Nashville, Television

Nashville- “Baby Come Home”

 

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I realize this is almost a week late and I would apologize but I took all of last week off from blogging because I decided that I deserved it. On the bright side, I was vacationing in Nashville for the better part of last week and therefore we can count it as research. To which I will tell you that The Bluebird Café is not a lovely wooden bar with twinkly lights and celeb status, it is a hole in the wall located directly next to a McDonalds in the middle of nowhere and you are charged 3 extra fees just to sit inside it for 2 hours. *QUIETLY* So there’s some TV magic ruined for ya’ll.

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Anyway, since we’re talking about things ruined, let’s talk about how baby Cadence is the human form of a C-block. When Avery and Layla finally, no surprise to anyone, smooch on their tour bus of love, Cadence lets out a howl that says, “no one will be getting any on this bus.” Then later on, after Juliette tries her typical manipulation to get Avery onstage with her, she finally fesses up and tells him she still loves him and they should try again. At the pucker of Juliette’s lips, Cadence turns on the waterworks. Congrats you two, you created a monster. Avery found a quick way around that though when he has Emily drop the little cockblock off at Juliette’s room to signify that he’ll be having a slumber party elsewhere. Ugh. Terrible decision, Avery. Calling Juliette during sex would’ve been less mean than using your own child as a flag to wave that you’re getting laid.

In related “things that were obviously going to happen” news, Scarlett and Gunnar get stuck in an elevator because the show needed a small place for them to finally harness their sexual tension and face it head on. Their foreplay is whiskey and “If I Didn’t Know Better.” They bang and that’s obvious.

And onto our melodramatic teen that wants to, in Daphne’s sad, sad words “divorce her family”, we’ve added Teddy back into the equation, which I think is pretty lolworthy because a few recaps ago I mused if he even still existed. Lo and behold, here’s Teddy still rotting in jail, except now he’s being asked to sign off on the emancipation before Maddie takes it to court. Maddie visits her fake dad in jail and is all, Deacon attacked some guy at the club feeling me up, so you can see how unfair this is, sign the papers and side with me. Except not so fast…Teddy reveals he only signed Maddie to Edgehill because of the whole blackmailed for banging a hooker thing. Remember that? The thing that got him thrown in the clink to begin with? Well, it didn’t really help the whole lying/manipulating parents sitch, whoopsie, so Teddy has been dismissed from the show, probably forever.

On Rayna’s side, she gets to that little snake Cash and threatens her with, “I will make sure no one from music row to lower broad will ever work with you again.” Cash should be shaking in her boots because Rayna basically owns Nashville and also since I’m a recent tourist of the city, I know that those are actual neighborhoods there. Ask me where they are and I will tell you I have not a clue. At one point I discovered I was in music row because a new snapchat geo-tag showed up that said “Music Row”. I know, I’m a genius.

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Rayna catches Maddie at a vulnerable moment and thinks she gets her to call the whole deal off, then Maddie shows up last minute at the Opry to play with Daphne for a benefit. Except it turns out she didn’t LOVE what Rayna said to Cash and the emancipation is STILL ON. She only showed up to prove that Daphne and her are still sisters even though she’s bare-handed ripping this family apart. Everyone cries, including Rayna whose singing. I wouldn’t feel fab about paying for tix at the Opry and having the lead act cry onstage. PS I’ve been on that stage, NBD but KBD. Double PS, if you ever go to Nashville, skip the Opry backstage tour because it is literal dirt, and they wheel in a TV (substitute teacher style) with Deacon Clayborne on it to read the history of their soundstage. I see him every week on my TV; I don’t need to pay $35 for it. Alright, I’m done yapping about my life. See YA next week in court.

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Nashville, Television

Nashville- “Didn’t Expect It To Go Down This Way”

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Since I definitely lost sleep over whether or not our new minor character that’s only been in like 2 episodes is okay, let’s get this right out of the way. Riff told his wife he’ll be home when he’s “good and ready”, which is a mature adult thing to do. Then he’s admitted to a hospital for having a stroke, as a result of days of boozing, pills, Viagra, and sex. And the cherry on top of the disgusting sundae that is Riff’s extracurriculars, he was found and brought to the hospital by an escort. Well, well, looks like the family man and hot dad has a darker than drunk Deacon side to him. All because of tour life. SO I guess he’s out!

The Exes are still IN on tour with that devious AF country singer. New revelation: Autumn’s neighbor is James Taylor, of course and she uses it to lure Gunnar like she’s driving by a bunch of kids with a free candy van. Gunnar is like I LOVE JAMES TAYLOR and then she’s like k come BY YOURSELF and he realizes there’s a potential rape in the mix and says no thank you. Was that too aggressive to compare Autumn to a chomo? Probably. Do I care? Never. She also buddies up to Scarlett for a little spa day and so Gunnar’s like k, everyone’s friends so I guess it’s okay if I go to Autumn’s hotel room by myself.

Don’t call it a comeback but Juliette has breakfast with Glenn and Emily (because she pays them to be around her at all times) and she’s like, GANG’S ALL BACK TOGETHER! Avery decides to be bandleader to Layla’s tour and she promptly inserts her lips to his ass and gives him her bedroom on the tour bus, complete with crib. Except since Riff is now unconscious or whatever (some people just can’t handle strippers&blow, amirite?) there’s a headlining spot on the tour open, so Juliette obviously adds herself to the bill and is like hey ya’ll I’m BACK FO REALZ. LoVe TrIaNgLe.

Ya boy Will is having some love troubles surfing Grinder because he’s jelly AF that Kevin has been sharing Pinot with another man. He doesn’t have to swipe right for long because lo and behold there’s some man candy in his backup singers crew who won’t stop drooling over him. Obviously in cringeworthy events he invites him out for a beer thinking it’s a date and this guys is straight AF. LoLz dating faux pas. Backup singer also offers to hook Will up with his gay cousin, what a gent. And also kind of a moron. “Hey I know a gay person, you should mate!”

And last but certainly not least, Maddie’s such a wild child and a bad gurrrrl that she snuck right on out of the house before she could be punished for sexing it up onstage and getting a creeptastic leg caress. AND DAPHNE BLAMES HERSELF. That sweet, sweet cherub. Rayna rolls into Cash’s place guns blazing looking for Maddie and Cash is like check this out your hubs is SO aggressive and conveniently pulls up a quick vid. Rayna tosses her hair and tells Cash to suck it, or at least she should have because Cash deserves a good SUCK IT. After Rayna leaves Maddie comes out of her hiding place, how she could have ever hidden in time when Rayna rolled up that quick is TV MAGIC. Maddie wails about how her parents JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND HER and Cash is like k but your mom gave you a record deal… So the two of them put their idiot teenager heads together and decide to get Maddie emancipated so she can sign with Sony, become a preteen super star and shave her head/have a drug addiction by 18. Even better, Maddie’s probably going to live with Cash who’s like obsessed with her or something. Gr8 plan!!! But like, maybe if Deacon weren’t such an angry elf this all wouldn’t have happened.

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PS- total props for the Thomas Rhett cameo of singing the most romantic adorbsies song ever. Kind of makes up for all the name drops they throw around and don’t follow through on. Kind of.

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Nashville, Television

Nashville- “When There’s A Fire In Your Heart”

CONNIE BRITTON, ALICIA WITT

So it looks like our new faux country star Autumn Chase may hang around for more than one episode and whoopsie, secret’s out, she’s kind of a Twat. Within the first five minutes on tour, The Exes watch her fire a roadie in front of everyone. But in the NICEST way possible. She’s all we’re gonna go ahead and get you a flight back to Nashville…sorry! WHAT a DIVA. Then she bullies her new openers into spilling their relashe goss. They tell her everything because they’re terrified of getting fired and she obviously blabs it to anyone who will listen. Girls’ got a point though—in what world does a guy end up in a band with the girl who turned down his proposal. When Scarlett fearfully asks Fall Autumn to cut the shit, she’s like OF COURSE THANKS FOR SPEAKING UP #FEMINISM and then gets an evil look clearly growing her talons to insert into Gunnar.

Layla’s still trying to force herself on Avery but it’s looking like nice Juliette might swoop back in for the W after all. She goes to Avery for help when she realizes that asking for Glenn to be her manager again probably wasn’t going to erase all the terrible things she did to him. The ole married couple works together to get Glenn to the Grand Ole Opry where Juliette does a surprise serenade for her “father”. Nice Juliette is REALLY laying it on thick. It works, obviously and Glenn is like a sappy lil bitch agreeing to manage and dad for her again.

Maddie’s like so blasé about her first break up. It’s all good, Colt just wasn’t her guy, she wrote about it with Cash, so whatevs. It took me like six weeks to get over the crush I have on a hot bartender…but I guess that’s the power of songwriting. Except songwriting just isn’t enough for Maddie anymore. She wants to live her own Ind3p3nd3nt lifestyle so she decides to sneak out and play a show. Why? Oh, because Cash used to do it and she basically S’s her D. Daphne blackmails Maddie to get some new clothes out of keeping quiet except that she busts the secret like 20 minutes later when Deacon asks her to clean up after herself. Typs teen.

At the “coffeehouse” that Maddie’s playing at, she’s “21” for the night. Barf on barf. Let this episode serve as a PSA to all men out there. Before you take a chick home from a club…make sure she’s not 16. Speaking of, a random guy offers to buy Maddie a drink and she’s feelin herself—so much so that she decides to make F me eyes at said guy during her performance about being a bad girl. Do you think Rayna would give her a proud hug and tell her she’s growing up now? Methinks no. Mostly because a creeper grabs at her leg while she’s singing and Deacon appears to hulksmash him, announce her age and literally drag her offstage. SOCIAL SUICIDE. Seriously Maddie should just go into hiding after this one. It’s like when my dad dropped me off to visit my sister at college and told all of her friends to remember that I’m only fifteen. I don’t think they were going to forget anytime soon…I had braces. But the mere mention of it is a REAL buzzkill. Guess Maddie’s out on the club scene! Then Deacon tells Cash to stay the hell away from Maddie. Cash shouts a lot about not abandoning Maddie when she needs her. Is this relationship getting A LITTLE too intense for teen BFFS? Somethin ain’t right.

While Maddie is workin on her night moves, Rayna James is on the cover of Business Week for being a CEO of a company, and yet she admits that she doesn’t look at finances and spreadsheets for Highway 65. Killer CEO skills. She really just wants to go on tour so hard. Deacon declines a 10-day stint on the road in favor of fatherhood (whoa, one upper parenting, much?) At The Exes show Rayna wistfully looks at the full crowd and forces Autumn to bring her out onstage. In a sparkle star top, Rayna basks in the love of her fans and begs Bucky to let her hit the road again and forget about her business that’s barely surviving. You know, just for now. Wink, Wink. PS are we to assume Teddy is still rotting in jail? Just wonderin.

Ya boy Will has a record deal again but womp womppp he has to work with his ex Kevin to finish the record. Obvzzzz Kev has a new boyf and Will is all “we JUST broke up” Did they though? Because I feel like they broke up like 100 years ago. Was it even this season? Whatever, they loved each other and that’s that. (That’s definitely not that…they’ll probably get back togets.)

Uhhhh what else did I miss? Layla continues to annoy the shit out of me by manipulating every person over Jeff’s death. She lands a tour with Wheelin & Dealin because Luke is definitely the type of guy that gets reeeeall uncomfy around a crying girl and Layla knows that. She also knows that he’s covering up the truth about Jeff’s death but that’s neither here nor there. Since she’s still hard up for Avery (or Juliette revenge) she asks him out on tour with her as bandleader. OH YEAH….and RIFF IS MISSING ONE DAY BEFORE TOUR. GUITAR RIFF.

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Nashville, Television

Nashville- “What I Cannot Change”

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It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…Juliette’s back from post-partum rehab (fictionally and IRL) and she’s here to STAY. Maybe? Upon her homecoming she is offered a part in a Spielberg movie that films in Prague. Yeah, ok. Subpar country singer who’s known for being a real diva then disappears for two months gets offered a highly coveted Hollywood role. Yup, this adds up. Also let’s not gloss over this hot PR person she’s hired to cover up her vizzy to rehab. I suspect there will be more with him later and then he’ll disappear like every other new character. (Ahem, Vita.) Juliette sees Avery for the first time since ignoring her daughter’s trip to the hospital in favor of booze and pills and immediately asks for more time with their infant child that she used to hate with the fire of a thousand suns. Then she serenades Cadence with an original ditty (did she take voice lessons in rehab?) and Avery caves. She comes clean to the press, drops out of the movie and is rewarded with more tummy time with Cadence. Not for nothing, but she looks like a bangpiece at that press conference. Apparently rehab was good to her because the side braid, red lips and flower dress were killin it.

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Someone who’s not so much killin it is Frankie, the sober bar owner that we’re supposed to care about and yet I can’t even muster up an aww when he “celebrates” his 15 years sober while probably drunk. (Due to being a jelly belly of Deacon.) He’s grumpy and he mumbles everything he says so I have a hard time sympathizing, but boy did I love it when he told Deacon, “You erased me the second you hung that sign out there with your dead sister’s name on it.” DON’T SPEAK ILL OF BEVERLY AROUND DEACON OR HE’LL INTRODUCE HIS FISTS TO YOUR FACE, BOY. JK they make up and Deacon admits that he’s been acting like a real Johnny-come-lately douchearoni to Frankie’s bar. Frankie is reminded to take his sobriety like I must take his unwanted storyline on this show, one day at a time.

Meanwhile, Colt calls Luke and is like, “hey long time no chat, can you sign a waiver so I can join the army? Kthxbyeeeee.” Luke drives out to the country to tell him no and Colt’s like whatevs I’ll do it when I turn 18 in a couple months anyway. Hey Colt, if you were months away from being legal, why did you ask your dad to sign the waiver in the first place? Be dumber. Luke tries to talk some sense into Colt about how terrifying it is to be overseas and be near an IED explosion and sassy Colt fires back with “Granddad said you were on a VIP convoy” LoLz. Shh, Luke. You’re coming off real stupid right now. But then, miraculously, it turns into a teaching moment. Colt enlists and Luke learns not to be afraid of the gays, so he signs Will again and apologizes for dropping him like a hot potato.

Rayna is trying to sell the new and improved Layla and she does that thing where they name drop to give viewers a wink wink nudge nudge and then decide on a fictional character to take Layla on tour instead. For example, OH DID YOU HEAR BACK FROM LADY A?! Yeah you’re right Bucky; Autumn Chase would be better suited for Layla. *Mostly because she doesn’t exist in real life country music. I’m also not loving the fact that they cast my most hated Hallmark holiday movie actress as the latest made up country star with a dumb name.

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At her showcase, Layla plays a lame song that everyone nods their heads right off to and the show ends with Rayna plugging her merch table. Snatch up those t-shirts ya’ll, you never know when someone might pity Layla and take her on tour, so you best be ready with 100% cotton! In another revelation that made me hate Autumn, she greets Layla with “Hey Gal.” Bye Gal. Naturally she watches the Exes play at the Bluebird, sees that they’re 1000x better than Layla’s guitar solo that’s comparable to Nick Jonas’ at the ACM’s and picks the duo to open up for her on tour. Saaarrryy Layla. Avery’s busy being superdad and orchestrating a mother/daughter reunion to answer her sobbing call. Oh, and also Vita’s still missing without a trace and FiNgeRz CroSsEd she’s never found. On the other hand, wouldn’t protest to a lot more Riff…or sex. I feel like no one on this show has gotten laid in a century. Might make their music better, jus sayin.

 

 

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RHOBH, Television

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills- “Goodbye Dubai”

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It ain’t a trip until it lasts half a season, but of course. The lassies are still in Dubai, enjoying themselves thoroughly. And by enjoying themselves I mean holding grudges and having dinner fights. The gang is actually happiest when they’re being driven around a shopping mall in golf carts, because rich people cannot be bothered to walk from store to store. Kathryn gives Kyle a harsh reality check that cat eye sunnies maybe aren’t her cup of tea when she shouts “YOU LOOK HORRIBLE.” I think it’s safe to say that Kathryn is the shopping buddy every girl deserves, but not necessarily the one that we want.

Next on the agenda after going to a generic American mall set in a foreign country, is to take in the sights of said foreign country. So they check out the indoor ice skating rink. JUST KITTEN. The gals hit up the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. Olga, the tour guide slash receptionist at the ole Burj did that thing I hate by saying, “Hello, how are you” and the girls reply, “Good. How are you?” and she replies, “Well. How are you?” EVERYONE IS GOOD—or WELL IF WE’RE BEING PROPER ENGLISH SPEAKING DICKS, LET’S MOVE ON, OLGA. Legit fear, sometimes when this happens to me I don’t know if I’ll ever get out of the how are you cycle until I say, “Well.” It’s a real fear. Anyway, Eileen gets a pair of sweaty dogs because she’s nervous and doesn’t want to be up that high. Kyle is afraid of heights but miraculously recovers from her panic attack real quick for an observation deck selfie. Post photo-op, Lisa apologizes for like the 100th time to Eileen 2,000 feet in the air, because clearly Eileen and her soaked with sweat hooves are feeling self-conscious so it’s time for Lisa to swoop in. The apology, like all of the others is as fake as Kylie Jenner’s pout, right down to the evidence of Lisa running her lines with Kyle the night before.

Back in BH, Kim, Brandi and Yo have a juice and salmon filled picnic *with cloth napkins* while the mice are still away. Brandi wears probably the most hideous hat I’ve seen on this show, and that’s saying a lot since we had to see Eileen in a bucket hat last season. She also rocks a graphic tee that says, “It’s not fun to be sober.” I’m sure she’s wearing it in support of Kim because sobriety is for WIENERS. Apparently this is a nice segue into Brandi’s new venture into the t-shirt biz as she gifts Kim with a tee that says “Medicated” and Yolanda a tee that says “Sick”. When the chips are down, all you really need is an iron, letters and some cotton tees, I guess. You do you, Brandi. And every other recent male college grad in the Malibu area. What a gang these three are; the Medicated, the Sickling, and the Anti-Sober One. Sincerely yours, The Beverly Hills Club.

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In stark contrast from a picnic lunch where everyone wah-wahs about their lives, let’s check in on someone who can afford to fly her glam squad out for a vacation. Even though that’s still a real douchey move, I respect the fact that Erika shares her makeup crew with Kathryn for her birthday. This probably was her real prezzie—not the paperweight that cost 50 cents. Mikey and his boys, the perpetrators of a made-up term of endearment “hunty” (honey+cunty, OBV. EYE ROLL.) coach Kathryn into using the word “cunty” once and for all. Nothing gets a woman to cave faster than the person who has complete control of how her face looks on her b-day and roughly 10 minutes later, Kathryn is basically shouting cunty from the rooftops.

On a luxurious yacht, Kathryn’s mom calls her to wish her a happy birthday and like half the ladies start sobbing. Both Rinna and Eileen’s moms don’t remember who they are. So that’s some real depressing shit. I considered taking these women seriously for a millisecond during this human moment but then when Eileen spun a conversation about Alzheimer’s back to Lisa, the feeling went away just as fast as it had appeared. The Munchausen’s fight fires right back up again at dinner and that’s when I checked out and started googling shoes I deserve to own this spring and wondering if the Wilton Mall offers a golf cart service to get me from Forever 21 to Francesca’s. And I’m NOT talking about those furry animal rides kids pay a quarter to ride around the mall like it’s an amusement park. Although I wouldn’t hate taking one of those for a spin either.

Anyway, everyone leaves the table once Lisa and Kyle start fighting but not really fighting because they’re besties who I guess lie for each other. The camera crew captures a really special mind fuckery between the two where Kyle compares their relationship to an abusive one, as best friends tend to do (wtf?). Tensions are high, Kathryn gets snippy with Eileen and I’m surprised no one throws a proper temper tantrum and screams GET ME OFF THIS BOAT. Instead the rest of the women eavesdrop until Kyle tells Lisa to “eat her fucking chicken and be quiet” then tries to pretend they all didn’t just ruin Kathryn’s birthday by giving her a birthday cake. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHRYN! 51 WOOHOO! YOU DON’T LOOK A DAY OVER 50 AND ALSO LET’S PRETEND THAT WE DIDN’T SPEND THE DAY OF YOUR BIRTH AND THE 6 VACATION DAYS BEFORE IT FIGHTING IN PUBLIC. MAKE A WISH, GIIRRRLLLL! Kathryn wishes for an early flight home, by herself. Probably.

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RHOBH, Television

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills- “Dubai Daze”

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THUG LYFE.

We’re still in Dubai and the women still find it necessary to wear swimsuit cover-ups as dresses to every activity on the trip. For example, Kyle appropriately wears a floor length chiffon gown with stilettos to meet a G-D sea lion. Then follows that up with a designer bikini under her wetsuit. Lisa basically orgasms when the sea lion smooches her. Someone needs to check on her love for animals and make sure it doesn’t turn sexual at some point. Because that seemed like it should’ve been a private moment. Also calling the sea lion sexy didn’t help her case.

Eileen didn’t need to attend this sea lion escapade because if she wants to say hi to one all she has to do is look out her suite window. She might also find a peeping diver swimming around down there. I’m guessing that’s why the underwater suite costs a little extra.

After everyone couples off for the day, for some reason we were forced to look through the bubbles at Kathryn’s feet soaking in a hot tub for like a full 20 seconds. Did the cameraman fall asleep too? At least they feel our pain.

In efforts to liven this trip up, Eileen calls out Rinna for being such a pussy by only talking behind people’s backs and never confronting them, really. During this honest conversation, they wear both wear the same hideous caftan accompanied by 500 lb earrings. Modesty is not an option in Dubai, apparently. And neither is a drama-free trip after Eileen spins the crazy wheel in Rinna’s head and gets her going.

Finally, the ladies all gather to let those muumuus flow in the desert breeze. They even add doo-rags to the mix. Oh, sorry, I mean turbans. A blindfolded falcon puts on a show, and by that I mean he eats a piece of meat. Really he’s just there to be caressed by Lisa (in an intimate way) and pose with the ladies for a desert sunset insta. Erika sees enough falcons in downtown LA eating dead pigeons off the pavement so she’s hashtag over it.

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Kyle gets a henna tat and asks for the Chinese symbol for hope or a butterfly above her ass or something. The ladies take a drink without asking what it is because they’ve obviously never been to a frat party in their life and it turns out it’s camel milk, at which they are horrified. HOW COULD THEY DRINK MILK FROM A CAMEL’S BOOB?! Should we tell them now where regular milk comes from or let them learn on their own? Let’s keep it quiet for now, it’ll be more fun that way. They are then told that camel meat is for dinner, which is a real stretch considering the circumstances. They were disgusted enough by the milk, don’t push your luck Dubai. Rinna starts some shit with Erika because she’s too scared to start some shit with Lisa in front of the group. The hired help of Dubai sense the moment of tension and feel like it’s probably the right time to start offering up that peace pipe. Eileen’s like gimme a drag, or whatever you foreign people say about this contraption and then acts like she’s tripping on acid. It’s WAY better than when they all fought over the space cake in Amsterdam.

When they go to the market the next day, Eileen turns out to be a champ at bargaining, which is a refreshing change of pace from the $40,000 a night hotel suite. Kathryn tries yet another muumuu on with a roach in it and is like hmm I think I’ll pass. JK she screeches and says with her eyes to the store clerk, “get me out of this dirt country.” And Erika gives Kathryn a chotsky for her birthday. It’s quite literally a desk ornament that could not have been more than 50 cents. And THAT’S what you get for being a narc, Kathryn.

And then in unfortunate Housewives vacay fashion, the rest of the episode is dedicated to played out drama that if we’re being honest I’m too exhausted to continue following or trying to make sense of it. It’s still about Yolanda and that mother F’ing Munchausen’s bullshit but this time it’s about Lisa and her big Charlotte’s Web? I don’t really know. All I know is that if Rinna brings this up for one more episode, I’ll start recapping Erika Jayne music videos instead of this show. And that’s not an empty threat.

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Nashville, Television

Nashville- “How Does It Feel To Be Free”

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Rayna and Deacon are supposedly country royalty, with I would assume quite a large net worth (more than Luke Wheeler, heyyooo) and yet they still didn’t honeymoon after their top-secret barn wedding? What kind of bullshit is this? These two couldn’t jet away from the paps and their whiny daughters for a couple of weeks in St. Barts? Nope, it’s just back to work for these two, which means taking down chairs at The Beverly for Deacon and sniffing out new weirdos to sign to her label for Rayna. Enter: new character Vita who has a unique voice and a criminal background. Deyna believes in her but they’re not THAT powerful because this sketchball ends up scooping some cashiche from the till after her first waitressing shift. Oopsie, not every shy woman is the next Sadie Stone..oh wait…she shot her husband. So maybe Vita IS the next Sadie Stone. Bonus points for originality.

While we’re on the topic of poverty, let’s talk about how Forbes dedicated a whole cover to how poor Luke is. WHEELS DOWN. Luke literally goes on a radio show to talk about his embezzlement. So that’s a new thing. Usually artists do interviews for promo press, Luke apparently does interviews so that a bunch of haters can call in to shout about how much he sucks. In order to sell tix again, Luke tries to spring Juliette out of rehab and plop her right back on tour away from her baby. Good call, Luke. Thankfully Juliette’s on lockdown and his plan doesn’t pan out. He runs into his ole pal from the road named Riff, yes that’s right, a DILF named Riff. TWO new characters—and weird names to learn in one episode!!! Whatever did we do to deserve this!? Riff remembers how down to earth Luke is and doesn’t think he’s a giant moron for not noticing the embezzlement of millions of dollas. Luke convinces Riff to hit the road with him and sorpresa—it’s about to be a family tour! Except Luke’s kids hate him, minor detail.

One of those kids, (weren’t there three at one point? Now we’ve whittled it down to 2 children he never sees) Colt would rather be a ranch hand than hear what Maddie ate that day via telephone. Although it may be easy to take Colt’s side on this because Maddie is preeeettty insufferable, the truth is finally set free about their pre-show fornication. Maddie confirms that they did the deed and now she’s sad because he’d rather shovel manure than do her. Cash(?), her writing pal, tells her to channel all those feels into a song and makes Maddie believe she’s an adult, which is pretty laughable. Sw33t harmonies though, until Daphne peers through the window with those sad left out eyes. Something tells me the Conrad sisters record deal ain’t gonn’ happen. Props to Maddie for dialing up Colt before it’s time to feed the pigs the slop, and demanding a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Someone who finally bucks up and gets the respect of Nashville is ya boy, Will. After taking a beer bottle to the schnozz from a hick who doesn’t LOVE gays, Will refuses to give a statement so the guy can be convicted of a hate crime. Instead, Will maturely uses his stage time to fight back. The next night, he buys the homophobe a drink and tells him AIN’T NOBODY GONNA STOP ME FROM SINGIN LIKE A BIRD! You get down with your bad self, Will. Sing it! Also, maybs ice your face a little more.

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Also, Avery and Juliette are officially D-town after he bullies her to make a public statement (without seeing her, because she’s supes fragile after being responsible for a death, and stuff.) The Layla pursuing Avery storyline progresses just as we expected and I hate it. They’ll be hooking up in 2 weeks time. What a devious twat that Layla is. Also, Scarlett catches roadie hoe Erin macking on some other dude and immediately tattles to Gunnar. He’s not really jelly about it so he cuts her loose and the Scarlett/Gunnar will they/won’t they dance continues, until this show gets cancelled. New twist: Scarlett dating the taxidermy creep. Oh, what crazy shenanigans these two get into. LAUUGHHHH!

 

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Television, The Bachelor

The Bachelor-Jamaican Me Love You

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In the MOST DRAMATIC three hours this quarter, Chris Harrison butts in at the end of commercial breaks to say something like “watch what happens next” and to remind us ad nauseum that Ben LOVES two girls. Seriously Chris, what a demotion to go from announcing the last rose to instructing people to watch the show we’re already watching. What an embarrassing life you lead. JK there’s nothing embarrassing about how rich Chris is. We’re also introduced at the top of the three-hour block to Ben’s pastor—who is on call because he’s not really that busy. He flew out to LA to pretend to read a bible on camera and basically have no expression whatsoever. Get this guy an agent, STAT! Anyway, TAKE US TO JAMAICA, CHRIS.

In Jamaica, at the Sandals resort, Lauren continues her vendetta against her vagina as she suffocates it in another pair of jean undies. Let it breathe, girl! She takes my advice when she goes to meet Ben’s parents, thank gawd. That would NOT have been comfy to keep digging your denim out of your lady bits while convincing the boyfriend’s parents that you make mature decisions. Lauren earns strike 1 when she greets Ben by calling him cutie. Like what one calls a small child. Yuck. Strike 2 is when she reminds us of her suuuper awkward first date with Ben where she said she wanted to meet his parents. She tells the Mr. and Mrs. that she’s been waiting a LONG time for this moment. (2-3 weeks) Mama and Papa Higgins eat this shit right up though because cut to Mama Higgs holding hands with Lauren. (Remembs when leftover twin met the parents, LoL) Lauren tells Ben that marriage is a big commitment for her—and I’m guessing not just a gimmick for ratings on a poorly produced after-show. ZING, Pastor Denny. They both agree that they’ve never really faced real-life problems, so they can’t wait to get married tomorrow. Recipe for a Neil Lane ring return if ya know what I mean.

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JoJo meets the parents Higgins next and they don’t really think anyone could compete with perfect Lauren. Case in point, Ben tells them in detail about times he’ll never forget, like when they boned “cuddled for a while”. JoJo is like hey Ben; let’s not tell your parents about our sexy times, I’m trying to get them to like me. Seriously, Ben what don’t you tell your parents? JoJo tears up with Mr. Higgins talking about how much she loves Ben. Then when she tells Mama Higgs Ben loves her, the resulting reaction all but blows Ben’s cover. Mama ain’t so stealth. She also holds JoJo’s hand… but not as much as Lauren’s.

Ben breaks it down with his parents after and they basically tell him Godspeed. Props to Mr. Higgins for using every variation of girl an old man could use. “Young lady” and “gal” amongst others.

On the final day of dates, Ben has the same conversation with two girls and ABC tries to trick us into thinking they have enough original content to fill up two hours of programming. Spoiler alert: they don’t. Ben and Lauren lay on boat hammocks then move to the beach that they are docked 1 foot from to whine more about their first world problems. Ben is afraid that their relationship is TOO perfect. Ugh, h8 when that happens. Later at “dinner”, Lauren wears a nice black evening gown and Ben wears a hoodie. Quick preview into the rest of your life, Lauren. You look great, she tells him, because she’s obligated to return the compliment he just gave her. They sigh a lot and cry because I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not but BEN LOVES TWO GIRLS AND HE’S SO CONFLICTED.

On JoJo’s last date, she gets a recycled waterfall scenery for her relationship turmoil and self-doubt with Ben. Since when does Jamaica drive on the opposite side of the road like the UK? Is this a new thing? Am I really dumb? Don’t answer that. Jamaica is also a place where strange men chase after your car just to say hello. Yeahhhhh…..righhhhttt. JoJo and Ben talk about how hilarious Ben’s parents are. Did I miss something? Were they like ha-ha funny, JoJo, or taking a bottle of wine to the dome funny? Jk that was your mom, the queen of diffusing uncomfy situations like a boss. Anyway, BoJo (wouldn’t it be fun if this was their couple name?) waterfall jumps again. Ben doesn’t land on top of JoJo in the water and therefore it’s boring. Later, JoJo is starting to catch on that Ben loves Lauren, I’m assuming after Mama Higgins basically slipped her a tape of Ben telling Lauren he loves her when they chatted earlier. Ben reassures JoJo that he loves her and nothing is wrong, even going so far as to sit on the bathroom floor with her in a luxury suite of a resort. THAT’S COMMITMENT. JoJo feels like a damn fool and Ben’s like I feel you, boo. Props for JoJo for calling him out. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE BEN, YOU BIG LIAR WHO TELLS LIES. Ben is tormented when he leaves because he just feels soooooo lost.

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The morning of the proposal, Ben meets with Neil, can’t tell him who his future wife is but then 3 seconds later it just comes to him, or something. What doesn’t come to him is a sense of style when he picked out the diamond that will be splashed all over US Weekly covers. Yikes that ring is ugly, no offense Neil. You get paid either way. 90% of Twitter males and females agreed with me, so I’m not out of line by saying this ring kinda sucks.

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While Ben is choosing a goo-riffic ring that’s worth millions of dollars, the girls’ put on their ball gowns and brush their throats with makeup (wtf Lauren?) then get into the chopper. JoJo’s dress is a bad prom getup but at least her overly bronzed cleavage got a lot of camera play. What a boner jam treat for the male viewers.

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Obviously we all knew what was coming when JoJo arrives first, but no one quite predicted how badly Ben would botch this TV breakup. He stumbles and stutters but the one thing that comes out crystal clear is, “I found love with you but I found it with somebody else more.” YIKES. There was definitely a better way to say that, bro. JoJo obviously cries and feels like a dum dum. Ben makes it worse by following her to the limo and sputtering “JoJo, I…JoJo…”

He gets over it real quick though because there were only 5 minutes left and he had to get to stepping to give that ring out. Covered in Jamaican heat sweat, (and possibly an ice pack wedged in his butt crack?), Ben calls Lauren’s dad to ask for her hand in marriage. What a sweaty gent. Lauren definitely shits herself on the copter ride over and hopefully they have a cleanup team on call because nothing ruins a romantic island proposal faster than a gown full of poop.

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They get engaged, Lauren pretends to like the ring and then repeats her infamous “you’re my person” line no less than 10 times and Ben says it back. Enough is enough with this quote. It originated on Grey’s Anatomy for two BFF’s. It does not apply to reality show contestants who have an over under 3-month bet on their relationship lasting.

At the after show, as you might have guessed, Ben and Lauren want to try going on a real life date before they agree to a live surprise wedding, so thanks for coming out Pastor Denny, I’m sure it was really tough for you to creep us all out with your stony face for 3 hours. Also JOJO IS THE NEXT BACHELORETTE!!!! HEY, LET’S CUT TO THE PASTOR SO WE CAN SEE HIS REACTION! No, really. That’s a thing they did. Also Ben re-proposes because they didn’t actually get married right there and producers were scrambling to draw out the airtime. Quick, Chris try out your best standup material: “maybe JoJo will fall in love with THREE guys next season. HA-Ha-HA.” And we’re out. For a couple of months, at least.

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Thanks for reading, thanks for making fun of this dumb show with me and special shout out to KBell for taking home the W in my first ever Bachelor bracket. Not proud to admit that I picked Becca to win it all when it was an obvious Lauren sweep. (This definitely doesn’t keep me up at night or anything.) Kay, done being a sore loser. CONGRATS KATIE BELL! You’ve earned bragging rights until the premiere of The Bachelorette, when I come back for revenge. (Too much, too little, just enough?)

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RHOBH, Television

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills- “Not Easy To Love”

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What was once one of my favorite housewives traditions has been dumped on this season with one fell swoop. The dinner party used to be as sacred housewives event chock full of catered meals the host pretended to cook, dirty looks and drama invented over whose place card had a heart and whose didn’t. Well, not anymore. Now that Yolanda has been incapacitated with lyme-ness, she hasn’t been able to throw one of her famously douchey dinner parties with her creepy counterpart in an entire year. We’ve gone a whole year without David forcing Yolanda’s friends to sing and then quickly telling them they better not once he hears their terrible voices. Anyway, Yolanda tries to bring the old dinner party magic back and it goes horribly, horribly wrong. Why? Because everyone hates each other. Kyle and Lisa meet up beforehand to strategize how fake they’re going to act to Yolanda and once everyone arrives at the restaurant they make the sound decision to address their beefs right there at the table.

Upon greeting Yolanda, Lisa would like to make sure she’s forgiven for something that she NEVER did because Lisa has NEVER done anything wrong. Yolanda cries. Hot start to dinner. Then she asks Eileen if they’re good or not for the 100th time and for the grand finale, Lisa confronts Erika to talk about the cobwebs she weaves from her 68 year old vagina, or something. DON’T GET CAUGHT IN LISA’S WEB, KEN. Erika, my glittery blonde Barbie holds her own with her first dinner party attack…EVEN THOUGH she was up at 4AM patting dat puss.

At the other end of the table, Eileen is still steaming about Lisa’s bullshit. Then Kathryn is called down to repeat what Erika said again so Rinna can be part of the drama. Next, Eileen and Rinna start having conflict because Rinna won’t agree that Lisa is a shady MF’er. Are you keeping up with all this? No, of course not, because this is dumber than a bunch of 11 year olds gossiping over their lunchables in middle school. What’s even worse is that the only adult of the group, who owns up to what she says, Miss Erika “I Woke Up Like This” Jayne, is like WTF Kathryn, I assumed our conversation was confidential. And Kathryn’s like nah I repeat everything, so that’s on you. So basically Kathryn’s a shitty gossiper, and therefore a terrible woman. What female doesn’t know the hard and fast rules of talking shit? Nice knowin ya, Kathryn. You won’t be back next season.

What’s the perfect dessert for a dinner full of immature bitches choosing sides of the table? A private room performance from one of the classically greatest voices in the world, of course. Seriously, this group of turds gets to listen to Andrea Bocelli perform Ave Maria like he’s a jazz singer at a nightclub. How undeserving. Kyle sees this as a sign from her mom to go check on Kim and also cries. Rinna calls it f****ing SURREAL. Classy reaction from a classy broad.

After this dumb dinner party that wasn’t even exciting and disgraced the reputation of a Yo dinner party, the rest of the episode was essentially inconsequential. Rinna freaks out about her daughter’s tonsillectomy and her daughter requested she buy a wheelchair upon her recovery, so at least she’s not being dramatic. Kyle pretends to cook dinner for her kids and dog to eat off the table and announces she’d like to check out her heritage in Ireland. Mauricio’s like great, we’ll buy a house there, probably. Lisa shows America how obsessed she is with Yolanda’s ex-husband Mohammed as he builds her a pink playhouse for her backyard. I’m assuming this will be the ponies’ main residence. Eileen meets up with Erika and Yolanda to rehash her Lisa beef even more than I thought could be possible.

In the theme of beating a dead horse, Kim also comes out of the shadows and makes a physical appearance rather than just a verbal appearance spewing out of Rinna’s mouth. (LoL at Rinna suggesting she send Kim a birthday text. Maybe she should add the wine glass emoji for laughs? “Ha-Ha Happy Birthday Kim, remember that time I hulk-smashed a wine glass right in your face? Hope you’re sober xoxo, Rinna.”) Kim visits Kyle to have a “healthy conversation”, which in Bravo speak is: show every embarrassing and hurtful clip of these two fighting over the past 5 years that we can get our grubby hands on. Welcome back, Kim!

Out of all this garbage, one shocking fact from this episode shone through and I’d like to address it head on. Kathryn met up with her sisters for lunch and they talked about their family and mom and blah blah blah but Kathryn informed us that all four children in her family were conceived on birth control. WHAT. THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE. This should be on a sign in my gynecologists’ office. Hey birth control is fun and stuff, but essentially DOES NOTHING. I mean seriously, once a year I pay to have someone probe around my downstairs with a metal clamp just so I can get a prescription to something that doesn’t even work?! Have a nice week everyone and close your legs unless you want babies!

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Television, The Bachelor

The Bachelor- I Love You, I LOVE YOU ALL!

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“I’m gonna try to find my wife in one of the most romantic places in the world, doing some of the most romantic things.”

I was salivating at the chance to dive right into Ben taking three girls to poundtown on consecutive nights but unfortunately first we had to listen to him recap how he felt about each girl (FROM THE BEGINNING) in an electric pink button down. Not only was he yelling because the ocean locale was less than ideal for filming, but he also apparently forgot WE’VE BEEN WATCHING ALL SEASON and probably don’t need to be reminded of the three girls left.

CAILA

Finally, it’s date time and the first one is a doozy. Ben takes Caila rafting down a murky river to the tune of ethnic flutes. Thank God for the native soundtrack because otherwise we’d be listening to crickets, literally. After rapping back and forth about how exciting the day is, they’ve run out of things to talk about. I half expected Ben to be like, look…a tree! Ben uses his buzzword of the episode “emotional rollercoaster” to ask if Caila is ok. She’s not ok, which is fine because she’s as good as gone anyway.

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Later on, Ben’s like WTF was today? And Caila’s like I’m scared and then she tells Ben she’s in love with him and they smooch and violins play. Caila knowingly tells the camera that she’s in love with Ben, “when we take a deep breath together,” and she’s reassured because, “I can feel in his breath that he feels the same.” Apparently since Ben and Caila can’t hold a conversation, they’ve had a lot of experience just breathing on each other. That’s love. Ben invites her to the fantasy suite and fireworks go off during their foreplay. Thanks for that, ABC.

The morning after, Ben asks if Caila wakes up looking this beautiful every morning and she gives him a sly smile. Good answer, Caila. Good answer. And that’s how you trap a man when makeup and hair are on standby. Ben does the walk of shame right to his date with Lauren – oh the joys of Fantasy Suites.

 

LAUREN

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Ben and Lauren (who’s wearing shorts so tight and far up her asshole that she’s waddling) save baby sea turtles and it’s probably the cutest date ever. Way better than Caila’s silent log jam followed by a pile of meats on a table. But then Lauren has to ruin it by saying she’s going to be with Ben as long as the turtles will live. Do the math, Lauren. Don’t be a moron.

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Ben tells Lauren she’s too good for him (yikes) then they frolic in the ocean and probably (definitely) stomp on a bunch of the baby turtles they just returned to the water. There’s a double rainbow, obviously.

At night, in a tropical crop coord, Lauren tells Ben the same exact thing Caila told him one night earlier. Because Ben is a dud, he does not understand that every woman is threatened by him having sex with two other girls at the same time. BUT, if there’s one thing these two need, it’s S-E-X and you betcha Chris Harrison is gonna deliver that fantasy suite in his swoopy female handwriting. After Lauren lays down the groundwork with a couple “you’re the man of my dreams”, she sees that Sandals suite and goes for the big reveal. Even bigger…Ben SAYS IT BACK. And not even just in a “love you too, grl” way. Ben says, “I’ve known I’m in love with you for a while as well.” Now that they’re two consenting adults in love, I said a bang, bang, bangity, bang. (No fireworks though…sux 4 you.)

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In the AM, Ben brings Lauren coffee in bed like a MF’ing dreamboat. They sip in front of their private pool, where Ben lays the L word on her again. What a renegade! Who would’ve thunk shy, unlovable B.Higgs would be such an I Love You rule breaker. As he heads to his third romp of the trip, he muses that telling Lauren he loves her complicated things. Oh, RLY, Ben? Special shoutout to ABC for thinking shutting the door and making sleepover innuendos aren’t enough for us to get it…this pan to Lauren’s dress on the floor was just shy of hearing Lauren orgasm with a mic pack on ala Kaitlyn Bristowe’s season.

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JOJO

Since these women are on a strong path to making me feel like a hippo, JoJo is the second girl in this episode to leap into Ben’s arms. Wut3v3r. They take a copter right on over to a Jamaican waterfall where naturally they cliff jump togets. Metaphors, amirite? They take the plunge, which gives JoJo the courage to say she loves Ben (but she didn’t say he was her person.) Ben says I love you too and JoJo’s like SAY WHAT?! So he repeats it. DAAAAMMMNNN, BENNY, back at it again with the I LOVE YOUS!

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Later, JoJo reiterates how shocked she is that Ben broke #1 Bach rule and confessed his love. This is BEFORE she realizes she got a sloppy seconds I love you. Tossing it back to the hometown date, Ben addresses the fact that JoJo’s brothers are D-bags and JoJo’s like oh they’re just overprotective and would murder anyone who ever broke my <3. Aaand I bet this is around the time Ben starts to regret playing it fast and loose with the love-whoring. In the fantasy suite, JoJo rambles on and on in a bikini about how much she loves Ben while they prepare to become lovahs in their private hot tub.

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The next morning JoJo thanks Ben for being honest about his feelings and he’s like yes we’re on the same page now. Did JoJo tell another girl she loves her and I missed it? Darn. Not sure that page is quite the same.

In a plot twist, Caila wants to surprise Ben, which is kind of sad because he’s already basically forgotten about her at this point. I mean she was dunzo the minute she turned into a mute on their date. She sneaks up on Ben and puts her hand over his face for a surprise kiss. What a risky hello.

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Ben’s like oh great timing, I don’t love you—and in brutal TV dumpings, Caila has essentially walked right into this one—or galloped, in a bikini top, obv. She gets in the car then whiplash gets out and wants to know if he knew this whole time. AKA Caila wants to know if he boinked her when he knew he was sending her home. Ben may think it’s AOK to tell two girls he loves them on TV, but at least he knows enough to lie here. Caila cries a lot in the car ride home and still looks beautiful and God help us if she’s the next Bachelorette. I can’t take this sunshine chick on uppers persona for another full season.

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At the useless rose ceremony (that they still feel the need to draw out with dramatic music), Chris Harrison finds out that Ben L-bombed them both and pops a bag of popcorn for the big show. Gotta wait two weeks for that!

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