On last night’s Little Women LA, all of the ladies (plus a dude or two) go camping in the most non-luxury tents ever rented, a few brave souls go zip lining, and Briana Mason gets a surprise visit. In an honest moment of remorse, Todd Gibel apologizes to Terra Jole for his bad behavior of past weeks, which doesn’t sit well with Christy McGinty. But the real drama happens when Lila reveals her true colors during her last night in LA. And these colors cannot be found in the standard Crayola Crayon Box, because they are cray-zee.
Todd and Christy are packing for their trip to Catalina Island, sponsored by Terra and Joe Gnoffo. They have reservations about being stranded on an island with the same couple who instigated a huge fight last time they were all together. To make matters weirder, Lila (Joe’s ex) has been invited as well.
As Terra and Joe pack, Joe suddenly says he can’t go because he’s got a job – a medical commercial of some kind. Joe’s glad he doesn’t have to see Lila, but Terra is not looking forward to hanging with her all weekend. So, why invite her then? Terra says she felt forced to include her. Joe says Lila is psycho and Terra should sleep with one eye open. You’ve been warned, girl!
Speaking of Lila, she’s packing everything she owns – including a vibrator – in a carry on while Briana, Todd, and Christy come to pick her up. She says she needs to get away, but isn’t looking forward to spending time with Terra. So, the feeling is mutual. This is not news to anyone.
The group assembles to board the boat over to Catalina Island. Terra tells them that Joe is not coming and Todd calls him a coward – sort of under his breath, but not really. Terra chooses not to take the bait (this time) and ignores it, but the tone has been set, people! Here we go…The champagne and apple cider is broken out, then Terra breaks the terrible news to everyone that they’ll be camping in tents this weekend. Reactions range from “no thanks” to “OH HELL NO!” But the group is trapped on a boat, so they have no real choice at this point.
Golf carts pick them up to ferry them to the “hellhole,” as Elena Gant describes it, that they’ll be living in for the next 3 days. The tents look like army barracks with cots, are perched atop dirt mounds, and provide no ocean view. Good times! The ladies all lug their suitcases inside while Terra cackles that she knows they would have packed lighter had they known what was in store for them. Terra also wants Traci Harrison to take “that perma-grimace off her face and suck it up!” #littlepeopledrillsergeant #dramastarter
The gang gets dinner started after starting a fire with charcoal, hairspray, potato chips, and a lighter. Who knew? Tonya and Elena pop open some wine and newly sober Lila feels tempted/threatened by the alcohol that’s flowing. Christy, who’s been sober 5 years, takes Lila aside to encourage her through the early raw days of sobriety. Lila admits that drinking is tempting, but she’s better off without it. Then Christy, who can be so good in these brief moments, moves immediately to sh*t-stirring again! She asks Lila if she dated Joe at the same time Terra was dating him, and Lila denies it. Then Christy asks if the text Lila sent Joe 2 months ago (according to Terra) was a drunk text – because Lila claims she never sent it. Lila denies that she texted him recently and asks Christy if she trusts her, which Christy affirms. My spidey sense tells me that Lila is not necessarily the most stable or trustworthy person on this island, but then again, Christy’s got a D- report card in that area too. So maybe they’ll be a good team?
Back at dinner, Elena is not happy about the camping experience at ALL, but she sucks it up after Terra basically yells her into submission. Preston missed the evening boat over, so he won’t be joining the group until morning. Traci, also without her hubby, is trying to earn her Brownie Badge in Extreme Sulking. She initially refuses to join the group at the campfire after dinner, but eventually drags her sad-sacky self over to sulk in their presence after sulking on her own for awhile. Terra tells the group they’re going zip lining tomorrow and Traci refuses outright to go. She’s not into “extreme sports,” she says. After calling her a Debbie Downer and selfish, Traci walks away to go sulk on her own again. Sulking mission accomplished!
The ladies – and Todd – get ready for zip lining the next morning by gluing on their eyelashes and brushing out their weaves. Briana laments the fact that her new boyfriend Matt isn’t with her, while Lila laments not having an electrical outlet nearby to plug in her vibrator. Seconds after Briana’s boo-hooing ends though, who should show up but the Internet Boyfriend in the flesh? Matt! Christy invited him on the sly to surprise Briana and so that the rest of the group can check him out. Preston arrives with Matt also, so Todd is now aloud to exit the tent in safety. Maybe.
At zip lining there are varying levels of panic and excitement about strapping up. Todd weighs 250 lbs and the weight limit is 240, so he stays behind. Terra is advised not to go either because she is pregnant. So, the woman who orchestrated this entire experience is not even able to participate. Traci volunteers to try the practice zip line out, which is just a few feet off of the ground. It goes alright, so she agrees to do the real deal. Tonya shrugs and says, “New day, new challenge.” But when Briana takes off down the real zip line first and basically does an accidental upside-down/backflip landing at the end, everyone looks worried. Traci backs out immediately, but Christy, Elena, Lila, and Tonya all make it across.
On the walk back to camp, Todd sincerely apologizes to Terra about his outburst at the party. He says his mom wouldn’t be proud of him and that as a man, he must take responsibility for his behavior. Terra doesn’t fully accept his apology, feeling like Todd has been attacking her specifically for awhile now. She questions his sincerity, but reluctantly agrees to put it behind her and try to be friends.
Todd tells Christy later that he apologized and Christy takes offense that Terra didn’t take ownership of her own actions. While Christy vents in one tent, Terra and Tonya are listening to her outburst from the tent next door. Todd encourages Christy to move on, but girlfriend is not ready to yet.
Enough camping! The group heads out to a nice dinner in town, minus Preston who’s got to go back to the mainland for work. At dinner, Lila expresses what a great time she’s had on her trip to LA. Tonight is her last night with the group. Christy tells everyone that Todd and she are looking into adoption and IVF to have another child. Traci admits she’s looking into IVF too (after Elena calls her out), then interviews that Christy is trying to one-up her yet again by doing IVF now. Uh, okay. This group of women cannot seem to manage their own life choices without accusing each other of constant (and usually imagined) interference. Boundaries, ladies! Get some. They’re wonderful.
Not one to let the dinner go without conflict, Terra brings up the fact that she heard Christy bitching about her in the tents earlier. Christy says that Terra always has a “but” when she’s “accepting” an apology. Christy interviews that she and Terra will always be frenemies because they’re too much alike. Word. Lila inserts herself in the conversation and things escalate quickly with her, Tonya, and Elena. Tonya goes from zero to ten as Lila snarks, “Oh, kill me. Kill me.” Huh? Lila stands up to lean in toward Tonya, but Tonya is getting so heated that Traci and Terra are now physically restraining her so she doesn’t leap across the table and pluck Lila’s head right off her body. Tonya tells Lila, “I’ll be glad when your monkey ass goes home to the East Coast!” She calls her a fake and a phony and accuses her of just coming out here to try to mess with Joe and Terra. Lila claps & tells Terra sarcastically that she’s “got the prize” (Joe – ick).
Lila then tells Terra that she basically stole Joe from her which sets Terra off, so she accuses Lila of being a drunk with big hips. Lila calls Terra a bully and mocks Tonya’s voice. Briana is freaked out that Matt is again bearing witness to all of this craziness, but homeboy signed up for this sooooo…strap in, Matt! No refunds on this ride. Tonya follows Lila out to the parking lot as everyone flees the dinner table. She gets up in Lila’s face, finger pointing and all, while Lila hurls more insults at her. Christy intervenes, taking Lila away and interviewing again that Terra and Tonya are nothing but bullies. Argh! Again with the “bully” word!? Let’s assign more accurate labels to this behavior: insecure, unhinged, jealous, selfish, immature. They’ve all got a big old bag of some o’ dat. But for women who have likely been bullied throughout so much of their lives at the hands of truly nasty people, one can only hope they stop calling each other bullies. Or better yet, that they start acting like actual grownups. But for now, Terra just feels vindicated that everyone got to see the crazy side of Lila that she always knew was there.
TELL US – LILA SHOULDN’T HAVE COME ALONG, RIGHT?
Recap Author: Erin M.
Photo Credit: Lifetime
