Cat

This episode slipped in the ratings, and I wonder if its because the trailer looked too much like previous episodes. Also viewers may be over Kary whining. I know I am. For me, the episode was notable for two things. One, Tiffany's insane house/closet/outdoor kitchen/ wood-burning pizza oven. Two, it finally revealed the true face of Brandi who has hidden behind her 'victimhood' SL until now. The first thing Brandi basically said this episode was how difficult it would be for her to criticise the things Tiffany has done, but..... Dot dot dot. Brandi is chomping at the bit to go after her. It's what she enjoys doing. I thought it was noteworthy that Tiffany said she was pulling a prank because Brandi enjoys pranks too. As we saw, Brandi enjoys pulling nasty pranks which target people. She DOES NOT enjoy being the target of a prank. In fact, she can't handle it. The dramatics, the fake throwing up, Stephanie and Kary just HAVING to go into the bathroom to hold Brandi's hair out of her face. C'mon Brandi, like roasted cricket is the worst thing you've ever had in your mouth. Girl, please. The whole thing rang so false. Kary and Stephanie could barely contain their smiles. Tiffany has given them the ammo they need to attack her again and again. They are in heaven about this. The crazy thing is how someone as mean, backstabbing, untrustworthy, and dull as Kary managed to forge these solid alliances with Brandi, Stephanie and Kameron? I am in shock. Are they just grateful she got LeeAnne off the show? I mean, Kameron of all people has Brandi and Kary's back against Tiffany? Should Tiffany have snuck the crickets into her pizza and made everyone try it? No. It was a dumb, messy prank. But I can't help but feel empathy for DTM. For all her degrees and career and success, she is still that girl who immigrated from China, nerdy, studying hard, trying to get top grades, trying to be accepted and embraced by others. And instead they are 'othering' her. Like, I felt bad when they gaily sailed out of there at 10.29pm and she begged them to stay a little longer. She set herself up by establishing a curfew time; i understand why she did, but she regretted it when she saw it was used as a stick to beat her with. Honestly, Tiffany was guilty of trying too hard. Her prank backfired and she tried to make amends and apologize. She really wants them to accept her, and with the exception of D'Andra, they're not. They know she wants their acceptance and so they are withholding it.

Hmmm... not sure about this segment she's creating. Love her and of course want to know what's in the binder. But its like she can't let RHOP go, and it seems like she deeply regrets her departure. If that is the case, she had a chance to stay and pull out those binder receipts during S6. Instead, its like she's shouting from the sidelines, making it easier for the Poven to dismiss her and dimimish her.

The opening 45 seconds of NJ's opening episode next Tuesday *screams with joy*

@Gray Bunny @Soaplovers Well, damn! This sounds juicy as hell! Can you two work for Bravo and scout potential cast and locations? Seriously! Would you include Tinsley, Dale and the Coupon King in a franchise like this? The talk of contrast between the suburban haves and central have nots gave me goosebumps. I assumed Chicago richies all lived on Lakeshore Drive! SLC Great 1st part reunion, largely thanks to Lisa Barlow and Jen swapping personalities for a bit. We needed Lisa to step it up and Jen to tone it down. Jen (who was dressed as the evil princess in Flash Gordon) seems to have been humbled by backlash, especially online. She was careful to take a breath before laying out her thoughts. Like Meredith on Danny Pellegrino's recent podcast (well-timed), I'm not sure if Jen has entirely changed. Everytime Mary speaks, Jen's eyes flash and she looks like she wants to strike her. Other times, Jen does what Jill used to do with Alex @Gray Bunny -- catch the eye of someone else and laugh derisively like Mary just said somethimg weak or foolish. Total gaslighting. Mary triggers Jen so bad, and it is AMAZING. I love that the medicated culty kook is literally the voice of reason and logic here. Bad Bravo for editing her sleeping in the reunion trailer! That gave us all a false edit of what Mary was going to contribute. Did Jen ask them to do that? Mary was doing anything but sleep, she was holding Jen calmly, effectively, brutally to account. She was getting answers. The editing of that trailer (with Jen at the heart, Mary on the periphery) coincides with discussion here about editing during the season. Why was so much relevant stuff left on the cutting room floor? So many gaps in the stories? Why is Mary relegated to playing a one-dimensional kook? She clearly has hidden layers. Why was context in the Lisa-Heather rivalry jettisoned for Jen's weekly meltdowns? I also noticed Andy doing with Jen what he used to do with Bethenny, where he asked her to comment on SL that had nothing to do with her. He was on the point of deferring to her opinion. Conclusion: he and Bravo have decided Jen is the central figure, and that's a shame because as Fabulous Ice and Mary are showing, this is an ensemble cast here and everyone is bringing something unique that deserves equal spotlight. Lisa Barlow and her spray-tanned palms...! I'm so glad she came to retain her snowflake! She milked her sudden alliance with Jen and her disdain for Heather and Whitney for all they were worth! I cannot fault her hustle. Lisa is not the Queen Bee she desperately wants to be (her face when Andy brought up Rihanna loving Heather!). She is not as smart or strategic as she thinks she is. But God loves a tryer, and she was MVP this episode. Social media is talking only about her and Mary right now. Heather and Whitney were an effective tag team but weirdly overshadowed this episode. Meredith is a dis-engaging queen as far as I'm concerned. She looked gorgeous and her hair and makeup were flawless. The thing with Meredith is that she sometimes does not need to talk to express herself. As reserved as she is, a lot of her emotions flit across her face and the viewer gets a lot of her story from non- verbal cues. I find her fascinating in her non-aggressive queenly way. As far as I'm concerned, the entire cast needs to stay as is, bring Mary deeper into the fold, maybe cast a FOH (not Brooks).

Welp. Her distancing from JW all these years also spoke volumes. Not surprising given the 'difficult/arrogant' tag she was given during the Buffy years. This statement actually says a lot for SMG.

ALL THIS. I have long felt that Charisma's firing from Angel represented something illegal and very, very unfair and there was a real code of silence around it. This is confirmation. Her firing and erasure from the Angel canvas went against the wishes of many fans who considered her more than a fan-fave, she was (along with David Boreanaz) an OG. To have Amber Bensopn confirm it and say that the Buffy cast is also still processing Whedon's toxicity 20 years later speaks volumes. The part in Charisma's post about Whedon playing favourites and pitting cast members against each other really stuck out. We know SMG and Alison Hannigan were at loggerheads in the last few seasons (especially about whether Buffy should have ended after S5 or continued on UPN), and it makes sense that Whedon might pit the two female leads against each other. On the Angel front, I remember Joss waxing lyrical about Amy Acker (Fred) and I imagine around this time he decided the character of Cordelia was surplus to requirements. Whedon would invite a select few faves to his home for improv/Shakespeare dinners (like Acker and Alexis Denisof -- Wesley -- who is also married to Alison Hannigan). Only select faves were invited to those dinners and others were excluded. I also wonder what happened with Glenn Quinn who was killed off after 12 episodes in S1 of Angel.

I am beyond ready for NJ to start next week! Dolores bringing some drama! Frankie still looks hot AF. ATL sneak peek:

OMG How cool! And spooky. Ronnie and Christina have not aged a day! Nice to see Christina's BFF Kevin Chase joined them. Given how close a lot of the women still are (Ronnie, Youlia and Amanda supported each other through AA after the show ended), it would be cool to catch up with all of them in a mini-season . Mary, Ronnie, Youlia, Christina, Robin (a Texan Trumper, yikes) and Reiko. And Jody, I suppose. I'd be curious to see where Evil Jodyficent is in her life.

OOO Lisa vs Heather That tiny 'Lisa Barlow' cake tho 💀

RHOD: Oh Kameron NO. And I spy ginger trashbox Brandi in the comments encouraging this mess. 🤢 Seriously desperate for attention. What next -- prison letters to the Menendez brothers?

@Taoboi I haven't watched S2 RHOV since it first aired years ago, but the bullying of Mary by Jody was egregious. Jody wasn't just doing this for the show; she was actually evil and her inexplicable hatred of Mary oozed off the screen. I can't remember if she accused Mary of being antisemitic at one point, but I do recall her bringing her equally awful daughter into the mix, not to mention preying on Ronnie who was struggling with addiction. Jody single-handedly destroyed the franchise. I imagine Slice (which aired it) got so many complaints about the bullying that they didn't want to be associated with it. Might have been a blessing for some women. I believe Mary remarried and is likely in a happier space. Ronnie went into treatment for alcoholism and is now sober; i believe she might have remarried also but unsure. She and Mary reconnected on social media a few years back. Jody may have lost some or all of her businesses, which is karma IMO. Sadly, Yulia's husband divorced her two seconds after the show finished and because of the pre-nup, she was left with not much. Not sure what Christina is doing these days, but hopefully she's having fun doing it, lol. For a palate cleanser, I would recommend rewatching S1 RHOMelbourne! A perfect balance of humor, shade and pettiness. Gina to Andrea: "You are an insignificant arse-hair!" God, Andrea was so uppity and delusional, and watching Gina demolish her and Lydiot's respective facades was *chef's kiss*

They lost Christina and that had an impact. Reiko was a loss too because she was very grounded. Jody was no longer kept in check, and ran roughshod over the cast. Ronnie went nuts on her prescription meds and sided with Jody over Mary. It was out of control.

@Taoboi we can agree to disagree. 😃 And RHOV S1 would get an A+. Perfect mix of drama, location and casting. Clearly this is Garcelle. It could be a lucky guess on Enty's part, but I've been sensing that Garcelle's heart is really not into BH. I don't blame her. She has work and other priorities and life is just too short to tangle with The Coven who have nothing but this show to focus on. She's a breath of fresh air and would be a loss to the franchise which needs her more than she needs it TBH. She's doing the right thing for herself, though.

I would grade SLC's first season a solid B+. Atlanta, NJ and BH are the only S1s which get an A+ from me, they are so perfect. S1 NY and Potomac were B+ simply because of the gold-star seasons which followed them. SLC has great potential to build on. For me, there was a lack of story progression. This translated in repetition across episodes; for example, Jen's staged tantrums began to feel interchangeable. Meredth's story did have evolution, but judging by the reunion trailer, she and Seth might be right back where they started. Also, Mary was not a cohesive part of the group with that weird mid-season ouster, and that IMO affected cast dynamics.

Oh man! Christopher Plummer was one of the all-time greats! That voice was resplendent. There never was a false note in any performance I saw of his. Obviously The Sound of Music was such a megahit that this is the performance he might be best known for (and it is a movie I love -- it is literally so perfect in all its moving parts: music, location, cinematography, story, casting). BTW, he couldn't stand that movie. But two movies of his really stand out for me. One was The Fall of the Roman Empire, a 1964 Roman epic which failed at the box office, and starred Sophia Loren. He totally stole the show as evil Commodus who basically scratches his way to the throne, oozing with unspoken gay undertones and incestuous longing for La Loren. The Russell Crowe epic Gladiator is based in part on this movie, but I think Plummer played the villain role much more memorably than Joaquin Phoenix. The other movie was Syriana. Small but pivotal role in an under-appreciated movie where he was basically the Bush Administration's kingmaker in the Middle East. And one of his last roles was in Knives Out. I saw it in late 2019 in the movie theatre, and you couldn't take your eyes off him in the first 20 minutes of that movie. Experience and stage presence really shows out. I'm told from a family member who saw him on stage that his craft there was extraordinary, too.

SLC JEN. I feel bad starting in on Jen Shah again. I don't actually dislike her. But even before the show had premiered, Twitter stans were already calling her 'Queen' and she was #ShahSquad-ing and it put me off. This season kind of confirmed my scepticism, with the thirst and the 8 assistants (why does she need this amount of people again?). Is any of this a crime? Not at all. Was anybody else on the cast going to stir the pot like this? No. A couple were even giving me tranquilized vibes (naming no names, but both start with 'M'). Something I noticed is how often Jen's eyes dart to camera to make sure it is on her. Interestingly, in the scene dancing with Sharrief, Jen's eyes rarely looked around for cameras. She was present and focused. It was a gentler Jen and they seem to love each other. Coach Shah appears to be a great guy. She humbled herself momentarily at the end of the episode, but kept the apologies purposely vague so that she can beat a dead horse at reunion. HEATHER. "Shah Squad's on your payroll! I'm here cuz I love you and I care about you!" Heather putting things in their rightful context. This is the true OG of SLC and I hope she keeps herself grounded and self-deprecating, because that is what won the audience over. FTR, it seems like Jen was friends with Heather because she felt a little superior to Heather, and Heather would always be there when she needed her. Meredith and Lisa, OTOH, are friends she aspires to have. That's a different power dynamic. But now that the audience is invested in the show, that power dynamic between Heather and Jen is shifting, and it will be interesting to see where they are at reunion. WHITNEY. Looks and sounds exactly like Darla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer ! Whitney, like Jen, is strategic and knows how to play the game. Jen is definitely not feeling her and her smarts, so I'm guessing this is going to be the rivalry next season. Speaking of strategic... LISA BARLOW. It was nice to see The Boozelow get in the mix in order to secure a snowflake next season. Yes, girl, tell everybody to do one thing, then go do the exact opposite! I am lowkey looking forward to what she brings to reunion. Hope it's a Super Big Gulp because she is going to need it with that touch of thirst she's working up. MARY. Crack-voice cult leader, can we all agree? So why do I like and enjoy watching Mary despite my better judgment? That scene 'coaching' the choir was Some 👏Thing 👏 Else 👏. Usually cults can be secretive, but Mary is happy to show us these snippets and I am all here for it. The choir worships her and are terrified of her! Did we catch the painting of Grandma Cosby & Jesus frolicking in the clouds? MEREDITH + MASHK. MEREDITH BEHIND HER MASHK. You know Brooks was pissed that he couldn't go to that finale party! LOL! I love Living Mannequin in all her Dish-Engaged glory. She's just above it all, but at some point she will have to get down in the mud and wrestle with the rest of the peons.

@Taoboi Re: Kary. The last couple of years, we've seen an upsurge in people spouting dog-whistles/crazy crap. They throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. Many barely believe the dumb sh*t they are saying, and therefore discourse becomes largely meaningless. When anyone calls them out and tries to make them accountable, they turn it around on the other person, using gaslighting, false equivalence, the Victim Olympics, you name it. Right now, we are seeing in Congress this Marjorie creature doing and saying the most awful things. Now, I'm not saying that the Real Housewives are on a par with a fascist gun-toting sociopath and her dangerous agenda! I'm enjoying RHOD right now because it is keeping everything on a level of petty, relatable nonsense, and my brain is more than ok with that. However, some of the tactics are similar to what Andy once said about Rinna being "very Marco Rubio in your talking points." She could twist people's reputations, but couch it in "my truth." Munchausen, case in point. We also have Jen Shah throwing accusations against the wall to see what works. Maybe one day something will, honey. It's like every episode is a season-finale fight episode. Kary is not quite that noisy (not with that dehydrated vocal fry). But she is leaning into a lot of tactics at once. Using the xenophobia card, false equivalence (shilling merch part-time = being a doctor), gaslighting (as a doctor, you are exposing everyone to Covid), the Victim Olympics (my suffering is greater than yours). I am watching this and OTOH I accept that she is keeping the drama percolating with her messiness. OTO, I dislike her and cannot wait for her comeuppance. IMO Kary is seething with jealousy in regards to the other women. Especially DTM and D'Andra. 🤔 I'm on the fence about D'Andra's plastic surgery. She is going for a very 'Texas' look. It's not my taste, but I feel like a lot of socialite white women in Texas (of a certain age) have gone for the full lips, upturned nose. It's a very 80s look. In that sense, I accept it as somewhat normal given the show's location. Where did you find her p.s. a mess? There was a scene when in the store when she was speaking to Kary in profile and I thought her face looked well proportioned. Her nose isn't too small for her face (a common surgery mistake -- see Kelly Dodd Covidthal). Her chin balances out her face. IMO her make-up exacerbates the work she's had done. It is way too heavy. The dark eye shadow puts Melissa 'Raccoon-Eyes' Gorga to shame. The heavy red lip accentuates whatever she did to her mouth. The contouring on the sides of the nose and cheekbones looks ridic in daylight scenes. Last week, D'Andra has a scene at home with little-to-light makeup and she looked really, really good. Easily 10 years younger. Less is more!

Kary trying to play the Mexican card from last year and getting shot down was perfection! "Are you correcting me bee cuz I am Mexican?" DTM: "That may have worked with other women but not with me!" Yes, Tiffany!

[said in Danny Pellegrino's Meredith voice] "Hi, I'm Meredith Marksh, and dish is my dish-engaging mashk."

At some point this week we are going to have to talk about Living Mannequin showing up in this:

There's been some discussion on social media attributing Jan Shah's OTT reactions to being on Prozac/struggling with mental health. Jen has alluded to this a little on the show regarding being left alone a lot by Coach Shah. I can see that she might be struggling with loneliness and other things. However, this ^ and her fights do feel performative. It's the fingernails jabbed at people's faces, the screaming of "--bitch!" at the end of every diatribe (like Nene used to do). Like she's doing this for the sake of creating drama. Can you imagine having this in your face IRL? It would absolutely be considered threatening/bullying. ETA: And turning her behaviour around on the other women and calling it "a knee on my neck" ? WTF is this idiot in her chalet bubble squawking about? This was a petty argument over Whitney saying Lisa + Meredith are scared of Jen! WTF?

Didn't Thomas Kelly and Chris Cullen also preside over the Lucy Lucy Apple Juicy Let's Get LVP Off BH season 10? Their speciality seems to be getting rid of expensive OGs and rebuilding around less expensive target-demo HWs. This strategy has not worked at all for OC -- Bravo is currently in talks with Vicki, Tamra and Heather Dubrow in a blind panic! Bravo has had unexpected big hits during the pandemic, with BH, Potomac, SLC's first season and, after a poor start, RHOD slowly building its numbers. But it also is having misses with its rock-solid-certainty franchises OC and ATL. Some of that may be down to the 'Get Rid of OGs' strategy. Thomas Kelly will likely argue that Covid put a wrench in his plans for the season, but honestly you cannot manufacture the kind of anti-chemistry we saw on our screens. He needs to be moved on. In a bid to save her job, Kelly Dodd backtracked on her allegation last week that Thomas Kelly was personal buds with Brown Wind, to the detriment of the rest of the cast: "We'll always have Ireland." 😬 Is that a goodbye? LOL great trailer! I hate-watched Laguna Beach and The Hills back in the day, too. I never understood why the girls mooned over those douchey bros (with similar hair to SLC Whitney's dad btw). "Trying to fit a square into a circle..." Lord, what an awkward lyric! This song is taking me straight back to low-rise boot-leg jeans and Juicy Couture! But I've got to agree: Vicki, Tamra, Gretchen, Alexis, Heather (and possibly Shannon) would be an A+ cast. There is a lot of history between these women, and it's real, not contrived. THAT'S MY OPINYUN!!!!!

I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this last episode of SLC, but it didn't disappoint. FI-NA-LLY everyone stood up to Jen Shah and told her they were sick of her pointing those Lil Kim nails in their faces and threatening them. Finally they called her out on her double-talk. Jen thought she was going to talk all over them and twist everything into being the victim. Wrong! That kooky hypnotist kept her in check too. I loved it! Also I have to ask, why does Jen travel with an entourage and glam squad? Is she famous?I love Sharrief, but he's a football coach at U of U. There is no earthly reason she should be traveling with a bodyguard and acting like she's in a J.Lo music video circa 2001. RHOC: OK the season was a bust, but I kind of enjoyed the last part of reunion! The looks on everyone's faces when Braunwyn tried to explain that Shari wanted her to leave Sean, but that Shari wasn't a lesbian. I shouldn't laugh -- but I did. Especially Gina's face.