Andddd we’re back for round II of the reunion for the Real Housewives of Orange County. Get ready for some new bombshells and of course some old drama to be brought up…again…and again…and again.
In case you forgot, Vicki essentially called Kelly a cokehead during last week’s reunion and Kelly absolutely lost her mind and rightly so. Andy welcomes the ladies back but notices that things between Kelly and Vicki are not getting better. Kelly states that she spoke to Michael and that he says “Vicki is a liar.” The two go back and forth and eventually, Andy states, “I am glad to see you apologize” and hopes the ladies can move on, but yea right…we all know how much these girls “move on.”
The “Shannon 2.0 segment” reminds us all just how far she has come this season. Sure, there might’ve been too many cocktails, tears, and QVC moments, but Shan has definitely grown big time. At last year’s reunion, Shannon announced her separation with her now ex, David. She shares that her divorce is STILL not finalized and that David has since moved in with his girlfriend Lesley Cook. Shannon knows nothing about the rumor that David’s new girlfriend is pregnant and explains that they have moved to a very “affluent” area.
Shannon feels as though she has to “walk on eggshells” whenever her children go to stay with David, but she is happy that the girlfriend is nice to her daughters. Shannon further states that she’s “out” doing things and meeting people, which translates to “I am single, but I am really ready to mingle.” Naturally, Shannon’s body confidence comes to light, as she picks on herself and is her own worst critic. She has decided to stop focusing on all of that, but she has come a long way. It seems as though she is “thriving” and Shannon explains that she is “very excited for the future.”
Evidently, these women are not only dramatic, but they are clumsy, too! The worst combination out there! Andy states that “it was wildly entertaining” watching them. Shannon dies of embarrassment whilst discussing the Mexican adventure and she says that her ex did not appreciate her behavior. Luckily, Emily-the party planner-lawyer gets brought into this convo because of her legal background. Insert eye roll here. The state of Emily’s marriage gets addressed and we viewers get treated to a good old game of telephone in review. To be honest, I barely even remember this subject line over the course of the season, but then again, I barely remember much about Emily.
The word “abuse” gets tossed around rather flippantly and Shannon explains that she had memories “triggered” about bad marriages when she watched Emily talk about hers. Gina inserts herself into the conversation and states, “I mean I just don’t understand why you people just don’t own it.” There’s a ton of yelling and all I can decipher is that Shannon is p*ssed at Gina. What else is new? Emily apologizes for “attacking” Shannon and claims she had no idea there was an issue.
Andy just sits back and smirks as these loonies bicker back and forth. He def knows it is best to just let them go after each other and then asks Tamra if she thinks Shannon has been less reactive this season. When Tamra says, “you were the one who ripped her mic off…” Shannon, you guessed it, reacts. Andy points out that Emily seems to “contradict herself” when it comes to the Gina/Shane debacle. Gina can’t believe that Shane hasn’t apologized, but states that “they’ve moved past it.” I don’t know how anybody moves on when everything keeps getting brought back up over and over again.
“She’s a lawyer by day and a party planner by night, who married her former boss, Persian Mormon Shane, without ever going on a first date.” Sure, when Andy puts it that way, Emily sounds like a very interesting new addition, but it’s unfortunate that her debut fell flat this season. Re-watching Emily over the course of the season is a bit cringe-worthy because we can see all of the failed storylines that Emily attempted. She gets teary when she talks about her mom and states that “she’s doing great.” We get to hear about Shane’s Mormon-ism: how he wasn’t raised Mormon, but simply had some Mormon friends and …voila! Emily explains that “we were friends and we had worked together and we always stayed in touch.” Kelly is appalled about the fact that Emily didn’t know if Shane had a “PHD” prior to marriage, but Emily just laughs it off.
When discussing the baby box, Emily shares that she wishes Shane was “a little more affectionate.” Tamra says that it “hurts her heart” to watch Shane’s lack of affection, but Emily bites back and says he is “always grabbing her butt.” OK! Speaking of butts, leave it to Andy to bring up all of Emily’s body shaming on social media. Emily gets emotional discussing the direct messages sent to her via Instagram and shares that it makes her “want to fight back in a positive way.” I may not always enjoy Emily, but I do enjoy that message.
Tamra gets emotional looking back on the season’s moments, particularly when she views the segments with her son, Spencer. Tamra is still battling for a better relationship with her children, but she is hopeful that one day it will all be ok. Speaking of being hopeful, Tamra’s hopeful that her husband Eddie’s heart gets better. Eddie is having procedure after procedure, but that didn’t stop her from moving…yet again…to “Vicki’s hidden secret of Orange County: Coto.”
When asked why Shannon doesn’t “support Tamra’s business” and attend Tamra’s gym, Shannon is full of excuses. Andy doesn’t stop prying and wants to know why Vicki and Shannon were not at Tamra’s birthday party. Tamra stated that she was on bad terms with Shannon and Shannon claims that she felt hurt by Tamra. It’s the same old story with these two. Shannon explains to Tamra, “You and I have such a close friendship, but we really don’t talk to each other when we are mad at each other.” Now that can’t be healthy… As if Tamra and Shannon need to bring up yet another ISSUE between each other, Tamra brings up how “sh*tty” Shannon treated her while in New York.
Things escalated from bad to worse as Tamra accuses Shannon of hiding a ‘secret boyfriend’ while they were filming the show, even implying that Shannon was a hypocrite for being upset about David moving on so quickly. “I get frustrated because she sits there and she’s like, ”No, I’m not dating. I’m not dating,”” said Tamra. “’You were dating a guy when we were filming!” This led to Andy asking Shannon if she had a boyfriend the entire season, to which she responded: “I liked him, I really liked him, but he was a jerk to me,” as she made it clear they were no longer together. Tamra is referencing the guy Shannon went out on a date with to the Bret Michael concert following Emily’s season finale party. You can see a photo of him here.
Shannon has the right idea by stating she doesn’t want to go tit-for-tat with Tamra and at the end of the day, Tamra looks like a lunatic. Shannon’s calmness, perhaps shock, prevails throughout all of the shrieking, even when Tamra calls her out for “playing the victim.” Tamra yells out that Shannon’s two favorite words are “me” and “I” and it “gets wearing sometimes.” Shannon cannot believe that Tamra feels as though their friendship is exhausting and Tamra makes it clear that their friendship seems very one-sided. It’s all very uncomfortable. There ARE other women on the couch.
Not everyone signed up for the Tamra/Shannon show. Luckily for us, there is yet ANOTHER part to this awkward reunion and let’s hope the spotlight is shining on someone else next week…
Photos Credit: Trae Patton/Bravo
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE RHOC REUNION PART 2? IS TAMRA A BAD FRIEND? CAN TAMRA AND SHANNON’S FRIENDSHIP SURVIVE THIS?