Real Housewives of Orange County Season 17, Episode 16 Recap: Welcome to the Freak Show

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
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It was the group’s last day in Mexico on the last episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. The tres amigas, Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge, and Shannon Beador, were in their element. Tequila shots and dancing on tables were on the menu. But so was a gang up on Heather Dubrow

What was a fun trip of swimming with turtles and learning how to get a happy ending during a massage, ended up being over shadowed by the need to take Heather down a peg. Emily Simpson was not over Snuffleupagus-gate even though she told Heather otherwise. Shannon also confronted Heather about BravoCon. Heather informed the group it was Tamra holding the candlestick in the lounge. She was the one who was talking about the group. And Heather claimed to have the proof.

Gina and Heather’s friendship was on the line

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
(Photo by: Randy Shropshire/Bravo via Getty Images)

It was time for some back cracking as Shannon met up with Emily at her chiropractor to fix any aches and pains from the trip. But their biggest pain was Heather. Shannon wanted her to accept responsibility for the things that were said at BravoCon. Emily told Shannon that Gina Kirschenheiter was upset because of all the effort she had put into their friendship. Wasn’t Heather the one upset that Gina was MIA in their friendship at the beginning of the season?

Meanwhile, Gina was costume shopping for her upcoming party with Tamra and Jennifer Pedranti. Tamra noted she might be an evil clown, but she was an honest evil clown. Always one for the theatrics, Tamra said Heather was out to destroy her. Gina told them she texted Heather to have a conversation. If Heather didn’t admit to what happened there would be no moving forward.

Heather showed Gina’s text to her husband Terry Dubrow. Terry told her to keep an open mind but Heather was over it. She said the word loser wasn’t even in her vocabulary. Unless it was for Noella Bergener, then it’s fine. Heather shared that Gina and Emily were scared of Tamra, and were flat out ignored when they first joined the group. Terry deducted they were comfortable ditching Heather now that they were getting attention from the alpha girls. They joked it was like the movie Heathers, but it was definitely more of a Mean Girls vibe.

Heather brought the receipts

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
(Photo by: Randy Shropshire/Bravo via Getty Images)

It was another crazy night for Jenn and her family as she cut her kids hair and cooked soupy lasagne. Just stick with DoorDash. Ryan Boyajian stopped by to catch up and chat about the trip to Mexico. Tamra’s accusation that Ryan had slept with someone else for a year weighed heavy on Jenn’s mind. He told Jenn it was only one time, and technically he was single. Someone give the man a gold star. Jenn believed him, but was still worried he would decide one day to leave her and the kids. 

The moment Heather had been waiting for arrived. She met Gina for drinks and slapped down the receipts proving her innocence in the BravoCon debacle. Heather played Tamra’s podcast for Gina. Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave spilled the tea that during BravoCon, Tamra wanted to leave the table with her castmates because she didn’t want to hang out with those “losers.” It didn’t quite have the dramatic effect Heather was looking for. 

Gina shrugged her shoulders and thought it wasn’t a malicious comment by Tamra. But Heather wasn’t done. In her confessional, she said Tamra was the root cause of all the issues with her friendships. Tamra had taken a shot at her acting, talked about Shannon’s relationship, and called the group losers. Heather warned Gina not to trust Emily as well, as Emily had gone to the Tamra school of friendship. Gina encouraged Heather to hold Tamra accountable at her party. But would Gina stand up for Heather or stay silent?

Shannon was the real sh*t stirrer

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
(Photo by: Randy Shropshire/Bravo via Getty Images)

Contrary to what Heather and Tamra believed about each other, the real sh*t stirrer of the group was Shannon! Her new at home colonic was sure to be the cure for everyone’s poop problems. She had to figure out some way to pay for her kids college tuitions. Shannon brought it over and strapped it to Tamra’s toilet. Jenn arrived and Tamra joked she was about to get hazed. 

But first they had to dish about Heather. Jenn said it was weird on the van ride back to the hotel that Heather was obsessed with her feet. Then Heather told her she wanted to talk with her and Taylor Armstrong. She met them, and then left to get soup and never came back. Jenn noted wherever she ranked on Heather’s scale she was worth more than that. Jenn might want to see where she ranked on Shannon and Tamra’s friendship scale as she got to be the lucky one to test out the colonic. 

It can’t be a finale without a big party! Gina had a big circus tent at the ready for her guests. Gina came dressed as the ring master, and Emily showed up as popcorn. Her husband Shane Simpson showed up wearing a t-shirt with a stick of butter. Love it. Tamra and Eddie Judge came dressed as evil clowns, and Taylor glided in as a cotton candy princess. Jenn showed up as a cowardly lion, and Ryan came with her dressed as a gym rat. What happened to no shirt, no shoes, no service? 

Emily wondered if Heather was going to show up and Gina assured her she would. Gina said she felt caught between them, and told Emily she had been more aggressive than normal. Emily said she wasn’t the one going around calling people losers. Then Gina dropped the bomb that the guilty party in that matter was Tamra. 

Heather-merized!

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
(Photo by: Randy Shropshire/Bravo via Getty Images)

And just like Gina’s reaction to the news, it was also a non-starter for Emily. The sentiment was Tamra talks crap but she owns it, while Heather doesn’t own up to it. Emily wondered why Gina was making excuses for Heather. Tamra explained that Gina was “Heather-merized.” She said Heather most likely told Gina her words were taken out of context, or the girls were deflecting. An “I love you” was also surely said. Whatever it was, Gina felt trapped in the middle. Should she stay loyal to the alphas, or her friend who was worth $55 million?

Heather finally arrived wearing her best Tron costume. Terry arrived in a t-shirt that said security staff, and he and Shane bonded over their half-attempted looks. It was a funny moment. Shannon looked into her crystal ball and predicted that her friendship with Heather was foggy. But it was crystal clear she was not going to let Heather get in the way with her friendship with Tamra.

The final showdown

Real Housewives of Orange County recap
(Photo by: Randy Shropshire/Bravo via Getty Images)

Heather then made her rounds to do damage control. First up was Jenn. Heather agreed with Jenn’s assessment it was sh*tty of her to complain about her behind her back. But it was water under the bridge, and the two promised to get to know each other better. Next up was Emily. Heather again said she was referring to Noella as the loser, not the group. She asked why she would believe Tamra when Tamra talked crap about Emily’s career. Heather told her she loved her. Emily was now Heather-merized!

Taylor didn’t get a make-up scene since she was just a friend of, so she spent her night trying to make a new meme of her chomping on ice cream cones. After Heather was done, Tamra made her move. She went up to Emily and Gina and asked why they were taking pictures with Heather when they were complaining about her. Emily brought up Heather’s claim that Tamra talked poorly about her career. That was all Tamra needed to hear, and she was off!

Terry ran away and hid with Gina as soon as Tamra scooted up to Heather. You’re on your own, honey! Tamra said Heather couldn’t handle the truth, and Heather said Tamra spins the truth. Neither one was going to back down. Heather brought up the podcast, and Tamra claimed she was mocking Heather. That is next level meta. But Heather didn’t have time for Tamra anymore, so she left to go and count her millions. Tamra ended with a graceful, “goodbye, bitch!”

Before we cut to the credits, the editors gave us some more tea on the podcast. Tamra told Teddi that the losers comment was an inside joke with Shannon. Was Shannon being meta too? We’ll have to tune in next week to the reunion to find out!

Real Housewives of Orange County continues Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.

TELL US – DO YOU THINK THAT HEATHER WAS TRYING TO TURN THE GROUP AGAINST TAMRA? OR WAS TAMRA TRYING TO TURN THE GROUP AGAINST HEATHER? WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE SEASON?

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