Mention It All - A Seating Chart For Christmas (Southern Charm)

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

Dylan returns to recap the season finale of Southern Charm, wrapping a bumpy season up with a big holiday bow at the Sewing Down South Christmas party. While Taylor ponders Shep’s unsettling proposition, Naomie and Leva reignite their issues with Craig and Venita, and things go left, as per usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So good, so good, so good. Everything you want for summer is at Nordstrom Rack stores now and up to 60% off. Stock up and save on the brands you love like Vince, Sam Edelman, Frame and Free People. Join the Norty Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. Betches Media presents.

Ha ha, laugh, funny. Mention It All, a Bravo by Betches podcast. We don't say that, but now we said it. With me, Dylan Hafer. We're going to check me, both. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Mention It All podcast. I'm Dylan Hafer, and it is Friday, and we have a Southern Charm season finale to talk about.

Oh, boy, this season, it's really reaching a fever pitch at the end here, and we have a reunion coming up in that reunion trailer. Oh, boy, does it look spicy? this Taylor and Jeff situation really is something that I am looking forward to being unpacked at the reunion. It looks like Catherine is getting in the mix. Madison is earning her friend of paycheck. I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be a good reunion. And,

you know, whatever you've thought about this season, I've seen some mixed reactions on social media. I've for sure had moments of really being into it and being into it a little bit less, but, you know, right now I am locked and loaded, ready to go, excited to break down these last few weeks of the season. And you know what? Let's just jump right into this season finale. This episode really revolves around Craig, who is having a winter wonderland gala for sewing down south. And I just have, I have a little bit of a question about the context of this event.

because on one hand, we're talking about it like it's this celebration of his success and, you know, showing the haters that he has built this business into something real and he's calling it a gala. And I mean, obviously it's the filming event at the season finale and the whole group is there. But then 30 seconds later, he's. He's talking about how it's the company Christmas party, and he's always dreamed of having a company, like, legit enough to have a company Christmas party. And he's telling the employees in the store that they're having this event, and it's going to be so exciting. And I just need to know if Craig knows that there's a difference between a company Christmas party, like, for your employees and an event to celebrate the company that is. around Christmas time

that is in fact just an excuse to have a filming event for the show. Because I'm watching this thinking if I was working at the Sowing Down South store and I was, this was framed as the company holiday party and then I'm showing up to this event

and the cameras are there, the whole cast is there, clearly the point of the event is to be seen on this show that I'm not a part of. I'm not getting paid to be on. I'm, you know, background window dressing. That's not a company Christmas party. And I just, I don't know if Craig has had a real job in years and years and years, but I really hope that the sewing down South employees got some sort of actual nice holiday thing. Because let's just say, don't think they felt spotlighted, spot lit, spot, spot, spot, spot lid-titty. I don't think they felt

like the center of attention at this, at this Christmas winter wonderland gala. And those sewing down south employees, honestly, they deserve the world because day after day, they are going into that store. They are dealing with all of, all of the ladies on bachelorette parties and on girls' trips to Charleston, walking through this store, hoping that Craig is going to be there, hoping they can get a picture, probably not buying anything, probably being a disaster to deal with. They're in the trenches every single day. And if anybody deserves a Winter Wonderland gala, it's them. But this event, I don't know if it was really making them feel special. Paige and Craig are talking about this event. And Paige, she really has stepped up the last few weeks as kind of a voice of reason.

which I appreciate. Since she and Naomi had their kind of mea culpa moment at the Thanksgiving party, I think she's being a lot more reasonable with the Naomi situation. And she wants, she wants everything to be okay. She's encouraging Craig to re-invite Naomi to the party. She, Paige, I really appreciate, is putting forward at least a bare minimum of effort to make this group, cohesive. And she doesn't have to do that. She doesn't need to. Naomi's not her friend. She has no need to get involved if she didn't want to, but I like that she's kind of trying to talk some sense into Craig. And that also extends to concerns about not having a seating chart at this event. Craig does say that it is a sit-down dinner, but he doesn't think they need a seating chart because, you know,

everybody kind of knows each other. It's not a big deal. And again, this to me, it's like, what about your employees? Like, your employees don't know Catherine Dennis. Like, they're not all going to be sitting together. Whatever. It's not about the employees, clearly. But Paige is like, oh, I just feel like not having a seating chart. There could be drama and I don't want drama. And then not only does Paige think this, but the literal event planner. Like, this lady who has nothing to do with the show. Even she thinks that not having a seating chart is a bad idea. She's like, well, you know, it just seems like there could be drama.

You can tell this woman has watched every single episode of Southern Charm. This lady is like, she's like, well, I mean, I'm just hearing the capacity as an event planner, but I saw the guest list and it seems like, because. because you have Madison and Naomi and Catherine and Craig and Shep and Austin and Whitney, there could be some drama. I love the innocent event planner being like, but what if there's drama? It's like, that's not a normal, that's not something a normal person would say. Like, if you didn't know these people were on a TV show where they fight all the time, you wouldn't be like, oh, but maybe there will be drama at your event. It's like, no, no, it's just

easier to have a seating chart so people know where to sit. But I mean, were they wrong? They were not, but we will get to that in a minute. We see that Olivia calls Leva to catch up because Leva wasn't on the trip. And they're talking about Craig being mean at dinner. And Leva said that part of the reason she didn't go on the trip was because of what Craig said about Naomi at Thanksgiving and it hurt her feelings on Naomi's behalf. And I get that. But also it's like Leva, come on, show up.

You need to be there. But yeah, she's coming. to the party because, you know, it's the finale and you can't skip the trip and the finale. Like, you got to choose one of the other. And Leva and Catherine are like, you know, they're not meeting their quota of events. So they basically don't have a choice. Meanwhile, we get this like weird, unnecessary scene of Naomi and Madison going over to Patricia's house for a shamong party. It's not even a party. It's not even like a dinner. I don't, Patricia's like, well, I, like, well, I, got these sham bongs and I don't know how to use them, but I thought that Naomi and Madison would be

the perfect people to invite over to try out the shamong, but I've never gotten high from champagne, so I could probably do eight shambongs and I would be just fine. It's like, why are we here? There are like 15 people in this cast. Do we not have bigger fish to fry than watching them do shambongs? I did it. The first time I did a shambong was like five years ago. Is Charleston that behind the curve? Like, we've had shambongs in New York since like 2016. I don't know. I don't know. It's giving filler. But anyway, Naomi gets a call from Craig to invite her to the Winter Wonderland gala.

Naomi is hesitant about going, or at least she claims to be. I kind of feel like the hesitancy is, you know, performative. But Patricia is like, well, you should go. That sounds like fun. And, you know, just have a good time and be with your friends and all of this stuff. And I'm like, yeah, you're right, Patricia. Patricia's not at the Winter Wonderland thing. That's interesting.

I don't know. It is weird on Southern Charm. Like who gets invited and attends what things. Also, like, who decides who's going to be at the reunion? Like, I noticed Whitney isn't at the reunion this season. And I guess Whitney hasn't been like a full-time cast member in a long time. But given everything that happened with Naomi this season, I kind of assumed he would show up at the reunion. But I guess not.

Poor Marcy had a baby two weeks ago and still shows up to Craig's party and she didn't even get invited to the reunion. Not that she should have. but Marcy being truly, Marcy being at this event is wild to me. Not because new moms should stay at home with their babies. I don't care about that. I'm just like, why do you even want to be here right now? She looks amazing, but like, do you, who wants to be in?

I would, you want to be in a gown, in a form fitting gown two weeks after having a baby? I would be, I would be sitting. on my ass, eating, eating everything in sight. I just don't, I mean, she wants the camera time, I guess, but no reunion invite. I'm getting ahead of myself. We got to talk about Shep and Taylor's little sit down. This really, oh God, it makes my skin crawl. Even if I didn't know what was coming down the pipeline and the fact that they break up, even if I, even if I had no context for this conversation. The way he sits down and he's like, you know, I don't know what the future holds. And I still don't know what the future holds. But I like being with you and not knowing.

It's like, I'm living in a dream and you're the star of my little dream. And it's like, why are you speaking to her? Like, she's a Barbie doll locked in a bubble. And you're like, the twinkly, dinkly star of my my sweet little dream. Like, she's sitting right there. She's a real person. She's smart. Like, what, what is this? Shepp is, like, looking up, she's, like, reading up fairy tale.

And he's like, oh, I want to go to places and have adventures. And that's why I'm ready to ask you, because I love us together, will you quit your job? And we had a heads up that this is what was going to happen. We knew that he wanted to ask her to quit the job, but the way it goes down in real time is just worse than I could have imagined. Like, he's selling this to her. Like, it is the opportunity of a lifetime to have no sort of long-term commitment from this man. He still won't even talk about marriage, let alone having babies.

And he's like, okay, here's a proposition. I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse. you quit your job. I put $30,000 of my money in a joint account. And then we travel the world until we run out of money. And then we come back to Charleston. And at that point, when you have no money and you haven't worked for however many months, then I will make a decision about whether or not I think this relationship has a future. And maybe it does. And maybe it does. maybe it doesn't, but I still won't even mention the word marriage, and I'm 40 years old, and I've never wanted to commit to anybody in my life. But maybe, like, it would be one thing if you said, I'm not ready to get engaged quite yet, or like, I don't want to get married quite yet. But Shep is not giving her like, oh, in six months I'll be ready. Shep is giving her, like, in six months, maybe, ha ha, we can talk about it then. I don't know. I love that Taylor

doesn't care. And it's like, I just... the fact that Taylor was like so put off by this idea, but then at the end of the day still does it, I'm like, Taylor, Taylor, Anne, come on. Taylor, can you hear, it's not, Taylor Ann Green, come on, get it together. She literally quit her job for this man. They're like traveling the world and then obviously are not still

together. I hope Taylor's doing great. I hope she's paying her mortgage. Like what? But it's like, God fucking damn it, these people. Girl, winter is so last season. And now Springs got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang on the patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear up on that envelope. It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross.

Work your magic. Ready to soundtrack your summer? With Red Bull Summer All Day Play, you choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best. Are you a festival fanatic? A deep end DJ, a road dog, or a trail mixer. Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track. Red Bull Summer All Day Play. Red Bull gives you wings.

Visit red bull.com slash bright summer ahead to learn more. See you this summer. Anyway, let's go to Craig's Winter Wonderland Party. He's so excited to show all his haters that sewing down south is a real success. We get like the 50th montage of the season of what's wrong with my sewing and, you know, Patricia critiquing his pillows. I get it. Nobody believed in him.

Now he has a store. Good for him. Marcy's there. like I said, with her, you know, fresh baby body. She looks great. I still don't understand why she's there. Naomi and Vanita are like about to have a blow up. I feel like Naomi is like, doesn't realize that she has an actual problem with Vanita.

And then Vanita's like, hello, hi, hi, hi, hi. What's happening? And Naomi's like, I don't, I don't know. I'm talking to this guy about his mom's back surgery. Can I have a second? and Vanita's like, are we friends? And Naomi's like, I mean, I guess not. I'm curious to see what their dynamic is like at the reunion because it feels like maybe

there was more to their conflict this season that kind of got left on the cutting room floor because Vanita seems very upset about this. And I know they did have a little dust up at dinner in St. Simon or wherever the fuck they were. But like this doesn't feel like a main. storyline of the season. Like it doesn't feel like Vanita has really had a whole lot of screen time and Naomi's bigger issue has been with Craig. So the fact that now Vanita is very upset about her status with Naomi, I'm like, I actually would like a little more information about that and I don't feel like I have the full context. So I'm curious to see whether that gets really

unpacked at the reunion because I like Vanita. I think for this season, it kind of felt like she was in and out a little bit. And I'm like, Like, no, like, can we, can we have the details there? Because she says that there's history between them. It's going to take a while to get over. And I'm like, okay, like, can we get into it? I don't know. Catherine shows up late with her new best friend Jake, who Madison's like, do you have a boyfriend?

And Catherine's like, no, actually, he's gay. And the way these women in 2022, or I guess this was 2021, So it's a free pass. The way they're still speaking about gay men in the year of our Lord 2021, the year of our Shep saying the grace, 2021, Catherine's like, actually he's gay. And Madison's like, oh, those are the best. It's like, those? What?

What are we? Madison. Like, it's so funny. I feel like all of these women have still. only met like two gay people in their life and they're like, oh my God, I met one of them once. Those was fun. Oh, yeah, those are a real good time. Oh, my God, that's so fun. I'm so jealous. You found one. Oh, my God. Look, I don't know what to tell them, but I guess, yeah, those are the best. I can't. I literally count with these people.

But anyway, we get to the dinner part of the evening and not having a seating chart is a disaster as predicted by page and by the party planner. So, okay, this is a little bit confusing and chaotic as it happens on the show because everybody's kind of finding their seats. People are trying to sit next to each other, couples, friends, whatever. And then at some point, they're like, okay, well, there's not enough seats. and Naomi is like, and Craig's like, well, you can go sit over there. And there are clearly a lot of empty seats. But I think what it really boils down to is that there's kind of like a cast table and then like an everybody else who's at the party table, like maybe the, uh, maybe the sewing downs out of employees that this party is allegedly supposed to be for. But they're not breaking the

fourth wall. So it's, it comes across as this weird thing where it's like, why is everybody trying to sit at this one table when there's so much space. But it really is kind of a weird dynamic. If you think of it like this is like a cast dinner. And of course at a cast dinner, normally the whole cast would just be seated at the table. And Naomi is kind of being like banished to this off to the side table. Like, Shep is saying grace and they're talking about, you know, Craig's giving a toast. And Naomi's off to the side and Leva decides to sit with her. And it's just all. awkward. And I get, I don't even think it's like so bad that Craig didn't have a seating chart, but it's like you probably then should have said, okay, this table is for people who are,

have been miced up by the production company. And this table is for anybody else who is enjoying the dinner. Because that just feels deliberately messy. Like if you know there are 12 people on the show who are involved in the scene, those 12 people should get the seats at the table. Like, it's, it's, it's not actually about a seating chart. It's about, like, production logistics. And Craig is kind of deliberately not following the protocol, it seems like, to me. So that's annoying because it seems like he is setting Naomi up for failure. And Leva decides to kind of stay with her.

But Leva then kind of just blows her top. And she is talking shit about Craig to Craig's business partners. Craig gets wind of this via page. Craig freaks out. Craig kicks out Naomi. Or not Naomi. Craig kicks out Leva. And then Madison's like, oh, that was awesome.

And then Olivia's like, you're a bitch. And then Olivia leaves. And then she comes back in and is talking to us. It's very weird. The end is chaotic. But Leva said apparently that she has not spoken to Craig since this blowup that they had at the finale party. And I'm excited to hear more about that. that on the reunion. I'm excited to hear about Shep and Taylor's demise on the reunion. I'm excited

to see what's going on with Naomi and Vanita. I do feel like this season has been bumpy, but I think there are a lot of threads that I am now interested in getting more information about. And for that reason, I'm very excited for the reunion. But in the meantime, I'm going to go take a nap. I hope everybody has a great weekend. Thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow the show wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Betches. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool. Mention It All is produced by Dylan Hafer, Sean Kilby, Jorge Morales Pico, and Rebecca Sousmacat. Editing by Horacee by Julesen. Social media by Dylan Hafer, guest booking by Dylan Hafer and Ali Friedlander. Be sure to follow at Bravo by Betches on Instagram and

Twitter. Pay off your home. Travel for life. Drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the World premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino and San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at Yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion.