“Friend of” (in name only), Kathy Hilton, has planned a little last minute getaway for the ladies in Del Mar (San Diego), CA. Even though it’s only a 100 mile trek and about a 2 hour drive, the group is meeting at Kyle’s and all driving separately. This is disappointing for me (and I’m sure production), because isn’t the camaraderie and bonding bitchy squabbling traveling to and from these girl’s trips what it’s all about? They are running late as it is, and then the hilariously absentminded Kathy throws the schedule off even more by forgetting her phone and grey beige tote. Never one to panic, Kathy tells Kyle to call “the lady” who works at her home and instruct her to meet them with her Kathy’s forgotten items. "The lady" obliges, and jumps into her car. Crises averted.
The women arrive at the fabulous Fairmont Del Mar Hotel and Spa. Garcelle will come later because she’s working, that is busy zooming-in to her stupid daytime talk show, The Real Talking View or something or other. The Fairmont truly is a grand old hotel that reeks of old White privileged money with rooms effectively priced (starting at $700 a night) to keep the Jews and blacks riffraff out. Of course these women are all on the next tier, staying in suites ranging from $2-5K. I can’t even imagine what perks and quality of service a person with the last name of “Hilton” must enjoy. “You need a herd of sea lions while you picnic on your own stretch of private beach Ms. Hilton? No problem!”.
At dinner, Kathy takes a cue from Lisa and goes around the table encouraging each woman to discuss how they’re “feeling” at the moment. Yes, it’s all the usual psychobabble, but I actually like this idea, and plan on using it the next time I find myself sitting at a boring dinner table (which is like all the time). The hostess herself says “I feel anxious, because I sense there are some unresolved tensions.”, which of course is Sutton’s cue to continue her beef with Erika … and I don’t mean the delicious Filet Mignon on their Wedgwood dinner plates. Although she vowed to Garcelle that she was "just going to ignore Erika", Sutton starts in with the old “You know Erika, I may have inferred that you lied about certain things, but I didn’t technically call you a liar”. In my mind, Sutton has a point; for example, if someone asked me “Do these pants make me look fat?” and I answer yes, can they then say “You just called me a fat pig!”? Of course not.
It’s worth mentioning that earlier that day at lunch, while Sutton was at the emergency room getting her sprained foot wrapped, Erika told the group that she WILL NOT be called a liar, and furthermore, has no desire to work things out with Sutton, defiantly adding “I don’t care that she felt threatened … she SHOULD feel threatened.”. Knowing Kunty like we know Kunty, I think it’s a pretty safe bet that she means it. Case in point; instead of receiving Sutton’s half baked explanation, Erika says “I don’t care,” and then follows up with a very droll “Why are you talking to me? I have nothing to say to you.”. I can already hear HW impersonator extraordinaire, Amy Phillips, doing this one. BTW, if you haven't heard Amy Phillips doing Kunty, you're really missing out.
As clearly were the ladies, I was put off by Erika’s stubbornness. She’s made too much progress with this group to resort back to her “inherently cold” ways now. Like her provocative SM posts, this kind of attitude isn't doing her any favors. Someone should remind her that if she is ever formally charged, and God forbid, has to stand in front of a jury, you can bet these scenes will be shown, and good luck finding an unbiased jury. Besides, whether Erika likes it or not, Sutton IS a full time cast member on this show, and they are going to have to eventually engage.
The group sees that it’s a stalemate between Erika and Sutton, so the conversation briefly then goes back to Dorit and Garcelle’s issues, but thankfully, Kathy shuts it down. This gives Lisa the opportunity to further address the situation over Garcelle’s recent comments (on the blogs) that “the women are coming for her”. In case you missed it, the root of the inquisition stems from Garcelle’s previous revelation at Lisa's Lip aunch party that she doesn’t feel like she fits it with this group. Lisa starts off with “Do you like the women at this table?”. Garcelle replies. “Yes … some more than others”, but makes it clear that it’s not (necessarily) about race. But of course it is. The scene begins to feel like an acting class exercise or group therapy session, as they encourage Garcelle to be honest, and to “dig deep”. No stranger to psychotherapy (or acting class exercises), a tearful Garcelle asks the group “Do you ever walk into a room and feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t belong?”. As the other women try to take in such a provocative and profound question, Kathy blurts out “Yes”, but Garcelle quietly retorts, “Try doing that your entire life.”. Alas, a breakthrough … or … they finally broke her, depending on how you want to look at it.
The dinner concludes, and Kathy invites all the women to she and Kyle’s Presidential suite for coffee and a nightcap or five, but almost in unison, the group blurts out "Now?", as if getting wasted, doing splits, and smashing hotel china until 4am on a girl's trip is out of this group's realm. While it's only 11:30 pm, they call it a night. In a talking head, Kathy expresses her disappointment and then tells us that the only reason she got the outrageous Presidential suite was so that the other ladies would hang out there, and share the experience with her (and Kyle). I must say, I did feel kind of bad for Kathy.
The next morning, Erika has Lisa and Kyle over to her suite for breakfast and wastes no time telling them that she already knew about Tom’s competency hearing, which was a topic of discussion in her absence the day before. She reports that the conservator (Tom’s brother) wants to put him into a nursing home. She says “Regardless of what is going on with him legally, this is someone I was married to for 22 years”. She then shares that just like Tom and the POTUS, her own grandmother battled dementia and Alzheimer’s and was placed in a facility, so she’s well aware of what those places "do to you". I don’t want to demonize some good caregivers, but I think many of us can speak from experience with this situation, and Erika did nail it when she said “A patient lashes out, and they medicate them, and there is nowhere to go but down”. Erika acknowledges that Tom does need care, but she doesn’t agree with putting him somewhere “to rot.”. She goes to say "Where is this man's family? I feel like he is no longer of any use to them, so they are like F him".
Of course there are going to be those who say F Tom; what about all those families whom he allegedly ripped off? But regardless, it’s wild seeing Erika react to these things as they were happening at the time of filming. Again, I have to give EJ (the queen of non-transparency and openness) credit for allowing this story to be told. I have to think that she was paid VERY handsomely for this season, but more importantly, undoubtedly secured her future on the show for many seasons to come.
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