Sometimes, the best of friends have to air out their issues to move forward. That’s certainly the case for Emily and Gina on this episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County. But some friendships cannot be salvaged, especially when defaming one’s character seems to be the only goal. Tamra is busy cozying up to Alexis, the same woman threatening that the “gloves are off” and Johnny J. will now expose Shannon‘s DUI night video for all the world to see…
Plus, a bombshell is dropped about John having video footage of Shannon allegedly almost running over his daughter with her car while drunk.
During the episode, Emily brings her boys along to hang with Katie and her son. Katie fills Emily in on the Big Bear trip, and Emily talks about the “dramatic moments.” Katie is realizing that Gina is really only a girls’ girl for Heather. Katie then goes on to say Alexis is ready to release the Ring footage of Shannon allegedly almost running over John’s daughter with her car.
“John ended up calling her right before we left, and Shannon did something, and he said ‘All gloves are off’ and they’re going to release these videos of Shannon,” Katie says to Emily. “There’s Ring footage cameras of her almost running over his daughter.”
Why, if John and Alexis are so happy together, do they feel the need to drag Shannon further? Yikes…
But back to the beginning of the show as the La Quinta crew awakens after a tense night. Gina feels like unresolved issues are brewing between her and Emily. Emily agrees; however, she is waiting to talk to Gina, so as not to be reactionary, which is exactly the behavior Gina claims Emily demonstrates lately.
Over breakfast, Shannon states she had no intention of bringing the friend group into the fact that John is threatening to sue her. According to the ladies, on a surface level, things don’t look great for Shannon, but Shannon claims to have proof that she has paid for things throughout the relationship with John. Emily wonders if perhaps Shannon was attempting to buy John’s love, but Shannon tearfully blames her actions on being in love. Heather realizes that there are three sides to every story as Shannon gives an extreme example of funding a 10-grand trip for John and his daughter.
Shannon lets the women know that she is already paying an attorney and that she refuses to just offer John money to make this go away out of principle. Shannon gets emotional in front of the ladies as she shares how overwhelmed she has been lately, and she cries into Emily’s arms. She talks about how grateful she is to have this particular group of women to lean on, and Tamra is noticeably absent…
The Big Bear ladies reflect on their evening: “We laughed, we cried, we talked sh*t.” Pretty spot on. I mean, they danced on bars and attempted to set up an OnlyFans for Jenn. But they did talk about heavy things, like Jenn’s ex-husband and her divorce. We learn that Jenn’s ex has been dating one of her friends for almost three years and that the lack of communication is making co-parenting nearly impossible. When Tamra shows Jenn her ex’s social media (since Jenn is blocked and unable to see), Jenn gets upset seeing him so “full of life.” Jenn wants to be let in more, and the rest of the ladies commiserate with her over divorce and the issues that come with it, including estranged children (cough cough, Tamra).
Meanwhile, Emily and Gina (attempt to) play pickleball. Gina takes this opportunity as a chance to talk to Emily about last night. Emily admits to essentially saying Gina is kissing Heather’s butt, and she points out that the minute Gina had a sitdown with Heather, she changed her tune about Katie. Gina tells Emily that she is up Tamra’s a*s and that she doesn’t want to see Emily be known as the aggressive one in the group. It’s not cool to be a*sholes with Tamra, but Emily thinks it’s not cool that Gina is just trying to appease Heather. Gina storms off shouting that everyone is mad at her and she is over it.
Emily runs after an upset Gina and explains that it hurts her feelings when Gina thinks less of her. Gina is tired of feeling like she tiptoes around Emily, but she needs Emily in her life since she has been going through a lot lately. Emily reminds Gina that she asks about her and Travis because she cares and because she understands how fragile Gina is right now. Gina sees what happened between Shannon and Tamra and gets upset since she doesn’t want her friendship to end up like theirs. Luckily, they hug it out before things get worse. Heather is aghast with this version of Gina, but she chalks it up to stressors at home bringing out this behavior.
Before leaving Big Bear, Alexis pops in to talk with Katie and explain her stress about this whole Heather thing. She tries to tell Katie that Heather doesn’t have the same sense of humor and that laughing about paparazzi-gate was not the right move. Alexis is hoping that Heather and Katie might be able to get back on the right foot. Speaking of getting back on the right foot, Jenn has a chat with Tamra about Shannon. Jenn suggests that Tamra have a hard conversation with Shannon and try to save their friendship, again.
As they head out of Tamra’s house, Johnny J. phones Alexis, and all we hear her saying is, “I’m literally gonna lose it right now, gloves are coming off.” Unfortunately, Alexis is “not at liberty to discuss what pushed John to the limit,” but she shrieks about having the footage of Shannon the night of her DUI. Alexis hints that there is a lot that people don’t know about that night, and it will ruin Shannon once the video comes out. Cryptic.
Back in the OC, Gina’s house is symbolic of her personal life at the moment: an absolute mess. Construction is going on now that Travis has moved out because #freshstart. Travis, however, feels like this is erasing any memory of him. Tamra chats about Big Bear and admits that Alexis doesn’t shut up in defense of Johnny.
Speaking of John, Gina lets Tamra know that Shannon was able to be vulnerable, and yes, she did drink. Tamra needs to understand that there are people with drinking problems, like Gina, but a person cannot be forced into realizing this about themselves. Tamra wants to have a conversation with Shannon, but she knows the only way to get through to her is with tough love.
Ryan enjoys a good spa day, and Jenn loves having a guy willing to spend time with her, even if that means getting pedis and drinking Diet Cokes (guess Ryan’s paying!). Jenn brings up the OnlyFans conversation, and Ryan shuts it down completely. Jenn is not quite sure how Ryan makes his money and ponders if his joking about OnlyFans is actually true. When it comes to her kids, Jenn admits to coddling them too much.
As Jenn gives her confessional, Tamra FaceTimes her to tell her that she took her advice, and she is meeting Shannon.
It’s an awkward introductory exchange between Shannon and Tamra — particularly because Tamra starts off by saying she wishes Shannon reached out to HER first. Shannon reminds Tamra that she has done nothing but defame her for eight weeks. Shannon continues to defend herself about not having a drinking problem, but she does admit to using alcohol to cope during darker times. Tamra doesn’t let up and asks Shannon, “Don’t you feel like sneaking alcohol is an issue?”Good for Shannon for pointing out that she has seen Tamra in drunken states, but to that, Tamra retorts, “Have I drove my car into a house?”
This causes Shannon to leave the table since she feels like Tamra only spreads lies that try and damage her character. While Tamra waits to see if Shannon will return, Tamra muses, “Where is she? Is she getting a drink?” Shannon regroups in the bathroom and makes her way back. Shannon shares that she feels as though Tamra is trying to keep her down, but Tamra feels hurt by this, considering she has been a “good friend” to her for 10 years.
Shannon suggests that Tamra should stay in her lane when it comes to Alexis and John, and she lets Tamra know that John is suing her for $75,000 and not a penny under. Shannon refuses to make monthly payments to Johnny J., thus tossing his idea of a payment plan out the window. Weird that Shannon is opening up so much to Tamra, the enemy, who has been siding with Alexis as of late.
Tamra can’t imagine going through another lawsuit (thanks, John Bellino!), and as Shannon has a breakdown, Tamra decides to invite Shannon (and Vicki) to her upcoming party. This causes Shannon to stop in her tracks and hug it out with Tamra. Tamra claims she only wants what is best for Shannon and that she doesn’t want to make things worse for her, but the problem is, can Tamra be trusted??