The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

Season 11 Episode 6 – The Liberation Of Erika Jayne

Hey guys, I have to apologise for not writing a blog on episode 5. How could I though? Nothing happened. Now let’s talk about episode 6 titled The Liberation Of Erika Jayne. What a title! What is Erika being liberated from? As far as we knew, from the very little she shared over the past 5 seasons, she had the life that some women dream of; the rich husband that pays for everything, the big house, the cars and the occasional career. So why exactly does she need to be liberated?

On November 3, 2020, Erika filed for divorce, something she claimed was done deliberately so that it would be buried in the media. Did she really think that this would get by unnoticed in the world of housewives, especially when it involves someone as well known as Thomas (Tom) Girardi? The episode picks up right at Erika’s well timed entrance at Sutton’s. At this point, we should know that’s how it was meant to be. The ladies greeted her, singing high praises of how amazing she looked. What stuck out to me in this scene was that Erika Jayne was nowhere in sight, however, Mrs. Erika Girardi was on full display. Her hair was long and curled, very subtle makeup, she was styled in a demure, long sleeved dress with a similar disposition. I felt like this was done with the intention of winning over the women (pretending for a moment that her “friends” had no idea about her issues) and the audience with the story she was going to share. It reminds me of the very first time we saw her interact with the cast back in season 6.

We were introduced to Erika by way of Yolanda Hadid Foster Hadid. She seemed lovely at first. She wasn’t completely dolled up and she wore a pleasant smile. It didn’t take long for us to see the juxtaposition of this meek woman on screen compared to the more outspoken woman in her confessionals. It was there that she told us how she met Tom and wouldn’t stop raving about him. Sort of like how she started off this current season. This theme was carried out throughout much of season 6. We saw Tom film with Erika a lot as well as interact with the cast. This would soon become a yearly occurrence. The less we saw of Tom, the less we saw of Mrs. Erika Girardi and more of Erika Jayne. I’m beginning to think that was the plan all along, given how mundane she became on the show.

So Mrs. Girardi is back, telling us a different story from the one she’s told all along. She opens up by stating that she didn’t inform any of the women about what was happening because she didn’t want to put them in a position where they had to hold on to information. I thought this was a divorce, so what information would be so detrimental for the women to have had? It’s not like any of them have/had a relationship with Tom prior to or during his marriage to Erika. The reason she gave for the divorce was that she and Tom grew further and further apart. Their interaction became less and conversations reduced to short sentences. She would be walking through the halls of their massive house and felt alone. She just couldn’t cope anymore. This made sense. This is a woman who’s had enough, right?

Erika said that during quarantine she and Tom got closer. They spent every night together having dinner. In fact, she couldn’t live without Tom or her dog. That was her response to Little Kathy’s question. Could that have been an act? Could she have been lying? OR Did she realise, after the trip to Lake Tahoe, that things were going to get very bad (something she told the women), so she’s jumping ship? OR Is this part of some elaborate scheme she and Tom devised to hide assets, like what is being alleged? I attest, things do change over time but I recall her telling Lisa Vanderpump when they first met that she’s in it for the long haul with Tom or she’ll get half of everything. Is this why she’s allegedly been uncooperative with the investigation? Trying to secure her half? As was mentioned before, things change but the timing of everything leaves questions.

As if production playing somber music to go along with the Erika tales wasn’t bad enough, both Kyle and Rinna seem to have had some a personality transplant because their quest for “honesty” and “the truth” is no more. Suddenly, they want to give their friend breathing room and will wait for her to come to them, if and when she chooses to. If you have seen season 9 and 10, you’ll agree that Kyle and Rinna are showing themselves to be nothing more than hypocrites. While watching this episode, I was pissed off. Angry even. How could Kyle, the leader of the “be honest” club actually film this season without the same passion she had for “finding out” whether LVP leaked a story to Radar Online about Dorit (Dorit did ditch the dog) or for trying to get to the bottom of why Denise didn’t like sex talk around her kids? Reading tabloids was good enough to bombard LVP with nonsense right after her brother had committed suicide, but now that Erika is being blasted in virtually every magazine, she’s lost the ability to ask questions? That’s a load of turd and she knows it. I guess she doesn’t really know what’s real or fake in Beverly Hills because her mirror should show the perfect reflection. It’s been 3 consecutive years and Kyle just keeps looking worse. No amount of playfulness from Little Kathy can help.

Then there’s Rinna. The champion for “owning it” unless, of course, you aren’t her target. When she joined the cast in season 5, I was beyond elated. As the episodes and seasons went by, I began to dislike who she was on the show. She started self producing and would go to some real lows, hitting cast members she called friends where they’re most vulnerable. She did it with Kim Richards for years. She did that with LVP, someone she had known for a long time. She did that with Denise, her friend of over 20 years. She really sat in her confessional, admitted to not knowing much about Erika but will respect her enough to not pry. Unbelievable! This can’t be the same Rinna that asked Denise about mentioning to her young daughters about Charlie Sheen and hookers, knowing in detail how horrible it was for the kids to find Charlie passed out in a hotel room. The same Lisa Rinna that didn’t believe Denise or give her space when it came to the allegations from [████] last season. You know who she cared about, Tiago, the dog. I love dogs but this is straight up deflection. Burn victims, widows and orphans! Widows and orphans! None of that mean matters as long as Erika has Tiago, her new Range Rover and a $7000/m rental property with two rooms for clothes and shoes.

Erika meets with her assistant and creative director at her new house. She provides us with some new information that just has me puzzled. According to her, she was late to dinner one night with Tom and his friends. She apologised for being late due to traffic, to which one of the men present said that if she was married to a better man then traffic wouldn’t be a problem. Tom’s alleged response, “well if you think you can afford her, you can have her.” Here’s the thing, it is believable that Tom could’ve said that but why didn’t she leave then? She says it’s nice to have cars, clothing, jewelry but at what human cost? That’s a good question Erika. Clearly, the perks of being Mrs. Erika Girardi by day and Erika Jayne by night were the human cost. Spare me!

Garcelle meets with a relationship coach to help her find a new guy since things didn’t work out with Michael. She realises that she’s scared of letting anyone take care of her because she’s always had to that on her own. I feel for her because it must be tough, wanting to have someone to love and for them to love you back, but can’t find them. Kyle decides to drop her fake beef with Dorit. She follows Sutton to get a mammogram, her first, and tells her that Crystal‘s been talking about her to the other women. She’s going around changing the story of what happened between her and Sutton to anyone who’ll listen. This is making Crystal look like a mean girl. Crystal hosts a dumpling making event at her home that is attended by all the cast. She and Sutton speak, AGAIN, and they decide to address the group together to put their issues to bed. I’m over it at this point but sadly, we have 16 more episodes to go. Since Mrs. Erika Girardi already did what she had to do at the top of this episode, Erika Jayne came to play and what do you know, she wore very short outfit, with no panties…AGAIN.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Wednesdays at 8pm on BravoTv.

CHATTERBOX KEIRN