The Sonoma trip continues, and Heather‘s fashion show is impending on this episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. There are a lot of fires to be put out before everyone heads down that runway, though. Shannon is reeling from the news of Johnny J.’s video, and the thought of being in the same room with Alexis is nauseating. On top of that, Gina is on thin ice with Heather after a new rumor is brought up…
Heather continues to console Shannon as she cries over *the* video Johnny J. is threatening to expose. Ever since Shannon learned of the video from Gina (by accident?), she has been in a fragile, broken state. Heather realizes this, but she manages to talk Shannon into coming to dinner after getting glammed up.
As promised, Emily has taken one for the team and pops in on Alexis. She gives Alexis the heads up that Gina broke the news of the video to Shannon, and Alexis remains relatively unfazed by this. Emily goes on to talk “woman-to-woman” with Alexis, letting her know that this feud between her and Shannon is getting salacious and mean.
Emily suggests that Alexis show some compassion for Shannon, and she wonders if Alexis’ intent is to simply destroy her. Upon hearing this, Alexis is unsure how she could attend dinner. She decides to hang back and skip the meal, and I love how Emily does not even attempt to talk Alexis back into going.
Meanwhile, as they wait for the others to come to dinner, a few of the women order a drink, Shannon included. Tamra is, of course, “floored that Shannon feels so comfortable ordering drinks.” Still perplexed as to why Tamra feels like she is the judge and the jury in this situation, but it’s clear that her only goal is drama.
Shannon shares with Emily and Gina that she agreed to pay the full amount John asked for, but John is still choosing to come after her, thus proving that it was never about the money. Over dinner, Tamra explains that Alexis feels like everyone is blaming her because she is in love with Johnny J. Tamra suggests that Shannon and Alexis just talk, but it’s triggering Shannon that Tamra is now getting close to Alexis. Tamra feels as though Alexis should get just as much support as Shannon.
When Shannon excuses herself, she tells Jenn that John’s only intention is to hurt her. After all, “He [John] was telling me at nine months, ‘People dream about what we have.’” Heather looks exhausted by all of this drama, especially since they are there for Family Equality, a way bigger issue than the ones at hand. Heather expects the women to put on their big girl pants and walk her fashion show tomorrow, no matter where they stand with each other.
Shannon returns to the table and asks not to talk about John, yet she proceeds to talk about the lawsuit before calling attention to Gina’s vaginal rash — a deflection that was deserved, IMO, since Gina was the one who told her about the video.
The next morning, Heather fills Alexis in on the night before. Heather explains that today, the group will split up, but she is hopeful that it won’t always be like this. However, Alexis and Shannon aren’t the only ones in an awkward place. Katie wants to apologize to Heather (again) and explain her side of the story about paparazzi gate. Katie is swearing she was “told” to tell Heather by Gina.
Emily, Tamra, Gina, and Alexis are off to make biscuits. Alexis talks about trying to find a way to coexist with Shannon, and Gina tries to explain that just because they are supporting Shannon, it doesn’t mean they are against Alexis. Emily wonders why Tamra cannot see any compassion for Shannon anymore, considering they were once so close. Tamra states that she can’t let Shannon’s behavior go on any longer in her life, which leads me to wonder why Tamra is still on the show then?! Gina points out that Tamra should not be setting the boundary for Shannon and that, hopefully, Shannon will figure out what works for her.
Heather, Jenn, and Katie begin their forest therapy guide, and Shannon joins them late, looking like a hot mess and ruining the zen moments with some coughing. They toast with tea as the session wraps up, and Katie jumps in to talk to Heather. Heather tells Katie they are going backward, but Katie makes it clear that she felt like this paparazzi thing was a set up by Gina. But Heather just wants Katie to say she screwed up, not to point the blame on someone else.
It’s the day of the Family Equality event, and Heather is busy making sure the space is ready to go for the women to walk in the fashion show. Emily feels triggered by Heather assigning her an “oversized” jacket that is big. Emily also notices that she was the only one who had to bring her own jeans. Heather seems like she knows what she did since she keeps asking (an upset) Emily what’s wrong. Remember when Heather called Emily Snuffleupagus? Is this that type of dig?
Tamra gets a minute alone with Heather, and it’s juuuuust enough time for her to stir the drama up. She continues to claim that Gina set Katie up for the paparazzi situation. Tamra wonders why Heather let Gina off the hook so easily, considering Katie told her: “Gina told me that she has to keep Heather close because of her real estate career” and her connections. Heather is aghast to hear this, but she remains collected, stating she will discuss this further later. It’s interesting to see that Tamra is trying very hard for Heather to see this other side of Gina. It’s almost as if Tamra is annoyed that Gina isn’t on her side when it comes to Shannon, so she wants to get her back.
The SBXHD fashion show begins, and the ladies strut their stuff down the runway modeling the lewks Heather has put together in her collection. And Emily looks beautiful, despite feeling sad and uncomfortable. After the show, Heather lets Gina know they will talk tomorrow about the chatter she is hearing, and you can literally see Gina’s heart drop.
Tamra runs to Katie to let her know that she spoke to Heather. Tamra’s foaming at the mouth as she tells Katie that Heather said Gina will never get any business from her ever again.
Heather makes a speech about her personal mission to try and help as many families as she can, reminding us all why they are really there at this event… and it’s not to bicker about rumors.
Jenn chats with Gina and lets her know that Katie is telling people Gina set her up. In the meantime, Alexis wants to take this opportunity to talk with Shannon, thanks to much pushing by Emily. However, Shannon refuses to sit down with her, citing that this trip took her over the edge. As Shannon hugs all the ladies goodbye to go to a Shannon-Vicki Live show, she leans in toward Alexis, but not to hug her. Rather, Shannon states, “I know you’d like to speak with me, but I’m not interested.” Boom.
The next day, the group packs up, and Gina claims she feels “the weight of the world” on her shoulders. Nah, it’s just Trav, Heather Dubrow, and perhaps her guilty conscious. Before they head home, the ladies hop on bikes and ride over to a vineyard.
Gina brings up the issues between Katie and Heather, and Katie jumps in to say, “Well, I heard you were calling me a liar and I don’t appreciate that.” Gina is confused as to why Katie is involving her since she “brought her into this group to be my friend.” Gina flies off the handle, and when Heather brings up how she allegedly said she keeps Heather close because of her real estate connections, Gina gets even louder since she works hard on her own for her career.
When pressed about what exactly Gina said, Katie states, “Heather and I are close, she helps me with my career.” Anddd that sounds a little different than what she originally said, huh?! You can see Heather understanding that she was almost played by Tamra and Katie twisting the words, but Tamra isn’t quite done. She believes that Gina’s defensiveness makes her look guilty, but Gina blames it on her world being “f*cked up,” to which Tamra scoffs.
Gina then opens up about her issues with Travis (even though she asked him to move out), and because of the stress, the last thing Gina needs is someone spreading lies about her, especially someone who she thought was her friend. Katie and Gina seem to get it all out of their system and hug it out. Another successful Housewives trip in the books. Kinda.