Who is the biggest liar on The Real Housewives of Orange County: Katie or Tamra? Katie continues to get called out for intentionally trying to hurt the ladies, and Gretchen returns 12 years later, ready to hold Tamra’s feet to the fire. If Tamra is going to call someone a liar, Gretchen is happy to remind the world of all that Tamra has done. Spoiler alert: Katie’s hot pot luncheon is NOT the olive branch she was hoping it would be for the group…
After Shannon’s Golden Door event, the ladies jump back to reality with a full-body lymphatic drainage massage. So O.C. of them. Gina, Tamra, and Emily can’t get over Katie’s choices and how she weakly denied talking to the blogger. Emily is more annoyed that Shannon was sticking up for Katie! After all, Katie got herself into this mess.
The new buddies, Shannon and Katie, meet up and discuss what happened. Katie is grateful that Shannon stuck up for her when she was getting ganged up on. Shannon warns Katie that the ladies think her behavior is calculated, and she coaches her to try a simple apology — one without any “buts.”
In Tamra’s eyes, Katie is a “silent assassin” who does not admit wrongdoing; however, she will attend Katie’s hot pot luncheon, along with Emily and Gina. They wonder about Shannon’s newfound friendship with Katie, and this reminds Tamra of something juicy a while back that she forgot about.
Tamra excitedly shares that at last year’s gallery shoot, Katie filmed Shannon having an absolute meltdown because Alexis was there at the same time she was. Not only that, but Katie took that video and showed it to Alexis while Shannon was in the midst of her legal battle with John Janssen. The NERVE! But Gina, Emily, and Tamra decide to keep this information from Shannon. Gina’s feeling guilty because she brought Katie into this group… and now, look at the mess Katie created.
Shannon is happy to have her eldest daughter, Sophie, home from New York. Sophie is newly single and is enjoying her time in the city. Shannon is also single and talks about Earl, her “ex-suitor” from Love Hotel. She is leery of getting close to anyone and is avoiding dating apps.
Shane picks Emily up from her therapy session and listens as she talks about their son, Luke. Emily is feeling helpless watching Luke’s “decline,” whereas Shane is trying a calmer, one-step-at-a-time approach. Emily feels like Luke is in crisis mode and prepares to have him do intensive autistic testing.
It’s date night at Ryan and Jenn‘s house. They are hosting Katie and Matt, who has now become friendly with Ryan despite the FBI rumors swirling. Matt is over the ladies in a “moral tower of judgement” ganging up on his wife, and luckily, Katie has a new ally. Enter: Gretchen Rossi and her husband, Slade.
Gretchen shares that she has not had any plastic surgery, and she still looks the same since we last saw her on our TVs 11 years ago. She is still not married to Slade, but after 16 years together and a daughter, they are going strong, so take that, haters! Jenn originally slid into Gretchen’s DMs looking for advice on how to deal with Tamra, something that apparently happens quite often for Gretchen.
Tamra and Gretchen have a long history. When Heather mentions she hung out with Gretchen the other night, Tamra recoils. She is realizing that Jenn is reaching out to people who do not like her to sabotage her. Tamra explains that she thinks Jenn is trying to have the life she has, right down to putting Tamra’s old hair extensions on her head. Interesting…
Jenn fills Gretchen in on Tamra’s behavior and how she holds Katie to a different standard. Gretchen does not want a friendship with Tamra, aka “Captain Evil.” Two years ago, Slade’s son passed away from brain cancer, and according to Gretchen, Tamra was STILL going around calling Slade a deadbeat dad.
Tamra is ready to “match” Gretchen’s energy at Katie’s hot pot luncheon, but she is NOT happy that Gretchen reached out to her daughter via social media.
It’s the day of Katie’s luncheon, and Gretchen and Jenn are the last to arrive. Tamra reintroduces herself to Gretchen, a way to lighten the mood and cut the tension, but Gretchen is not buying it. Piggybacking off of that energy, Katie is ALSO ready to start fresh and admits regret about what occurred with the ladies.
Gina explains that she questions every move that Katie makes, especially because she claims that she does not remember any conversation with the blogger. The reality is, Katie admitted to Tamra that she CALLED the blogger on Instagram. How can Katie forget that?!
When Shannon tries to jump to Katie’s defense, Gina spills the tea. She blurts out that Katie recorded Shannon losing her sh*t at the gallery shoot, but she quickly states that “this is coming from Tamra.” Tamra looks shook that this has been outed, and Shannon looks sick that her new pal Katie would do something like that to her.
Tamra sings like a canary the minute Katie tries denying a video. Instead, we learn that it was a voice note that was sent only to Matt. No one heard the recording but her husband; however, she DID discuss the situation with Alexis, and she loops Jenn into this (which she of course denies). Shannon is aghast because she was in active litigation with John when this occurred, so Katie was deliberately trying to hurt her.
Once again, Katie is apologizing. But Gretchen feels like Tamra was holding this information until she needed a way to benefit from it. It’s like she did not want Shannon and Katie to get any closer, and so she suddenly remembered this tidbit of information.
Gina is trying to understand why Katie is trying to take down everyone in the group. Katie now regrets a lot of her choices from last year, and she becomes emotional about it. Shannon removes herself from the luncheon since she feels betrayed after helping Katie, and now, there is no more protecting her.
This gives Tamra and Gretchen the perfect opportunity to bicker about years-old issues. Gretchen denies Slade’s deadbeat dad rumors, and she reminds Tamra that she is also a liar who has caused pain. Tamra retaliates by reminding Gretchen she “contacted” her daughter, but the reality is that Gretchen commented on a post. That is very different, but not in Tamra’s eyes. Gretchen points out that Tamra blames everything on everyone else and is a master manipulator.
It’s the same old Tamra for Gretchen, and she wishes they could talk about accountability. Gretchen wants Tamra to “recognize what she has actually done to harm people,” and the ladies agree to talk about this further. When the tension seems to have lifted, Emily whips the egg out of her purse, which she has grabbed for later, only to realize it is not hard-boiled. What a mess — with the egg and with the group.
