Bravo's The Real Housewives of....

[Cat]

RHOA

It seems to me like Marlo is on the verge of losing her peach. That contrived nonsense in Blue Ridge and then sending everyone home? She was looking for her moment. And the stuff with her nephews is shady. She just happens to have a compliant sister living nearby who can put the nephews up? Sounds to me like the nephews live there full-time and Marlo trots them out once in a while for filming purposes.

Drew is hella contrived too but it's entertaining. When the women brought up the bones, it's like they were saying 'OK Drew. You're trying!" She also managed to light a fire under Sheree, who really should take business advice from Kandi. I'm not sure Sheree really wants to put in the work to make these joggers happen.

The Kamdi-Todd-Riley-Kaela succession scene was fascinating. 

 

RHODubai:

@Taoboi I really loved your write-up. I adored this episode, and it was great to see the LOL peeps pop up. I didn't even mind seeing Juliet. I kind of wish they were on this show more regularly. Luke would be great addition. Sophie too. They did put their finger on the Caroline issue: she has to be Queen Bee and everybody needs to dial it back to allow her to be so. But none of these Alpha Dubai ladies are ready to do that and hand her a crown just for showing up.

Slightly uncool that Brooks and Lesa refused to go to the wedding. Ayan, I can understand. Still it looked like a great wedding and Caroline & HW Sergio looked genuinely blissed out.

I understand more where Brooks is coming from after seeing her with her mom -- something pretty bad must have happened with her husband. Still, I think her anger at Sara is OTT. 

Next week: the souk!

Edited August 2, 2022 by Cat

[Soaplovers]

@Taoboi @Cat

Dubai:

Without Stansbury,I don't know if the franchise would have gotten as much buzz.. so all the women need to remember that including Lesa (whose line would be just a vanity line without her hubby keeping her head out of the clouds).

Aylan needs to remember that the fall is quicker than the rise.  She's what Iman would be if she lacked a sense of humor and empathy.

Atlanta:

Sanja and Marlo need to go away.  Neither bring anything to the table...it's to the point where I wish Kim Z would come back for a visit...yes that bad.

[NothinButAttitude]

 

Stanbury might've gotten the cast initial press coverage but she's been a HUGE dud. They don't owe her anything. 

 

If anything, the women need to thank Ayan and Lesa for carrying them this season b/c the other four have been flops. 

[Cat]

@Soaplovers @NothinButAttitudeCaroline Stanbury is/was the initial draw for viewers of Dubai. Nevertheless, given that Ladies of London never had a huge viewership to begin with, ratings were not going to be that high here.

Was Caroline the Queen Bee on LOL? Yes, absolutely, but that was a different group dynamic. In the early Dubai episodes, I felt she was complacent about being the centre of the show, and it turned some viewers off. She has picked up the baton since then, and the last episode or two were good at showcasing Stanbury and her circle.

I still find Ayan entertaining, but I've had a hard time warming to Lesa all season. She has her moments, but im always surprised when she refers to herself in Queen/Boss terms. Yes, most of the cast are calling themselves that as they vie for top spot, but with Lesa (and one or two others), i wish she'd show me rather than tell me. She thinks she's a Gizelle, but maybe she's more like a Robyn than she'd care to admit, next to Ayan and Brooks.

I don't think the show is necessarily a flop -- the ratings aren't great, but S1 Potomac also started lowkey and had to find its groove. The less said about the disaster that was S1 Dallas, the better. But maybe US viewers just aren't interested in a faraway (and sometimes problematic) location, or in its multinational cast? I enjoy what Nina and Sara have been bringing to the show, as they balance out the louder voices, but stronger personalities draw the attention and sell a show, I guess.

Or maybe we're all a little meh on Bravo/RH so far this year.

[Soaplovers]

Lesa seems more like a Robyn to  Aylan's Giselle (with the tacky stupid fashion and delusions to boot).

With that said Stansbury did admit on WWHL that her British ways hindered her...so I'm hoping season 2 will show a more relaxed Stansbury.

And I do find myself liking aspects of Aylan..but only the real her..and not this Cartoon version she is presenting.

Nina and Sara are the down to earth housewives...underappreciated yet missed when gone.  Think Jeana on OC, Adrienne on BH, and Cynthia on Atlanta.  People say they're pointless yet once they're gone..the void is noticeable.

Lastly I hold out hope Aylan and Stansbury will be friends one day...a dude can dream I guess 

[DaytimeFan]

BH

One good thing about Covid-19: it has proven that BH does not need any of Kyle, Erika, Rinna, or Diana to thrive. The episodes where they've been taken out by Covid-19 have been great to watch.

Kyle: who?

Dorit: I think she secretly agrees with Garcelle and Sutton. The lunch scene between Garcelle and Dorit was fun to watch and it seemed to me that Dorit was happy to be with Garcelle, and vice versa. The issue is that Dorit doesn't want to incur the wrath of the Coven. 

Garcelle: she is a producer like Kyle without being a cloying, traitorous, assh*ole like Kyle. 

Sutton: someone send this woman to a chiropractor because she's been carrying this show on her back for two season in a row!

Erika: the obliviousness of this woman to the truth is amazing and scary. She seems to really believe she's a victim on par with the Lion Air disaster and everyone else Tom fleeced to fund her lavish lifestyle. 

Dollar Store Gabor: who? Flop. 

Rinna: this has got to be Rinna's final season, right? She is s shrieking harridan who talks out of both sides of her mouth, exactly as Sutton said she does. I used to really enjoy Rinna before Housewives and it's been a dramatic descent over the years. She has no storyline of her own. 

[NothinButAttitude]

Have y'all seen all the clips of Tre's wedding?

 

Apparently, Ayan might've taken the seats that were meant for the Gorgas. 

Please register in order to view this content

[Faulkner]

Teresa’s hair looked a hot ass mess. Such a TACKY wedding.

[Liberty City]

Her hair is a friggin' joke, and those gloves? Choices were made.

[Cat]

Couldn't agree more with everything here.

The fact that Kyle, BudgetGhislaine and Crystal were not even featured forced Dorit, Rinna and Erika to step their lazy asses up. I still say Kyle is necessary to this franchise in terms of what (and who) she brings. But none of the 3 were actually missed. I guess Kyle was busy taking a page out of LVP's Handbook of Distraction & Deflection -- Chapter 3: Buy a New Puppy.

I agree that Dorit seemed lighter and funnier with Garcelle than she has ever been with the Coven. But Dorit can be extremely warm and charming with whomever can keep her on the show -- LVP, Erika, Kyle, now Garcelle. It is certainly a contrast from last season's reunion and the OTT screaming "Lemme talk GarCELLE!" 

Erika & Garcelle convos were interesting. Usually Erika sneers from on high and doesn't say much -- Garcelle forced her to lay her cards on the table. The part that stuck out was Garcelle saying that, if she thought Erika and the others were warning her about Sutton because they actually want to be closer to her, she'd be almost flattered. What Garcelle meant was that she fully knows the Coven don't want to be friends with her. They want to trip her up somehow selling out Sutton so they can drive a wedge between those two. 

Rinna is just awful and ridiculous. Such a poor actress in every way, who lives for trolling the people she despises. Any trace of sincerity or humanity has been eroded by her harboring a largely unexplained, seething bitterness.

Sutton is playing the game SO much better than I ever thought she would. The way she outright laughed at Rinna's crazy outburst, and countered each pre-rehearsed assertion with another question. Truly masterful.

I guess their big stand to ruin the day and reorient the spotlight flopped? I see their 'best friends' Marge and Jackie are also at the wedding.

 

 

You were expecting taste.   I'm not one for Bravo wedding specials in the least, but honestly cannot wait to watch this.

 

[Cat]

Whoa! The veil.

 

[Faulkner]

That veil and the tiara. I guess she “understood the assignment” as a drag icon/Jersey camp figure. Everything bigger, gaudier, more ‘80s. Certainly she got everybody talking! I thought she looked a lot nicer and more movie-star glamorous in the “before” photos with her “normal” hair, even with the ostentatious veil.

[Cat]

The hair definitely 'elevates' this to Big Fat Gypsy Wedding levels. Tiara? You are too modest. It's a motherfucking steelworks up in that birds nest.

We knew it would be blingy. We knew it would be Baroque. Teresa lives to overshadow other people. This event is probably the biggest thing northern New Jersey has seen in a LONG time. But the whole thing also looks like it might be a lot of fun to attend? And she definitely understands the assignment in terms of leaking a few insane pics and inviting all these RHs who are going to leak too. This is wonderful marketing for the next season of NJ plus the wedding special. 

I wonder if the special will show if Ramona was uninvited, and why Dina refused to attend.

[Liberty City]

I just wasn't expecting Toddlers and Tiaras meets My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. Hell, this 'do was even better than the birds nest she was carrying:

[Cat]

I have to say, she looks great here. Please tell me this was an InTouch-engineered vow renewal of some kind, because I don't remember a vow renewal on the show.

ETA: Found the tabloid cover. Damn, Teresa. A Wedding to Save the Relationship? Girl really kept fans on their toes for over half a decade regarding whether she'd ever leave Juicy.