It’s the last episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills this year! And with Lisa’s unforgiving presence looming over Brandi like a dark cloud, it’s bound to be an interesting one. Brandi’s been vying for Lisa’s forgiveness since the beginning of the season. Let’s see if she actually gets anywhere in this week’s episode, “Breaking Branches.”
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Star Kyle Richards on Brandi: “We Won’t Be Friends Again” >>>
Surprise Guests
Brandi is getting ready for her housewarming party. She’s excited because it’s a sign of her independence and success as a single mom. She hopes to have a good party and that everything from then on will be nothing but positive.
The ladies show up one by one. It’s really sweet to see Yolanda interact with Brandi’s dad, Guy, again after they got to know each other last season.
Everyone is pretty shocked to see Lisa and Ken arrive, since Lisa seems to still be holding a grudge against Brandi. Lisa also told Brandi multiple times last week that she wasn’t coming. It still doesn’t seem like that much of a surprise since they’re all on a TV show together.
Lisa says that she showed up tonight to squash all of the negativity in the group. She says if she hadn’t come, it would have just fed into the bad feelings in their group.
Of course, Brandi manages to make things awkward. She takes Lisa’s one small step and tries to stretch it into a mile by telling her not back away when she hugs her and demanding Ken make eye contact with her. She lacks common sense and social grace. But I guess we already knew that about Brandi. Lisa gets back at her a bit, though, by swapping stories with Brandi’s parents about how mouthy she can be.
Lisa invites the ladies to her charity event where she has to donate dresses to young foster girls. It’s a cause that’s close to Lisa’s heart since she adopted her son Max from foster care. At last year’s event, she wasn’t happy that Brandi caused a lot of drama with Joyce, but she’s making the mistake of inviting her again, hoping she won’t do the same thing this year. Unlikely.
All in all, it’s a pleasant enough party. Brandi seems to have a nice home with a lovely outdoor space with a view. Kim makes a nice toast telling her how much she and her kids deserve to be happy. Yolanda says something nice about how going through a divorce and being a single mom is very difficult, but she’s proud of Brandi for persevering. Lisa isn’t quite ready to say anything nice about Brandi just yet.
After Lisa leaves, Brandi tells Kyle and Kim that she’s glad that she came even though she thinks she and Lisa still need to have a sit-down where they can discuss their issues.
Keeping Fresh
Lisa Rinna is doing a guest appearance on Access Hollywood. It’s very important for Lisa to stay relevant as well as staying fresh-faced. In a TBT (Throwback Tuesday, in this case) moment, Lisa volunteers for the ice bucket challenge. She says she loves being a celebrity, but she also knows she has to give back. She says she also attends as many charity functions as she can, especially if it’s for a friend.
Because she’s an actress as well, Eileen tries to stay young and fresh too by working out, even if she’d rather be eating a doughnut. She does paddle boarding on her day off; although I’m sure it’s very difficult, it looks pretty fun. Not to mention she’s on a beautiful beach in Malibu. To most of us, working out just means slogging to the gym to wait for an available elliptical.
Moving Forward
Lisa’s charity event is at Pump. Yolanda’s still upset that she wasn’t invited to the grand opening (and Joyce was — HA!). Yolanda says friends should be there for important events, so she can’t grasp why she wasn’t there. Maybe she forgot about how she accused Lisa of being a phony friend at the reunion last year? I’m not sure I get Yolanda’s game.
Brandi thanks Lisa for coming to her party yet again. She awkwardly rips a branch from the tree in Pump’s courtyard to offer Lisa an “olive branch.” I’m not sure how that works when you’re offering someone a branch from their own tree. Lisa is annoyed.
Brandi continues to harass Lisa instead of letting things naturally progress. She asks Lisa to go to lunch with her the next day so they can talk. When Lisa tells her she’ll think about it, Brandi protests, asking her what she wants her to do. Then she offers to “service” Lisa, in her vulgar Brandi manner. Even Lisa, who has a bit of a dirty sense of humor herself, is at a loss for words.
When she tells the ladies what Brandi said, they are all offended. Brandi is gross, and worse, she’s not funny or clever. Eileen is especially offended, considering their lovely setting in contrast with Brandi’s dirty language.
After the party, all of the girls except Lisa Vanderpump, who has to work, go out for drinks. Eileen and Lisa Rinna try to get the tea from Kyle about the Lisa/Brandi situation. Kyle tells them that all of the ladies have had their issues with Lisa and it all came to a head last year after Brandi “exposed” her. Brandi says they’re all trying to move forward, but it’s harder for Lisa V. to do that. Eileen points out that that’s kind of what Lisa seemed to be doing by going to Brandi’s party and then having them all to Pump that day. Brandi fails to see this logic because, well, she’s not that smart.
Next week, Brandi and Lisa finally meet to hash out their issues head-on.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo.
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
