Mention It All - Much Ado About Her (RHONJ)

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

Entering the new week, the biggest news around Bravo is the long-awaited opening of Something About Her. Dylan kicks off the episode with a rundown of the internet’s reactions to the sandwiches in question, and a broader look at what we expect from Bravoleb businesses. Then, he pivots to the Jersey shore, where the RHONJ cast delineations are starting to cause some big-picture problems. While Jennifer Aydin meanders down the boardwalk and Teresa hosts her third goodbye dinner for Gabriella, the rest of the cast start to make moves that will shape the rest of the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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See Store Online for details. 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. Who don't check me, though? Hey, everyone.

Welcome back to the Mention It All podcast. I'm Dylan Hafer. It's a new week. It's Monday. The sun's shining. The birds are chirping and something about her is finally open. What a time to be alive. Did you see over the weekend?

Something about her. It opened. First of all, it happened. To all the naysayers, to all the people who said that this was never going to happen, you can go and buy a sandwich today. And, man, do people have a lot of opinions about pictures of sandwiches on the internet? I was away over the weekend. I was in the Catskills with Cheez-It at the first ever Cheez-It themed diner.

It's a pop-up this week that's in Woodstock, New York. So I was busy eating sandwiches of the Cheese-It. encrusted variety. But when I checked Twitter, I was seeing sandwiches of the something about her variety and some mixed responses, some mixed feelings. Lindsay Hubbard stopped by something about her. Our friend Danny Pellegrino was there. But really it was the pictures of the sandwiches. So, okay, it is a sandwich shop that is basically just doing sandwiches and little pickle spears. I'm not a pickle person, so I don't have, I don't have many thoughts. about the pickles. Some people said they look sad. Can a pickle be sad? I feel like everybody fucking loves

pickles. Me aside, whatever. So people are dragging the sandwiches. People are saying it looks like airport food. People are saying that for, I can't believe that for $14, all you get is the sandwich and a sad pickle. Okay, first of all, I haven't eaten the food. I'm not going to pretend to know whether the food is good. Next time I'm in LA, trust and belief, I'll go and you'll get a 45 I've been at rant, whether it's good or not. But if you have spent time in L.A. Or if you have spent time in New York or I would say any other major city, but I don't actually know. What sandwich aren't you spending $14 on? We're living in the world of inflation. $14 to me. If I go, if I go to like a salad place for lunch and it's, and my total comes out to $14, I'm going to say,

Did you, did you not put the chicken on? Did you subtract something? Everything costs $14 to $16. I step outside of my apartment. And I feel like there's like an $18 charge on my card before I've even done anything. I just don't think that's, I don't think that's a crazy price. A big Mac is like $8. So if you're going to something about her and you're getting,

uh, handcrafted with love, Green goddess, whatever, the penny sandwich. I just, $16 is not something I can get up in arms about. Maybe I'm a coastal elite. Accus me of that all you want. But I don't know. The sandwiches, they definitely look edible to me.

They don't look like necessarily something to fully write home about. But also, it's like, I feel like a little bit of what you are going for and what you are paying for is the novelty of saying, I went to something about her, the sandwich shop as seen on Vanderpump Rules, as owned by Katie and Ariana. And like, if the sandwich is good, that's sort of a bonus. I don't want to let these ladies off the hook, like, too easy. But I don't know. I just feel like if you're going to something about her and you're expecting it to be like the culinary experience of a lifetime,

you're kind of setting yourself up for disappointment. Like, you heard me when I got back from Lake Tahoe. And I was like, low-key shook that Lisa Vanderpump's new restaurant was actually good. The bar, I think, is just, like, inherently a little bit lower for the food because you're going for the experience. Like, something about, you're not going to something about her when you're in L.A. Because you heard it has the best sandwich in L.A. You're going to something about her because you are like, fuck Tom. I want a sandwich.

Lindsay going also like the sandwich universe of Bravo like how many sandwiches have you made for me? I really hope she reenacted that. If she did, it's probably already on TikTok. But anyway, I thought the most, the opinion that I agreed with the most about something about her was a tweet from Sophie Ross, our friend who's been on the podcast before. And she said, unpopular opinion. But I do think the sandwiches at something about her look delicious. That said, where are the sides? Fries, house-made kettle chips. maybe even a bean salad or cucumber salad or potato salad. Fancy sandwich shops need fancy sides. And I think this is, I think this is the take. If you don't think the sandwiches look good, that's okay. But I feel like what I really would want to take the experience to the next level is

like a dish that you're bringing. Like the sandwich on the tray with the pickle, it just feels like it needs a little bit more of a side. accoutrement situation. Like, I, there's nothing I love, like, going to a barbecue place. And it's like you get your, you choose your meat. And then you get like two sides that come with it. And you get the little, the kettle chips or the little cup of baked beans or a mac and cheese.

Oh, fuck. I'm not really a potato salad kind of person. Like a mayo based salad kind of gives me the ick. And that might just be a me thing. I don't think it's just a me. I know it's not an everyone thing. But I know that it is me. But yeah, I feel like that if you're going to come for anything about this restaurant, it's that it's like they've figured out the sandwich menu over the course of two years. I'm glad they finally got there, you know,

after numerous filmed tastings. But like they didn't, there's nothing else. And I don't know if their kitchen capabilities are limited. It is a very small spot from what I've, from what I understand. I haven't been there since it's been inhabited. But I, yeah, I just wish there was a little bit more of like an accompanying menu to go along with the list of sandwiches. But, you know, whatever. For a reality TV sandwich spot, I guess beggars can't be choosers. And I am very glad that they finally opened the restaurant. Congrats to them. I hope it does well. They've already made a lot of money off of the merch. So, you know, at this point, it's going to do what it's going to do. It's got to be better than Schwartz and Sandys.

Like, sorry, what's the food there? Is it better than a $14 toasted sandwich? Maybe it is, whatever. If I'm in L.A., I won't be testing out the Schwartz and Sandy's food. That's where I draw the line. Good sleep is everything. That's why Ali's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L. Deonine

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Windows.com slash student offer. While supplies last, ends June 30th, terms at a.k.a.com slash college PC. I'm going to talk about Real Housewives of New Jersey, I promise, but did you guys see that Candy Burris' daughter Riley graduated from college? She is an NYU graduate. She got a music business degree, which I kind of love.

I feel like she really is Candy's daughter. I don't know exactly what she wants to do with that, but she's going to be a mogul, essentially. And what else would she be doing? Congrats to Riley. Just making me feel old. One Bravo kid at a time. Speaking of, I mean, New Jersey this season, it feels like half of the episodes so far have been devoted to kids leaving for college.

And I have mixed feelings because there are certain Bravo kids that I care about and certain Bravo kids that I don't. And that isn't, that sounds harsh. But I don't mean that there are children that I like, you know, know, don't want to see on my screen. It just means that there are some that I feel a little bit more of that connection to. And look, Antonia and Gabriella both fall in the category of kids that we care about. We've watched them grow up. We wish that they were still closer. But, you know, it is what it is. They're working through their stuff. But I feel like even the kids that we care about get like one to two scenes of us being like emo about them leaving for school.

And then we kind of got to keep it moving. And I don't really understand the amount of screen time that Gabriela leaving for college is getting in these first three episodes of Real Houseways of New Jersey. Like this week, Teresa left the shore trip early because Gabriella's movers were picking up her stuff. First of all, is it normal for somebody who's moving into a college dorm to have a moving company pick up their stuff and, like, drive it cross-country to move in? Maybe I'm out of touch here. But, like, when I moved into college, we, like, loaded up the car, road tripped down, moved me in at, like, the crack of dawn the next morning after sleeping in a, I think we stayed at a La Quinta the night before. and then I think I shipped like a couple boxes. I don't know.

Like I don't need like the moving truck to come get one dorm room's worth of stuff. But whatever, to each their own. I'm not judging. I'm not shaming. I've never moved a kid into college. But this is the bigger issue here aside from, from Gabriela's packing situation and how she's going to fit all that crap into a dorm room, is that I don't really.

understand the structure of this cast right now. And this episode really, I think, put into perspective how clunky it's going to be to have everyone in the cast not really on speaking terms with each other. Because the first two episodes, they did a really smart job of arranging the events, of setting it up. So we had full cast attendance at two events in the first two. episodes, which is really important and really healthy for a show to have everybody in the same place as much as possible. And having Jen Fessler's birthday and then Nate's celebration of life was the perfect way to kind of get everyone together. But then we're seeing immediately after that in episode three that we have sort of run out of reasons to have everybody in the same room.

And so not only do we have Teresa returning to wherever the fuck in New Jersey early so she can help Gabriella get ready for the movers. And it's three days before. I feel like she could have stayed an extra day at the shore. Like the packing is happening. Whatever. She left for a reason. But Jennifer Aden is just left in the lurch because she's staying at her house with Dolores and Teresa. And so Teresa's leaving early.

And then Joe Gorgas having his birthday party and Dolores is going to go to the birthday party. But Jen is not invited to the birthday party because she and Melissa aren't in good terms. So she's going to be left alone. And then even when Joe Gorga, I don't know why I'm doing my Jennifer Aiden voice to narrate this whole thing. It just kind of pops out. But then Joe Gorga, I think for a moment, is like the bigger person. You know, people are going to come from me for saying Joe Gorga was the bigger person. but he's doing the little like production, helping it along work of trying to get more people in the same place.

He invites Bill to his birthday party. And Bill is like, well, I'm sorry. I don't think I can come because, you know, Jennifer and Melissa aren't in a great place. And I just would feel, you know, I feel like they need to have a chat and I would feel uncomfortable. It's like, okay, whatever. So even given the option of coming to the party as sort of like a last minute, maybe olive branch, Jen and Bill kind of bench themselves from this episode. And it's a weird choice to me.

I understand that Jennifer Aiden's dream evening at the Jersey Shore is not going to Joe Gorga's 49th birthday party. But coming from the perspective of somebody like Jennifer Aden who fucking loves being on TV, I feel like if it's episode three and you're getting the olive branch to go to the party, you should take the olive branch and go to the damn party. because instead the only time we see Jennifer for the second chunk of the episode is this bizarre like 30 second interlude of her and her daughter Olivia playing whack a mole at the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore and like it's not even attached to a conversation or confessional or anything it's literally like oh like Olivia get them get them all right

we're not here to win prizes. We're here to win, whatever. And that's the only time we hear from Jen. Meanwhile, there's all this stuff happening at the party. The dynamics are starting to shift, which I'll get into. We're seeing, you know, the multiple scenes of Teresa back at home, you know, FaceTiming with Joe Judice, who it's, we haven't seen him in a while. We're seeing them at their goodbye dinner and everybody's crying again. And it's like, they're at this, like, weird restaurant that looks kind of shitty. that's like Teresa's long time friend. It's like, why are we here? It's like Auntie Jackie's restaurant. But like Teresa, they're giving the screen time to

because there's at least like a storyline happening with her daughter that we can like maybe get invested in. But with Jennifer, it just feels like there's nothing going on. And like somebody pointed out on Twitter actually, this was the first episode of the season that we saw a confessional from Jennifer Aiden. That's not good. It's not a good sign for a full-time housewife to be in episode three of the season before we need their opinion on anything. Because that's what it really comes down to.

I mean, of course, like, everybody wants screen time. Everybody wants, you know, like memeable moments, whatever. But if your confessionals aren't being used, it means that they're not looking to use. as the person who's kind of narrating or weighing in on what's happening on the season. And I would actually, it would be really interesting to go through and kind of see like who gets pulled the most, like who we see the most confessional footage from. Because sometimes you'll see there are people's confessionals being pulled in on scenes that they're not even in.

You know, if it's kind of that like entertaining color commentary to what's happening on the show, those can be super important. If it's been three weeks and we barely are hearing from you outside of like your, your scenes on the show, it kind of is a red flag to me. Like you're, you're in the warning zone a little bit of like, are you going to sort of fall off the map of this show without even realizing it? Because I'm sure Jen was filming confessionals and being asked about all of these things. Like what happened at Jen Fessler's birthday party? What happened with Teresa and Jen at Nate's celebration of life thing? Like, I'm sure that that footage is there.

They're just deciding that it's not important to be shown. And I don't really know where Jen is going to net out this season, but she's been on the show five or six years. And if she's not central to what's happening, that could really, that could spell trouble for her in terms of her longevity on the show. 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.

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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. That's an interesting kind of counterpoint to what is happening at Joe Gorga's birthday party

because we're seeing that Danielle and Rachel and Jen Fessler, now all in their second season on the show, are starting to sort of run the board a little bit more. They're starting to kind of like the wheels are turning, the sands are shifting, and they're not just kind of there as an accessory to whatever the veterans are doing. Like I think last season we saw a lot of like Margaret was really heated. Jennifer was really heated. There was Teresa and Melissa stuff still going on. And we sort of were looking to the new girls as like a little bit of extra voice in the conversation.

Or maybe they're, you know, starting to figure out where they stand. But seeing the conversation between Jen Fessler and Rachel and Margaret and then Jackie kind of gloms on to that a little bit, you're really starting to see that Jen Fessler is being put in the hot seat and sort of situated in the middle of what's happening between Teresa and between Rachel and Jen's loyalty is being called into question. Rachel is kind of positioning Jen as this friend that she really got close to and she says that she saw her like family and she doesn't open up to people. And so it took, it meant a lot that she was being so open with Jen. And I think that Rachel is being really smart to sort of construct this idea of Jen as

somebody that she was so close to. I'm not saying she's making it up or lying about it, but she's really, she's laying it on a little bit thick in terms of telling us that they were that close. So then Jen's relative willingness to hear Teresa out and to sort of see both sides. then becomes this bigger issue within her friendship with Rachel. And it's sort of this question of loyalty and this like sort of potential betrayal where it's like, of course, like, I don't want you to, you know, I don't think you need to hate this girl just because I have beef with her.

But if I see, if I see you laughing with her at the party, then I'm going to, I'm going to question what's going on there because she's trying to hurt me. Teresa's trying to hurt me and my family. And Jen, I don't think that Jen is totally blind to the position that she's being put in. I think that she might end up getting stuck in the middle a little bit. And we're seeing this season with Teresa and Jennifer kind of on their little island maybe, that for them, somebody that is willing to hear them out and to kind of play along with them is going to be a really valuable tool because they just don't have that many people

in their corner. And that's the other thing. We're seeing with Danielle, she's also sort of starting to shift in the other direction. So far, we haven't seen whatever big issues are going to happen between Danielle and Teresa and Jennifer. But we know that's coming from the season preview. And seeing in this episode after Margaret and Rachel sort of leave their conversation with Jen Fessler and they go and are venting to Danielle and they're saying, you know, like, oh, I don't, you know, having somebody who you can't trust the loyalty and you're starting to have these issues with. And, you know, Danielle does a really, I think, smart job of sort of giving a pageant answer to them where she's like, oh, I can really understand why that's

frustrating you. And I would feel the same way. She's saying in her confessional, she's like, If I were friends with Jen Fessler, she was listening to Teresa at the party after she talked about my husband, I would have an issue with that. So Danielle is kind of, she's being careful at this point, not to sort of distance herself from Teresa and Jennifer, but she's making it clear that she understands where Rachel and Margaret are coming from. And I think that she is kind of seeing where the pieces are going to shake out. And she's like, I don't want to end up on team Jennifer and Teresa and the other girls aren't going to speak to me. So she's either going to be in the middle or she's going to choose the side that has a little bit more, you know, a little bit more oomph behind it at this point. And I think that I think that's a great strategy for a second season because what we're, seeing already is that it's just like there's not that much room on the other side. And it's hard to be on

Team Teresa and Jennifer without sort of being the third tier soldier, which I think we saw a little bit last season where it felt like Danielle had kind of chosen her side and then she was being turned into like a little bit of a pawn. And so I think this season she's already kind of taking her agency a little bit. And she's like a, she's like a free agent kind of. Because she's like, okay, like, I'm listening. I'm listening. And I don't know exactly what's going to be kind of that trigger for her to really, like, you know, vacate team Teresa. But I'm, I'm kind of fascinated.

And I think Danielle is like, I think that she, her stock is really going to rise this season. She had a good first season, but I think that she is kind of in a power position. And I think that that could sort of, the opposite of that could be true for Jen Fessler. also for Jackie, because they're the two that we see at this party, kind of like, you know, they're like talking on the couch after the other two leave. And they're like, no, well, I mean, you don't have to be like a soldier for Margaret. Like, you can see both sides. And if, you know, I don't know if it's that big of a deal. She's talking about her husband. She's making it seem more serious, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it feels like we're already seeing Jackie sort of talk

herself into being a little bit more neutral and potentially even leaning toward Teresa. And I think that for somebody like Jackie, whose position on the show has really diminished in the last couple of years, I can see how she sees that opening. You know, the numbers on team Teresa are lower than they used to be, lower than lower than the other side, for sure. And so if you kind of make yourself open to that, if you say, okay, like, I can be, I can be brought over to that side. I can do the talking points if you need me to. It makes you a really useful person. And I think for somebody like Jackie, being useful to somebody who's on the full-time cast is kind of what she needs to stay on the show at all. And I think that Jen Fessler is sort of in a similar boat. We're seeing Jen right now get a much more prominent edit than Jackie. I don't know. how that will change over the course of the season. But right now, it's kind of like, why isn't Jen Fessler full-time? I know that they are a little bit looser with the definitions of full-time and friend of than maybe they used to be. But it does feel like, I mean, there was a lot more

Jen Fessler in this episode than there was Jen Aiden. And right now, I mean, Jen Fessler is kind of like the fulcrum of the group. And so, like, I don't really understand. why we're not getting like a full-time treatment from her. But again, we'll see what happens for the rest of the season. But like, I mean, Jen Aden, come on. You got to play ball. You got to come to the party. Meanwhile, I loved it for Jen, for Jen Fessler, being in the middle is like,

seems so precarious. Whereas Dolores is just like, living her life, having a great time. She's like, yeah, I'm going to go to the party. Why not? All fun. And then I'll go see Teresa. next week. By the way, I just, I loved the little moment of, um, seeing Frank Senior talk to Dolores and Polly at the party and like, basically like get a vibe check on how they feel about him proposing

to his girlfriend, Brittany. And he's like, you can tell that he's kind of nervous. And he was like, I just like to run things by you. And I'm like, oh, this man. I miss Frank Senior. I know that it, I know that it wouldn't make sense for us to see as much of him on the show as we used to. But like, I'm happy he's happy. And I'm, I'm happy that he and Dolores are at this point and that they can kind of be happy for each other's successes, you know, feel secure around each other. And just like, life is too short, you know, they're doing great. Everybody's happy. Everybody's, everybody's healthy. Everybody's doing a good job. And it was a, it was a tender moment. This episode overall, I feel like, Obviously, there's a lot of tension in different directions in the group.

But I don't know. I'm like, I don't know if I'm underwhelmed. But I think I'm just like a little bit, I'm, I'm, I'm, wellmed. I think that the, the, the Joe party at the shore, it's interesting to kind of see where the cast dynamics are headed. But I feel like we need a little bit more of like a jolt. Like, I feel like somebody needs to get kind of like pinched on the ass so they'll like jump out of the seat and we'll have like a little bit more energy. And I think that, you know, obviously if you're, if you've listened to this long, you know that I'm not necessarily like in the in the Teresa camp a lot of the time.

But I do think that her being like an active participant on the show oftentimes gives it that little jolt and is, I mean, she's a, she's a major contributor. And so I am looking forward to Gabriella actually leaving for college. So hopefully Teresa can keep her eye on the ball a little bit more in terms of what's happening within the group. Because I do think that we need her to kind of like get back in the game. Why am I using like 55 baseball metaphors all of a sudden? Like eye on the ball. Get back in the game.

I don't know. Oh, actually, I guess next week I think they go to they go. to the Coney Island baseball game. So maybe I just am like a week ahead in terms of having baseball on the brain. But, you know, New Jersey, it's never really disappointing me. Look, I want a little bit more. I can't lie. But like, I'm not mad.

I can never be mad when they're at the shore. You know, they're taking shots out of a blow up doll's ass. At the end of the day, it could be a lot worse. You know, we've got Danielle and Nate the Jersey Barbie. and, you know, I think we've got a lot to go this season. And I hope that it's really good. But even if it's not, it'll probably still be pretty good. But anyway, that's what we've got for today.

Thank you for listening. If you go to something about her, let me know how the sandwiches are. I don't know when I'm going to make it out to L.A. next. But I am, I'm Jonesen for a crusty piece of bread and some delicious, I was going to say some delicious pickles, but I don't think pickles are delicious. Anyway, thank you 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 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. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination. for today's superstars.

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