Regardless, Kyle didn’t say that to be mean (unless she was retaliating, in which case she did); she said it because she believes that in order to be friends with Lisa you have to be a strong person. And Taylor is not a strong person (and doesn’t feel insulted by anyone saying so, for the record). Kyle says being friends with Lisa is like playing chess with Bobby Fischer, because every move is so calculated. Lisa is very intelligent – or is she manipulative? I’m not sure being so smart that you are always a step ahead of everyone else is being manipulative, but that’s just me. Lisa does what she does and it seems others get a bit aflutter about it even when, in Lisa’s opinion, it has nothing to do with them. Such is life.
Lisa is clearly hurt by Kyle’s comments, and it certainly does look like Kyle is trying to redeem her post-Game Night mean queen reputation by positioning herself as a Defender of the Sensitive. As I tell my kids when they are embroiled in a pointless petty disagreement with no end in sight, in my opinion everyone needs to get over themselves and suck. it. up.
Taylor Has Been Suffering
Let’s talk about Taylor a bit, but make it quick as we’ve been through five full months of this, not counting pre-season media saturation, and there’s not much new here. As Mr. Andy says, “words can’t describe” what Taylor has been through. Indeed.
Why did Taylor, whose marriage and life were allegedly a mess before she became a Real Housewife, decide to venture into reality TV? Taylor says she felt she might get some protection from it – either that the abuse would stop, or they’d be forced into divorce. OK, seriously. If you are looking to reality TV to finally make you sh*t or get off the pot, no matter WHAT the issue is, you have major, major problems and the good people of Bravo should run like hell next time. Russell was the love of Taylor’s life (really? I couldn’t tell) but he was a narcissist, and she thinks he was descending into mental illness. Without the show, Taylor feels their relationship would have ended in murder/suicide as “most of these cases” do. Adrienne feels the show saved Taylor’s life. Well then!
There’s some discussion about everyone’s doubts and uncertainties regarding the abuse. Lisa became convinced once she saw a truly abusive, nasty text from Russell, which apparently was one he sent when Lisa and Taylor were in Vegas for Pandora’s controversial bachelorette party. It seems that Russell sent Taylor a nasty text at midnight on her 40th birthday, then they went to Vegas and Taylor lost her phone for a spell. Following that, Russell (a) texted Taylor, (b) sent the email to Camille threatening to sue her, and (c) upon her return beat Taylor’s face in so that she had to have surgery to reconstruct her eye socket because he suspected she’d had sex with a Chippendale (per the book excerpt in last week’s Us Weekly). Except that somewhere in there was the white party, which came after the email but why was Taylor still with him when supposedly the Chippendale beating was the last straw and she left him? And she didn’t have the black eye then? I am confused. But the ladies, for the most part, appear not to be, so that’s that for now.
Camille Has A Lot More To Say
So after being a lightning rod all last year, our Camille has been a docile little lady this season, so much so that producers have apparently decided she’s out of material and plan to replace her. She certainly wasn’t holding back last night. For starters, when asked if the show should have aired after Russell killed himself, Camille quite flatly opined that it should not have. Her reasoning is that it would be harmful to his children, and no she wasn’t concerned about having blame laid at her feet for the tea party confrontation, thank you.
And how did Camille feel about that whole tea party incident? Well, she feels like Taylor goaded her into it. Based on the way Taylor was interacting with her, Camille thought Taylor was trying to lead her toward launching into the abuse issue as a line of discussion. Taylor, for her part, thought she was encouraging Camille to talk about her own issues that she had shared with Taylor privately. Camille’s eyes get wide, her face turns red, and she appears to be holding her breath. Uh oh.
What in hell? First of all, the tea party wasn’t a social event that turned into an intervention when Taylor made it into a Taylor therapy session, so why would Camille start unloading her own issues? And second, Camille’s anger is suggesting that Taylor’s now going down a road that is off-limits as far as Camille is concerned (hence: not to be discussed at tea party or reunion, thanks!). Taylor was the one who told everyone about her abuse issues and brought them right to the perimeter of the camera shots; whatever Taylor is alluding to is something Camille has kept out of bounds and Taylor may be on thin ice. Eeeek! Camille does, however, acknowledge that she understands some of the dynamic of being in an abusive relationship because she herself has been in a “controlling” relationship, where she’s had to become a Stepford Wife. One with a mighty bosom, it should be acknowledged. Methinks there may be more to come from Camille in part deux.
And Another Thing About Lisa!
Let’s get back to kicking Lisa’s tires, shall we? Mr. Andy decides we should talk about Bernie the Enforcer, who hates Lisa. Lisa, for her part, barely registered Bernie, barely registering seeming to be the root of all issues for our Lisa. Somehow Lisa’s criticisms of Bernie’s “dry”, “ethnic” Mexican food leads to complaints about Adrienne’s failure to control her staff, which then somehow switches gears into a volley of accusations about who has been selling stories to RadarOnline. Adrienne has heard from a very credible “insider” at RadarOnline that Lisa regularly sells stories to them for $25K a pop. Camille has heard this, too. Lisa is totally appalled and swears it is not true, on her children’s lives. Does Lisa need this kind of money? Bernie the Enforcer seems to, because it goes without contrary comment that he sold a story to RadarOnline about Lisa having a fit at Adrienne’s Christmas party. Lisa is insulted and announces that she has lost respect for Adrienne, who shrugs and says, “sorry!”
Wrapping this up, The Glands arrives and is loaded for bear. That can wait until next week, when Kyle calls The Glands “Angry Spice”, Taylor explains how she popped her dislocated jaw back in over a toilet, The Glands calls Kyle a terrible four-letter word that I refuse to repeat, and then asks Taylor when the book is coming out because it’s been “a hot minute” since Russell died. It’s a race to the bottom, I’ll tell you. Part 2 of 3 next week!
Written by:
Elizabeth Spilotro
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Great recap as always! Thanks!