This episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County picks up right where we left off from the “to be continued” last week. Tamra storms off (but not before tripping down the stairs), Eddie’s left holding the bag, and everyone is aghast at how things went down. Sounds about right. But the Tamra drama gets trumped the minute Shannon decides to take most of the women on a 60th birthday trip to London. Leaving Alexis off the guest list is sending a message — no olive branch is strong enough to fix this. Shannon wants Alexis out.
Katie chases Tamra to her car after she runs off from her dinner party. Tamra repeats that Katie should ask Jenn about the lawsuit going on with Ryan and gambling. According to Tamra, Ryan is disgusting. Ryan conveniently cannot remember where all of his money comes from, and there’s shady stuff linked to Ryan’s business partner, who does a whole lot of “business” in Vegas. Unclear why Tamra feels like she needs to deliver this information (that she is getting from a social media account), but here we are. Eddie realizes he has to leave, but not before he hugs both Jenn AND Ryan goodbye. Interesting to see his behavior when Tamra is not around. Jenn knows it’s only a matter of time before Tamra stops being her friend since Tamra is not loyal to anyone.
Katie reports back to the table after her convo with Tamra and tells Ryan that Tamra keeps talking about the FBI. Ryan attempts to keep a straight face when asked if he hosts big-timers with illegal money in Vegas. Apparently, HE doesn’t, but his “very close friend” Matt does. Matt’s a professional gambler who has a booking business, but Ryan stutters as he tries to explain himself, a tell-tale sign of untruths. According to Emily, Ryan “goes to Vegas like it’s his job,” which leaves a lot to the imagination…
Later, Heather meets up with Katie and Shannon at an outdoor furniture store, which doesn’t sound weird, until you realize it is Shannon’s 60th birthday. Interesting celebration spot! After fake picking out some things, they chat about how Jenn’s house became a disaster.
Shannon refers to the People magazine article as the “PR stunt,” and she points out that this whole thing is certainly not about the money — it’s about trashing Shannon in front of the world. However, if you ask Alexis, John is doing it to respond to the allegations.
Katie changes the subject and brings up her dinner party that “got heated.” Things are still not okay with Tamra and Jenn, and Tamra is still heated, which explains why she initially said no to Shannon’s 60th birthday tea party.
Emily heads over to Gina’s and gets a tour of the kids’ bedrooms. Emily then fills Gina in on Katie’s sh*tshow of a dinner. Emily states that Tamra was out of sorts, but Gina points out that just because you have three martinis, you can’t call someone a little b*tch, as Tamra did to Ryan.
But it’s not just awkward with Tamra and Jenn. Things are weird surrounding Heather and this fashion show. Heather thinks Emily got aggressive with her, but it was Heather that put her finger in Emily’s face. And now Gina knows she is in the doghouse with Heather since she took Emily’s side during the fashion show argument.
Katie tries to let Heather know that Emily wanted her to see this as a body image issue for Emily, but Heather is unsure what she did or said to make her feel that way. Emily is psychologically triggered by all the comments about her body, and she worries that if she were to have another conversation with Heather, it would have to be on Heather’s terms again. Gina feels like Heather needs to come back down to Earth. That’s certainly not the way to rekindle your friendship, Gina.
To break up all the bickering, we get a glimpse into Emily’s work with the Innocence Center. She has brought an exoneree suit shopping to try and help him acclimate back into the world after being wrongly incarcerated for 18 years. Emily is trying to show how “decrepit the justice system is,” and she proves that this is a cause worth fighting for.
Katie and her fam sit down for some Korean barbecue. Katie shows how little Korean she knows by speaking Mandarin (lol), and she is happy that her daughter is so interested in getting back to her roots. Speaking of roots, they are all going to Korea for Katie’s 40th birthday to meet her birth mother. They will sightsee, but Katie, an adopted child, is also trying to feel whole.
It’s the day of Shannon’s 60th birthday, and the gang is getting ready to attend… Jenn is planning on avoiding Tamra, but nothing seems like it will bring Shannon down today. This is, after all, her year of change, and so she has decided to surprise the ladies with a gift on HER birthday.
The minute Heather arrives, she asks to speak with Emily, but Emily tells her no. Heather explains that she “wasn’t in the spirit” to do the private conversation when Emily initially asked, and Gina points out that Heather cannot be in the moment, and she has to step aside and recalculate.
The second time Heather asks to talk to Emily, she wears Emily down and brings her aside. Emily becomes upset since this is triggering for her. She points out how she wore the same dress as Alexis and was put in an oversized jacket, and the show ended with Emily bringing her own pants. Emily very clearly explains her viewpoint and becomes teary. Heather finally says, “I hear you,” and she never wants Emily to feel like Heather intentionally made her feel like anything other than fabulous. Heather reminds Emily that they are friends, and in the future, if Emily is upset, she should just call her.
In the meantime, Tamra apologizes to Jenn for the other night, but she wants to have a discussion to try and resolve their issues. Jenn is exhausted by Tamra’s patterns, but the kumbaya-ing is better than fighting.
Shannon makes her grand entrance and hands over the gifts to the ladies. Shannon rips open her dress to reveal a flag that lets ladies know they are going to London. Shannon opens some gifts (thanks for the Hermes sandals, Heather), and then a giant bouquet of flowers arrives. Upon reading the card, Shannon realizes the flowers are from Alexis. WHAT!
Although Shannon appreciates this, it’s nine weeks too late. Shannon has zero interest in being friendly with Alexis. Emily understands — Alexis can’t want peace in one breath, and then in the next declare war on her with Johnny J. Shannon muses, “I’m sure her coach told her to do all this.” Shannon feels like John wants Alexis to be overly nice to her now, but of course, Tamra feels like Shannon is just exhausting.
Shannon cannot believe that after she offered John everything he wanted with the lawsuit, his answer was still no. Tamra then lets Shannon know she listened to the whole butt dial and that Shannon sounded upset. Of course she was! Shannon is doing everything in her power to better herself, and so she is done exposing herself to Alexis. Shannon shares that she pre-wrote a text to Alexis making it clear she is not invited to London. Katie volunteers to tell Alexis since Shannon is being a little harsh… but Shannon is ready to stick up for herself now.
They all share their favorite memory with Shannon. There are some laughs, like riding the piñata, and there are some good memories, like being “just stupid.” Shannon can’t wait to have more good times in London.
Later, Katie and Jenn go over to Alexis’ house and act as the messenger. They feel like Alexis should hear the news about the trip in person. Alexis gets her phone to check the text from Shannon and realizes that she is not invited to London. The text also clearly states Shannon is “not interested” in any olive branch with Alexis. This baffles Alexis (WHY), and she states that Shannon needs to realize this all stemmed from her borrowing money from John and not paying him back. Period.
We get to see Mr. I-Hate-The-Spotlight John in a confessional stating that Shannon KNEW the money was a loan and there is proof of that. He also states that Shannon has “an interesting relationship with the truth.” Jenn doesn’t believe that Alexis gave the story to People, but Katie does. It does make you wonder how it got into People’s hands… Alexis states she won’t be around in the group anymore and that she is done. She opens the door for the ladies and essentially kicks Katie and Jenn out of her home. Katie and Jenn are confused by the aggression, considering the old saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
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