‘Real Housewives of Orange County’ Gifts Us Two Chaotic Cast Trips in One Episode

It’s a rough day to be Gina Kirschenheiter, as is often the case. T he Real Housewives of Orange County ’s most tragic Housewife got viciously pummeled this week, proving not only that she can be a source of entertainment in the form of a punching bag, but that RHOC can still fire on all cylinders while splitting up the cast.

The ladies embarked on two separate trips this week, and it’s actually refreshing. It’s nice to keep the warring women away from each other for a bit to allow their resentments to simmer.

Even split up, the episode is full of good drama. That’s in large part because Gina is fresh out of friends at the moment, having pissed off Heather by not giving her a heads-up about Katie’s attack , while her relationship with Emily gets shakier by the moment.

We open on Emily and Heather shopping, the two discussing Emily’s attacks on Jenn from last week’s dinner . Now, if you’re confused, that’s because we didn’t even see that moment until this week. The dinner was just too packed with drama. Right before the ladies left, Emily decided to hit Jenn with a reminder to pay her bills and stop wearing a Rolex.

Emily has grabbed the baton from Gina and made Jenn’s impoverished lifestyle her issue, living up to that tagline of hers. She’s not wrong necessarily, but her delivery is just so harsh. Maybe Heather has a point. Should we really bully her for being stupid?

Jenn gets one up on the Gina/Emily alliance, at least. On a beach date with Tamra, Jenn shares that Gina feels Emily has changed due to her friendship with Tamra, competing to see who can be the “bigger bitch.” Tamra takes that knowledge and files it away for the inevitable assassination of Gina, already taking her first shot on the cast trip.

This episode is all about setting the stage for a future showdown, which is one of my favorite Housewives formulas. It’s a testament to this season of RHOC that the first cast trip could be split up like this without the momentum coming to a halt. Perhaps we have Elizabeth Vargas to thank for that.

The former OC Housewife—who’s fever dream run coincided with the COVID-halted season—makes a cameo this week as she welcomes Gina, Emily, Heather and Shannon to her house in La Quinta, which Gina is selling. The $9 million property is stunning, and it’s nice to see Elizabeth back from purgatory.

RHOC is great at bringing back the revolving door of Housewives, and we’re set for further appearances from Jeana Keough, Jo De La Rosam and even Tammy Knickerbocker this season. It really sells the cozy, Wisteria Lane experience of Orange County.

But first, the ladies embark on their separate trips, with the strict rule that the La Quinta girls aren’t allowed to eat in Shane’s truck. They don’t listen to this, bringing some Twizzlers (fine) and chili (psychotic) along for the ride—as well as stopping for Jack in the Box.

Meanwhile, the Big Bear group spend the entire ride listening to Alexis talk about her one true love, Johnny J. Unfortunately, Alexis’ favorite hobby is still yapping about her man, all these years later. You can almost see Tamra’s friendly facade crack, only maintained by Botox and a reminder that one day she can turn on Alexis so brutally that it will all be worth it. It’s little moments like Tamra intentionally giving Alexis the cheaper vodka that remind us our Bellino hater is still in there somewhere. Alexis, if you’re reading this: It’s too late.

But Tamra’s calling right now is to systematically tear Shannon apart, limb-by-limb, meaning she has to play nice with Happy-Go-Lexi and Johnny J. She’s now sporting the “John was Shannon’s victim” narrative, which is… bold. Daring. Certainly not the efforts of a strategist coasting on her greatest hits. Tamra’s nothing if not an overachiever, and this is her most ambitious move yet.

Over in La Quinta, Elizabeth leaves the ladies just in time for them to spill two cocktails, find mold on her cutting board and start some metaphorical fires. That’s not before we get a montage of Shannon “needing a break” while she comically drops items left and right. Shannon’s a sitcom character come to life. Every little thing is funny with her. I could watch an hour of Shannon just flipping through channels.

What I could do without is every moment of Gina being annoying in her confessionals. No more voice changes, no more “Housewives gone wild.” Gina and Emily are always in competition for who can be more grating, and this week Gina gets the gold.

Emily has an especially decent showing this week, actually. Shannon lets Emily know what Gina’s been saying behind her back, and it immediately sinks her mood. It’s so funny how Shannon’s like, “Oh no, I didn’t want to start drama…” because, you know what, I kinda believe her.

Thankfully, Shannon creates major drama. Emily’s immediate disdain for the group dinner and Gina is hilarious. She’s doing that thing you do as a 7-year old when you pretend to run away but linger in the doorway so your siblings can ask if you’re okay.

“Emily is literally one of my best friends in the world, so I know when she’s pissed,” Bride of Frankenstein Gina shares in her confessional, as though anyone with eyes or ears (not and, or) couldn’t tell that Emily is pissed. Gina’s an empath, I guess. Watch out for her intense intuition.

After sulking, Emily dives in at dinner: “The night that you had your dinner, I was aggressive toward Jenn. But you said—before that night—that I’m mean, that I’ve changed, and that you don’t recognize who I am.”

And it seems we’re going to dive into Emily vs. Gina, except we don’t. Heather jumps right in with her own grievances, proving herself as the most adept suburban matriarch in this circle of such. Heather and Emily tag-team Gina, simultaneously proving she’s not only a bad friend to Katie, but to Heather as well.

It’s great to see Gina get her comeuppance for transparently flip-flopping, as she’s done this song and dance many times over. She turned on Emily in Season 14 when she thought she could get in with the Tres Amigas. She turned on Braunwyn because she hates women who make better TV than her. She hated Noella because she didn’t know who Tot was. And if you’re thinking: Who is Tot? Well, guess what? Gina hates you, too.

Gina’s always one flimsy excuse from turning on her castmates. What’s her actual issue with Jenn? Her issue with Heather last year was that… well… I don’t really know. Gina isn’t an awful Housewife, per say, but she’s one that works best when she’s held to task for her sloppy strategy. So, the dinner is beautiful, as Heather uses her Other Mother voice to ream out her henchman.

“I feel betrayed by you and I’m having a really hard time. I felt stabbed in the f***ing back,” she barks at Gina.

Gina thinks it’s idiotic to compare the Dubrow cheating rumors with Shannon’s comments last season about CPS taking her kids, and there’s some validity there. But you helped inflame Max Dubrow’s anxiety issue, Gina! Poor girl probably can’t leave her dorms for days at a time because her parents were accused of staging photos, and here, Gina is being callous. Really, Max probably wishes they’d just asked her to take the photos instead.

From two sides of the state, Heather and Tamra set Gina up for a vicious undoing, as Heather destroys Gina’s “I’m your good friend” narrative, while Tamra lets Katie in on a little secret: Gina set her up. In doing so, Tamra’s also working her way around to another Heather takedown far in the future, making it so that Heather loses trust in Gina (her most consistent ally) just in time for another attack. Gina is the new Alexis, Alexis is the new Gretchen, and Tamra is the same vicious mastermind.

I know that describing Housewives this way may seem a bit over-the-top, but if you think Tamra doesn’t have an evidence board on her wall with notes on how and when to strike, you’re just not paying attention.

The episode ends on a different takedown, though, as Alexis turns her attention to Shannon. There’s a brief moment where I felt really devastated for Alexis, learning that her mother had died just before she met John, and he’s the “only person” who’s there for her. The simple truth is Alexis isn’t smart enough to be malicious, nor can she see a red flag coming. But this woman seems to be walking eyes wide open into a trap, and I hope watching this season back helps her see that, in some way.

Her next breath is threatening to take Shannon down with defamatory videos from the night of her DUI, meaning it’s only going to get worse before it gets better—if it ever does. And I don’t think it will. I love a dramatic descent into madness, so I’m certainly not complaining. It’s just too bad Alexis doesn’t realize the takedown she’s putting in motion is not for Shannon, but herself.

Next week, we get the long-awaited one-on-one sit down between Tamra and Shannon, continuing this legitimately perfect season. Also, there was also a moment tonight where Jenn stuck her foot in an apple pie and then ate from it. I think that just about sums up her instincts.

Read more at The Daily Beast.