This season of Real Housewives of Orange County showed a seismic shift in the cast. With the return of Heather Dubrow and the exit of Kelly Dodd and Braunwyn Windham-Burke, the cast looked a lot different. Noella Bergener and Dr. Jen Armstrong were added. I won’t even bother mentioning Dr. Jen in this because, well, she really isn’t even relevant. Shannon Beador, now the most senior RHOC housewife, found herself on the outs when Gina Kirschenheiter and Emily Simpson joined forces with Heather. This left Shannon to her own devices, only backed up by Noella, who had her own problems.
During filming, Noella lost her father and was also bamboozled by a messy divorce. Naturally, the already eccentric Noella was not exactly in the best place. Nonetheless, she worked hard for her orange and came for Heather. And it wasn’t just Heather who hit back but her minions, Emily and Gina too. I always liked Gina but when she dismissed the death of Noella’s father by saying “shit happens,” she lost me. Nice Gina is gone. There is power in numbers and with Gina and Emily, Heather has the numbers.
Now Shannon and Noella are getting support in the unlikeliest of places – Tamra Judge. Tamra, who spent 12 seasons on the show before she was let go, was the cast villain. But after watching this season, she’s clearly taken a softer tone. As reported by Reality Blurb, Tamra discussed the current season on an episode of her podcast, Two T’s In A Pod.
Tamra stated, “I’m not a huge Noella fan by any means, however, you have to have sympathy for someone that just lost their father, she’s going through a divorce, like all these things, like you have to have a sympathy gene in you and none of them, other than [Shannon] have that – it is like mean girls, versus sad girls to me at this point.”
Tamra went on to say that this season’s cast is “up Heather’s a–.” Co-host Teddi Mellencamp agreed and noted that the women were obviously trying to “appease Heather.” I can’t disagree with that. It’s like Gina and Emily were just waiting for the chance to get Shannon and Heather’s return was the perfect opportunity.
Does Shannon deserve it? Maybe? Does Noella? Probably? I find it hard to pick a side when everyone’s behavior seems so terrible. Regardless of sides, I think most of us can agree that this season was a dud. Heather’s homecoming was anything but interesting. If we didn’t have Noella, there wouldn’t have been any drama at all. Shannon seems exhausted. Dr. Jen brought us nothing but a brain scan party. Emily and Gina’s antics about being haunted by the ghost of Tommy Knockers fell flat. The only knocker I want to hear about on RHOC is Tammy Knickerbocker.
But I can’t help but hold on to hope that the franchise that started it all will turn around at some point. It could be so good with some major changes. The fans have been begging so now Bravo just needs to listen.
TELL US – DO YOU AGREE WITH TAMRA? ARE YOU SURPRISED BY HER TAKE? DO YOU THINK GINA AND EMILY WERE JUST TRYING TO APPEASE HEATHER? WHO DO YOU WANT TO SEE BACK NEXT SEASON? DO YOU HATE MY TAKE ON THIS SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]