The trip France started off so slow but I didn’t really expect anything more. I mean the five women that went kept shouting to anyone who’d listen that they were all so close this season. If you’ve followed from the beginning, you’ll agree that these five, along with Denise, have all shared one brain cell because they seldom differed or strayed from their target, Lisa Vanderpump (LVP). So let’s finish with the final two episodes. Hope you check out my previous blog here.

Season 9 Episode 20 – Un Petit Hangover

After a “drunken” night, Teddi claimed to not remember the things she said about Erika to Rinna and Kyle felt as though she needed to apologise once more for her part in what happened between her and Erika the night before. They headed outside for some artery, with Erika still looking pissed off, then afterwards Teddi apologised to her. Erika brushed it off and accepted her apology and they all basically kumbayah back to Beverly Hills. This was the most boring cast trip in history, with the most scripted drama possible. We’ve come to know that a cast trip has to have drama. All season long these five women have stuck to their guns, having no issues with each other, separate from when Dorit told Teddi to let her speak to Kyle alone, but suddenly on the cast trip there was “drama”? This is as believable as that story Kyle told about how she heard that LVP took a lie detector test.

Back in Beverly Hills, we saw Denise checking on her rented home (nothing is wrong with renting) after the fire. There weren’t any physical damages to the property but her entire house was filled with scuttle. We then saw Camille in her home, completely destroyed by the fire. I felt badly that she lost her home but not to the point where I’d say “poor” Camille because that’s just not the case. She has plenty more properties, this was just her mainstay. We then saw Kyle and her friend Faye Resnick talking about the fire and then they switched gears to Kyle wanting a dinner table. I was completely taken aback because the preview for this scene, showed Kyle and Faye talking negatively about Camille but it was cut from the episode. They said that since Camille’s house was destroyed, they hope she becomes nicer. Who says stuff like that? Why did production cut that scene from the main episode as if we didn’t already see the previews? They’ve always given Kyle the best edit out of anyone on the show as she has never been portrayed as the villain. Now that LVP wasn’t around for Kyle to hide her mean girls ways behind her, no matter how much they edited this season, it still showed.

Rinna organised a dinner for Denise since they hadn’t done anything for her after that rushed wedding. Some of the women brought little care packages for both Camille and Denise to the dinner. When Camille walked in, she hugged Dorit and told her that she’s glad she got to know her a little better and that she liked her because she didn’t fully trust her initially. Everyone wanted to bring up what they had already planned to do to Camille if she had made it to France but because they didn’t want to seem like they were beating up on someone in a vulnerable situation, they held off. This is hilarious given they had no problems taunting LVP for months. During this time Kyle and Rinna had already made appearances on various talk shows, like Ellen, to talk about the season while filming and they went about the season being filled with lies and deception. Dorit informed the women about her display at a Kitson store and extended an invitation. She went on to say that it was sad that LVP chose to distance herself from the group and not try to work through the issues. The other women chimed in and mentioned they invited her to the events as well. Oh please! Inviting someone to a filmed event for a show isn’t the least bit genuine. They all know her places of work and where she lived. As far we knew, Kyle was the only blocked by her. They could’ve reached out off camera just like Rinna faked with Brandi in hopes of getting an alliance and a spot for next season as her contract is up.

The women all showed up for Dorit’s window reveal at the Kiston store which I have to say was so underwhelming. She used garbage bags as her big reveal which made the whole thing look cheap. Proud of her for continuing her brand but with the lawsuits she’s faced with, I’m not sure how long the charade can be kept up. After that, they went for dinner when Rinna decided to bring up the fact that Camille said some things about Dorit and that she needed to own it. Boy, was that a bad idea as they had no idea what they were in for. Camille admitted she didn’t know where Dorit was getting her money from and brought up the lawsuits she and PK were facing. Everyone’s mouth dropped open with Kyle looking extremely nervous. Maybe she thought that Mauricio’s would be mentioned next. No one told her to stop because they all knew what went down in The Bahamas and wanted to know the details as well. When Camille mentioned that they owed money to her friend and that they were being sued for over a million dollars, that’s when Teddi and Denise chimed in to tell Dorit not to say anything and asked Camille to stop. Denise seemed annoyed that Rinna brought up the subject and that Camille went there. Camille told them she didn’t want to bring it up but Dorit insisted, not knowing the bombs that were going to be dropped. Finally, we got the realest moment on the show since LVP stopped filming with them. Many claimed that Camille shouldn’t have brought it up because it was inappropriate. What a laugh! You’d think the women would’ve known Camille isn’t a coward after the camping trip. They didn’t expect her to say what she told Denise (Teddi’s a know it all and intervenes too much – like she did w/ #PuppyGate) so they should’ve known she’d tell it to Dorit straight.

Season 9 Episode 21 – Hurricane Camille

The final episode of the season. Kyle and Mauricio decided last minute to throw party at the 25th location for Mauricio’s company, The Agency. I thought this was strange when I heard about it last November as they already celebrated the 7 year anniversary of The Agency in September, hence Kyle missing Denise’s wedding. I soon came to realise why. Since Mauricio is being sued for allegedly underselling a property then making double when he resold it as a joint owner, they needed to make it seem that they film at their properties all the time just like the property mentioned in the lawsuit (allegedly). This property was where the gatsby party was held back in season 7. Everyone showed up and Camille came in hot especially because of what her daughter told her Teddi did at the airport in Hawaii. 

Camille approached Kyle and told her that she felt ganged up on at Dorit’s event and that she was disappointed in her. It’s like Camille finally realised what Kyle had been doing all season. Kyle went on to say that she swears on her life that there was never a plan to gang up on Camille. Right there, is when it became even more obvious to me that an oath mean nothing to these women which is why LVP swearing on her kids’ lives meant nothing to Kyle. We all watched them plan to attack Camille on the trip to France and how eager they were to start going in on her from the Halloween party. Kyle told a bold face lie didn’t even think twice about it. Something she does well. Teddi tried butting in again and Camille shut her down with the utmost swiftness. She then apologised to Dorit for bringing up the lawsuits when Denise piped up, as if to reprimand Camille for what happened at the dinner. Camille told her to back off and rightfully so. Denise did nothing all season and the two times she spoke up about something was when she jumped in on people who were already in a vulnerable state. She’s no better than her bestie. She had y’all fooled. It was time to take on Rinna and let her know that her behaviour wasn’t necessarily nice and Camille let her know that she wasn’t the mean girl, Rinna was. The finale ended with Camille leaving the event after having to defend herself against women who couldn’t care less about the fact that she had just lost her assistant of 22 years and just lost her home, so her emotions were heightened. With friends like those…

Six Months Later

As the season ended with Camille annihilating basically everyone besides Erika cuz at this point she’s a stand in, production got the women to film one final scene. This scene was for the women to get together and discuss their favourite topics, LVP and Camille. As a viewer and fan of the show, I was immensely disappointed in how production handled this final scene. This was not a good look for these women especially since image is everything to them. In the preview, they made it seem like they would show the opening of LVP’s Las Vegas restaurant, Vanderpump Cocktail Garden, as it’s own scene but instead, they showed clips through flashbacks as the women continued to paint a negative picture of her. They all greeted each other and sat down at Kyle’s tea party (the first for Kyle) and in they went. Dorit began mocking LVP’s entrance to the restaurant and how Caesar’s Palace chose to celebrate this partnership. This was hilarious, coming from someone whose big real were garbage bags and is being sued for millions. 

Rinna announced that she saw LVP in some parking lot with wet nails, fumbling for change to pay the meter, where she offered her money. I don’t know if I believe this at all but either way, LVP wouldn’t need Rinna’s help when it comes to money. Erika added her bits and decided to mock LVP getting painted nails instead of gel. The level of petty was repulsive. Kyle took her turn but stating she too saw LVP and as you probably already know, she ran to every media outlet to deliver this scoop. She proclaimed their exchange was good and she was now at peace with where things were between them because she was honest with her. Kyle still thinks that what she did at LVP’s home, the day before her birthday, was her being honest. How could she have been honest when she had no proof of anything? She saw Teddi’s texts from day 1 of filming and still to the very end of the season told no one she did. Honesty would have been to tell Teddi that she would inform LVP about the messages since an employee was putting stuff out there to Teddi just like LVP made Eden know back in season 7 that the information she gave her (Rinna saying that Kim was close to death and that Kyle was her enabler) would be shared with Kyle. That is what honesty is. That is what loyalty to a friend, transparency and holding both people accountable looks like. Instead, she knew that Teddi would look badly so she helped her blame this whole thing on LVP, using the one thing they “know” people would “buy” into – LVP manipulated Teddi. So funny when they never spoke about Lucy together. 

What took me and many by surprise was when Kyle declared she was more invested in her friendship with LVP than LVP was with her. The nerve of Kyle (whom I like) to even utter such fallacy. Need I remind her and the anti-LVP fans that Bravo could not provide one clip of Kyle ever defending LVP or showing she cared more about the friendship because there weren’t any. The only clip they they tried to pass off as Kyle defending LVP earlier in the season was of Kyle defending Rinna. Kyle didn’t even know who Nanny Kay was until Erika spoke up last season. Nanny Kay had been mentioned from as far back as season 2 at the seance. Like LVP said at last season’s reunion, their friendship was always her listening to Kyle and reassuring her and that was proven to be true. So Kyle spouting this nonsense makes it clear where LVP stood with her all along.

To add insult to injury, Andy Cohen (who has never been a reality tv star but is an executive producer) kept saying the issues were not that deep. He had to have known about the nature of the conversation that the women were going to have because he would have signed off on it. They filmed this scene supposedly before they even knew she wasn’t going to attend  the reunion or that she quit. I actually think the scene was filmed right after the reunion based on one hairstyle in particular, Erika’s. It seemed too similar to what she wore in the reunion clips and I presume she didn’t have much time to do any major changes. So in a sense, Andy added to the months of verbal abuse LVP suffered at the hands of her castmates at a time when she was at her most vulnerable. At a time when LVP just recently lost her mother. This scene could have been edited out. There was no need for it because it was filmed all of six months after they wrapped and about two months after Vanderpump Cocktail Garden was open. What was the reason for this, other than to tell LVP thanks but no thanks. I mean, she asked for the season off and her employer told her no, leaving her to a volatile work space. I was never the one to bring Andy into anything but this last scene kinda adds some credence to what has been speculated about the whole season; that Andy helped orchestrate this season of frauds. 

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo.

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