Mention It All - Lisa Barlow, Queen of the Middle Class (RHOSLC Reunion, RHOBH)

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

To cap off a busy week, Dylan is back for a solo episode that starts with the latest Tres Amigas updates. Then, he turns his attention to the RHOSLC reunion, where Monica’s post-finale still seems a bit muddled. Does she even want to salvage her spot on the show? Later, Dylan recaps this week’s RHOBH, with a focus on Annemarie’s weird obsession with Sutton, and Kyle’s heartfelt moments with Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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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 at All podcast. I'm Dylan Hafer, and for today's episode, it is just between you and I. We have got some stuff to catch up on. We've got lots to talk about. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City reunion has kicked off. We have an episode of Beverly Hills we're going to get to. There are some OC.

updates. There's just a lot happening. Yesterday's episode, of course, I had a nice little sit down with Lisa Hawkestein from Real Housewives of Miami. It was nice to chat with her. I feel like I had her on the show last year. She was in the studio with Larsa, and it was nice to do a one-on-one. And I feel like she has really been on a journey the last year, year and a half. So it was good to catch up with her. So go listen to that if you haven't had a chance to yet. I'm not going to get into this week's episode of Real Housewives of Miami today because frankly, there's just too much going on, and I can't not talk about Salt Lake. But speaking of Salt Lake, there is something very exciting happening next week if you are in New York City or close to New York City or feel like coming

to New York City. Betches is putting on an event. We do these series called Betches Night Out. Usually it's just stand-up comedians. There's always a great lineup, really funny, hilarious women. But this month, we are doing something a little special because in addition to an all-star great lineup of stand-up comics, we are putting on a little bit of dinner theater. The Bermudiful disaster dinner. We are going to do a live reading with a full cast of the Real House of the Salt Lake City season finale dinner party. You know the one I'm talking about. Receipts, Proof, Timeline. It's all going to be there.

We have a great cast lined up. I am going to be playing Meredith Marks. Sammy Sage and Nicole Pellegrino from Betches are also going to be in the cast. Andrea Lopez, hilarious comedian content creator. She does incredible housewives impressions. I'm sure you've seen her videos, even if you don't know her name. She is going to be playing Monica. And then for our last two parts for Heather and for Lisa,

we have a couple of very exciting surprise guests lined up. So if you are in New York, this is going to be next Thursday, January, 18th at 8 p.m. It's at City Winery, which is over on the west side. It's a great venue. Tickets are available now at Betches.co slash BNO. That's BNO as in Betches Night Out. So it's going to be a great night with some, like I said, hilarious stand-up comics. And then this very special one-night-only, Real Housewives of Salt Lake City finale presentation. So I would love to see you there. If you get your tickets and you're going to be there, please come say hi, send me a DM. I love meeting you guys, seeing you guys out in the wilderness.

So yeah, that's going to be super fun. It came together super quickly, and we're making it happen. Betches.com slash BNO, if you want to get your tickets for next Thursday. But this Thursday, let's get into it. So I mentioned we have a couple of OC updates, and I want to get into those right off the bat. On Monday's episode with Gibson Johns, we talked about the Tracea Mugus fallout that has happened and things have escalated a little bit. There was one tweet that really made me laugh was Vicki Gunnvelson responded to Tamara's post promoting this season of the traders and just said, perfect show for you. So that was great.

In the meantime, also, Teddy has put out screenshots of some messages between, I guess, between Tamara and Vicky, because Vicky had said that she never said certain things about Tett. It's a whole mess and a half. But so Shannon and Vicky are doing their tour together. And then just yesterday, there was this article on realityt.com. And I don't know how legit this is. I don't know if this is going to happen. But there's an insider source that says that maybe Kelly Dodd might be replacing Tamara Judge in this Trace Amiga's situation.

Oh my God. Like, in a way, wouldn't that justice? be so perfect. Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake to never have to think about the Trace Amigos again? Oh my God. Kelleadd hitching your wagon to Kelly Dodd in 2024 is certainly a choice. I hope it goes well for them, whatever that means. Meanwhile, it was reported in page six yesterday by her good friend Evan Real that Alexis Bellino has been offered an official role on this season of Real Houseways of Orange County. You know, no sure. shocker there. I think it would

really be more shocking at this point if she wasn't brought back to the show. But we will see. I don't know if it's full time. I don't know if it's friend of. I believe they are set to start filming very soon, if not already. But excited to see what happens there. I think

I've talked a lot about OC and how they're primed for success next season and I hope that comes to fruition. We got to talk about Salt Lake. So this reunion, it's three parts. We all know the drill with a three-part reunion at this point.

I'm sorry. Was this the most explosive, climactic reunion episode that you've ever seen? No. But of course it wasn't going to be. If you sat down to watch that reunion episode on Tuesday night and you were like licking your lips that you're going to see the reality von T's drama hashed out, you need to come back down to Earth. That's going to be like a last 15 minutes of part two segueing into a big cliphanger into part three. We all know how this works. Come on.

We've watched a lot of housewives. We know the drill. So part one was a little bit of, filler is not the right word, but I feel like they had kind of other stuff to get to. And honestly, because of how explosive the Salt Lake finale was, there is that kind of tendency to forget about everything else that happened on the season and be like, okay, the reunion's going to be amazing because they're going to talk about this thing that happened on the finale. And of course, there are, what, 14 other episodes. worth of stuff that they're going to have to address as well. And so it, it was a little bit

refreshing, I think, after a week of finale talk to get back to basics a little bit with this season and be reminded of some of the stuff that did happen. And Monica was still in the hot seat. You know, we kick off with the clip package about her. The first question out of Andy's mouth is, do you want to be Lisa Barlow? She says no. Andy asks about her, um, talking about her feelings coming into the group and buying the Louis Vuitton bag to feel like she could fit in and all of that. Andy brings up that that was really interesting to him to hear about. And I certainly felt the same. I thought that that was a kind of a refreshing take on somebody coming into a housewives group.

And she just said it was intimidating and she wanted to feel like she had something to bring to the table. And I still think that that's so relatable. Obviously at this point, the other women aren't really going to give her an inch. And I think that that is, that's something that I'm having, just the slightest bit of trouble with at this reunion is that it feels like, because everyone is so strongly anti-monica, for, for reasons that we understand, that some of the conversations that don't have anything to do with the reality, Vanty's of it all, feel just like a little too one-sided. that Monica is answering Andy's question and normally you might have a couple people that are like oh yeah yeah like I see how that could be yeah I understand that or like we we do want you to fit in but none of these ladies are going to give her a fucking inch

and so it is a little bit like okay like let's let's get through Monica's clip package because it's just going to be a little bit silent so good so good 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 Nordi Club to unlock

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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. But it was interesting to hear the conversation about Lisa's 60K ring that she lost in the Palm Springs Airport. Because that That took me back. It feels like that was years ago. Oh, my God. So Monica says that she didn't care that Lisa was upset about losing the ring, but that she was put off by Lisa continuing to say how the ring was 60K. And first of all, Lisa's like, well, they only said 60K like three times. And it's like, okay, well, three times is three more than zero. But then she, comment. out with this explanation that she wasn't upset about losing the ring because of how much it cost,

but rather because this ring was a gift from John Barlow after she gave birth to her second son, Henry, and she says that Henry almost died and that they didn't know if they were going to be able to have more kids, they didn't know if they were going to make it, X, Y, Z, very emotional. And so this ring was sentimental because of that tie-in. There was some back and forth over whether this was opposite of what Lisa had said before. It was a new ring. What a la. It is a little bit like your rewriting history a little bit. I don't have any reason to disbelieve her about that ring explanation. But like, you said 60K a bunch of times. You weren't not upset about the price factor. She did say that she's gotten it replaced, but that it's not the same because of the sentimental

value. Obviously, I mean, I feel for her in that moment. I don't think anybody's like mad that she didn't want to lose her ring in the airport. But yeah, I mean, she said the 60K thing a lot. But she also, she also says that she is not the 1% and that to say I lost a ring and I'm upset about it, it doesn't mean I'm not relatable to the middle class. Oh my God. Talking about the middle class, it's like, it's giving Marie Antoinette. She's like, well, just because they Just because they don't have nice things like I do doesn't mean that I don't, doesn't mean that I don't want them to have nice things. It doesn't mean that they don't deserve it.

It's like Lisa. Lisa is like a quote machine, but in this type of situation, truly, it's like the less you say the better because you just, you're not going to say all the right things about this. But that was very funny. But then we get into, and I think this is maybe the most interesting part of the episode, if I'm being honest, is the stuff about this. Monica's relationship with Jen and how she came to be on the show. And this is something where from the first episode of this season, we knew about her connection with Jen. It's not something that she tried to hide.

But I mean, obviously Jen's not here to talk about it. And so it always felt like we were getting kind of this very simple narrative of it that it was like, you know, I was working with Jen and then Jen turned out to be crazy. And then here I am. And so Andy asks Monica to describe her relationship with Jen. And she says, well, I guess we were friends first, then I was working for her, and then enemies, I guess. I guess. It's like the Renee rap song. Is it in the kitchen where she's like, strangers to lovers, to enemies? That's the ballad of Monica and Jen.

But so she's explaining how she was working for Jen. And she says she needed help with her life, you know, picking up dry, cleaning, just arranging things. But she never got paid. And this is the thing that just nobody can understand. Because Monica is a single mother of four children under the age of 18. Who the fuck has time to be going and picking up some mean ladies dry cleaning that's not even paying you.

When you have four kids at home that need to be like, you know, carpooled and fed, I don't, like, I, I am never one to criticize anyone's, like, parenting or, you know, the way you organize your life, whatever, you got to do what works for you. Life is short. But, like, it's kind of, it's giving loser. Like, it's a little losery to be, like, following around this woman because she's on TV, but then I guess she says it was after they had filmed season one, and so she didn't know she was on the show yet? I don't know. The timeline is a little wonky to me, but then the question

that Heather brings up is she asks if it was like Kim Kardashian starting out as an assistant to Paris Hilton, where she saw it as a stepping stone. And Monica says no, and this is when Heather pulls out her phone and has a little bit of audio receipts that she plays, where she literally says Kim Kardashian was an assistant, look at that bitch now. It's just one of those things where, I mean, similar to the reality von T's of it all, it's like, Monica, why are you still lying about this? And that, I think, is sort of, like, if I had a few big questions from this reunion, one of them would be, like, what is Monica's end game at this point?

like in her mind, what is her goal at this reunion? Because if her goal was to stay on the show, and I think I talked about this last week, I'm not sure, if her goal is to stay on the show, then what she should have done right off the bat in Bermuda, but certainly at the reunion, is come with your tail between your legs and do your darnedest to try and get these,

women to give you the time of day again. Say that you were so deluded by Jen and you, you know, you weren't thinking straight and you came on maybe with questionable intentions, but then the friendships you thought you were forming became real to you. There's a whole playbook for how you could play this if you were trying to salvage your spot in the group. And Monica's not doing any of that. She's sort of doing the opposite, which is she's still continuing to lie about certain things.

She is still coming after Angie and Lisa and Meredith just as hard, if not harder than during the season. And then I think the most telling thing is when Andy asks Monica, how did you end up on the show? And she says she applied like everyone else. and I love that she says that and then there's like an uproar from the group and Angie Kay's like, no, I was referred. I mean, Heather's book actually, one of the more interesting parts of Heather's book

is kind of assembling the Avengers of Salt Lake City and so there's a lot of stuff in there and I mean, I think saying everyone else applying is kind of rewriting history, but that's a little bit beside the point. But then she says that she's emailed casting that their show sucks, and their ratings are shit.

And Andy's like, did our show suck? Were the ratings shit? Because that's not like, that wasn't what I felt. And I'm the executive producer of the show. And then kind of the icing on the cake of the whole thing is that they put in the screenshot of the email, the exact email that Monica sent to production. And this is what it says. reaching out in regards to your casting call

would love more information on what needs to be done or how to move forward. You guys need a feisty, excommunicated Latina on the show immediately. I'm your girl from Monica Fowler. So even in this moment, knowing that somebody's going to be able to find that email, she's lying about what she said in the email.

She's making it sound like it was this like baller-negg move of, Like, your show sucks. I know how to fix it. When really she was just like, hey girlies, would love to be on the show. Hit me up. I'm feisty. Like, she's not lying about reaching out to them, but I don't think that really like makes her look like more of a boss. And the whole connection with Jen, then it makes it weird that she had to sort of put herself up for consideration. Because you would think that she would have already been on the radar.

of casting. The way that casting works in these shows, they have lists on lists on lists of potential women, of women to talk to next season. Everybody's giving the producers lists of their friends, lists of people they know, lists of moms in their kids' classes at school. It's not like they just post an email address and see who shows up. These shows, the casting is very tailored to the show's needs. And so the fact that this is seemingly how Monica was cast almost like makes her case to stay on the show weaker. But I don't know what's happening with that. I mean, we get a big clip package of basically everyone in the sort of four OGs having issues with each other over the course of the season. And they're all for the most part doing better with each

other. And I think that that is really telling that they have come into this reunion and have finished out this season basically being like, we've got, we've got a bigger job to do. We have something more important to take care of. So like, Meredith and Lisa are going to work on their shit. Heather and Whitney are going to work on their shit. You know, they have, they still have their little things. You know, Whitney and Lisa are still sort of like agreeing to disagree about how Lisa handled Whitney's friend passing away. Like that's sort of feels like a non-starter in terms of how much I care. But at the end of the day, this is really about Monica.

And, you know, there's like the stuff with the rumor about Angie's husband and that's a whole thing. And she was focused on Meredith because Monica was basically telling her to and that she gave Monica the benefit of the doubt and she was wrong. And Monica feels like she's being blamed. and everyone else brought it up on camera. And it's like, at a certain point, Monica, if everyone says you're dead, it's time to lie down,

in the words of Heather Dubrow. And so I'm very curious to see sort of how how the rest of this reunion unfolds because if Monica doesn't sort of change tactics at all, I think it's just going to feel like sort of a beat down. Not like physically. Like Monica can hold her own. But in terms of where the show goes from here,

I don't think it's going to feel like a big question mark. But I don't know. Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-D-Nine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. You're racing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie's sleep solutions for the whole family at ollie.com.

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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. I do want to talk a little bit about Beverly Hills this week. this episode really got to me. I was emotional at the end. Kyle, of course, hosts this event for the one-year anniversary of her friend,

Lorene, taking her own life. And it was really, it was really emotional. Sutton was there, and she, of course, lost her father to suicide. And so she talks about that a little bit. That's something that, you know, We've gotten a couple sort of glimpses into on Sutton's time on the show, but she doesn't bring it up all the time. And it's clearly something that she has a lot of, a lot of stuff down there resulting from that and talking about the feelings of guilt that she had. And, you know, talking about her, this episode in the confessional, her dad not getting to be there to see her kids was like,

was really, really, really tough. And I think that's a side of sight that we don't get to see too often. And so I thought that was lovely. And I thought, you know, whatever is going on with Kyle and Morgan, it feels like we're like teetering on the edge of some big reveal. And I don't know if that's going to happen or they're just making it feel like it is. But see it like Morgan's performance was so lovely. I mean, she seems like a very talented musician and performer, and obviously it meant a lot to Kyle to have her there for that.

Kyle's speech was so nice seeing that Lorene's mom and her daughter were also there, really being there for Kyle and, you know, being there for each other. Obviously, you know, it was, they went through it too. and the one piece of this event that didn't go along with this, you know, just lovely tribute to someone who they all cared about, was fucking Anna Marie sitting down with Crystal and Garcell and being like, so you guys know something pretty well, right? So like, what's going on with her esophagus? because I've poured over medical textbooks and I've asked anesthesiologists and nurses and doctors and therapists and I've read every textbook and that's not a thing.

And, okay. So first of all, it's like fucking weird that she cares so much, that she still cares, that she went through these layers of due diligence to find out what's happening with the esophagus. that's fucking weird. But then it's one thing to like go off on your own tangent because it happens where you kind of get something in your head and you're like, okay, I'm going to like read all about this. But then when she brings it up to Garcell and Garcell is like, why do you care? That should be a moment in Anna Marie's head where a little alarm bell goes off where it's like, oh, I might sound a little crazy. right now. I don't know these women that well, and I'm going to look like the girl who's just obsessed with Sutton's esophagus because she is. But like in a social skills type of way,

Garcell asking why she cares should be the indicator that she needs that it's like, oh, this isn't landing. Everybody else doesn't care about this the way that I do. I should move on. But instead, she says that it could be because of an eating disorder and that the acid reflux can cause scar tissue on your esophagus. And of course, she's saying this to Crystal, who just last week was struggling with sort of the ongoing complications of struggling from an eating disorder. And so when Crystal is kind of like, hey, so it seems like you're insinuating that Sutton has an eating disorder, for Anna Marie to be like, no, no, no, that's what you said, not me. I didn't say eating disorder. You said it.

Okay, first of all, that was 30 seconds ago that you said it. So it's not like cute or like, you know, LOL to be like, I never said that. but also it's like, again, I can't stress enough how much Anna Marie does not know these women. She's, you know, supposedly friends with Kyle. Maybe she spent a little more time with Doreet. She does not know Garcell and Crystal on any sort of level to be having these types of conversations, to be bringing up touchy subjects like this. And in particular, she is acknowledging when they sit down,

that they are closer with Sutton. It's like, babes, you got to use your brain when it comes to who you're talking shit about with whom. That it's like, you have to be reasonably sure that it's like a safe space for you to talk shit or to bring up questions. And let me tell you right now, Garcel is not that safe space to question Sutton. Because Garcell, she takes that bone right back. And I mean, we could debate whether it was the right time in place for Garcel to bring it up. And I really did appreciate that Sutton kind of was like, not here, not tonight. I'm sure we will have, you know, a continuing conversation about that in the coming weeks.

But that, you know, she didn't let it get in the way of the reason that they were all there. And I really appreciated that. And, you know, maybe Garcel should have waited. But really, Anna Marie should have, she shouldn't have waited. she should have just not. It really is, it's, it baffles me what is happening with Anna Marie this season. I don't understand why she's a full-time housewife. I don't understand, like, is a producer chatting with her and being like,

hey, so I think it would be great if you sat down with Garcell and Crystal and asked questions about Sutton's esophagus again. Because that producer should be fired if so, because they don't understand. in the assignment either. I don't know. Also, the scene with Doreet and PK, with the therapist, God, it's tough. It's tough.

I really feel for Doree. I know she's going through a lot, but I also, in a way, feel for Peké, like, it's a really tricky situation, and I certainly don't think Pek is saying or doing all the right things, and I think that he could stand to just kind of like shut up and listen sometimes. But at the same time, when it's flashing back to that Beverly Wilshire birthday surprise and Doreet's like, well,

it triggered my PTSD because I don't like surprises. And then in the flashback, it's her being like, you couldn't have got the presidential suite? And like, where's my Beverly Beach Bronzer? It's like, I get what P.K's saying that it's like, not every comment that you made that night was like a result of the PTSD. And I think that maybe this, maybe this therapy situation isn't the, exact right place to hash that out. And I think P.K. could have, like, said examples maybe that would have, that would have made things a little more clear. But also, it's like, maybe that's just, like, a separate conversation and that you don't need to sort of discount the PTSD just because Doree can also just be, like, a little bit high maintenance and, like, bitchy sometimes.

But I don't know. I mean, it's interesting to see them working through it. This is definitely a different dynamic than we've gotten from them in past seasons. And, I don't know. And, I mean, it's interesting seasons. And I, you know, I'm happy. We haven't really been getting much of Kyle and Maricio in the last few episodes. I mean, Maricio is notably not at the event for Lorraine. And Garcel notices, even Kyle says that a few years ago, this would have been something she was really leaning on Maricio for. And it seems like, I mean, obviously he travels for work, but it seems like, you know, there's not really an effort being made to sort of like keep up appearances. And that's interesting because we're not we're not at a point in the season yet where they're technically separated or like publicly,

you know, working through it. I don't know. It's interesting to see how that's kind of developing over the course of the season. And I'm hoping maybe in the next couple episodes, we get like a little bit more concrete developments there. But overall, I thought it was a pretty interesting episode of Beverly Hills. Definitely better than last week. You know, the less we say about Garcell's conversation with Derreet the better. But I'm excited to see where the season goes. I'm excited to see where this season of Bravo, everything takes us. We're going to be off on Monday for the holiday, but we have lots more exciting stuff coming up after that. So thank you for listening and make sure you are subscribed or following wherever you listen. You can follow us on

Instagram at Bravo by Betches. And get your tickets to The Betches Night Out presents Bermutiful disaster dinner next Thursday, the 18th at City Winery. And you can get tickets for that at betches.com slash B&O. 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 Sousa McCat.

Editing by Jorge Morales Pico, 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. All. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere

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