The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Reunion Part 1 Recap

Part 1 of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills reunion aired last night as the BH ladies attempted to settle the score on some unresolved issues.

The reunion begins with Andy Cohen greeting and complimenting the ladies, you know, easing them in for the verbal smackdown that is about to ensue! The first question is about plastic surgery and Lisa reveals she’s only had botox and fillers, while we learn that Paul is not Adrienne‘s plastic surgeon. Kyle then comes close to guessing the price of a gallon of milk, while Taylor doesn’t believe 60k is too much for a kid’s birthday party though Lisa thinks it’s “bloody ridiculous.”

The topic turns to the ladies ginormous mansions and we find out Lisa‘s home is actually 17,000 sq ft and not the 15,480 posted on her home listing. Lisa reveals she now wants to downsize and Andy tries to be messy wants to know what Lisa would consider a cozy home. At this point I’m thinking don’t take the bait Lisa, don’t give a figure, don’t do it! Lisa is smart and doesn’t take the bait, simply stating a cozy home is one in which she doesn’t have to page her husband. Good answer as there was really no right answer for a question like that.

CLICK THE CONTINUE READING BUTTON TO READ THE REST OF THE RECAP –

It is now Camille‘s turn in the hot seat. Camille states again that Kelsey was the one who first complained about the size of their NYC apartment and that Kelsey was the one who urged her to do the show so he could have more leeway in banging his mistress. Andy brings up the tabloid magazine aka Life & Style that labeled Camille the most hated housewife. And in watching this segment, I discovered a major flaw in Bravo’s decision to have the ladies film reunion show weeks before the season actually ends. Though the housewives get to see all the remaining episodes, the flaw is that viewer response & feedback is not a factor when it comes to the last few episodes of the season, and the questions asked about them. I highly doubt Andy will ask Kim why she never defended Kim though that’s one of the top questions fans of the show are asking at this moment.

At the time this reunion show was filmed, Camille was arguably the most hated housewife ever. Fast forward to yesterday and she’s not even the most hated housewife on her franchise anymore, let alone all time. Camille reveals she was “hurt” and “devastated” to read the article. She claims viewers aren’t getting to see the real her, but only glimpses. Andy reads a list of words that are used to describe Camille though those words could be easily used to describe some of her other castmates as well. But before Camille can even finish defending herself, Taylor, who might or might not be a desperate social climber who kisses up to the rich, quickly steps in to defend the rich lady and then makes a funny when she states “all the ladies on the show are all here for each other,” with the exception of Kim of course. Guess all Kim is missing is a $50 mil divorce fortune to get Taylor on her team.

Camille then claims people hate her because of their love for Kelsey, and the lovable characters he has played. I guess I missed the memo on Kelsey being America’s sweetheart. On the surrogate issue, Camille claims it wasn’t to keep her figure stating she and Kelsey had tried the natural way to no avail. And no, she doesn’t subscribe to a word of the day calendar because she was an English major in college. And since the subject of substance abuse is the hot topic of the moment, I have to wonder if Camille is on something? Uppers? Downers? She always seems a bit loopy and too mellow. Not just on the reunion show, as I’ve wondered about this during the season as well. Perhaps that’s just how she is.

The subject of the morally corrupt Faye Resnick is brought up and Andy wants to know why Camille called her that. By the way, just found out yesterday from the comments section that Faye wrote a tell all about her deceased friend Nicole Simpson in which she revealed a lot of secrets about Nicole. While her actions of posing in Playboy might not be questionable, writing a tell all definitely is. Interesting that she is Kyle‘s BFF. Not to defend Camille at all but was the tell-all book part of what she was referring to in her comments about Faye?

Camille tries to use an incident that happened in the limo AFTER the dinner from hell to excuse her comments about Faye. Camille reveals she found out the girls, aka all those who road in the limo with the exception of Kim who was forced to ride alone, were pointing and laughing at her nude photos from her soft-core porn days. Camille blames her porn past on being in her early 20s though her second and last porn movie came out in 1996 while she was 27-years-old. And this is why I take most of Camille’s comments with a grain of salt.

Kyle admits they did look at the nude photos in the limo. And I wonder how this information got back to Camille? Me thinks this has all the fingerprints of Loose Fish Lips!

Next we see a montage of Kelsey and Camille. “I think it’s time for Camille to get a little attention,” states Kelsey in one of the clips. And I can’t help but snicker at all the undertones of that comment though I think Kelsey might have been genuine when he said it. Camille confirms she didn’t sign a prenup and Andy asks her about the report stating Kelsey had no plans of getting his new fiance to sign a prenup as well. “No, he won’t need one cause he won’t have any money left,” says Lisa. When it comes to a second season, Camille answers “maybe.”

It’s now time to revisit the Taylor and Kim dilemma. And this segment seemed to hit a nerve with many fans of the show. Following their clip piece, Taylor tries to laugh it off but Kim makes a great point, when she points out Taylor’s hypocritical stance, you know, the one which has her doing charity work against domestic violence and then threatening to pull some Oklahoma on people’s asses in back alleys.

Taylor tries to deflect right away by claiming it was “kind of a joke” and that she doesn’t appreciate Kim bringing her charity into it. Kim doesn’t back down. “You were quick to go there,” states Kim as Taylor continues to speak in an ever condescending manner. And right on cue, Andy reads a viewer question which pretty much echoed Kim’s sentiments. Taylor now claims she just wanted to teach Kim some manners. Kim continues to talk, and then comes the most talked about moment of the reunion show, as Taylor under her breath, turns to Kim’s sister to get permission to trash Kim on national television. As I stated on twitter last night, it’s extremely telling and a bit sad that Taylor even felt comfortable enough to utter these words to Kyle.

“Should we talk about her state of mind at that table? Because she’s about to take me there,” states Taylor to Kyle, who once again doesn’t scold Taylor, doesn’t defend her sister, or even mumble a simple ‘stop’ or ‘don’t.’ Andy hears the mumbling and Taylor then repeats her comments. “Well should we talk about everybody’s frame of mind when we were sitting there?” is Kim’s excellent comeback. And for those who haven’t seen this yet, a youtube video of a very drunk Taylor, who had to be held up by Kyle, made its rounds this week.

“Well tread softly,” is Taylor’s reply. You know, as in, ‘you better watch it Kim or I’m going to tell the world what a crazy drunk you are just like Kyle did on the finale show.’ And this part of the reunion show just made me livid and sad at the same time. I mean is this disgusting vile scumbag being serious? So Kim’s alcoholism is now something to use to threaten her and shut her up when she’s making perfect sense? Wow, very shameful actions and words by Taylor and this wouldn’t be the only time in the reunion she would threaten to reveal Kim’s issues or allude to them when she didn’t need to.

In watching this yesterday, I had an “ah ah” moment. When it comes to Taylor‘s treatment of Kim, she is simply a Kyle jr or a Kyle mini-me. Taylor is a follower and follows Kyle’s lead when it comes to how she treats and talks to Kim. Think about it. Plus I think the only reason Kyle didn’t jump in during the reunion show to back up Taylor, similar to the other three times she backed up Taylor in all her arguments with Kim this season, is because of the backlash she has been receiving. Yes, Kyle was very aware of the backlash of some fans of the show who thought she treated Kim badly. How do I know this? She has blogged about this numerous times over the season. So I’m not buying that Kyle’s silence means anything other than damage control.

Andy asks Taylor what she means, and Taylor states that conversation will be reserved for later with a smirk of course. What an animal. I still can’t believe how she just kept taunting Kim with that drinking issue and holding it over her head. I can only imagine the conversations Kyle and her good friend Taylor have about Kim when the cameras are not around. Sickening and even more sickening that moments later, Kyle is being chummy with Taylor. Kyle’s silence to me reeked of letting Taylor fight her battles and letting Taylor say the things she wanted to say but couldn’t because of the backlash. As I have said, I truly believe Kyle has some deep rooted hatred, resentment and jealousy towards Kim. Someone said it best a while back when they stated that even Kim’s breathing angers Kyle.

The topic of Kim vs Taylor continues and Kim pulls Taylor’s card, so accurately too I might add, when she states Taylor is like a chameleon when it comes to her friendships with the ladies aka Taylor kisses up to each of them and tells each of them what they want to hear. Taylor defends herself and once again does some emotional blackmail stating she’s very protective of everyone even Kim, aka Kim’s alcoholism. What a sick individual, and once again Kyle doesn’t defend her sister.

It’s Lisa’s turn in the hot seat and a reader calls her out on something I also called her out on when the episode aired, which is the comments she made in the DMV. Lisa denies being an elitist, citing Andy Cohen as one of her poor friends as a joke. Another issue is Lisa’s jealousy over Kyle & Taylor’s friendship. Lisa tries to deny being a jelly bean, though she obviously was and might still be. This leads to a funny moment as Kyle gets chummy with the one who treats her sister like garbage, Camille gets chummy with Lisa, and Adrienne & Kim get chummy as well.

The issue of Kyle vs Camille is revisited. Camille still believes Kyle said to her something along the lines of ‘Why would anyone be interested in you without Kelsey.’ The story has now changed a bit as Camille believes Kyle wanted to know why they would want to film her in Hawaii without Kelsey. Kyle interrupts Camille and denies making that comment amongst other comments. Camille, sounding very rehearsed, accuses Kyle of being a bully and proclaims she wants to take back her power. However, I did learn something new in this scene, which is that Camille was actually being honest when she stated she did not want to do this show, but Kelsey talked her into it.

Kyle also confirms what I already knew, which is that she was the first housewife Bravo approached about doing the show, and the one who recommended other ladies, including Kim, to be on the show. Camille blames Kyle for everyone in America thinking she is delusional and umm, I think Camille has herself to thank for that one. The NYC incident is once again brought up as well as Taylor’s part in it. Andy does a good job at letting Taylor know she did indeed stir up the pot despite her denials.

A viewer question asks why Kim didn’t come to Kyle‘s defense in NYC if Kyle was indeed telling the truth. Kim actually makes a good point when she states all the ladies are Kyle’s friends and she did not want to get involved. Though I wonder if the real reason Kim didn’t speak up is because she a) heard Kyle say those words or something similar, or b) wasn’t certain Kyle didn’t say those words. I wondered about this as well when the episode aired.

While Kyle’s recent actions doesn’t really change my stance on Camille, I mean she did say some pretty awful things this season, I do have to go back to revisit my feelings on certain things. During the NYC argument, I recall thinking back then that Kyle was quick to get angry and I also remember stating in the blog back then that it wasn’t smart of her to have that kind of altercation with a client of her husband’s.

I look back to the episode of Camille “firing” Kyle’s husband Mauricio because of their arguments and I blogged that week, revealing how vile I thought this action by Camille was. Fast forward to the finale episode and what does Kyle do? The same exact thing. She threatens Kim’s livelihood and promises that she and Mauricio will stop helping Kim out financially due to their “argument.” See the similarity? And just like Camille spoke for her husband, the breadwinner, Kyle also spoke for her husband, the breadwinner. Kudos to all those who pointed this out last week. Who knew Kyle and Camille had so much in common?

To close the show, Andy asks Camille if she thinks Kyle is jealous of her. After spending the entire season screaming hell yeah to anyone who would listen, Camille has had a change of heart as she now believes Kyle isn’t a jelly bean. Below is the exchange that follows –

Kyle: “Well now you say that after you’ve realized that everyone has laughed at you saying that for the whole season.”

Camille: “Ouch, that’s harsh.”

Kyle: “I’m sorry, you’re the one who said all season that I was. Now that the blogs have all said how could she say that.”

Camille: “That was so catty.”

Kyle: “Yes it was catty. You’re right. That was.”

And Bravo ends the first part of the reunion on that note. Coincidence? I think not. Must say one must know how to lose gracefully and win gracefully. Very interesting that Kyle mentioned the “blogs” as I’m sure she’s about to find out karma is a bitch, a bigger one than she is.

I stated last week that I believe part of Kyle’s mistreatment of Kim stems from her feelings towards their mother, meaning she is taking out all the anger she might have towards their deceased mom on Kim. I have read this week that their mother was an alcoholic which also makes me wonder if Kyle is taking out her bad feelings about that issue on Kim as well.

Following TMZ’s story today about Kim‘s airport incident, it does make me believe she more than likely has a substance abuse problem, and no, this doesn’t change my stance on Kyle at all. That video was shot last July, and I absolutely believe it would have never seen the light of day had Kyle not outed Kim. What really angers me about Kyle’s actions is that Kim was not to blame at all for the events that happened that night. Kim wanted to leave the party, but Kyle instructed others not to let her go home. Why not just let her leave? I mean Kyle reacted as if Kim was trying to drive drunk or something. A lot of people believe Kyle rushed to the limo to prevent Kim from saying certain things on camera, though it’s rather ironic how that worked out. I’m not sure the exact reason Kyle prevented Kim from leaving but I don’t believe for one second, that she was looking out for Kim at all. Whatever the reason, it was Kyle looking out for her own good.

What really convinced me of just how cruel Kyle is was this week’s UsWeekly article. There’s no chance in this world that the quotes in that article did not come from Kyle, or someone very close to her trying to do damage control. It’s interesting that all of a sudden, family sources are talking to the press bashing Kim. Though none of these “family sources” had anything to say to the media when notorious cokehead Paris Hilton was getting caught with coke or following her arrest for cocaine possession just last year. None of the articles I read about Paris at the time had any quotes from “family sources.” I guess these “family sources” only have something to gain by talking to the media about Kim.

Something I’ve learned this week is that public perception or being liked by the public rather is extremely important to Kyle a la Jill Zarin. I think Kyle’s done more to try to repair her image this past week alone than Camille has done all season long.

And no, I don’t think Kim is an angel who has never done any wrong. None of us are. I’m sure she has her monsters too and her bad moments. However my blogs are based on this season of the show, which took 5 months of filming, and what happens in the press during the show’s airing. I’m not sure what some Kyle fans want me to do, bash Kim for berating Kyle all season long when she didn’t? For bad behavior that was never shown by Bravo? I’m not sure. When I thought she was drunk on the finale episode, I called her out on that. When it comes to my recaps, I don’t play favorites. I have poked fun at Kim a lot at the beginning of the season when I thought she was on the strange side, and I was honest in my recaps, when I stated she grew on me as the season went along. In fact, I even liked Kyle as the season went along, maybe more than Kim, and thought despite her mean treatment of Kim sometimes, she was a good person. I excused her actions as just being that of a sister who’s tired of taking care of Kim, though as I see it now, she never really took care of Kim on the show nor did she ever defend Kim. Even after the finale episode, I started to feel bad for Kyle but I must say that UsWeekly article really opened my eyes.

Kyle has said in numerous press interviews that editing is very accurate (when Camille was trying to blame editing for how she came across), so I can only guess that her editing is accurate as well, and that what Bravo has shown us this season is a good indicator of what was really going on. Taylor‘s party is the first and only time this season Kim appeared drunk to me. At the end of the day, it takes a special kind of a-hole to say what Kyle said about Kim on national television. And yes, Kim did make a comment about Kyle allegedly stealing her house but that comment was made after Kyle had made a number of cruel comments to her such as repeatedly calling her insane and insinuating she played a role in sending their mother to her early grave. It’s interesting that while we all watch the same things, some of us see things differently. Personally, I think Kyle is either a mean drunk or in dire need of serious anger management/therapy. Oddly enough, from the episodes of A&E’s Intervention that I have seen, I always thought it was the drunks who treated others terribly, blurted out hurtful secrets and tried to get violent with others.

Moving on to next week, as it looks like Bravo saved the best for part 2 of the reunion which looks pretty dramatic, plus we will finally get to see Kim answer the drinking questions.

TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RECAP? PARTS YOU AGREE WITH AND/OR DISAGREE WITH? WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PART 1 OF THE REUNION? HAVE THE RECENT WEEKS CHANGED YOUR OPINION ON THE KYLE VS CAMILLE DRAMA?

UPDATE – According to Bravo, part 2 of the reunion will air Tuesday, Feb 1.

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