This blog post is
dedicated to the beautiful Joanne Steinmetz and her daughter Vicki Gunvalson.
As we learned last week, Meghan is moving again. This time
she is moving into a rental house while they search for a house they want to
buy. Meghan says that Jim doesn’t help much each time they move. She has to do
the work herself… As she is saying this, the editors cleverly overlay scenes of
Jim actually helping. Meghan was not properly prepared for being on a reality
show. It’s never a good idea to say something that with the use of
editor-placed footage can be proven wrong… Meghan tells us she is moving into
Shannon’s neighborhood. Oh I’m sure that is joyful news to Shannon…
Like a classy woman, Shannon calls Meghan to congratulate
her on her successful charity party and to invite her to a Bunco party at her
house. Meghan, being quite aggressive and not so classy, says she is confused
considering how Shannon acted when Meghan called her out of the blue… Shannon
doesn’t just take the aggressiveness. She tells Meghan she is extending an
olive branch, and Shannon promises she will not cause any trouble if Meghan
comes to the party. Meghan makes a snide remark about Shannon needing to prove
it. Shannon’s look of disbelief echoes my sentiments exactly. Who says that to
someone else?... Meghan doesn’t accept the invitation immediately, but she says
she will get back to Shannon.
Next we see Tamra and Vicki relaxing at the spa. They are
talking about being a grandmother. Vicki thinks becoming a grandmother will
soften Tamra, but Tamra informs us that she will not start wearing granny
panties, as if that were even questioned. They have a spa treatment where they
have to smear some fluffy cream all over their bodies and then shower it off…
Sounds like a regular shower to me… Vicki gets up off the table to go toward
the shower, and we get a visual of Vicki’s ass… It looked surprisingly perky.
Heather brings her kids to a fancy salon to get haircuts.
She seems to be expecting Terry to show up. However, again, he is absent.
Heather says the kids rarely get to see their father because he is so busy with
work and filming the other TV show Botched.
The next scene was a little surprising to me. Shannon is
clearly aggravated at Meghan’s comments during their phone call earlier, so
Shannon calls her back. Shannon says that the statement about “proving” herself
was sitting wrong with her. I didn’t expect Shannon to let Meghan’s BS to get
to her. The two of them have a short and unproductive exchange, and it seems
that Meghan will be attending the Bunco party.
Because of Brooks’ cancer, he and Vicki meet with a health
coach who is suggesting a very radical diet and activity regime. We are told
that Brooks just finished his third round of chemo, but the doctors are not
seeing the progress they would like to see. In an act of solidarity and
support, Vicki has decided to do the diet with Brooks… well everything except
the coffee enemas…
Instead of hiring a chef or caterer, like many of the other
housewives would have, Shannon is actually cooking for her Bunco party. David
walks into the kitchen and says that he ran into a “girl from the beach”.
Shannon’s mind immediately goes to the woman he had his affair with. You can
see her face sink, as her stomach must have been doing somersaults inside her.
But then she realizes he was talking about someone else completely. Shannon
says that David has promised he will never acknowledge that woman if he ever
sees her again. For the next few minutes, Shannon is visibly shaken. She talks
to her friend about what just happened in hopes of calming herself down. She
says she is trying her hardest not to bring up the affair to David because he
fears Shannon will never get past it. It’s also probably not healthy for their
relationship if she keeps bringing it up. It seems that they are at a very
delicate place in their relationship, and I’m not sure if being on a reality
television show is the best idea for them right now. There is no privacy and
their lives are under a microscope.
Meghan is now moving into their temporary rental house. With
every statement I am seeing Meghan as a living contradiction. In fact she is
reminding me of Kelly Bensimone (playing against Shannon’s Bethenny…) Meghan
says that she and Jim are in a true partnership. She goes on to say that she
bought the last house…at least she put her name on it. So she didn’t pay for
it, she just picked it out and put her name on the deed? Furthermore, didn’t
she just say at the beginning of the episode that Jim never helps in the moving
process? How is that an equal partnership?
Heather visits Terry at his office. She seems to think that
Terry’s success on Botched is going
to his head slightly, but she’s obviously proud of him. As part of his show,
Heather is having a growth removed from her hand. My guess is she exercised the
muscle in her hand too much popping champagne bottles…
Meghan decides to go to the Bunco party. She says she will
look like the asshole if she doesn’t accept the olive branch… I think that ship
has sailed, Meghan… Of course she is awkwardly the first one to arrive to
Shannon’s house. Shannon gives her the wine that was meant for the charity, and
Meghan calls it a jab, as if it is an act of showmanship in being the “bigger
person”. Even if that is true, she should graciously accept the gift
considering it is for charity.
The other ladies start to show up for the party. Tamra wants
to start showing houses to Meghan and Jim since she has kept her real-estate
license current… Meghan gives Shannon a candle with some stupid kind
note about moving forward. Shannon thinks it’s just for show. Considering
Meghan waited to give the gift until everyone else was there instead of when
she first arrived and she and Shannon were alone, I am inclined to agree… Meghan
says she could walk to Shannon’s house from her new rental. Shannon asks
“Really?”, and the look of concern and horror on her face made me laugh out
loud.
Meghan tells the other women that she is alone a lot; Jim is
not home 50% of the time. Vicki says that is a red flag to a failed marriage. I
think she learned that lesson the hard way with Don… They are about to start
playing Bunco, and Shannon explains the rules to Meghan. Meghan calls Bunco an
old person’s game; however, she seems to be getting into it.
Among the excitement of the party, Vicki excuses herself to
go take a phone call in the other room. Although it was not shown, I assumed
that Shannon does not get very good cell reception in her house, and Vicki was
getting phone calls from Brianna. So Vicki went to use Shannon’s landline.
Vicki at first seems concerned that she doesn’t know what Brianna is saying,
probably due to her crying. Vicki then breaks down in tears and collapses onto
the floor. We find out that Vicki’s brother, Billy, found their mother
unresponsive in her bed. Shannon walks into the room and asks what happened.
Vicki tells her, and Shannon embraces Vicki, as only a true friend could. Some
of the other women come in and hear what has happened. A distraught Heather
calls Brooks to come pick up Vicki and take her home.
I have to say that I bawled for about 20 minutes as I
watched Vicki break down on my television screen. I know it may sound silly to
some people, but Vicki has been part of my life for ten years. I, like many of
you, view her as a friend, someone we care deeply for. So when tragedy hits her
life, we feel it personally. I know Vicki probably struggled with the decision
to allow them to air this on the show. But in the end, I think Vicki made the
right choice. As I said before, I feel like I know Vicki personally, and her
mother, Joanne, has been shown on the show for years. I think Vicki wanted to
share this raw and vulnerable moment with us, and I am very glad she did. If
you are reading this, Vicki, please know that your fans out there love and
support you. You will get through this because your mother may be physically
gone, but she will never die. She lives on in you, your brother, your beautiful
children, and wonderful grandchildren.
Over the years, we have seen Joanne give Vicki a hard time
about her hair color and her different California lifestyle. We have seen her
tell amusing stories and laugh as she stuffed money into her bosom. And of
course, we have seen the love she has for Vicki and her family. The final montage
of scenes of Vicki and her mom that the editors and producers put together was
truly beautiful, and I appreciated it very much.
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