The One Where Rebecca Fakes Having a Baby
RHONY Recap
The Real Housewives of New York
Season 15, Episode 7: “Dodging Rumors”
Grade: F
During last evening’s Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen grimaced and said, “I don’t love a prank.” His sentiment was much nicer than how I felt after watching an entire episode where Erin and Rebecca Minkoff duped the other girls into believing that Rebecca was pregnant — via a swingers’ orgy — by someone other than her husband. An entire episode based around a made-up rumor is one thing, but centering it around a Friend Of who has yet to deliver a single interesting scene this season was one of the worst blunders I’ve seen in an episode of any franchise.
Whether or not the plot was to prove how gossipy the other women are (well, do you know what show you signed up for) or merely to get Brynn back for her shady comments about Rebecca’s job, the entire endeavor was annoying because we, the audience, weren’t in on the joke. I blame Erin and Rebecca for this, but most blame goes to the production team. At first, my anger this season was at several of the new RHONY cast for not delivering on the promise of season one. But now, I’m angry at how the show is being produced. I tune into Bravo for Real Housewives, not to watch Punk’D!
How did we end up here?
Erin and Rebecca grab lunch and Erin fills her in on how Brynn’s shady “Nordstrom Rack” comments about Rebecca’s fashion line. Keep in mind, we don’t have anything to refute these comments as of yet, because we’ve yet to see Rebecca in a professional setting. Also, remember that she didn’t even receive an introduction package in her first episode. Rebecca has managed to be a cipher this season because the show has not invested any time in letting us know who she is.
For this, I blame production! When Brynn asked Rebecca about her Scientology background, it was the first time this had been brought up on the show. Rather than tease this information about Rebecca and then let it spin out as the ladies ask questions, Rebecca was plopped into a lunch scene without much fanfare. We weren’t given a primer on who she is. If you’re familiar with fashion or New York, then sure, you already knew who Rebecca was going into this season. But the majority of RHONY viewers are watching this show to learn about New York. What is this place that Lou Reed feels the need to describe in every song of his? Why do rich and famous people like Sarah Jessica Parker prefer this city to Los Angeles?
That’s what this show should be about. And a Housewives show should be a way of learning about a culture that’s foreign to you. Take Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, for example, which explains the ins and outs of Mormon life in every episode. But this show seems to assume that because the women have Instagram accounts and because you can read gossip blogs, you already know what’s going on in the show. I’ve long thought some of the women were the problem this season — and some still are, more on that later — but the real problem with the new RHONY seems to be that Shed Media doesn’t have any idea what kind of show they’re making.