Last time on The Real Housewives of Orange County, Shannon figured out what it felt like to be the odd man out after Meghan didn’t invite her to her charity event. But by not inviting Shannon, Meghan may have alienated the rest of the ladies as well in the process. Let’s see how she continues to deal with the ramifications of that decision in this episode, “Game Changer.”
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Extending an Olive Branch
It’s moving day for Meghan and Jim, and as per usual, Jim is being a piece of work. Is it in the contract of this show that if you’re a husband named Jim you have to be a jerk? I thought we’d see a few redeeming qualities out of Jim by now, but thus far the only probable thing redeeming about him are all the zeros in his paycheck.
Moving day is interrupted when Shannon calls Meghan to invite her to game night. Meghan seems stunned to be hearing from Shannon and put off by Shannon passive-aggressively bringing up the party she wasn’t invited to. Shannon tells her she wants to have a nice time with all of the ladies and start over, and Meghan says she’ll look forward to her proving that.
That statement doesn’t sit well with Shannon. After ending the phone call and then stewing over it for a bit, Shannon calls Meghan back, telling her she doesn’t have anything to prove to her. She says she wanted to extend an olive branch and the invitation stands, but she will not be forced to prove herself in her own home to a 30-year-old. Meghan tells her she’ll have to get back to her.
Tamra and Vicki enjoy a spa day together where they have marshmallow cream rubbed all over their bodies to make their skin look younger. Sounds delicious! Tamra talks about not knowing how being a grandma will change her, but Vicki thinks it will soften her up. It’s probably just the marshmallow that’s making her soft.
Heather brings her kids to a hair salon to get their hair cut. She’s hoping Terry will join them, but he’s just too busy at his practice and filming his show Botched that he doesn’t have a ton of extra time. Heather says she’s happy for him, but on some days it’s frustrating to be parenting alone — not to mention his kids miss him.
Vicki and Brooks meet with a health coach to try to get on a plan to rid his body of cancer toxins. She’s put him on a raw food diet, which Vicki agrees to do with him, but she refuses to do the coffee enema as well. Even Vicki draws the line somewhere.
Heather goes to visit Terry at his practice to have a growth removed from her hand while having it filmed for Botched (while simultaneously having it filmed for RHOC; how meta). She thinks that the success of Terry’s show and popularity has gone to his head a bit, but I’m sure she forgets all about that when she’s helping spend those paychecks on a villa on top of a mountain in Orange County.
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Bunco Night
Shannon is getting ready for her Bunco party when David comes in the kitchen and tells her about this women he ran into at the beach. Shannon visibly has a panic attack when she thinks he’s talking about the woman he had an affair with, but she’s misunderstood him and he’s talking about someone completely different.
But the short conversation is enough to leave Shannon shaken. She tells her friend Kristina about the issues she still has trusting David and how she can’t approach him too many times about her insecurities without pushing him away again. Shannon seems utterly miserable, but she says she’s sticking with David. That is, unless he ever has any contact with that woman again. Then she’ll walk right out the door.
She has to shake it off, though, because Meghan is the first to arrive. She brings her a gift with an apologetic note. And Shannon gives her some wine for her charity. Both say in their confessionals that they think the other is trying to portray themselves as being the bigger person and the other is not being sincere at all.
Everyone is enjoying the evening. Meghan gets into the game once she learns how to play and Shannon is especially competitive, true to her crazy Shannon self. Tamra talks about showing Meghan some houses now that she’s working on real estate again. And even Jeana Keough makes an appearance.
But the evening takes a turn for the tragic when Vicki gets a call from Briana, who tells her that Vicki’s mother has suddenly passed away. Vicki is overcome by grief and collapses onto the floor. The ladies try their best to rally around Vicki and give her hugs and support, but they know there’s nothing they can do or say to make her feel better. Heather does Vicki a solid by calling Brooks, who comes as soon as he can to get her.
Vicki says in her confessional that she wasn’t ready to stop learning from her mom. It’s hard for her to accept this as reality, having spoken to her earlier that day. Bravo does a lovely tribute to Joanne’s finest moments on the show and dedicates the episode in her honor.
Next time, Vicki deals with the grief of losing her mom and the rest of OC just keeps spinning.
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9pm on Bravo.
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
