During this week’s episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County, Vicki travels to Oklahoma City to help Briana and Ryan find a house. But once she’s there, she is anything but helpful. Tamra finds out some disturbing news about her son. And Shannon and Heather try to work out their differences.
Picture Perfect
It’s odd to watch the ladies of the OC prepare for the holidays when most of us are sweltering in the summer heat. Some of the ladies aren’t feeling very holly jolly either. Shannon, who is self-admittedly crazed from Thanksgiving is frustrated with constant miscommunication between herself and Heather.
The Dubrow family is getting their annual portrait done, and it ain’t at Sears. Heather is a bit down in the mouth because, at a time of year when friends usually get together and enjoy each other’s company, she’s dealing with drama from Vicki, Heather and Shannon. Heather can’t figure out why she and Shannon can’t get along. It could just boil down to the fact that oil and water don’t mix. If there’s one thing we’ve all learned from the Real Housewives, it’s that sometimes the ladies like their conflict.
The show goes back and forth between Shannon’s family getting their photo taken for their yearly Christmas card and Heather’s family pic. Both women are so determined for everything to appear perfect, when in real life things are anything but. They are very alike which is probably why they butt heads — both have to be right.
It’s a Nice Place to Visit But Don’t Live There
Vicki makes it safe and sound to Oklahoma City. She’s put out by the thought of having to fly four hours whenever she wants to see her daughter and grandchildren.
Vicki may pride herself on her close bond with her daughter, but Briana tells a different story. She hopes the move will force Vicki to spend more time with her and her burgeoning family because she’ll miss them so much.
While Briana may want her mother as a visitor, she’s looking forward to Vicki not being so intrusive when it comes to her daughter’s life. Son Michael obviously feels the same since I think he still hasn’t divulged his address to mommy dearest.
Vicki’s going a different route. She’s trying to convince Briana to move in with her, and Ryan can leave his wife and soon-to-be two babies behind. Briana swears that she will never live with her mother again.
Vicki isn’t about to let Ryan off the hook. Truthfully, I’m not a fan of the guy from what I’ve seen, but he does stand his ground with his mother-in-law. She accuses him of taking her family away from her, while he explains that what he’s actually doing is bringing his family with him. Ryan makes it clear that it has nothing to do with her.
All sorts of family issues spring up. Briana brings up all of the dreams she sacrificed: going to college out of state, joining Doctors Without Borders, being a travel nurse because she knew Vicki wouldn’t like it. That’s all on Briana. She could have gotten out from her mother’s thumb long ago, especially since Vicki believes her daughter was given every advantage growing up and is exaggerating what she may have given up.
They look at a house that could have been plucked from the OC and stuck in Tornado Alley. Briana is adamant that she wants something different for her children than what she had growing up. She wants to live in an area where there’s a feeling of community, something lacking behind the gates, apparently.
She Said, She Said
Lizzie and Heather meet for a play date. Lizzie seeks Heather’s advice on how to best deal with Vicki and what promises to be constant volatility between the two. Heather explains she’s having her own issues with Vicki because she feels they are allowing Shannon to talk smack about her behind her back. Heather is especially chafed because she’s the one who introduced Shannon to the group, and now she seems convinced all Shannon does is talk about her. Meanwhile, she can’t see how hypocritical she’s being. She’s flapping her gums about Shannon in equal measure, if not more.
Looking for a Fix
Tamra takes her firstborn, Ryan, to see her family doctor. Ryan has been buying and taking growth hormones without a prescription. Try as she might to convince her son that this might not be the brightest thing to do, he remains unconvinced. She decides to take him to see her doctor, hoping he’ll be able to talk some sense into Ryan. The doctor does convince him to at least give some blood to monitor how the drug is affecting him.
This doctor is treating Tamra for something inevitable: aging. It seems that hormone replacement is the trendy thing to do in Cali right now. Forget about the health risks. It’s all about looking and feeling young. So how is it that she feels she has a leg to stand on when it comes to lecturing her son? Just because you found a doctor who caters to women and their vanity doesn’t make you any wiser than your son.
It’s All About Perception
Heather calls up Shannon and says it might be a good idea for the two of them to get together and clear the air. Since Heather remains clueless as to what she’s done to land on Heather’s bad side, and Heather’s convinced Shannon’s life revolves around her, it seems like a good idea.
Shannon tells Heather she feels she’s singling her out, using the tongue lashing she received for being late to the hoedown as an example. Heather explains that she didn’t seek Heather out to chastise her; Shannon and Tamra happened to be talking about it when she approached them.
In general, Shannon feels that Heather is condescending, an accusation she’s already heard from Tamra.
Shannon also makes it clear she didn’t care for being called “scary angry” on girls’ night. She feels it gave a connotation that was over the top, to say the least. Heather is persistent that this was the impression she got from Shannon. Heather thinks the whole thing is juvenile and, in retrospect, believes she shouldn’t have tried to take the chair back. This is like three or four episodes where I have to hear about the dumb chair incident.
The two can’t get past their different perceptions of the series of events that have led them to this place. They can’t even agree to disagree.
Heather continues to feel isolated from the group, and the fact that she introduced her friends to Shannon, who took to her right away, has not helped matters.
The two agree to deal with each other directly if any more issues arise. Shannon is hopeful this new understanding will hold, but she has her doubts. So do I.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9pm on Bravo.
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
