reunion is two episodes away, and not 5!. Sutton, Garcelle and Dorit are trying hard to make the rivalries work but it just feels so scripted and produced -- right down to Garcelle's Production-induced prodding of Kyle's love life. The only positive aspect was we didn't get Kyle & Mo passive-aggressively staring each other down. Vancouver S1 had a SL for the ages: the battle of good versus evil for the troubled soul of Ronnie Negus. Seriously, though, it was perfection. Not a wasted minute. And what a fantastic Greek chorus Christina was. As for Melbourne, that cast you cited radiated joy, directness, humour and self-deprecation. These women were strong in their own selves, and therefore able to laugh at themselves. Just like with classic OG RHONY, there were episodes were I literally laughed out loud. I hope you check them out. Both seasons 1 of Melbourne and of Vancouver are short and very accessible. Vancouver is intense as only female friendships can be and chock full of drama. Melbourne is hilarious, with two clueless, wealthy HWs really thinking they were the bee's knees -- and getting exposed on camera as a result.

This is giving me Real Housewives of Melbourne/Sydney vibes (not the music so much, but the staging). I love how they amped it up in terms of a soap opera opening. I really like it, and now I want to watch. Not all the overseas Real Housewives franchises are perfect, or even that great, but some stand out in my mind as being pretty fabulous. Melbourne, parts of Sydney, VANCOUVER, Auckland, season 1 of Cheshire with Magali... Good times. I know you some of you guys checked out RH of Johannesburg and Nairobi, too. Gosh, I miss my Melbourne.

Tamra's comeuppance is overdue and if Tamra was savvy, she'd eat it like she did back in S9 when she went toe-to-toe with the entire cast at reunion and fought back. Tamra's meant to be the toughest of the OGs. Isn't she? She can handle Shannon and Gretchen, surely. ATL was refreshing to watch, and that was thanks to Shamea who I've always liked. Interestingly, when she was talking about her close friendships with the past cast, she left out one of the most significant: Kandi. I enjoyed Angela but jury's still out on Britt and Kelli. With Kenya being phased out, this soft reboot is turning into an almost complete reboot, and I'm not sure these two have what it takes to be RHOA HWs for the ages. It's still early days, though, but that's my first impression. Not a fan of Kenya, but her reaction to Drew talking about Porsha's Dennis as she attempted to nod along were pretty funny. The Drew-Dennis relationship does feel put together for a SL. BH: I've struggled to find something to post about with the show, even though I've been enjoying it. The episodes are a sort of soothing retread of the previous episode, just in a slightly different setting. LA or Augusta. Sutton vs Dorit. Kyle is struggling to come to terms with the end of her marriage. So far, I'm OK with that. Rinna has been promoting her new podcast and bragging about how boring the show is and Bravo is begging her, 'the GOAT,' to return, but honestly I'd rather have the show as is than have her come back. The cast currently has chemistry with each other. Jennifer Tilly is a very fun FOH. We even got to see Faye Resnick at Caviar Kaspia, who felt comfortable enough to be especially elegantly catty when it came to Sutton. Did Sutton miss Faye's reference to her day-dtinking?? LOL. How i wish Faye was also a regular FOH. And interestingly, she came as Kathy's friend -- i guess in the last Kathy-Kyle bust-up, Kathy got to keep Faye in the divorce. I'm also wondering if Kyle will stay on after this season. There's something very full circle about her SL, and she won't discuss what's the deal with Morgan. I love what Martyn Lawrence Bullard did with Erika's bungalow. He upped the sophistication factor. Without Rinna, Erika is infinitely more grounded and likeable a cast member.

😅 When Andy announced that Mia had left the building, Jacqueline gave the Resting B!tch Face equivalent of 'She's dead to me now.' She also made a big show of hugging Gizelle before she left so, yeah, we know where her direction of travel is. In fact, I've just remembered who Jacqueline reminds me of -- Nicki, the sister of Whitney Houston's character in The Bodyguard.

This RHOP reunion was one of its best, and even better than the season as a whole. Rumors about Candiace, Robyn, or Monique coming back... honestly, I didn't miss Robyn and Candy gal at all. If Robyn had been at this reunion, she would have been jeering and triumphant about Karen's fall from grace. The other women spoke honestly about Karen, but I never sensed they really wanted to kick her while she was down. Monique, I'd welcome back in a heartbeat, but Monique has a knack of getting outsmarted sometimes, and Gizelle is in the ascendancy. Losing Robyn did wonders for her. She was forced to dilute the evil and be more involved in the group. Echoing @Antoyne if I were Mia and Karen, I would be worried about how well the cast did without them. The shots of Mia making a big show of getting dressed by her stylist and walking out of the dressing room verrrry slooooowly were intercut with the women giggling over Eddie. In other words, they were having too much fun to care. This cast finally gelled at reunion. Yes, the Gizelle-Wendy friendship is completely Bravo-mandated, but they were an effective tag-team with both Mia and Stacey. Usually I hate gang-ups, but the entire cast held both women to account in a very effective, truthful way. Even though Stacey did probably pay TJ to play her love interest, it's not that different from Gizelle trotting out a string of 'boyfriends' over the years, including Jamal! And some of Ashley's paramours have been suspect, too. I trust Stacey will be back next season, she has the right amount of crazy in her. Mia, OTOH, lies like she breathes, and that is exhausting to watch. I still love Karen, but that scripted mess she and Ray cooked up was pure cringe. What it said to me was that she is not in any way able to confront her drinking seriously, and she's clinging to her tattered image at all costs. I hope that when she returns to the show, it will be more accountable Karen, because i really want her to come out the other side of this battle.

I noticed the change in tone of the judge. He was furious. And as he pointed out, if she'd hit someone's child while DUI, all the TV and community accomplishments in the world would have meant zilch next to the death of that child. He also made the point that she's been caught DUI four times, but has probably been out driving drunk much more times than that and was lucky not to get pulled over. Even after she gets out of prison, she is banned from driving at all for an extended period. As someone who really enjoyed Karen on RHOP, I worry not so much about the jail time which she will do and get over with. It's actually about the drinking, which I wonder if Karen has been doing on the down low for a number of years now. Untangling that addiction will be very hard, as well as dealing with the knock to her pride. I do hope she returns to RHOP, much, much wiser than when she entered the defense of her case. Which was a disaster.

RHOP: I really enjoyed Reunion Part 2. In between certain confrontations, these women acknowledge an easy camaraderie and understanding of each other. The cast together is clicking finally, and the seething hatred of the last few seasons has thankfully been taken down several notches. Wendy and Gizelle are having a great Reunion thus far. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Wendy is literally guiding the direction of the Reunion, and she's actually good at it. Whether it's calling out Mia or Stacey, Wendy is putting them through their paces and setting up a gasp-worthy Part 3. Gizelle's facial expressions as Mia talked about How Difficult This Year Has Been, with a little fake crying thrown in were amazing. She gave a Ms Dorothy eyeroll at one point which was absolutely EPIC. But the best moment was when she called Mia out on the Jeremiah paternity SL. She's 100% right. No mother who truly loves her child would ever let a SL like that propel her own personal fame. Gizelle exposed Mia to be a malignant narcissist who has rationalised this SL as being A-OK because she only cares about herself and not her son's eventual confusion and anxiety about who his father is. The fact that Mia sashayed off that couch, pretending to be offended on behalf of her child, but completely dry-eyed and smirking, said everything I've ever suspected about this shameless liar. This makes me wonder if Mia returns next year. Stacey, too, may get exposed as a big ole liar in Part 3, and that may prevent her accession to next season. I doubt it, though -- she is Potomac's best newbie in years. Karen's jail sentence has probably spared Ashley for another year. Truly, Ashley is the luckiest HW on RHOP. She seems to fail upward. I'm not sure Keiarna will be back though. This Reunion she seemed strangely downbeat, at odds with her joyful appearance at Reunion last year.

You are all absolutely right and apologies for my brain freeze. Michelle played a young Lily Montgomery on AMC back in the day; Lacey Chabert played young Bianca. Sarah Michelle Gellar coincided with both young actresses when she was on AMC.

😪 Michelle played young Bianca when SMG played Kendall Hart. She then recommended her for the part of Dawn on Buffy and were very close on set. She must be heartbroken. She saw that little girl grow up over the years. Heck, I still cannot believe Michelle was 39. Michelle was also very good in Disney's Ice Princess.

Gene Hackman was one of my favorite actors. Every role he took on was effortlessly real. It never felt like he was reciting script (Philip Seymour Hoffmann was another). This and Michelle Trachtenberg are tough ones today.

Heather MacDonald divides opinions among our group of RH observers, but she interviewed Carole Radziwill a few days ago, and harked back to OG RHONY, among many other subjects. Which reminds me that the old RHONY ladies really have lived Lives, regardless of whether a camera is present or not. It's been a while since I listened to an RH podcast, and this is a fun listen .

Uhhh looks like Quad wants everyone to know how 'unbothered' she is. Quad & King! ❤️🔥 #Married2Med pic.twitter.com/UxlfZ3jT8F