It is finally over. The final part of the Real Housewives of New York City reunion show aired last night, and we got some resolution to some of the biggest issues of the season.
We start off with a continuation of Kelly Bensimon’s delusions. After spewing out her bullying crap against the women, Kelly decides to do her best Jill impersonation when she decides to storm of the show, like a brat not getting her way. In all honesty, Kelly leaving the stage for those few minutes ended up being my favorite part of the show. At this point, like Ramona, I just couldn’t anymore. I mean this woman was just making up events that never happened. It was extremely frustrating as a viewer to see her take no responsibility for her actions and on top of that, just sit there and lie over and over and over again. This is why I could definitely understand why Ramona, Sonja, and Bethenny felt the need to interrupt her lies.
Bethenny sums it up best when she says, “She just makes up whatever she wants to say. She’s going to tell me she’s an African American Asian woman in a minute. And we’re like okay, no, you’re not.” Alex and Sonja echo what I’ve been saying all along, which is if there was any bullying going on during the trip, it was being done by Kelly, who continually attacked the women, interrupted their conversations, and even called them “demented” to their face because they chose to gossip about Jill.
In the midst of LuAnn snickering like a high school mean girl, we also hear once again that Kelly was sent home by the producers and did not leave the trip on her own accord, as she has claimed. Kelly returns, and I really find myself hoping she had stayed away longer. Kelly once again attacks Bethenny and claims Bethenny, who we all saw cooking numerous times during the trip, did not cook.
Sonja asks Kelly when she bullied her, during which Kelly shares that Sonja was actually a friend to her on the trip and was there for her. In addition to Sonja, I find myself asking when did Alex bully Kelly on this trip? What we saw was Kelly randomly unleash a verbal attack on Alex, telling her she looked like a vampire and was channeling the devil.
It seems when Kelly doesn’t like what the other women are saying ,she attacks them. Kelly accuses Sonja of drinking too much, thus not remembering the systematic bullying she was a part of. She then tells Ramona her blood type is Pinot Grigio. Kelly accuses the women of being hateful and jealous of her, and at this point, I’m all but tired of listening to this insane rambling. Fortunately, we get a commercial break.
Wanted to add the following quote made by a commenter yesterday. MamaSays had the following to say –
“Every time they show a clip of someone addressing how fragile or crazy Kelly is in her presence she is seen nodding or looking a little vulnerable. This tells me that she is accustomed to having people discuss her mental state in front of her and, to me at least. shows that this is something that has occurred at least a few times before.”
Amazing insight by this reader. How many times was Kelly called crazy to her face? How many times did she appear physcially upset or even deny being crazy? I agree that at age 42, there’s about a 100% chance Scary Island wasn’t the first time Kelly had an “episode.”
Next up is Jill, and the topic of Jill getting kicked off Scary Island is brought up. Jill is ready to once again go into victim mode. Sonja speaks out, and unlike Kelly, actually makes sense. Sonja doesn’t believe Jill was sincere in coming on the trip to make up with Bethenny. Why? Well for one, Bethenny only lived a block away from Jill back in NYC. You know, a trip that would only have required 10 minutes of her time, and not 9 hours.
Victim Jill continues, “And by the way Ramona, thanks for asking me or Bobby if we wanted a drink of water or bathroom cause after nine hours of traveling….” said Jill, who earlier claimed she flew via a private jet. Apparently, private jets don’t offer water or bathrooms, and neither do airports. The only victim in this situation is Bawbee, who allowed his wife to drag him into this mess.
Jill, who by this point has watched Kelly’s off the wall behavior in St. John, now informs us she can relate to Kelly because of the way she was also treated by the bullies. Jill’s odd defense for Kelly didn’t end at the reunion show, as weeks later, she did an interview during which she compared Kelly’s bullying plight to that of Phoebe Prince. In case you’re wondering, Phoebe is the teenage girl who took her life this year because she was being bullied her some of her high school peers. Yes, Jill went there. But back to the show, for some reason, Jill decides Alex is to blame for the public backlash against her, the BP oil spill, and of course being kicked off St. John by Ramona. I’m guessing Jill’s four media consultants advised her to attack Alex and defend the crazy woman at all costs.
Kelly accuses Alex of being an actress and faking her anxiety at seeing Jill in St. John, and at this point, I really just want this woman to zip it, so that I can hear the sane people arguing. Jill apologizes to Ramona and Ramona appears to accept, despite Jill’s blog on Monday accusing her co-stars of not forgiving her. Jill takes things up a notch when she breaks out the crocodile tears and decides to proclaim that being kicked of Scary Island was “the most painful thing I ever experienced in my life.” Really Jill? More painful than Bobby’s cancer? And if at this point, anyone is still buying this woman’s act, then well I don’t know what to tell ya…
It’s now LuAnn‘s turn in the hot seat and the first part that stands out is when Andy asks LuAnn if her former husband, Count Alex de Lesseps, does not like jews. This is basically Andy asking LuAnn if the Count is Anti Semitic. One would expect LuAnn’s answer to be a definite NO, but the way LuAnn answers this question is rather interesting. “Umm I would say that umm, it’s not that he disliked Jews, he just umm would be surprised umm if I was with somebody Jewish.” Those, my folks, were the exact words that came out of LuAnn’s mouth. The bizarro look on Andy Cohen’s face says it all, so I will move on.
Next is the most interesting part of the show, during which LuAnn is asked about her castmates’ repeated accusations regarding her extramarital adventures. LuAnn’s reply? “I don’t owe anybody an explanation about what went on with my marriage, and out of respect for my husband and my family, I prefer not to answer that question,” said LuAnn and umm, did LuAnn just admit to having extramarital affairs while married? It seems so. And I must say I agree with Andy. . Something about this scene was refreshing and it was nice to see LuAnn appear vulnerable and humble. But I ask again, did LuAnn just admit to having extra marital affairs on national television??? That was a shocker.
The next segment is about Kelly’s contradictions. You know, such as she is very very very shy, yet she poses for Playboy, or when she declares her dislike for processed foods only to seconds later profess her fondness for pretzels and gummy bears. Kelly’s reply to being contradictory? “If one day I feel like being one person, and one day, I feel like being somebody else, that’s okay with me.” This is too easy, so I will leave it alone.
At this point, there’s nothing else I can say about Kelly. She’s absolutely not sane, she’s absolutely not playing with a full deck. There’s a lot wrong, so I will attempt to move on to the next topic. What I do notice about Kelly is she LOVES to project. In her clip, she can be seen calling Bethenny crazy, scary, and in need of medication. All things I’m sure she’s heard others say about her, all her life. And Kelly once again projects during the reunion show when she refers to the women as unpredictable and dangerous.
Andy then brings up the hypocrisy involved with the ladies’ reactions to Alex‘s nude photos that leaked 2 years ago, and Kelly’s Playboy photos. As Alex attempts to answer the question, we immediately hear Jill, who was just informing us about being a changed woman in Part 1, butt in saying, “But you can’t compare your pictures to Playboy. You were like spread eagle in the lobby of your husband’s hotel.” And just in case the owners of the hotel Simon Van Kempen manages didn’t hear Jill the first time, she made sure to repeat herself again. “You were spreaaaad eagle in the hallway of your husband’s hotel.”
Now I’m still a bit traumatized from seeing Kim Zolciak’s kaslopis last year, so I did not look for the nude photos of Alex. But if anyone does find a link, you are free to post it in the comments section for those who want to take a gander. According to Alex McCord’s bravo blog this week, she believes this was a deliberate attempt by Jill to try to sabotage Simon’s livelihood/job by mentioning the hotel aspect of the nude photos. Must say this didn’t come to mind last night, but knowing just how crafty Jill Zarin is, I must say I believe Alex. Jill is a very mean, vindictive and manipulative woman. In the words of Alex, she “fights back and fights back dirty,” and below the belt I might add. Nothing about this woman is changed. She is still the same ol Jill. Must say Alex’s blog this week is a nice read. It pretty much sums up Jill as a person.
The final part of the reunion has Andy asking the ladies if they would like to return for another season. And oddly enough, Kelly and Jill, who have both accused Bravo numerous times in the press of editing them negatively, are both open to the idea. Fame must really be one heluva drug. Perhaps its just me, but if a network falsely edited me to be a nutjob or a villain, I would be running, far far away. There would be zero chance I would come back for seconds.
To close the show, Jill decides to tell Bethenny how much she misses her. “I miss you Bethenny, I miss that I can’t be a part of your new spin-off show, I miss that I can’t talk to the press about your baby and your husband, you know being that I have no access to them, I miss that I can’t tag along with you as you make your numerous appearances on the Today Show, I miss that as you become more popular each day, I can’t be a part of that. Oh I miss you Bethenny. Please hug me so that people can like me again. Will you please Bethenny? Please give me a hug so that I can falsely leak out a story to Life&Style magazine a few days from now about us being friends again. Please Bethenny, my four media consultants feel a hug from you is all I need to get people to like me again.” Jill gets her hug from Bethenny and season 3 is now over.
Closing Thoughts – With the exception of Kelly, I would really love to see all the women return. Though Bethenny claims she doesn’t want to come back, I believe if Bravo offers her enough money, she will be back, regardless of how successful her spin off show is. I would also like to see Jennifer Gilbert return, I still believe she’s a great reality TV character waiting to unfold. I think Jill, Bethenny, Ramona and LuAnn are all key parts of the show. I don’t want to see either of them leave.
Jill Zarin – Oh Jill Jill Jill. I don’t hate Jill, I really don’t. I don’t hate any of the housewives. In fact I like practically all of them, even Tamra Barney and Nene Leakes. I would however be lying if I claim to like Jill. Like most of you, I used to be a fan of Jill’s, things started to change for me last season after seeing her mean girl behavior on the reunion show. You can read about that recap here. What I would like to see is Jill spend this off season truly working on being a better person, and coming back for a season 4 being a better Jill. Unfortunately I don’t think that will happen. This woman is her own worst enemy and is truly very vindictive and manipulative. In my opinion, she has zero redeeming qualities. My prediction? Jill will spend this entire summer coming up with new crafty ways to bring down her castmates, while continuing her endless attempts to manipulate fans into liking her once more. Zero of Jill’s time will be spent on self reflection or self improvement. She will come back next season and try really really hard to be someone she thinks the fans want her to be. I truly hope she changes who she is, but I doubt she will.
And for those who say what more do you want from Jill, hasn’t she apologized enough? Do you want blood? I actually agree. She has apologized enough. What Jill needs to do is to stop apologizing, and try no longer being a vile human being. Actions do speak louder than words, and Jill’s words from just a week ago? Well let’s just say it included accusing her fellow castmate Bethenny of hurting her daughter. Now you tell me what Jill’s intentions were with those words…
Kelly Bensimon – Though I come off as harsh to Kelly in my recaps, I do have sympathy for her. My frustration with Kelly comes as a viewer and a fan of the show. I don’t like the lies and the made up events that never happened. I don’t like that she used a very serious bullying issue to try to make herself look better. With that being said, I don’t think she is well and I strongly believe she is a victim of mental illness, whether is be Bipolar or whatever the situation is with her. At age 42, I would take a gander and guess that she has been diagnosed with a form of mental illness at some point in her life. I don’t know what happened in St. John or what caused her episode, but I really do hope and pray she gets help. Judging by her behavior on the reunion show, I would stay she has yet to receive this help. I don’t want Kelly back on the show. I don’t think being on a reality show is good for her in any way, shape, or form.
I don’t think Bravo will let her back on. I don’t think Bravo will exploit a “crazy” person. And quite frankly, I don’t think Bravo is that “network.” The fact that they sent her home early from St. John is a good indication of where they draw the line. People like Kelly want to think and believe that they are “okay” but she is obviously not. It came back to me today that Kelly returned this season to try to repair her tarnished image from last season. Now think about her behavior this season, and realize this is the behavior of someone who badly wanted to use the show to rehabilitate their image. I think that says it all. I hope her family can step in and intervene, because at this point, she continues to do damage to herself, her reputation, and her name. Here’s what I hope for Kelly: I hope she absolutely gets help, and stays aways from reality television. I hope she takes some time to herself and her family, and I hope a few months from now, I will read about her doing great things with her life and being a wonderful role model for her daughters.
That’s all folks! This season has been great and I’m already looking forward to the next. Watch What Happens with Kathy Griffin was sorta funny last night, but not as funny as I was expecting. Perhaps Kathy was holding back. I actually enjoyed Bethenny Getting Married? last night. I thought it was a more interesting episode that the premiere last week. I however cringed during some moments. I really hope Bethenny’s over the top honesty doesn’t backfire on her. For example, I thought her comments about wanting to quickly exit the speaking event was a bit not okay, considering those are her fans, and I’m guessing paid good money to hear her speak. I think I heard her say she had somewhere else to be, but I just cringed a bit watching that moment. There were other cringe-worthy moments for me and I must say, I really hope she doesn’t regret doing this show.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RECAP AND THIS SEASON OF THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF NYC?
