Ladies Of London Recap: Tantrums And Titles

Ladies Of London Recap: Tantrums And Titles

Ladies of London continues its tour of Mapperton this week – on land, on sea, on the precarious tip of Julie Montagu’s metaphorical headstand – and proceeds to devolve into a hotter mess, unfortunately. For Caroline Stanbury, who stormed out of Julie’s dinner last week after having enough of Adela King’s confrontations, the trip also marks a turning point in her relationship with this group of women – especially with former allies, Adela and Sophie Stanbury.

We pick up just after Caroline has run out to Luke’s waiting car. Juliet Angus, of course, follows her out – hoping to…what? Live-trap her on the front lawn? But Caroline Fleming couldn’t care less! She’s just interested in eating, and eating is what the Baroness shall do! Juliet decides she’ll grandstand with Caroline, so she’s leaving too. Even Julie coming out to extend an olive branch doesn’t work. Caroline is leaving, and that’s that. She sees Adela and Sophie as traitors, with only Juliet in her corner at this point. Julie is just impressed with herself for not bawling uncontrollably. Progress!

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As a new day dawns on Mapperton, Julie catches up with Marissa Hermer via phone, who’s home with baby Sadie. Though her daughter’s health scare is over, Marissa is exhausted. Also exhausted is Caroline S, who wakes up at her seaside hotel breathing a sigh of relief that she refused today’s fishing trip. Everyone else has agreed to go, and Sophie even pops by Caroline’s room to coax her out of bed. But Caroline is unmoved, accusing Sophie of disloyalty again. Sophie chalks up Caroline’s salty attitude to the major upheavals in her life this year – with both career and family. Interestingly, Sophie still sees herself as bearing no guilt in this scenario.

But Caroline feels like she’s backed Sophie blindly through her divorce with Caroline’s brother, so she expected the same blind loyalty in return. The fact that Adela is piling on lately also makes Caroline feel blindsided. These chicks have known Julie for all of – what? – a few months? But her relationships with Sophie and Adela have been years in the making. Caroline’s boorish behavior (especially her extreme lateness to events) notwithstanding, she’s got a valid point. “I just pray for you to leave me alone,” Caroline tells Sophie before going back to bed.

As the rest of the group await their fishing vessel’s arrival, Adela defends her actions. She sees herself as a true friend because she’s “honest” with Caroline S. Juliet barks back that Adela is just a “nasty woman” who needs to keep her trap shut. Eeeek! Julie, not wanting to get the bad edit involved, slinks off before more mud is slung.

Back in London, Marissa prepares to head to the Hamptons to celebrate Matt’s mother’s 80th birthday. She and Matt both have family homes there, so that’s where all of the big events happen for them. Sadie is not old enough to travel yet, so they’ll be leaving her home with the nanny. They will be taking one son, Max, along so he gets a trip alone with his parents – something Marissa says she promises each of her children. Cue the judgmental gossip about this choice in 3…2…1…

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But forget the Hamptons, for now we must fish! Decked out in their casual-chic finery, the ladies take a tour of the gorgeous Dorset coastline – which is entirely breathtaking. All but Adela get into the fishing itself, enjoying the relaxing spirit of the day. Until Julie catches a “butt ugly shark with big a$$ lips,” which she says reminds her of Caroline S. Uh, Julie, girlfriend: Back slooooowly away from casting stones at other women’s looks. It’s not a good look on you.

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With only Luke as her eternal sidekick, Caroline S decides to walk the coastline to debrief about the night before. She admits that Sophie turning on her comes as a shock. She and her sister in law have always had each other’s backs, and even now, Caroline takes Sophie’s side against her own brother’s most times. Now, she’s questioning her loyalties. Maybe her brother deserves some backing? “Honestly, Dubai can’t happen soon enough,” sighs Caroline, who wishes aloud she were a gay man. That’s the role she’s truly suited for!

On the boat, Caroline F celebrates the perfect catch she caught with her perfect hands just before Julie attempts to make a big speech about how important last night’s LADY OF THE MANOR dinner was. But no sooner does she start her ramblings, than Caroline jumps in to take over. She thinks it’s abhorrent that Julie was not given the love and respect she deserves from her so-called “friends!” There are not enough eye rolls in Juliet’s fishing bag to react appropriately, so instead she apologizes to Julie for leaving with Caroline S. Julie says she doesn’t fault Juliet, as she knows very well what it feels like for nobody to have your back.

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At a seaside lunch later, the group wonders if Caroline S will finally join them? But she’s not picking up on her cell, so magic 8 ball says: Outlook Poor. But wait! Caroline is being driven somewhere by Luke at the moment – is she heading back into the fray after all? As Caroline F eats her VERY FIRST fish and chips lunch EVER (seriously?!), Caroline S actually does show up. And is greeted by crickets. Then champagne.

Sophie says that she and Adela love her, but Caroline S needs to roll up her sleeves and get into the muck sometimes. Juliet, who has now apparently become Caroline’s mouthpiece, defends that Caroline gets in the muck all of the time! So there! Harrrrumph. (What was that about?) After Sophie marches off to have a smoke, Adela admits she feels sorry for Sophie, who seems afraid of Caroline. For her part, Adela is clearly NOT.

Julie asks Caroline for a private conversation next, after interviewing that she sees Caroline’s behavior all stemming from jealousy over her title. “There’s one thing about being Queen Bee in this country. There’s another thing being Queen Bee with a TITLE. And Caroline doesn’t have one. That intimidates her,” claims delusional Julie. As they sit on the beach, Julie tells Caroline that she’s just trying to live this new Lady of the Manor lifestyle, and oh – the crown is heavy! Whah! But Caroline was triggered by Lady Julie’s house rules, which rubbed her the wrong way from the get-go.

Julie and Caroline do agree that there are outside issues at play, including Caroline’s tough year and Julie’s manic stress. They also admit that they are very, very different women who may or may not ever be good friends. Despite what happened the night before, they agree to put it behind them, which is refreshing to see among any reality TV cast mates – friends or not.

Before the Mapperton weekend ends, Julie passes out some gift shop reject bags to each woman, hoping to commemorate their weekend together…by forcing them to promote Mapperton via tote bag whilst strolling around back in the city? Caroline S decides to take a glass of wine to go as well to fortify her for the journey ahead – which will likely include all-out brawls with Sophie and Adela back in London. #SolidPlan

Back to their respective lives of yoga and cats and kids, the ladies try to decompress. Which for Caroline F means breathing into the center of her heart – or some such crazy sh*t – with Juliet and Kim at a yoga session. Discussing the Mapperton fallout again, Juliet comes to the realization that no one really cares about Caroline S’ feelings but her. Yeah, looks that way.

Speaking of feelings, the ladies have a lot of them rising up when they hear that Marissa has left for New York – without baby Sadie! But no one says a word. Silently judging is their tactic for now.

At Julie’s house, there’s a shocking new presence in her kitchen: LUKE! (Has he literally ever been filmed in their London home before? I thought his collar buzzed when he strayed too far from the grounds…) After hearing that her gift shop dreams may be dashed, she fills him in on the dinner she hosted. And its aftermath. Luke congratulates his wife on being a gracious host (self titled), despite the drama. And the uneaten puddings, which Joe the cook was kinda pissed no one ate!

Across town, Sophie is setting up for her son, Finn’s, third birthday party. She’s got balloons! She’s got entertainment! She’s got sugar! What she does NOT have is peace with her family, namely with Caroline S, nor soon-to-be-ex-hubby, Alex. Sophie also feels like somewhat of a disappointment to her parents, who have stayed married for decades. But she can’t handle Alex’s immaturity anymore, which she sees manifested as bad parenting.

Caroline S is a no-show at the party. So are her children. Adela, who did show up at the party, is shocked at this news! Sophie is devastated that Caroline would withhold her children from celebrating with Finn because of their adult issues. Adela calls the behavior our for what it is: “I think it’s disgusting.”

Ironically, Caroline’s non-presence at the party places her at the very center of it, as everyone seems to have her name on their lips. In the end, the family all basically say the same thing: It will work itself out. But Sophie seems so utterly crushed by Caroline’s latest move that she’s pretty much done with her for good. “I’m at the point that I just want out,” she admits. And, given the state of their current fractured relationship, she likely means it.

TELL US: WILL SOPHIE AND CAROLINE EVER BE ABLE TO REPAIR THEIR RELATIONSHIP? IS CAROLINE JEALOUS OF JULIE’S TITLE? WAS MARISSA’S CHOICE TO LEAVE SADIE BEHIND QUESTIONABLE? 

Photo Credit: Bravo

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