Reality Recap: Side chicks, advice, fights

It appears that most of the drama in the world of reality TV happened off screen this week. Bethenny Frankel surprisingly deleted the last few episodes of her podcast, Just B Divorced, which I did a recap of here. Sonja Morgan put her beloved New York townhouse on the market, Jax Taylor tried to figure out bagged milk during his visit to Toronto, and the Tres Amigas (minus one) had a hilarious time on stage leaving one fan ever-pleased and slightly confused. 

Scheana goes ape sh-t on Tom Sandoval 

During a heated exchange where Tom was (rightfully) asking Scheana why she was still so pressed over him cheating on Ariana with Rachel, he played the ace of spades. During their argument, he brought up the fact that she was, at one point in time, Eddie Cibrian’s side chick during his relationship with former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville.

Naturally, this triggered Scheana and she lost her mind (also rightfully). She was quick to remind him that she was a lot younger then and that she was impressionable at the time. Both Brock and Lala really had her back, but for different reasons. Brock is her husband, but Lala, too, was once a side chick. That’s actually how her and Randall’s relationship started (and ended, really).

Ariana also expressed support for her, and it’s kicked off yet another conversation about how good of a friend Ariana has been to Scheana, especially this season, while Scheana has really been on a smear campaign against Ariana. 

It came out that Ariana only recently watched this season, and Scheana was privy to the fact that Ariana wasn’t going to be tuned in. This has fuelled a lot of speculation about whether Scheana was fully expecting Ariana to not watch the season and whether that’s been the reason for her exaggerated commentary that hasn’t been the kindest. Everyone’s true colours are starting to show, and with the reunion right around the corner, I think we’ll finally get a lot of answers to questions that have been lingering all season.

Carl Radke’s stepdad gets real on Summer House

In last night’s episode, Carl paid his mom (who I’m quite certain everyone loves) and stepdad a visit. During their catch up, the group started discussing his engagement to Lindsay, and some of the disturbing patterns he’s noticed about his fiancée. 

Carl opened up about how supported he felt during the six month period that Lindsay was sober with him. But upon their return to the house, when she began drinking again, unnecessary fights started happening, which often included her implying that Carl was no longer sober. 

Carl was careful to clarify that he doesn’t think Lindsay has a drinking problem, and I think most of the audience would agree. But on the occasions she does drink, she turns into an ugly person. I think what Carl is having difficulty with is trying to figure out whether she is just an ugly person, or whether it’s the alcohol that makes her that way. 

So it makes total sense that he seemed to have gained a lot of clarity after his conversation with his mom and stepdad. The guy is literally a minister and has married dozens and dozens of couples, so him sharing his insight into the status of their relationship was very welcomed by Carl. He described refusing, at times, to marry couples who clearly weren’t in a space to get married. He informed Carl that all of the things that were bothering him now, small as they may seem, would only be exacerbated and made worse by marriage.

What I loved about the insight he was sharing was that it was the cold, hard truth. But more importantly, you could tell that it was rooted in love and genuinely wanting the best for Carl. He was sharing very real concern for his stepson, and rather than fill his head with a bunch of empty promises, he was very real with him. Watching this conversation, I truly believe that it was one of the more significant contributing factors in his decision to call off his engagement to Lindsay, which I first wrote about here. And while Lindsay may have been hoping to come across as the victim in all of this, her behaviour this season is really helping a lot of people to understand Carl’s decision and rationale.

The Valley fight

Week after week, I find myself becoming increasingly enthralled by this show. For people that knew Kristen Doute during her Vanderpump Rules days, its easy to believe that she’s the villain. But week after week, it’s becoming clear that she’s just such an easy scapegoat.

This week’s fight though, I’m hoping, really helped people to get a better understanding of who the real villains are – the Janets, Lukes, Michelles and Jesses of the show. And of course, original gossip queen himself, Jax Taylor. 

Jesse’s uncontrollable temper was really on display. And ridiculous table-banging from last week and this week is just a small preview of the rage that lives inside him. The slow motion video of him putting his hands on just about everybody in his vicious and alcohol-inspired lunge doesn’t help his reputation at all, not on the show or in real life. 

With Kristen finally revealing what she meant when she kept saying she was “protecting” Michelle, shedding light on what, prior to this week was only an alleged affair she’s been having, people might understand why she has been visibly disinterested in her husband. It’s safe to say that this show is finally starting to pull its weight in the reality TV roster, and I am here for it.