The relationship between Meredith and Lisa has been on the mend this season, but that healing (or hilling, as Whitney says) has hit a snag thanks to Angie. Though Angie doesn’t appear in this episode, presumably because she was off buying more metallic tops, her impact is still felt. Over lunch, Meredith wants to clear the air and straighten out something she heard, so she calmly asks Lisa if she said that she threatened Angie. “No, I didn’t tell her you threatened her,” Lisa quickly says, but does say that she finds Meredith alluding to “rumors” a little icky. This rubs Meredith the wrong way, and she finds it hypocritical, saying that Lisa’s situation with Monica is no different.
When Lisa points out that Meredith said she could ruin Angie’s life, Meredith says, “I could ruin anybody’s life, so could you, so could anybody under the sun, we all could — that doesn’t mean you’re going to.” So true. Nonetheless, Lisa says this is why she’s pumped the brakes on rebuilding their friendship, which bothers Meredith since Lisa didn’t pump the brakes with Angie, making it seem like she’s choosing a side. But Meredith clarifies to Lisa that she’s not the one “bringing the tornado through,” nor does she feel the need to because karma will take care of Angie.
When we find ourselves in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to us — or rather Monica — who stops by Mary’s house for cake to debrief all of her latest drama. I like this new house arrest-esque role we’ve found for Mary. She never has to leave her house, and the women can just cycle through her MOMA exhibit of a home to pay their respects and seek counsel like she’s the Godfather.
When Monica brings up her conflict with Lisa, Mary takes us all by surprise by offering up some well-rounded advice, saying that she thinks the conflict isn’t just Lisa’s fault but more of a back-and-forth. Monica agrees but thinks Lisa’s been after her ever since she called her materialistic in Palm Springs. Mary asks why Monica thinks Lisa is materialistic, seemingly another sage, peace-making question, but as soon as Monica starts impersonating Lisa fawning over labels, Mary is beside herself and jumps right in. “She did! Right? And she tells you nothing about herself.” Ultimately she tells Monica to just take her for who she is and encourages her to apologize. Great advice that Mary has never once on this show put into practice herself. “Those who can’t do, teach,” Monica says in her confessional.
Meanwhile, Whitney is dealing with a terrible loss, and we find out that her best friend Shari, who we saw at her PRISM event just a week prior, has died after a battle with cancer. Shari showing up for her despite everything inspires Whitney to power through and still go to Meredith’s event to support her, adding that she thinks it’ll be good for her to be surrounded by her other friends. Shari’s battle and loss also put her and Justin’s marital problems in perspective, with both of them committing to each other that they’re both still in it, fighting for their marriage.
But before Meredith’s event, Lisa and John are taking Jack shopping to get everything he needs for his mission trip. If you’ve seen The Book of Mormon onstage or have had your doorbell rung against your wishes, you know that the typical look is a short-sleeved white button-up and black tie. Nonetheless, all the flashy, colorful blazers catch Lisa’s eye instead. But the list is simple: one suit, eight to ten white shirts, six to eight ties, three to five slacks. Now I have questions about why they need more ties than pants, but I don’t want to be sent to Outer Darkness, so I’ll keep my mouth shut. However, I do want a side-by-side of that list and the list of what Lisa plans on bringing to their couple of days-long cast trip to Bermuda. After telling the Mormon clothes salesperson, “We don’t need to forget fashion,” Lisa and her family talk about what it will be like without Jack, especially during the holidays, and Lisa thinks she won’t stop crying for the full two years.
Speaking of Outer Darkness, Heather grabs a drink with Monica to clear the air after the blow-up at her pioneer lunch and asks whether or not she’s coming to Bermuda. When Monica says she’s not, Heather gives a quick “Okay” before Monica tells her she’s just kidding. “You took that way too well, you bitch,” Monica says. As if Monica, a woman waiting her whole life to be a Real Housewife, would skip a cast trip. It felt like we saw the exact moment Monica fell out of Heather’s good graces last week, and now she has a much more guarded approach with her, even saying earlier in the episode that her hot and cold behavior reminds her of Jen Shah. Nonetheless, the pair toast to turning over a new leaf, with Heather encouraging her not to call women ugly or old.
With another episode of The Real Housewives comes yet another jewelry launch party — this time for the affordable “Plated by Meredith Marks.” Heather arrives bearing gifts, specifically the butter that, despite her best efforts, Meredith couldn’t churn at their pioneer luncheon. Whitney also arrives, still grieving but wanting to show support for Meredith and wanting to do what she knows Shari would have wanted. Everybody gives Whitney their condolences, but when Lisa arrives and B-lines to give a gift to Heather, Whitney feels snubbed.
She’s so put off by it that when Lisa approaches her and Monica, she quickly finds an excuse to leave the conversation. This gives Monica an opening to apologize to Lisa ahead of their cast trip, and she tells her that she genuinely was excited to have a relationship with her before things went left. The apology is so sincere and complimentary that it catches a beaming Lisa off guard, and she interrupts it to say, “You’re really good at apologizing.” The gushing pays off, and it wins Lisa over, so much so that she shares that Jack is going to Colombia on his mission trip. Being part-Colombian herself, Monica gets emotional at the news since she feels disconnected from her Colombian side. Well done, Monica; already planting the seeds for next season’s cast trip. I can see it now, Monica roaming the streets looking for relatives Meghan King-Edmonds style, and Lisa crashing Jack’s mission with a red blazer and a case of Vida.
With everything going smoothly so far, Lisa’s on a roll and decides to pull Whitney aside to chat with her about her contentious lunch with Meredith, but Whitney isn’t interested. “I just lost my best friend, and life’s too short,” Whitney says, telling her that she doesn’t have the capacity to take this on. But before Whitney can dig into her annoyance with Lisa, Monica interrupts them to gift all the women Bermudan rum and Portuguese pastries in celebration of their trip. That’s sure to make everybody forget her pioneering meltdown. Later, when guests at the party understandably start nibbling at the open boxes of treats, Monica has to tell them that they’re not for public consumption. But since Angie’s not there, she gives them her box.
Likely sensing that the vibes are off with Whitney, Lisa circles back to check on how she’s doing. Whitney doesn’t waste any time beating around the bush and tells her point blank that she was hurt by Lisa walking right by her to talk to Heather and thought that she was prioritizing Heather’s gift over comforting her. Lisa quickly apologizes and explains in her confessional that she was there for Whitney when she texted her the news and immediately sent her flowers, but she was cautious at the event because she wasn’t sure how she handled grief.
The awkwardness on Lisa’s part here is tough but understandable. This is an unbelievably recent loss that Whitney is dealing with, and now she’s in front of the cameras — it’s possible that Lisa didn’t know whether or not Whitney was making this public. Rather than bring it up on camera and potentially upset Whitney while she’s trying to put on a brave face, Lisa awkwardly stumbles around it. But in turn, Whitney has every right to be upset — but is she upset that Lisa snubbed her or that she snubbed her for Heather?
That’s what Lisa’s wondering, and when she tries to keep Heather out of the conversation, Whitney doubles down, saying that just weeks ago they were fighting, and now Lisa’s rubbing their new friendship in her face. So it seems that Whitney’s feelings aren’t just about one thing but result from a perfect storm. Bad weather, if you will. Lisa’s snub is one thing, but it’s surely amplified by seeing her instead be a great friend to someone else, especially since Whitney’s mourning her own great friend. Nonetheless, Lisa doesn’t like how this is all playing out, and they both storm out of the party as Whitney tells her that everything is always about her. That’s Lisa’s breaking point, and she starts crying as she storms over to production to have her mic taken off. At this point, we’ve seen the crew remove her mic more than we’ve seen Mary this season, so if this keeps up, they’re on track to get their own snowflake next year.
