Last week, Bronwyn and Todd’s anniversary weekend in Palm Springs was less so about Todd and Bronwyn and more about Bronwyn’s own growing issues with Lisa and the unevenness of their friendship. With a huge fight culminating in Todd’s ultimatum to Lisa and John to either stop starting shit or leave, I feared Lisa and John would actually get on a plane and go. Of course, they ended up staying because what would the actual point of a trip episode be without Heather, Mary, and Lisa? There’s only so much Whitney ass-kissing one can handle watching.
This week, I felt a lot more generosity toward Bronwyn, who, despite having a tough and controlling exterior, seems to just want to maintain her friendship with Lisa. Also, the more we see of her marriage, the more I can’t help but get Erika and Tom Girardi vibes. Bronwyn is still new enough to this franchise to feel turned around by the level of infighting this friend group has and genuinely may want to solve it. Do I think she is still a bit overrated and wrong for how she dealt with Heather? Yes, but I believe she’s having as good a first season as anyone on this show could have.
Most Housewives marriages are weird, but immediately following Todd scolding Lisa for causing trouble, John proves he’s a wife guy through and through. He is on Lisa’s side no matter what, but he also truly wants her to solve her problems with her friends. I like that he is not trying to tame Lisa but supports her in a way that makes sense to their weirdo relationship. What can I say, I’m a sucker for any pairing that consists of a loud woman and a passive and mild-mannered guy.
Bronwyn and Lisa’s friendship precedes Bronwyn being on this show, and you can tell that is taken into account with how much Lisa and John believe this entire beef can be resolved. It must be said again: They cannot leave this trip! It would be bad for the show! I do not know if we see enough genuine concern with smoothing things over from Todd, who comes off as incredibly arrogant throughout this entire episode.
Before diving deeper into Lisa and Bronwyn, I think Todd’s demeanor explains a lot of Bronwyn’s behavior. Not only is she managing the women on this trip, but Todd’s constant complaints and attitude toward the level of drama are certainly not doing anything to lighten the mood. I’m starting to think that Bronwyn’s trying too hard to control how everyone’s feeling on this trip is more for Todd’s happiness than her own. She’s expressed in previous episodes that his way of showing love and affection is different than hers (as in, he is aggressively protective), which could be the case. But there’s not much he’s doing to cultivate a better vibe outside of being a bit of a wet blanket toward them all.
Todd thinks he is really above it all. I get he’s much older than these men and, therefore, more crotchety. But he is a TERRIBLE sport, even in comparison to some of the other elderly husbands we’ve seen in the extended Housewives universe. For all of Tom Girardi’s philandering and scamming ways, he still wasn’t an asshole to everyone. He was charming! So far, the Todd we’ve seen has not been very generous emotionally to either Bronwyn or any of the people he invited on this trip. In fact, outside of seeming protective of Bronwyn, I don’t think we’ve seen any moments of him not being annoyed with everyone and everything. I understand any general annoyance toward these people, but again, it really triggers something in me when the men on these shows act like they are not active participants. Nobody has a gun to your head forcing you to be on THE REAL HOUSEWIVES! You’re not outside of this ecosystem; you are a character in it!
Yes, the other husbands have much more experience with how this group functions and what it’s like to be on TV, but a Meredith confessional nailed the feeling. There’s tension and an unusual engagement between Todd and Bronwyn. For example, while Bronwyn is making a toast about their 15 years together, Todd’s arms are folded and he shows zero emotion, only making jokes about his AmEx. Bronwyn spent earlier episodes defending her deep and pure love for Todd, but I’m sorry — you are not going to beat the marriage-of-convenience allegations.
Now, back to Lisa and Bronwyn. Lisa really is next-level bad at coherently explaining her point of view on a good day, but because she is so obsessed with being wronged by Whitney, it always somehow goes back to that. Here’s the thing: Lisa made good point at lunch. In this scenario, it is about how two different people perceive a conflict. Bronwyn and Heather’s fight isn’t about accusations, it’s about how they both perceive each other’s actions. Whitney did accuse Lisa of something pretty harsh and has yet to provide any real proof of any of it. The funniest thing about what’s going on with Whitney and Lisa is that Whitney has not yet outright denied that her jewelry is from Alibaba. And it’s pretty undeniable that her jewelry looks exactly like Alibaba’s jewelry.
I was relieved that the anniversary party wasn’t a sad affair with just the couples from the show, but whenever I see these dinners where there’s another side of the table with people who are not on-camera, I wish I could be sitting with them. I would love nothing more than just to be around while the show people fight.
Another wish of mine? When Angie decided they all play a game that it would have meant something a bit more comical happening. Usually, “Let’s play a game” during a Housewives dinner feels like watching their version of Saw, but this one was a total snoozefest. Sadly, this episode, in general, did not bring any real laughs. I know they tried to with the volleyball montage, but any run of episodes that are this husband-centric is never fun enough. What I love most about these women is that when they are provided enough space to really let loose, they do! Instead, this entire episode felt like the real-life version of being around too many couples — a boring dynamic. At least even Whitney and Lisa got bored enough of this Alibaba thing for them and their husbands to move on for the time being.
After the lightness of the previous night, the final conversation between Bronwyn and Lisa explained everything that was wrong between these two women. Bronwyn feels them drifting apart, and it’s basically not even about Heather at this point. I think what is not being said is that Bronwyn wants to return to their pre-filming dynamic more than anything, but now that they’re both in this group, it will never happen. She seems to just want to feel that Lisa cares about her in some deeper way, and I think a part of her doesn’t realize she’s dealing with the character Lisa Barlow and not the real Lisa Barlow, her friend of many years. At this point, I do not know if they can ever move forward.
Of course, by the time they have to leave Palm Springs, Lisa finds something else to be upset about. I do find it a bit funny to fly everyone out on the most luxurious private jet we’ve seen on this show, only to have them fly coach home. But Lisa’s reaction to this was hilarious. The flight from Palm Springs to Utah is under an hour! Even celebrities fly commercial when they have to!
I considered this week to be more of a filler episode to establish future story lines, which made it not so exciting to watch but necessary for what the mid-season trailer has shown us. Thinking about all their relationships with one another, nobody is on truly steady ground. Thank God the next trip they take will be husband-free.
Snowflakes
• The scene with Mary going to Robert Jr.’s room was BLEAK. That bedroom was disgusting. I haven’t seen Requiem for a Dream since it scarred me in high school, but it felt like a Gen-Z version. It makes me really sad for Mary, who clearly knows that something bad and probably drug-related is happening. Again, I totally understand why she would just have him at home with his “wife” rather than push him out.
• Meredith and Seth are not long for this world. He does not take anything seriously enough, and Meredith’s demands are not crazy. She just wants to spend time with her husband, while her children have more or less flown the nest! Why would he take a job that requires so much traveling when they’ve already been separated so recently?
• I miss Britani; who knows how many times she has gotten back together with Jared since these people have been away?
