I don’t know about you guys, but I am ecstatic that RHOC is
back. I have always said that RHOC is the best in the franchise. I have never
been disappointed with any season. Even the casting is terrific. All of the
housewives, past and present, have been entertaining in one way or another. I
certainly cannot say that about other shows in the franchise…I’m looking at you
Kristen of RHONY… So far, and from the trailer, this season looks like it will
not disappoint. RHOC is a prime example of the rule that the original is always
better than the imitations.
Of course we start the season off with my favorite housewife
of all time: Heather Dubrow. Heather is in the throws of building a new resort
house complete with a porte-cochère, which is just the fabulous name for a
drive up entrance, or as I called it in the south, “a carport”. The house is
huge and beautiful, and I do not think I can adequately express the level of my
jealousy. One day I will have my own, one day. Even the children’s rooms are
larger than my entire apartment. Heather’s son’s room has what Terry calls a
“pot-smoking balcony”. Of course the son pretended to have no idea what his
father was talking about, but let’s face it—the kid isn’t stupid, and he goes
to school and lives in southern California…he knows what pot is… Heather says
that Terry is working more than he ever did even though he said last season
that he would be able to dedicate more time to his family. I’m gonna cut Terry
some slack here. When he made that promise, he had no idea that he would be
part of a second very successful show, Botched,
which I’m sure takes up a lot of his time.
Next we see Vicki and Shannon having lunch. I may have been
the only one, but these two ladies with their librarian glasses perched
half-way down their noses and the bickering over whether or not to include
dressing on the salad was highly amusing to me. I think it’s these little
touches that the editors keep in that take the show to another level of
entertainment… Vicki tells Shannon that Brooks has moved into her house, and
Brianna isn’t happy about it. Vicki also makes a comparison between her
relationship with Brooks and the relationship that Shannon and David have.
Vicki says that the two of them seem better than ever, but Shannon’s face says
differently. We will get to that later though…
Is it surprising to anyone that Tamra wants her implants put
back in? I didn’t think so… When she had them taken out, it seemed that she was
over the vanity and wanted to be herself now that she was divorced from Simon.
In fact, it seemed like she was insinuating that the only reason she ever got
implants was because Simon liked big breasts. Now she wants them back because
she is yet again insecure. I honestly don’t think Tamra needs the implants, but
if she thinks it will make her happy, more power to her… Tamra says she didn’t
tell anyone that she was having the surgery, not even her good friend Heather.
With regards to last season, Tamra says that she was being honest, and no one
liked it. So she has decided that now she is going to tell people “what they
want to hear”. I call BS on this for two reasons. First of all, she was not
being honest last season. She never owned up to the lie she told Shannon about
the Dubrows saying that they wanted to “take the Beadors down”. I don’t think Heather
or Terry would ever say such a thing, and I don’t think that Shannon would make
it up either. So the only conclusion is that Tamra lied. Second, I don’t buy
for one second that Tamra is going to tell people “what they want to hear”.
That is not in her personality. Tamra is the pot stirrer; she would be a pot
stirrer whether she were on or off camera. We’ll see how the season progresses…
As Tamra waits in the recovery room, wearing fake eyelashes and putting on
lip-gloss, she says she regrets not telling anyone about the surgery. Now she
has no one, except Eddie of course, to visit her in the recovery room.
This season there is a new housewife, Meghan Edmonds. We
actually saw Meghan and her husband, Jim, last season at Heather’s hoedown/ground
breaking party. So evidently Meghan is a friend of Heather’s, and for her first
scene as an official housewife, we see Meghan and Heather at dinner. Meghan is
clearly quite young with great skin, but she tells Heather that she needs Botox.
Really? She has no signs of wrinkles. I’m in my late 20s and I’m getting crow’s
feet already, and I don’t talk about getting Botox yet…unless I’m drunk… Meghan says she wants more kids, but
Jim has had a vasectomy, so they would need to use in-vitro. Meghan says that
Heather is the optimal mother and wife, and honestly, I cannot disagree based
on everything we are shown on the show. Meghan also tells us that she broke all
of her rules by marrying Jim… Uh oh… As an avid reality TV viewer, those words
set off warning signals for me. Trouble may be on the horizon.
Next we see Vicki and Brooks at home getting ready to have
some dinner. We are officially told that Brooks has cancer, but as has been
teased in the trailer, that topic seems to be the discussion of debate
throughout the season. Brooks wants to eat a lot of things that he’s not
supposed to, but Vicki, true to form, protests. Brooks is apparently going
through chemo, which makes him ill for weeks on end. If that is the truth, then
surely Brooks does have cancer. I don’t think Vicki would go along with a lie
that big and disturbing. What reason would she have for doing so? However,
Brianna believes Brooks is lying about the cancer because he doesn’t look like
a person with cancer. I’m intrigued to see where this storyline goes.
In her first solo scene, we learn some things about the new
housewife, Meghan. She and her husband have moved “6 times”. She then goes on
to list the moves, and I’m pretty sure I counted 8… So counting is not her
forte… Meghan says that Jim “knows [her] soul”. He understands her feelings and
where she’s coming from; he respects her… However, those crafty and shady
editors strike again! These kind statements she is making about her respectful
and loving husband are juxtaposed with scenes of him acting in the exact
opposite manner; that is, we see him talking rudely to her and disrespecting
her. Meghan says she wants to go to dinner “as a family”, to which her
stepdaughter replies, “that’s an obscure term”… It’s clear that the stepdaughter
views this marriage as a joke. Meghan is closer in age to the stepdaughter than
to Jim. At dinner we learn that Jim has misplaced his wedding ring, but he
doesn’t seem interested in finding it… More warning signs… Things are not
looking good for these two, and it’s only the first episode.
From one dysfunctional marriage to another, we see Shannon
and David who seem to be struggling in their marriage as well. They are on
their way to a couple’s retreat, and Shannon is fearful that this will stir up old
emotions. During the retreat Shannon brings out that David had had an affair.
As if that were not bad enough, David was apparently Gaslighting Shannon,
making her feel like she was crazy for suspecting something. But Shannon found
hotel receipts in his briefcase, and she asked him one last time if he were
being unfaithful. David finally admitted to it. During the couple’s retreat,
there is an exercise in which they have to write the highs and lows of their
lives. I didn’t catch it the first time, but when I rewatched the episode, I
realized something quite disturbing in my opinion. During the exercise, David
speaks about and writes that the affair was both a high point and low point for
him. If David still views his affair as a good thing in his life, he is
probably not remorseful that it happened. That suggests to me that he might
cheat again. Nothing about that is okay… Shannon hopes to say one day that
these experiences were a blessing. I hope so too, Shannon, but I am doubtful. I
knew last season that something was not right between them, and that they were
hiding something from the cameras. It seems this might have been it.
Vicki and Brooks are taking a trip to Mexico to get away and
relax. On their way to the airport Vicki has a phone conversation with her
mother. Vicki says she’s loud, obnoxious, and funny like her mother. I agree
completely, and that is why we love both of them. This scene was incredibly sad
and beautiful at the same time. We know that Vicki’s mother has since passed
away, and surely that scene was hard for Vicki to watch. I wish her the best,
and she should take solace in the fact that she has great memories of her and
her mother together captured forever on this show.
Tamra steals Heather’s hoedown theme, and does a mediocre
job at it, for a baby shower for Sarah and Ryan. Tamra’s dress was tragic, but
not as tragic as Lynne’s brown jumpsuit… I will say it is great to see Lynne.
Other than her outfit choice, she looks great. She got divorced from her husband,
Raquel had a baby, and she has become “revirginized”… TMI, Lynne!... Tamra says
that she and Vicki are not close anymore; they’re still fighting after last
year. The only time they’ve really talked was when Vicki called her about
Brooks’ cancer. Tamra says she wishes Vicki were at the baby shower to
celebrate with her. Tamra also says she is keeping quiet this year; she’s not
going to be talking about anyone’s business. Again, I’ll believe it when I see
it…
Back at the couple’s retreat, Shannon says there was
infidelity in her family as a child. She had to keep secrets and act like
nothing was going on. She says she needed more unconditional love and a present
father, and she is afraid her kids will go through the same thing. Shannon’s
kids found out about the affair even though Shannon wanted to keep it from
them. This is most likely the reason why Shannon and David are discussing the
affair this season and did not discuss it last season. I have a feeling the
kids found out about it in between seasons, so there was no reason to keep it a
secret anymore. While it’s a heart-breaking thing, I think it’s good that
Shannon is putting it all out there this season. She will get even more support
from fans than she did before.
Season 10 of RHOC is off to a great start, and next week we
will see Vicki and Tamra get into it. Is this the end of their long-standing
friendship? We will see…
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