The question of whether Vicki’s boyfriend, Brooks, is lying about having cancer has really dominated the latter half of season 10 of The Real Housewives of Orange County. Shannon and Heather want to believe that Brooks is telling the truth, but a lot of the facts are just not adding up. Vicki could put these vicious rumors to bed with some simple receipts, but she has yet do so — though she is standing by her man, as usual.
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Put It All on the Table
We pick back up at Shannon’s Aries party at the start of this episode, “Suspicious Minds,” where Tamra is still salty about Brooks’ “consider the source” comment. She says that every time Brooks opens his mouth, another lie falls out.
Vicki is storming around angry at Tamra and Meghan. Heather pulls her aside because she wants Vicki to know that it’s not just those two questioning Brooks’ story, but rather all of the ladies who have been discussing it.
Heather tries to be delicate with Vicki. She tells her that every piece of information that has come out about his cancer hasn’t added up, including the fact that she knows his doctor because she got cellulite treatment from him. She wants Vicki to be cautious of a cosmetic doctor claiming he can cure cancer. She says someone is lying about something and she’s positive it isn’t her.
Heather says there’s one way to put all of this to bed. She says that Brooks needs to just show his labs with a big “eff you” and everyone will shut up. Vicki maintains that it’s no one’s business. Neither she nor Brooks will stoop that low.
She gets up and leaves, something that’s typical of Vicki. Heather says that if she doesn’t like what’s going on, she makes her exit. But if she has nothing to run from, why does she keep running?
The remaining ladies at the party debrief about what just happened. Once again, no one’s story matches exactly and nothing adds up. Meghan tells Shannon that Vicki said she never asked Shannon for help with Brooks. Shannon says that’s a lie. She was on the phone with Vicki hours after his diagnosis, and she got him appointments with two very good doctors and he didn’t see either one of them. Shannon thinks that if Brooks is lying about cancer, there’s no way that Vicki doesn’t know he’s lying. She’s too smart for that. Tamra doesn’t want to believe that Vicki would go along with such a heinous lie.
Let It Go
Meghan brings Hayley to go shopping for a prom dress. Even though in the previous episode she trashed her parents’ house by having a party with 200 people, she’s not experiencing any kind of repercussions. But now Meghan realizes she doesn’t have any authority when it comes to parenting Hayley, so she has to re-define her role as step-mom and focus on being there for her while her mom is so sick.
Tamra goes to visit Vicki and starts off by apologizing for going off at Brooks. She does say it really made her mad, though, that he said “consider the source.” Tamra wants things to be okay with Vicki, but Vicki doesn’t think Tamra is acting like a true friend if she lets all the women talk about Cancer Gate. She says that Brooks won’t show his records because he wants to maintain his privacy, which is a funny notion for someone on a reality show.
Shannon talks to David about her predicament. She’s upset that Vicki didn’t cut the Aries cake with her at the party and that she left so suddenly without saying goodbye. She thought she was better friends with Vicki, but right now she doesn’t even feel like she knows her. She feels guilty about questioning Brooks’ cancer, but she’s no dummy and things are just not making sense.
Tamra and Meghan meet to work out. Tamra is trying to be a better friend to Vicki by encouraging Meghan to let things go and stop going in so deep to prove Brooks wrong. Meghan is not buying it. She wants to prove that Brooks is wrong so other cancer patients don’t believe his BS made-up treatment actually works and seek that out instead of chemo or other doctor-recommended treatments. Tamra says it’s time for her to just let it go.
Heather and Terry go out for a date night. She shows him a tree she designed to etch into one of their main windows. The tree represents their family and it’s very special and personal to Heather. That’s why things turn sour fast when Terry tells her he doesn’t like it. She gets upset at his rude candor when she’s really just seeking approval and appreciation for all the hard work she’s doing on the house.
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End the Rumors
Tamra shows Ryan and his family around their new house, and Ryan finds something to complain about in nearly every room. It’s nice that he’s showing his gratitude to his mom for bailing him out yet again. Tamra says he’s always had it pretty easy, but now he has big boy problems and she’s not sure how well he’s handing them.
Heather meets her old friend, and star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Rinna for lunch. The two of them met 16 years ago in acting classes and have been friends ever since. Heather asks her for advice about selling her product on the shopping network. Lisa says you have to throw your inhibition out the window and just be yourself.
Back in the OC, Shannon and Vicki meet for a much more tense lunch. Shannon tells Vicki that she’s in a position now where people are asking her about what she knows about Brooks and she doesn’t have answers for them.
Vicki starts getting upset. She cries about her mom dying, about her daughter moving away and now this. She tells Shannon that this isn’t her life they’re talking about, it’s Brooks’, and if she has any questions about his health she should direct them to him. Shannon says everything would be a lot less stressful for her if she just quashed the rumors with some documents. In her confessional, Vicki says she feels betrayed by Shannon, who she considered to be one of her closest friends.
Next time, Brooks tries to prove he’s got cancer, but Meghan shuts him down again.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9pm on Bravo.
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
