Reality Recap: A traitor, a text, a tease

The Bravo kids are headed off to college, and for fans that have essentially watched them grow up, it’s oddly emotional. Porsha Williams is not happy about her photos being leaked. Vicki Gunvalson appeared on a podcast and talked about why Tamra Judge is such a mean girl. And Bravo put this hilarious video together, which serves as a reminder to all of us why no one could ever make me hate Teresa Giudice!

Tamra’s audacity

I’m having a really hard time understanding why I am feeling so bad for Shannon Beador this season. I mean, this is a woman who, just months ago, crashed her car into a home while driving under the influence of alcohol, which I wrote about here. 

But after watching this week’s episode, it’s clear that seeing the way Tamra is kicking Shannon when she’s down is so extreme that it’s evoking a sense of sympathy in me, for the person that got behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. And that’s saying something.

On last night’s episode, the pair have a conversation to hash their sh-t out, thanks to some encouragement to Tamra from Jen of all people. Yet, right off the top of the conversation, Tamra’s narcissism is on full display.

“I was really hoping that you would be the one to reach out to me,” she told Shannon, whose eyes widened upon hearing this. 

Even when Shannon went to the washroom to compose herself after Tamra’s blows, which included reminding Shannon that she crashed into a house, Tamra asked the production team if she went to get a drink. It’s the little jabs like this I find to be completely unnecessary. Like asking Shannon if she thought she had a drinking problem in front of the server, and her being absolutely humiliated by it. 

Do I think Shannon needs help? Yes. But if we’re being honest, I think a lot of the housewives need help. I do recall Tamra being topless on top of a bar in Mexico on the tres amigas trip in a drunken stupor. This is a franchise where the best ratings come from alcohol-fueled adventures and even more so from alcohol-fueled fights. And it can be impossible to see where the line in the sand is in environments like that.

I think the cold hard truth is that for years, Tamra enjoyed Shannon because she was a great drinking buddy. But when she got her DUI, she became a liability, and that’s why Tamra not only dropped out of tres amigas but started pushing Shannon away and aligning herself with Alexis. It brings drama to the show, guarantees her a storyline, and allows her to be a villain, which in turn, got her a spot on Traitors. She may be evil but she’s certainly got an effective strategy.

Brandi Glanville drops receipts

Brandi made some waves on social media earlier this week when she released old text messages between her and Andy Cohen. The texts date back to October 2022 and the jury is still out on just how incriminating they are for him. The audience, on social media anyway, seems to be split. This user called the exchanges a form of sexual harassment, while others say they are still 1000% Team Andy. 

What’s not helping Brandi are the allegations against her from Caroline Manzo, which I wrote about here. This incident is likely what’s causing her to be so persistent in her attempt to take down Andy and Bravo as a whole. She feels betrayed and as if the network made her look bad, and she’s trying to salvage her reputation.

Is that possible? Perhaps. The woman’s got a pretty decent following and some very loyal fans. But let’s really take stock of the attempts at an Andy takedown. If anyone was going to be successful, it would’ve been Bethenny Frankel or Leah McSweeney – Bethenny because of her platform and business sense and Leah because I really do think that production encouraged her to betray her sobriety. With neither of them succeeding, we have to ask ourselves, is Brandi beating a dead horse?

The other thing that’s coming up is the nature of Andy’s relationships with his employees. To be clear, the text messages are inappropriate. But are they surprising? Absolutely not. Again, this is a franchise that capitalizes on drunken hook ups. There are constant mentions of cast members from other shows, and nothing gets Bravo fans buzzing like a good crossover (think Gizelle Bryant and Jason Cameron, or Katie Flood and Tom Schwartz). So really, it’s not completely outlandish that Andy is trying to facilitate this kind of action. 

I think this spells out the importance of two things. The first is some sort of standardization of process and a system of boundaries for working relationships. But also, recognizing that this is a very non-traditional work environment. I’ve been pretty supportive of these scorned ex-network employees that have expressed their frustration at the lack of professionalism in their work environment, but they also have to understand that they’re getting paid to drink, travel, and allow cameras into their home, which in turn, boosts the visibility of their business ventures and earns them a ton of money and sponsorship deals. You have to decide whether that’s worth the mental anguish.

The RHOSLC drops

This week, Bravo dropped the trailer for the fifth season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and it looks like it’s going to be a really strong season. Much like scripted TV shows, the good sh-t always airs in the fall and winter.

Someone on Twitter pointed out that this show has somehow managed to hold on to all of its original cast members – with the exception of Jen Shah and we know why she’s not making her return (yet). If you’ve watched Real Housewives for a while, you’d know how impressive that is, because producers are always chasing new dynamics and storylines. But on this show, these women really hold their own.

There’s a new cast member called Bronwyn Newport who, judging from the trailer and her social media, is serving looks. It’s no insult to the rest of the cast, but when I think of fashion, this is certainly not the franchise that delivers (which is odd, considering there are owners of entire fashion labels on this show). 

It looks like the fallout from last season’s fiasco with Monica Garcia will be continuing despite her absence, and that likely has to do with none other than Mary M. Cosby, who, for a while, was an ally to Monica. It will always remain a mystery to me why Bravo didn’t take advantage of this treasure trove of opportunity for ratings and drama and bring her back, but I wait with baited breath for her to make her triumphant return.