Part two of the Real Housewives of Orange County reunion picks up right where we left off with Shannon and Gina at odds. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been studying the names of Gina’s children all week (Nicholas, Luca, and Sienna) because Gina isn’t playing based on the way she checked Shannon. Heather remains the target of pretty much everything, according to this group, but it’s nothing a tequila toast at the end can’t fix, I guess…
Shannon asks to address the CPS thing with Gina again, and she apologizes to Gina, claiming that she didn’t mean her children would have been taken away from her. Gina makes it very clear that she feels as though Shannon has hurt her children, and after that tense segment, Andy calls for a break. Gina realizes that she must move on from this, and Heather consoles her as they commiserate over Shannon’s “apology.”
Shannon FINALLY shows some emotion only after viewing the tapes of John. She can’t believe that Heather, who she thought was becoming a true friend, would stir up so much sh*t about her relationship with John. Shannon states that the only person she discussed her relationship with was Heather, but the rest of the ladies call bullsh*t. You see, Shannon likes to drink and call people, so much so that Emily suggested she get a breathalyzer for her phone!
Shannon denies her drinking caused her to spill the ugly details of her love life, and she is certain that Heather told people OFF CAMERA that Shannon and John’s relationship wasn’t good. Shannon is annoyed that Heather hinted at issues but then would say she couldn’t tell them because it’s “in the vault,” leaving much to people’s imagination.
Shannon can barely get through explaining her “arguments that paralyze” without crying, and she claims she wanted to go to the next step with John. John, however, had other plans, and Shannon shares that a week after filming, he broke up with her (because he didn’t want to look bad on camera).
Heather reminds Shannon that she is the “town crier,” and Shannon is offended by everyone taking jabs at her for her drinking (ohhh, the foreshadowing…). When Gina puts in her opinion, Shannon reminds Gina that she doesn’t like her, and they essentially only speak because they’re on a show together. Andy is baffled as to why Heather is the bad guy in this situation because it seems like everyone has had private convos with Shannon about John, and Shannon is just blindly listening to Tamra, who was saying Heather was stirring the pot.
Shannon seems to be forgetting that her job is to say how she feels and to say the truth about a situation, but she swears she is doing great work being herself. To that, Gina retorts, “You’re Beador-ing it up.” Shannon claims that she is an authentic Housewife who has always shown the sad, ugly, and painful sides of her life to the audience… except when it came to her relationship with John. It has been said she did not show what was really going on with them, but Shannon states she was trying to protect her bubble, and she wanted to make it work. Shannon gains some sympathy when she says she is embarrassed that she missed the signs of a boyfriend checked out after watching the season.
The ladies question why Shannon is still hanging out with John AFTER he broke up with her because she can’t possibly move on from him if she doesn’t take some space. Once Shannon shares that they are friends with benefits, it becomes even more confusing. But at the end of the day, it’s baffling that Shannon can’t understand that Tamra was the main one talking all the sh*t about her and John. Heather is annoyed by Shannon’s “misplaced aggression,” and she reminds Shannon that she promised she would never repeat the hurtful, mean things. Those were kept in the “vault.” In fact, Heather was shocked to hear Emily talk about John calling Shannon fat on camera, something Heather would never have said.
Speaking of Emily, it appears as though a lot of her anger is deep-rooted in her childhood. And she sure demonstrated a lot of anger this season. Surprisingly, she has now formed a friendship with Tamra, which Shannon is not thrilled about TBH. There’s some back and forth about why Shannon didn’t want Emily at the Tres Amigas Live show, and Shannon gets aggravated with Tamra for putting words in her mouth, claiming she never said she didn’t want Emily there.
Somehow, Emily’s package gets hijacked by Tamra and Heather, and after Tamra tells Heather, “You should be scared of me,” Heather kindly points the attention back to Emily. Emily feels as though she is being passionate toward Heather, but Heather thinks it’s more aggressive behavior. Emily believes that Heather has no sense of humor, and Heather feels like Emily is being rude… but, alas, Heather called Emily Snuffleupagus, sooo who is the rude one?
Andy attempts to get to the bottom of who really called who a loser at BravoCon. Heather continues to deny calling anyone a loser, and Tamra refuses to take that as truth. Because Gina was getting her hair blow-dried, Emily states that she didn’t hear *who* called them losers, so she just took what she thought she heard and ran with it… hence Shannon getting wrapped up in this mess.
Heather admits what she “stupidly” shared with Emily and Gina, but Emily refuses to allow Heather to turn this around and make herself the victim. Emily is exhausted by the “poor Heather” schtick, and you know it’s bad when even Tamra has had enough of the back and forth (likely because she is the guilty party). Emily demands to know what Heather’s intent was in telling Emily and Gina about the BravoCon thing.
Andy reminds Tamra that she said terrible things about everyone when she wasn’t on the show, and Tamra retorts, “Well, we aren’t talking about that, so f*ck off.” WHOA. Tamra better watch it before she tells Andy to shut up again, or else she will be on “pause” again veryyy quickly. Heather continues to be on the chopping block and refuses to believe that people would think she was jealous that Tamra returned.
And Jenn, I understand where you are coming from with this confusion over the BravoCon rumor. We weren’t there either!!
In the end, Tamra claims that she loves Heather because she has always been in her life. It’s been hard without Heather, and Tamra wants to move forward — a typical Tamra statement. Heather lets us all know that it’s been a tough year for everyone, and therefore, having more friends is always a good thing. She questions why Tamra came in so angry this season, and Tamra shares her sob story about how much she drank and all she dealt with prior to filming. Tamra and Heather make up and it seems legit, although one can never tell if Tamra is telling the truth or if Heather is sincere.
Andy asks each lady what they’ll miss from the season. Emily says she will miss the fun and camaraderie, and Jenn will miss never having a first season again. Gina is happy to move past some things but is sad to see Heather’s house go (us, too!!), and Shannon will miss the vacations and filming with her kids (notice she does not say John!). Heather talks about the sisterhood they all share, and Tamra is looking forward to next season (*if* Andy will have her back after the way she spoke to him), and she is hoping for Ryan and Jenn to get a fair shot next time.
Luckily, this reunion miraculously ended on a relatively good note, and it was successful. The calm has been restored, mainly because the ladies legit care about one another. Andy seems like a happy dad watching his kids finally getting along, and he brings out some tequila shots. Tamra toasts, they “whoop it up,” and just like that, season 17 is a wrap!
TELL US – THOUGHTS ON THE PART 2 REUNION OF RHOC?