Let's get caught up with the BH crew shall we? First up to appear in front of the camera is the queen of Beverly Hills herself, Lisa Vanderpump. She had a member of the L.A. Dodgers coming to her house to help her practice her pitching skills. After a few gay innuendos, she reveals that she was asked to throw the opening pitch for the LGBT games, which is a big honor. They really love Vanderpump in Hollywood.
The rest of the ladies flashed by pretty fast on screen. Lisa Rinna was being interviewed for Oprah's Where Are They Now? show, Eileen is still going strong with her soap opera gigs, and Kyle is still bragging about how rich she is. Seriously though, I hope Kyle gets a better storyline this year. With her sister Kim out of the picture and everything out of her mouth this episode being about money, it's not looking likely. Last to appear on screen was Yolanda. I was originally skeptical of her getting better immediately as filming started, but it looks like those rumors weren't true at all. She was very sick indeed during filming of this particular episode, and it was actually a bit painful to watch. I almost wish (for her sake) that she had decided to quit the show, but something tells me that losing three cast members would have been too big of a blow to the show, which also explains Eileen's miraculous appearance as a main housewife this year.
For the end of this opener, we see Kyle and Lisa V meet up for lunch. After an annoying bit about Kyle bragging about spending 75 thousand dollars on sunglasses (didn't she mock someone in season two for having 25k sunglasses?), we finally get to something interesting about this woman. She's in the workings to get a scripted TV show about her life. That's something right? Well before she could even elaborate a little bit, the topic turned to her sister. Kim is not present this season as a main cast member because she was in rehab during the beginning of filming. Kyle acted surprised, but I got the impression she was more relieved that her sister was out of her business for the time being. I never bought Kyle's loving sister persona she puts on for the cameras. There's something else there.
Another familiar face that is no more is Brandi Glanville. She was axed this season, but some online reports have producers and Andy alike rethinking this, so she could possibly in for a return. She's been official demoted to the dreaded "Friend" role from whence she came in season two. But that hasn't stopped people from talking about her. She was brought up multiple times this episode, both by Ken and Lisa V while Vanderpump was practicing her pitch for the LGBT games, as well as Eileen when she was redecorating her house. It looks like the mark that Brandi left on this cast is a lasting one, and I sincerely hope they see the error of their ways and re-promote her for season seven.
I was glad that Lisa Rinna got so much screen time this go around. She was a key player last year, and for this episode she was a pretty big deal, too. I absolutely love that she is making her daughter work for money to get a car. I'm sure she's helping her with saving or matching what she puts in, but it's still good for her kids to get real world experiences. If you remember last year when she visited her family's small home town, the kids were like rich spoiled brats. Unlike Kyle, Rinna is really making an effort to make her kids into humble, likable people. You go, crazy lady!
The other Lisa, Mrs. Vanderpump, did a marvelous job at throwing the opening pitch for the LGBT games. Did she make it all the way to the catchers mitt? No. Did she look fabulous? Yes. And in Beverly Hills that's really what matters.
The later portions of the episode were all about Lisa Rinna's birthday party. Well, actually, if you want to get technical it was all about Yolanda at Lisa Rinna's birthday party. Yolanda did make a surprise appearance, and everyone was shocked. What really made me pissed off was that both Kyle and Lisa V read her for filth for not wearing makeup. Uhh, hello! She's sick. What person in their right mind would think a deathly ill woman would stop to put on a face full of makeup. She obviously only intended to stop by for a short period of time before returning to her treatments, so it would have been a waste. And if you understand her illness even in the slightest, you'd know that even the smallest things can be overwhelming.
Yolanda made a quick exit from the party, saying she was feeling very ill. I felt for her, to be honest. When the rumors were spreading that she was faking her illness, along with the trailer making it look like she would be Beverly Hills's Brooks, I felt like I was going to be against her all season long. This first episode, however, made me really feel for her. I'm not sure if this will continue (we all know Bravo has a way of building people up only to smite them mid to late season), but as of now, I'm on her side.
Rinna tried to steer the conversation away form Yolanda, talking about her husband in her phone, but the topic quickly went back to their sick friend. To my surprise, Kyle was actually trying to be supportive, despite what she was saying earlier. Actually, the only person who genuinely seemed to care about her was Rinna. She was the only person who thought it was brave of Yolanda to go out without makeup on. Even Ken seemed to do a Jekyl/Hyde when she left, saying he flat out lied to her to make her feel better. Ouch. Honestly is always the best policy in my book, and I really felt Ken could have been a bit more tactful of how he worded things on camera after Yolanda made her departure.
The final moments of the episode weren't all that notable. It was more Kyle complaining about her family. I get that she wants to be supported, but when everyone -- no literally everybody in your family -- is against you, something is going on. I really feel like she tried to be perfect in front of the camera instead of being real. I don't know if we've yet to see the real Kyle Richards. Hopefully this year she will start to crack a bit. Six years is a long time to keep it up.
This was a kind of low key first episode. Nothing substantial happened, and in true RHOBH fashion they fail to introduce the new housewives. Actually, we probably won't be seeing them until week three or four. It's not even like last season with them tying up residual drama. This is just plain drawing out the story. I am ready for the new girls to come in and shake things up. We have a skeleton crew right now with two of the biggest players in the past few years missing. We are left with rich witch, sick lady, boring, and the Lisas (my saving grace). If these new housewives can't spice things up, this franchise may be in deep trouble.
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