‘RHOSLC’ Finale Recap, Episode 16

From bizarre Greek tragedies to Heather’s on-screen production, the wives throw everything at the wall to see if Meredith will break her heart. Photo: Bravo

It’s a miracle that Angie made it through this season alive, considering her insistence on doing violent platform falls every episode. After stepping into a glass platter last week, Mary gasped when she emerged the next morning with a bruised and swollen lip. But to be fair, we’ve seen far more faces messed up by voluntary cosmetic procedures on these shows. And at least they won’t spend a season and a half trying to figure out if her birthmark was caused by Jen Shah. To make matters worse, her high heels got stuck on the Greek cobblestones, causing her to stumble and end up in a Matrix-like pose…but she kept standing!

Another miracle was the fact that Meredith woke up in such a good mood that she started her day by making coffee for the whole group. But this easy-going attitude particularly troubled Bronwyn. Bronwyn said that just a few hours ago, she was called into the room by a panicked Meredith who was going crazy because everyone was trying to get her. When Bronwyn tells Mary about this late-night off-camera meeting, where Meredith apparently asked what they discussed during lunch last episode, Mary says she’s being paranoid. But if she’s right, is it really paranoia? In fact, they are talking about her and the rest of the women are mainly trying to get her.

However, when Bronwyn sits down with Meredith to recap their conversation, Meredith flatly denies ever asking what they talked about at lunch. “I’m dimpled, gagged, tricked, and embarrassed,” Bronwyn says in a confessional, as if she’d been gifted a Bravo-themed thesaurus. In fact, Meredith completely denies Bronwyn’s account of the conversation, stating that she was actually the one comforting a nervous Bronwyn. But why is Bronwyn nervous? Todd isn’t there to fart and steal cherries. Either way, this denial is the last straw for Bronwyn, who feels that Meredith is using her for information. “I don’t know who I’m going to use next, because there’s no one else, Meredith,” she says.

Later that day, a conflict occurs with the rest of the group inside the Splinter van after sensing Meredith’s cold mood change. Meredith once again denied asking Bronwyn for information or asking her about lunch, saying, “I didn’t ask. I made a statement.” Ah, suddenly everything started to make sense. As you know, Meredith is a master of semantics. English is her art form, and she warps it beautifully so she doesn’t get her hands dirty technically. What Bronwyn interpreted as a question about lunch was probably posed as a leading remark to prompt an answer, but legally Meredith could actually say that she “didn’t ask the question.”

The matter is on hold for now because the women have a play to go to, specifically a play about them. No, not the Book of Mormon, but an original Greek tragedy written by a playwright named Stella, who Angie asked to interview women and create a play about a group of them. I can’t believe I didn’t book this gig. Isn’t that essentially what I’m doing here all season?

The play itself is a bizarre experiment in housewifery. We’ve known for a long time that the experience of seeing themselves on TV has an impact on these women. Some get new cosmetic surgery, some divorce their husbands, and some change their behavior. But this is a unique opportunity for us to see them looking at themselves. The play is a theatrical depiction of each woman and how they interact, pointing out all their vulnerabilities. For example, Heather is accused of hiding behind humor, Lisa is accused of hiding behind materialism, and Angie is accused of hiding behind vitriol. And this is all presented by masked actors, as if the season’s recap was done in the style of Eyes Wide Shut. I think the production should tour. We will open a shop at New World Stages. Get Nell Benjamin to write the music and give it a pre-Broadway tryout. They can start carving Stella’s name on Tony now.

But how did its subjects receive it? Surprisingly, it seems to have resonated. I was sure Lisa would say something about this, calling her “one of the oldest,” but alas. They are shocked by their weakness and agree with the play’s message that they are nothing without each other. Lisa and Angie make up, Meredith admits that she’s hiding behind semantics, and Bronwyn cries that she’s been unfaithful. This play has much greater resolution than previous reunions. They need to send Stella to New Jersey.

However, just when things seemed to be going well for the group, Heather brought up the conflict between Meredith and Bronwyn that day, even though it had nothing to do with her. why? Well, there’s a part of Heather that can’t help but act as a producer. Her penchant for knowing what makes good television and how to drive a story can sometimes be beneficial, but other times it can make you sweat. Knowing she was in the final moments of the season, her gut seemed to be telling her that this was too kumbaya for a finale and she had to do something. So she took it upon herself to light the fuse to this unresolved conflict, but in the process sabotaged the neat little bow we seemed to be settling.

“That’s why I don’t open up,” Meredith says, throwing her hands in the air. She feels like she’s being yelled at and screamed at every time she tries to open her mouth. Why should she keep trying? She storms out, which is supposed to happen any time she’s not pinned down, and Mary yells at the rest of the group why they’re all there when they can’t be real friends and express real concerns.

“I have a question for you,” Meredith said, coming back. “What’s the goal?” Finally, Mary takes the reins and tells Meredith that everyone is worried about her because she feels like she’s on a spiral. Meredith assures them that she’s okay, but Mary continues to argue. She eventually admits that of course she’s sad sometimes, explains that she carries a lot of the weight of the world on her shoulders, and begins to break down. We finally broke through the wall. Other women see this window as an opportunity to address and explain the cause of their concerns.

Whitney said her only reference point for this type of mood swing was her experience with her father, so she only used words like pill popper and alcoholic. Meanwhile, Bronwyn explains that she is similarly closed-minded when dealing with her own marital problems, but this similarity is quickly dispelled by Meredith, who says that her marriage is the strongest it has ever been. “Meredith, Todd, and I were having dinner in New York and I met Seth,” Bronwyn blurts out, as if she suddenly realizes that there are only a few more minutes of camera time this season and that she needs to squeeze this right under the wire. As you can imagine, Meredith goes wild again, leaving Bronwyn to rant on Lisa’s behalf. “This is why she’s closed-minded,” says Lisa, and she’s right. At the same time, they are demanding that Meredith confide in her own conflicts and throw them back in her face.

But is this about a two-way friendship, or is it about the show? Why is it so important that Meredith stays quiet about her personal struggles over her friends? “I realized that looking perfect was more important to her than being friends with any of us,” Bronwyn says in a confessional, shedding light on the real heart of the issue. Vulnerability is common on reality TV, and after seasons of exposing their own struggles and embarrassments, the other women are annoyed that Meredith wants to stay on the show. It’s like the whole group promised to jump in the pool, one after the other, and when it was finally Meredith’s turn, she said, “Oh, actually, I changed my mind, I just don’t feel like it.”

Throughout the season, they try to coax something, anything, out of her, but she doesn’t budge, which leads to this kind of intervention where they have to dance around the fourth wall. Everyone but Lisa takes her to justice, and the season ends at this climactic juncture. Perhaps the real thing behind all this can be explained at the reunion. There, it would be at least a little harder for Meredith to escape.

related