Airing last night on Bravo was the 8th episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The episode titled Charity Cases was more on the somber emotional side as we saw a different side to two of the housewives. Though while watching last night, I couldn’t help but experience deja vu as most of the story lines felt a tad familiar. Example, the in-home bikini waxing scene and the charity event being hosted by a housewife with an abusive past ( a la Nene Leakes from RHOA’s second season). I guess it’s the price Bravo has to pay for having as many Housewives franchises as they do. With that said, let’s get right to the recap!
The episode begins with Kyle Richards training for a 69-mile bike ride. We find out it is for a charity cause to raise money for cancer. Kyle is training with her coach who casually mentions that a bikini wax is recommended for bike riding success. No reason is really given other than one does not want to have too much padding down there. Kyle proceeds to get a wax and to put herself at ease, she invites the waxing lady to come do it at her house, in front of her 14-year-old daughter Alexia. And something about this scene, I’m pretty certain another Bravo housewife has also done an in-home bikini waxing. It’s not coming to me right now but I feel like I’ve seen this scene before. Plus I was a bit confused in this scene as it seemed to insinuate Kyle had a lot of ‘padding” down there. Are we to believe Kyle doesn’t wax, shave or nair? Perhaps she just needed to bare it all. Whatever the case, Kyle gets her bikini wax and is now ready to ride!
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Kick-ass Adrienne, who grew up as the only girl in a house full of brothers, invites Taylor to take a kick boxing class with her. When it’s Taylor’s turn to box, she seems to take out her aggression on the boxing pad. I can only imagine she was picturing the face of her husband Russell. In this scene, Taylor reveals she volunteers for a women’s crisis center which she calls a safe haven for women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Taylor invites Adrienne to an upcoming charity event and Adrienne agrees to come.
Lisa and her other pet Cedric decide to go for a practice drive as they are both preparing to take a driving test. Lisa is starting to feel that taking care of two dogs is a lot of work so she is hoping getting a license will help Cedric move out quicker though something tells me Cedric won’t be moving out anytime soon. Why should he? He gets to live large in a mansion with his mate Giggy. In her interview Lisa admits she might want Cedric to stay as she likes having someone to play with.
Kyle and her older sister Kim meet up for lunch. Kyle has a dilemma as her babysitter has canceled on her at the last minute, right before her upcoming trip to Napa with the hotness known as Mauricio. Kyle is contemplating bringing the kids along with her to Napa. As Kim encourages that, Kyle snarks, “Yeah, but look where that’s gotten you.” Yikes, what a comment/joke to make. Definitely not a nice thing to say to your sister but this doesn’t surprise me coming from Kyle. I called it a while ago that she seems to take some joy in taking digs at her sister.
“As much as she loves me, it’s like she puts me down – a lot,” says Kim in her interview. Yes Kim, I believe you. As the ladies continue to eat and chat, Lisa places a totally random and very unstaged call to Kyle. Lisa asks to talk to Kim to get the 411 on her blind date with Martin. Lisa states in her interview that Kim never called Martin to thank him for driving her home. Kim makes up a weird excuse – something about her phone dying for a week or something. Kim then states that she likes Martin but feels like the man should call the woman. Actually not a bad point.
We see Camille at home while she plans a get together with her mom for her “friends.” And by friends, I mean hanger-ons and kiss asses. The friends show up including her “good friend” Nick and his wife. Camille brings up the Kyle drama and needs advice from her “friends” on what to do. Camille, with a holier than thou attitude, reveals that she just can’t have friction in her life. With the advice of some of her friends, she decides having a make peace dinner party for Kyle and the other ladies might be a good idea. And it would be out of Camille’s character to be in the presence of a married man and not attempt to flirt. “Is it hot in here? Is it me? Oh I’m just sitting next to Nick,” says Camille in the presence of Nick’s wife.
Kim’s at home having a family barbecue. In her interview, she attempts to tell a cute story about meeting a guy at the store. The story is cute overall but listening to it be told by Kim just made it a tad creepy and nutty. Watching Kim in her interviews in this scene is just all around awkward and slightly uncomfortable. How can someone her age be this socially awkward? It’s a bit hard to watch. Kim gets on the phone with ‘Single Gary’ who’s ultimately invited to Kim’s barbecue to meet her “8 kids.”
In another moment of housewives deja vu, we see Kyle and Mauricio arrive at the Napa Valley for a weekend getaway, and the two head out for an “amaziiiiiing” dinner. As things start to get romantical, Kyle receives a phone call from one of their kids. Kyle then proceeds to further kill the mood by once again mentioning she wants to leave the trip a day early to be with the kids. While I understand Kyle’s dilemma in not wanting to leave her kids alone, I do think it’s very important to also make some mommy and daddy time. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in going away for 3 days with her husband, who seems eager to want to spent time with her. Kyle brings up the issue of having another kid and upon resisting at first, Mauricio seems a bit open to the idea. Kyle and Mauricio already have four daughters, with the first being from Kyle’s previous marriage.
It’s back to the nut house as Kim‘s date arrives with his adorable granddaughter. Single Gary is led to believe Kim has 8 kids including a baby that she is currently nursing. Okay, so let’s say this was a bit funny at first, the joke however just seemed to linger on a tad too long, you know, to the point where single Gary is frightened and eager to run for his life get away for some ice cream. “That is my sense of humor,” awkwardly laughs Kim in her interview. Yes Kim, very funny. And is it just me or did Kim never let Gary in on the joke? As she hugs him goodbye, she whispers “I should have told you.” Not sure if she meant the “8 kids” or the opposite. It’s a wonder this woman manages to have 3 ex-husbands.
Lisa and Cedric arrive at the DMV for their driving test. Upon arriving to the Los Angeles location, Lisa seems a bit shocked at the location and appearance of the place. “It’s a bit of a culture shock,” says Lisa in her interview sounding a tad snobby, but what the hey! It’s Lisa and she’s still charming and funny even as a snob. As Lisa tries to study for her test, we see a man sitting in front of her annoying her but Lisa handles the situation quite well. The test ends with Lisa passing and Cedric failing. Lisa suspects Cedric might have flunked the test on purpose and can you blame him? He’s a professional freeloader who has hit the ultimate jackpot by living large in a 15,000 sq. feet home.
It’s the day of the 69-mile bike ride and Kyle & Mauricio are ready to go the distance. In her interview, Kyle reveals the charity is really important to her as she lost her mother, father and uncle to cancer. As we see Kyle and Mauricio riding, Bravo pans away to Camille who decides to go running with her “friends.” In a brilliant contrast of the two scenes, we see Camille driving to the beach in her top down convertible.
In her interview, Camille reveals she was supposed to move to New York in the summertime with her kids but she got a phone call stating the plans had been changed. Camille states, “My husband feels like his career in L.A. is over and that New York loves him. He told me he feels appreciated there.” Feel free to read that back replacing New York with Kayte. Camille states that she plans on having a heart to heart with Kelsey once she gets to New York, regarding his change of plans.
It’s back to NAPA and we see Kyle having a hard time half way through the race. Must say hats off to Kyle and Mauricio as I can’t even imagine riding for 69 miles. In his interview, Mauricio reveals the event was one of the best of his life as he was able to have a romantic and athletic moment with his wife. We see Kyle and Mauricio finish the race.
Back in Beverly Hills, it’s the day of Taylor‘s charity event in which she will be giving a speech about her experience with domestic abuse. Earlier in the episode, Taylor opened up about her past and growing up in an abusive home. Taylor is nervous about her speech and her supportive husband Russell tries to calm her down by letting her know it’s really unfortunate she picked this weekend as half of the people he invited are out of town. “We could have had a much larger turnout had you picked a different weekend,” says Russell as Taylor shoots him an evil look. Me is starting to think Taylor has a lot of repressed feelings when it comes to her husband.
Taylor and Russell arrive at the event which was also attended by many Z-list celebrities. Adrienne and husband Paul also show up to support Taylor. Adrienne is excited to gamble as she reveals she is not allowed to gamble in the casinos she co-owns with her brothers. It is now time for Taylor’s speech and she gets emotional when talking about her painful past. Must say I got a little choked up listening to Taylor’s speech. Adrienne mentions she was a little surprised upon first hearing about Taylor’s abusive past though I’m guessing Adrienne’s surprised look, happy look and sad look are all the same.
The episode ends on that note and next week’s previews promises us “the most dramatic dinner party Beverly Hills has ever seen!” Yep, that sounds about accurate as I don’t believe any other dinner party will ever be able to top the table flipping one of the Real Housewives of NJ. With that said, I am looking forward to next week. Bring on the drama!
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