Real Housewives of Orange County Season 17 Episode 2 Recap: Friendship Overboard

Tamra Judge zoomed back into the Real Housewives of Orange County with ease during the first episode of the latest season. Tamra got right to it, and made amends with Emily Simpson. She also introduced us to the newest RHOC housewife, Jennifer Pedranti, who is living the real life version of We Bought a Zoo.

Heather Dubrow was also on friendly terms with Tamra, and encouraged her to talk it out with Shannon Beador regarding ghostgate. Tamra and Shannon hadn’t spoken since Tamra left the show, and it was a battle of she-said-she-said on who ghosted who. The good stuff was saved for last when Tamra and Shannon came face to face and hugged it out. And then it all went downhill from there.

California sober

But first, it’s time for a girls chat at The Country Club with Jenn, Emily, and Gina Kirschenheiter. Emily and Jenn bonded over their mid-west tradition of ordering a cocktail along with a Diet Coke. Gina arrived fashionably late in her best three piece chunky necklace gift set and ordered a mocktail as she is now “California sober.” For Gina this meant no alcohol, but pot is ok. So, technically not sober.

Emily and Gina immediately wanted to get to brass tacks with Jenn. Did she cheat on her ex-husband William Pedranti with Ryan Boyajian or didn’t she? Jenn shared she and Will fell out of love and were sleeping in separate rooms when she met Ryan. She claimed she did not even hold hands with Ryan during that time, but it was more of an emotional affair. Gina started to short circuit as she was on the other end of her husband’s affair. Jenn started to feel the heat and cleverly distracted the conversation by pretending to get excited about Gina’s upcoming fla-mingle party. The tactic worked and Gina went down the guest list and announced everyone had to wear pink. I hope Gina knows you only wear pink on Wednesdays.

Heather used all of Gina’s Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons and bought and entire store’s worth of items for her kids dorm rooms. Ever the multitasker, Heather simultaneously bossed around her assistant and professional organizer on where to put the kids expresso machines while having side conversations with Tamra and Shannon on her phone. Tamra and Shannon were on their way to meet each other and both were certain their side of the story was correct. Heather sensed doom was on the horizon and went to hide inside a bag of packing peanuts.

Where do we go from here?

It was D-Day for Tamra and Shannon at a beachside restaurant. No friendly cocktails and pop here, just an icey cold water and chilled glass of champagne. The sunglasses came off and the battle began. Shannon informed Tamra she understood she was hurt but Tamra wasn’t buying what Shannon was selling. She felt Shannon ghosted her and wasn’t there to emotionally support her during her ex-husband’s chemo treatment. Shannon retorted back that she was just as hurt when Tamra told the press she thought she was neurotic, drunk, and a fake friend. Ouch. Tamra asked Shannon why she didn’t call her to understand why she said those things. Shannon gave up and wondered where do they go from here. In the end they reluctantly agreed to try and move forward, but neither one was ready to give up on their side of the story.

On a lighter note, Jenn was over at her house cooking, or rather burning some tacos for Ryan and her kids. Everyone was running around the kitchen cooking different components for dinner. It was organized chaos and Jenn wouldn’t have it any other way. Jenn shared in her confessional she waited one year before introducing Ryan to the kids and she had hoped they didn’t think Ryan was the reason she got divorced from their dad. Jenn also told a sweet story about how she fostered her son Dominic and he had wanted to stay with her from day one. After several years his adoption was finalized and he got to officially be a part of her family. It was very cute and heartwarming to see her and Dominic cuddled up together reading.

Time to sell the toilets

Time for a montage! All the ladies started their day with a workout. Shannon’s was the most realistic as she had on no make-up and seemed exhausted with every kick. Same, Shannon, same. Heather pretended to use a punching bag, and Emily got thirsty and shared a water break with her dog. Over at CUT Fitness, Tamra and her husband Eddie Judge went through their last remaining items that needed to be sold. Tamra said Eddie was going to sell the toilets next. Lovely.

Tamra was happy Emily had reached out to her with a supportive text about their gym’s closure, but wondered why Shannon hadn’t done the same. This prompted Eddie to ask how Tamra’s conversation with Shannon went. As Dorinda Medley would say, “Not well, bitch!” Eddie then decided to put himself in the middle when he said Shannon drank too much. Shots fired! He wondered how David Beador had stayed with her for so long. Well, we all know that David is a stand up guy. Tamra said Shannon blamed her behavior on David, and then onto boyfriend John Janssen during their drunken fights. If Tamra really wanted to repair her friendship with Shannon, she wouldn’t flush it down the toilet that Eddie was selling with comments like those.

Emily and her husband Shane Simpson drove over to see Gina to pick up items for the fla-mingle party. Gina had covid so she would no longer be able to host. However, the party must go on and Emily was on it.  First agenda item, tacos! Emily and Shane stayed the required six feet away as Gina shouted at them from her back porch. Gina dished she heard from Shannon her conversation with Tamra didn’t go well. Cut to a Shannon pulling up Urban Dictionary on her phone to read the definition of ghosting to Gina and Heather. Gina hoped that Tamra and Shannon wouldn’t throw each other overboard on the boat. Maybe they can focus on small talk instead, such as Shane’s fun fact that flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp.

Fla-mingle flop

It was glam time as the ladies got ready for the party. Heather, who recently learned about Urban Dictionary from Shannon, pulled it up on her phone to explain to her glam team what fla-mingle meant. Even the younger glam team did not know what the heck fla-mingle was. Nice try Gina, but keep it simple and stick with a pink party next time.

Emily set up some pink flowers and decided to get trashed before anyone else arrived. She was going to need it. Heather was first and was on brand with her bottle of champs. Tamra and Jenn were next to arrive and Tamra thanked Emily for her text about her gym closing. As they tried to bond, Heather interrupted them and asked where the penthouse was on the boat. Oh, Heather. Shannon almost fell overboard onto the boat, not by Tamra, but by her five inch wedges. As Heather spilled her champagne, Taylor Armstrong arrived!

Taylor knew everyone in the group minus Emily and a brief run in with Shannon at a charity event. The ladies all cheered to Gina and wearing pink. No one understood the theme, but who doesn’t like partying on a boat. Tamra then asked Jenn to tell the story about her children. Jenn goes on to discuss fostering, and in the middle of her sentence Shannon shouted, “That’s John’s son on another boat!” At this point everyone wanted to throw Shannon overboard.

The Interrupter strikes again

Jenn was not a happy camper and realized this is what Tamra meant when she had said Shannon was all about herself. She finished her story but still did not have Shannon’s attention as she had moved onto pointing out seals instead of John’s son. Taylor asked Heather to go with her to an acting coach as she was recently cast in a movie. You know Heather will be coaching the coach in that scene.

Emily hung back with Tamra to play therapist. As she asked if Tamra could forgive Shannon, Heather jumped in the middle and interrupted them again. A drunk Heather took over the conversation and asked if Tamra wanted to push Shannon overboard. Emily shooed Heather aside and asked Tamra to take accountability for her actions. Bad move. Tamra shouted that Shannon could, “F*ck a duck!” This got Shannon’s attention on the other side of the boat.

Over a plate of shrimp, Emily suggested Shannon apologize to Jenn. No small talk here. As Shannon apologized, Tamra jumped in the middle and wondered by she never took accountability until someone else pointed it out. Shannon said she did apologize but Tamra kept shouting Shannon was a liar and a drunk. Shannon countered that Tamra was the one who was drunk and she did not miss this behavior. The party was over and nothing was resolved. But we did all learn what fla-mingle meant!

Real Housewives of Orange County continues Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.

TELL US – ARE YOU HAPPY THAT TAYLOR ARMSTRONG IS BACK? WHY DO YOU THINK HEATHER KEPT PUTTING HERSELF IN BETWEEN TAMRA AND EMILY? ARE YOU TEAM TAMRA OR TEAM SHANNON? 

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