Cat

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

Thank you for the heads up. 🙏 Seating position at the RHOP reunion is interesting. Mia gets first seat, as does Gizelle. But I think Gizelle only got first seat by default. Karen would have got it if she'd shown up.

ITA that Wendy has never had the most likeable personality (and lord knows she has stiff competition on this show!). But honestly, I'd rather we got Wendy back from her first season. Humourless, I'm-better-and-more-educated-than-you-hoes Wendy, i believe, was the most genuine Wendy. She didn't like Karen, and we've just seen a glimpse of that again in this trailer. Like you, I cringe at the Switzerland stuff because it feels insincere, and the 'wit' pales alongside that of her castmates because fundamentally, Wendy doesn't have a sense of humor. She's not self-deprecating and cannot laugh at herself. She is just too careful in how she comes across. I preferred when she ran her mouth that first season and got in trouble with the audience for picking the wrong team. At least we knew that's how she really felt.

Wait! How did you DO THAT I am flopping today with the embedding (thanks for understanding my struggle @DemetriKane !). But what isn't flopping is this reunion trailer which is 100% 🔥 ! February 16th? We have to wait that long? Scrap all the remaining episodes and screen this on Sunday IMMEDIATELY. Karen may not be there in person, but her video message certainly left Wendy in a flap. Unpopular opinion: Wendy not-so-secretly loves to play put-upon, righteous victim. Still, I cannot believe i am saying this, but Wendy Unleashed (and Eddie) may have guaranteed themselves a spot on RHOP next year just from that trailer alone. Everyone's foot on Mia's neck is literally Chef's Kiss. She should be called out left and right for The Lies, The Lies! Stacey still giving me first-season Kenya Moore vibes. You know TJ was a boyfriend for hire. Ashley Darby giving me approximately zilch.

Hope this embeds (I have no clue how to embed anymore). It's the RHOP Reunion Trailer. https://x.com/queensofbravo/status/1885373398924104121

The problem with the trailer IMO was that there wasn't any clear story anchoring it. With some of the other recent trailers (BH comes to mind) you could glean the big stories (Dorit vs Kyle). Kenya's Downfall came up very briefly and was instantly, lightly dismissed. IMO, it should have been the main inflection point of the trailer because it required the group to pick a side. Shamea and Porsha kind of stood out at the end, but you had to wait 3 mins to get there. I didn't get a sense of the 3 newbies as independent entities, but sometimes that happens with these trailers.

Just saw this comment! Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but while Gretchen is not as dumb as Alexis, that girl is no brainiac. Tamra ran circles around her and Slade back in the day. Part of Tamra's power lies in the bad secrets she knows about you. Gretchen and Slade had stuff to hide, and so Tamra always had leverage over them. Jennifer Pedranti is also not as smart as Tamra, but she lays almost all her cards out on the table. Consequently, Tamra is less able to threaten her. I'm not sure Gretchen understands this nuance, and while I welcome the Shannon-Gretchen-Jen alliance, she could also mess things up badly like Alexis did.

I'm curious to know people's opinions on this trailer (thanks @Antoyne ! Just saw your comment). It feels like a complete break from RHOAs past -- not a hard reboot like nuRHONY, but not a soft reboot either. 3 new faces in a cast of 6. Noteworthy: -No mention of Simon AT ALL. -Oh, Kenya got fired alright. Looks like we will see what prompted her firing. -Phaedra barely appears until the very end. In fact, FOH Cynthia appears more than Phaedra. I didn't either. Jessel looks largely the same to me. Wisely, she hasn't touched her nose which is distinctive and all hers! Ok, so she got some veneers and filler. The RHs of OC get more facelifts done in a month than whatever Jessel had in a year. And why didn't anyone else at the reunion get a grilling?

It was a very good Part 1, focused mostly on Brynn's lies, so little time wasted on inconsequential stuff. Even the Erin segment was focused on the loss of her dad, etc., although it did gloss over her troubles with Abe. Brynn coming to Jessel before reunion to keep her on-side was the height of delusional. She said she hadn't watched the final episode (which I don't believe), and when she 'watched' it on camera, with her tears, she once again acted like she was the victim and everyone else was against her. She really is sticking to her clueless position, no matter what! I'm glad Sai and the other castmates (Jessel, Jenna) did not give Brynn a pass. She needed to be asked, again and again, to take accountability, because her entire strategy was about staying purposely delusional. She was slouching there with a pout. Such a bad choice. Her attempt to gaslight Jessel with meaningless apologies was thwarted as Jessel held her ground in perhaps the most impactful moment of the episode. If anything, I wish Jessel had pointed to Sai and Erin and demanded an apology from them, too. Sai and Erin let Brynn take the fall for the mess they all concocted this season. (I can't believe Bravo is backing Sai on her demand for an apology from Pavit! Jessel handled that one with class). They've been an alliance since the beginning. Brynn is in a worrying position. By acting delusional, she risks coming across as unhinged. From the show's perspective, can she come back? Yes, this brought in ratings, but will the cast want to film with her again? And from a corporate perspective, this destroys her brand. Not many firms want to work with someone has been caught on TV lying. You need some level of trustworthiness. The Watch What Crappens men pointed out last week that Brynn is getting a lot of hate on social media, and they are not sure if she is emotionally strong to withstand that heat. I'm not saying this as an excuse to exonerate her, but rather pointing out the facts (as I see them) of her situation. Of course, the damage she could have done to Ubah's reputation if she hadn't been caught would have been even more terrible for Ubah, who could have seen her own professional and personal life collapse. Ubah's empathy for Brynn and what she went through was the stand-out of the episode for me -- despite everything that went down.

Don't forget her Netflix show Buying Beverly Hills. Kyle and Mauricio saved all the juicy separation details for that show last year. I imagine Bravo was pissed.

You are always on point with the wide-randing details of this legal case, and others. With the law, detail is everything. We may all have different opinions on what Karen is doing and why, but you always expand our understanding about the purely legal motives at play here, and that truly enhances the discussion.

That whole chilling-with-Production scene still does not sit right with me. WTF was that? It was like cheerleaders hanging with their Head Cheerleader. Meanwhile, Ubah and Jessel got shunted to the hotel. Like Ubah was the dangerous, out-of-control one, not Brynn. I know RHs get close with their handlers. But that moment illustrates what has gone wrong with Production recently (under Eric Fuller's watch). The favoritism. These guys want to be Brynn's buddy. And they MUST have known the message that sends to the other women as they came into the kitchen. It says: "We are with Brynn. Bravo is with Brynn. We are her posse supporting he actions and protecting her. And you ladies better know it." I am so glad that the two women who entered the kitchen first were Sai and Racquel, because neither of them liked what they saw, that was clear. Both of these women have some balls, and I wonder if they made their feelings known BTS that they were not going to F with Brynn anymore. And that was the start of Brynn changing her plans from "horseback-riding" to getting on the next flight. The scene with Ubah/Jessel straight afterwards was cathartic, 100% necessary and, IMO, quickly assembled once Brynn left. I would have fired her lawyers months ago for not getting the police footage first and immediately advising their client to settle! But it sounds like she's going through lawyers with the sole intention of 'clearing her name.' Karen, your name is soiled. Best to take the judges' decision with good grace, plea for clemency in terms of length of sentence, and do a mea culpa on TV which will probably involve some honesty. Her fans still like her, they just want to see her take some ownership/accountability.

Right? Pavit even did a food vlog of his 24 hours eating his.way through Saigon (and on the plane) which totally exposed Sai and Erin's lies! I'm sure if Sai had apologized to Pavit about it, he would have followed up with an apology of sorts. But instead she and Erin basically forced Jessel into a corner in Puerto Rico, and Jessel hugged them and told them that if this,l was bothering them, she'd be the bigger person. I also noticed that Jessel waited till the cameras went down in order to give Ubah a head's up about what was being said about her, instead of trying to get camera time and have a moment. Brynn knew Ubah could have said, why are you constantly going after me, a black immigrant whose English is a second language? Brynn wanted to use her race, out of the blue, as a tool to play up her victimhood while downplaying Ubah's own struggles (which she has rarely discussed on air). And she's been poking Ubah ever since she saw Ubah lose her cool at the last reunion. She thought she'd be easy to manipulate and get stirred up. Ubah saw exactly what she,was doing from early on this season and tried to tell the group, but they didn't want to hear it.

Totally. Usually I watch a RH episode and rarely look back, but this RHONY finale has kind of haunted me the last few days. I don't know if the TV 'fame' went to her head, or Eric Fuller has been working her, but what creeped me out the most was how damaged Brynn appears to be. I think that is what quietly freaked out her cast-mates in Puerto Rico when they realised she had lied in order to smear somebody else. The moral compass is off. The next day, lounging on the sofa with production all around her. She was sending a message to the cast about her perceived power on the show. Earlier in the episode, I thought Ubah went far, screaming "You effing bitch" at Brynn as she towered over her. But looking back at the whole trip, the whole season, I don't blame Ubah one bit for losing her cool. Brynn has gone after her incessantly, trying to manipulate her into silence by gaslighting her about being the 'angry black woman,' and when Ubah openly recognized her for the dangerous person she is, Brynn targeted her without respite. It built up to a point where Ubah couldn't take it anymore. Racquel was the voice of the audience. Wiping away tears regarding the sexual assault (something which Racquel seemed to keenly understand), and then the dawning realization that the story was used to smear Ubah. "I checked out within a couple of minutes…because I realized she was lying" was probably the most powerful utterance of the night. Jessel is a nice person apologizing to Sai like that. Sai tried to say Pavitt was a sex tourist last year so IMO she didn't deserve that particular apology, but this wealthy millennial group frequently lean into their version of the Victim Olympics. Erin is also spiteful to Jessel. I consider her the Kyle Richards of nuRHONY sometimes, even though I think she is needed on the show. She posted this on Instagram yesterday:

Never! I always read your amazing episode analyses, even if I can't respond right away! RE: Brynn, I would say that she is setting herself up as the villain just in time for reunion. Good! Ubah will come for her, Sai may also, I'm hoping Jessel gets it together because, as Ubah noted, sometimes Jessel doesn't have the backbone for confrontation. I think that's kind of harsh. Jessel does have a backbone -- calling out the harpies for gossiping about her marriage, for example. It's just that her personality is more ditzy and light, so she's not always looking for a confrontation for the sake of it. She doesn't like it. Brynn thrives on it. Jessel's weapon is humor. By the way, I'm making my way through SLC, and last night I watched the episode where Robert Jr and Mary talked about his drug addiction. The whole conversation was heart-breaking and probably the most honest I have ever watched on any RH franchise. I'm shocked that Mary didn't try and hide this. Bubs, as she calls him, is Mary's most loved human. He was so honest about why he fell into drugs. When he admitted to feeling like he's not made "for this world," that the world is too painful, that struck home because I've heard someone who struggled with depression say the same thing. And maybe I'm speculating, but I wonder if Mary has had similar feelings about her life and place in the world. Mary seemed to connect especially keenly to this. It was a standout moment in the franchise, and confirms why Bravo keeps Mary on the show. She is THAT Real Housewife for this franchise.

Ubah and Sai's looks are the best IMO -- Both look incredibly elegant and fierce. Jessel's dress is a little fussy but her hair is incredible. I even like Raquel, Erin and Jenna's look. But Brynn flopped bigtime with her look. She was going for 70s sexy but she looks like Mrs. Roper. As for RHONY the show, I know it's been a tough slog for many. Personally, I have enjoyed it despite its flaws, but this last episode was kind of a mess. Brynn has got Ubah in her crosshairs and it's not nice to watch. Ubah holds her own, though, even if she is a self-righteous and acts like she's above everyone. I'm not even talking about "Naomi wishes! Gisele wishes!" I'm talking about Ubah thinking she's a bigger and better human than everyone else and has to let everyone know it at all times. Having said that, I DO think when it cones to Sai, who she really cares about, Ubah is,a good friend whose heart is in the right place. I'm not sure Brynn's heart has been in the right place all season. She is Production's plaything, ready to toy with anyone in order to up her screen time. The nasty comments about Jessel were especially cruel. Even as Jessrl told her she cared about her as a friend and couldn't they put it behind them. Erin is that annoying HW who is the head of the clique, participates in the b!tching behind someone's back, yet blames others for it, but she's also the one who drives a lot of story. The relationship dynamics seem to happen with her and around her. Brynn is anxious to win her over to her side. Ubah was once close to her but now no longer trusts her. Sai has been the voice of reason all season. What a turnaround for the books.

Great assessment. All these women are trying to control the narrative, and the show seems unable to get them to talk honestly about whatever is really going on. A good RH show always has secrets, and the hook for the audience is that you get to gradually uncover them. But these women are conspiring to keep their secrets from the viewers (with or without Production's help), and so we get a season which started well but has dovetailed into a mess. Mia is the worst of it. I guess she is showing us 'the most', but at some point the accumulation of grubby details is too much. She clearly doesn't care if this will affect her kids, as long as it helps Mommy become a reality star. I never thought she was fit for RHOP, and I still don't. Even amidst all this openness, the woman lies like she breathes. It's somehow different from the other women hiding their secrets, in that this feels compulsive. She'd say anything to stay on TV, and as a viewer I just can't connect to that. Why believe anything she says?

I'm shocked but, like @DaytimeFan said, this is the Luann Rehab strategy and is probably wise for Karen at this moment in time. Nevertheless, she can't outrun the questions forever. I have to imagine Mia and Gizelle will be coming after her for this next season. The reunion may have a lot of discussion on Karen's arrest which might have been shut down had Karen been there ("We can't talk about it because it's a legal issue," etc). Dorit has literally become My Girl. Standing up to Sutton and Kyle was like watching Bruce Lee take on two ninjas. Kyle has been especially underhanded this season (well, as underhanded as she was in S9!). She's had Sutton and Camille play her b!tch and fight her battles for her. I couldn't believe she tried to pull the "HOW DARE YOU WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL PK IS LIKE A GIRL" card re: texting PK. Because we all know VictimKyle would be having the mother of all meltdowns if Dorit was texting a happily-divorced Mauricio. I'm liking Erika's support of Dorit even though she seems to be also supporting Kyle, which I don't quite understand. What game is she playing here? Jennifer Tilly is a delight who espouses her own opinions and thinks for herself. So does Boze. It was heart-breaking watching BH last night and the drone shots over beautiful Beverly Hills, the Valley, Erika's neighborhood, Pasadena in flashback, etc., and then to watch footage of this epic, unique city engulfed in flames. I hope the fires get contained and these lovely neighborhoods can eventually be restored to their former glory. I also hope Californians who lost their homes are able to rebuild their lives again.