The girls’ trip to Mexico is well underway on this episode of the Real Housewives of Orange County. Noella has finally joined the women for dinner after a forgotten passport and much ado. The dynamic of the group has shifted, and the drama erupts as Noella swears all of the women have drunk the Heather Dubrow Kool-Aid.
Gina is referring to herself as “mid-level management” since she is trying her hardest to keep Noella in check and keep the rest of the group light and entertained. It is kinda her fault, after all, that Noella is on this trip. Don’t forget she asked Heather to extend the invite and promised Heather she would watch over Noella and her behavior. Gina is totally kicking herself for that now…
As the women vacation in Mexico, there’s a guys’ night happening in the OC. Naturally, Terry is leading the convo and the pack. He questions if the unmarried men ever plan on popping the question, and we learn that Travis, Gina’s BF, thinks they will be married in around three years. Maybe if we’re lucky that wedding will make the show.
Tequila Emily and Fun Shannon begin discussing threesomes, and Shannon makes it clear that she would never be interested in that kind of entertainment. Shannon also gushes that her daughters would LOVE Noella, who then refers to herself as “Auntie Psycho Pants.”
Everything that Noella does needs to be taken down like 10 levels and she is 100% unhinged. Heather and Jen excuse themselves, and Emily and Gina are busy trying to be Zen around Noella. They blatantly ignore and tune out Noella and Shannon, which causes Noella to call them “children.” Emily finds this absolutely offensive, and Gina steps in and tries to show Noella just how reactionary she is all the time. The besties storm off, but they return after “Fun Shannon” demands they return.
The next morning at the villa, Noella calls the night before a “nightmare.” Interesting that the one who caused all the headaches had trouble sleeping. Emily, Gina, and Noella head off to the sweat lodge to get their souls cleaned, and something tells me they better spend some extra time on Noella today. The trio head into a hut (aka Mother Belly) with an interior temperature of 102 degrees while the rest of the crew tours some potential new homes for Heather.
Translation: They are viewing just how wealthy Heather truly is… yet again. The first place is a seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom home, and of course, Shannon claims she prefers “cozy.” Super convincing, Shan. LOL.
Meanwhile, in the hut, a wave of sadness is coming out from the women. Tears and snot and saliva and sweat. Emily states they were going deep until Noella says she was going to pass out. I’m sure being hungover from all those warm tequila shots and being in emotional distress is certainly not helping Noella at this moment. The medic drags Noella out and carries her to fresh air, but then there are Emily and Gina hovering over her, which is exactly what I would want in this situation. NOT.
Emily and Gina are not sure what happened in that sweat lodge. Emily explains that every trauma and everything that ever hurt her just bubbled up and came out. Gina seems particularly rocked by this experience, and Noella returns after her scare. One hour later, Emily and Gina are snoring back at the house, since that knocked a lot out of them. So much for margaritas.
In the meantime, the house hunters are busy viewing property number two: land that is over an acre with a view of the lighthouse for a cool eight million. Naturally, Heather has to FaceTime Terry to show him the potential spot for the (at the end of the day) 15.5-million-dollar home. This just looks like another time Heather is flaunting her money in front of the rest of the women. Man, the options for the trip are ROUGH. Get dragged around with Heather while she house hunts OR potentially pass out in a sweat lodge… Decisions, decisions.
Gina and Emily meet Noella on the beach post sweat lodge debacle. Emily tells Noella that Gina asked Heather a favor to invite her to Cabo. Noella learns that she is a pity invite and gets upset (even though Noella outwardly claims she doesn’t like Heather/is not scared of Heather). The besties try to coach Noella on how to behave around Heather, and they remind her to stop being the over-the-top Noella. Then perhaps she may be able to hop into the private jet for the flight home?
Side note: We learn that Emily was with a woman in college. Next thing you know Noella will be buying her the same gift she gave Max.
Back at the villa, Jen is crying because the bone tumor on her leg has been causing her excruciating pain. Unfortunately, her husband is a dud and shows her zero support. He gives her canned responses, and Jen is feeling very alone — especially when he does not even say “love you” back to her. Cringe.
Perhaps this dinner will spice up the trip. But then Heather starts attempting to be conversational in Spanish and… ugh. The bartender begins the tequila tasting, which is exactly what these ladies should not be doing. Heather’s bossiness is showing over dinner, and they hear about Noella’s sweat lodge pass out.
Jen tells Heather that she had a little breakdown on the phone with her husband, and so Heather gives some marriage advice and relates Jen’s issues back to herself. She compares her life to Jen’s, and Jen thanks Heather for hearing her out. Someone better tell Jen this is not how a marriage should be.
Shannon begins doing what Shannon does best and stirs the pot. She is totally using Noella to try and form a tiny army against the rest of the cast. She reminds Noella about the “fight” she had with Gina and Emily the night before, and Noella agrees that the “tag-team” was too much for her. Yet, once Shannon brings it up to Gina and Emily, Noella repeats over and over that they are good. Two-faced much?
When Heather deep sighs and mumbles something about starting another fight here and now, a feisty Noella replies, “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m feeling provoked, ladies.” Heather wishes Noella the best, and Noella retorts that she found out she was a pity invite. To that, Heather claps back that she didn’t want to invite Noella because she gave her daughter pornography as a gift and she felt uncomfortable. This comes as a shock to Noella. Noella cannot get over how the cards could be inappropriate, and she believes that calling this pornography is a whole new low for Heather.
Gina reminds Noella that Heather is “allowed to feel the way she feels and then you just say I’m sorry.” Noella doesn’t seem to be understanding the conversation and refuses to apologize. Shannon cannot get anyone’s attention, so she begins yelling loudly. The women continue to coach Noella on how to behave, and Noella completely misses the point when she tells Heather she has “straight fragility.”
Heather isn’t playing nice anymore. She tells Noella, “I have a couple of gay children. Don’t tell me I have straight fragility.” Noella, grasping for straws, believes that Heather is attacking HER character and HER preferences and HER race. Noella is misconstruing the conversation, and it takes Heather having to read the cards out loud for Noella to apologize. Noella was truly appalled upon hearing some of the cards, but she refuses to allow the word pornography to be involved. Heather makes it clear that she will not stand for Noella’s BS, and Noella brushes off the conversation and begs for it to be over. It is FAR from over, honey…
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THIS EPISODE OF RHOC?