The season of the The Real Housewives of New York City kicks off with some drama right off the bat. Ubah and Brynn seem to be feuding five days after filming and are on opposite sides of opening credits. But this episode focuses more on a particular pot stirrer (ahem, Brynn) and how each of the ladies get affected by her misconstrued, manipulated words. The newbies, Rebecca and Racquel are not quite sure what they’ve signed up for, but the others came to play…
Brynn has a new apartment in Gramercy Park that she is busy furnishing. Now that she has a puppy baby and is a “hot, single dog mom,” she has called in her brother, Daris, to help her. Daris is visiting from South Korea, but Brynn has big plans to keep him here long term. She has decided to throw a get together with all the girls from the group to try and tantalize him into staying State-side.
Jessel and her husband Pavit are subway-bound, which is something Jessel is certainly not used to…considering she has only taken the subway like, twice in her life. I mean, she shares that she has spent approximately $900 dollars on Ubers last month. Gasp. Pavit, the newly minted food influencer, has taken Jessel to a little restaurant in China town and once Jessel gets over the vibe, she digs in and starts chatting.
Jessel talks about planning for her birthday and points out that Pavit needs to make of an effort with her because the gift giving has stopped since having the babies. Speaking of babies, they are paying a lot of money for their embryos that are being stored, but Pavit is opposed to having more children. Jessel, on the other hand, wants that girl. She COULD be the next Beyoncé…
Erin and Ubah are like “peanut butter and jelly.” They have gotten over all their issues and they are now inseparable. Their friend Rebecca Minkoff meets up with them and Ubah fangirls over being in her presence. They toast to New York and Erin acts like a matchmaker, setting the ladies up in friendship. Ubah swoons over her man and shares that she may start trying to have a baby with him. She explains that it “feels right” and they can see if they can “produce something.”
Erin invites Rebecca to be her date to Brynn’s upcoming event. Rebecca knows of a few ladies in the group, but when asked about Brynn, Erin gets awkward. Trouble is brewing and it’s all because of a classic game of telephone.
Brynn, Jenna“f*cking” Lyons, and Jessel get together to help Brynn find her kitchen table. Jenna admits that she has BO and they all get a good laugh about it. Speaking of funny, Brynn brings up the Jeff Lewis podcast debacle. On that podcast, Erin was his guest. Jeff Lewis insinuated Brynn was a call girl, and Brynn did not appreciate the speculation about where she gets her money from. Even though Erin apologized for it, things are still…off.
Brynn is doing a wonderful job stirring the pot. She has now moved on to tell Jessel and Jenna how Erin called Jenna poor. The story goes like this: while out in the Hamptons, Jenna’s hooptie breaks down, so Jenna and Erin need an Uber to get home. Erin pays for the Uber. Jenna has yet to pay Erin back. Erin jokes that maybe Jenna is having money problems, which translates to Brynn as: “Erin called you poor.”
Jessel feels like maybe Erin was trying to add humor to the story since Erin swears it didn’t go down the way Brynn is remembering it. HOWEVER, Erin did think it was annoying she had to pay for the Uber, but like, if it really bothered Erin so much, she should have just Venmo requested Jenna and moved on… Erin continues to swear to Jenna that she didn’t say it and Erin feels like Brynn only said that to try and get her back for the Jeff Lewis dig.
Sai and Jessel get together for a cold plunge and, according to SAI-ence, lose weight, which is entirely untrue. Sai and Jessel have since made up from last season and begin catching up after spending 4 minutes in the plunge. Sai opens up about her therapy session and she does seem a bit calmer. We learn that Sai and Brynn have not really talked even after Sai apologized to her at the reunion. Sai felt like she took Brynn is as a sister and so it hurts extra when Brynn hasn’t called or contacted her. However, Sai will be attending Brynn’s event.
Sai has bigger fish to fry now, like Jenna thinking that she hates her. Sai clarifies that she never said she HATED Jenna, just that she never really bothered to get to know her…
Speaking of Jenna, we get a glimpse into her closet and into her personal life. Nancy is Jenna’s girlfriend’s mother and she is helping her with her shoe collection purge. Anyone who needs a shoe collection purge is certainly not broke, FYI Erin…
Jenna’s friend Racquel comes to help. Racquel is a curator and advisor in the art world who also puts artwork on television shows, plus she models. A woman who wears many hats. Racquel and Jenna have the same type of background, as they both were in the middle of a divorce and coming out when they met. They didn’t have any gay friends really, so they became very close.
Over some ice cream, we learn that Erin’s family has relocated to the Upper West Side. Erin’s mom just had her third treatment for breast cancer and it’s more aggressive than they thought it was originally. Erin changes the subject to real estate and she kicks around the idea of moving into a town house that would need gutting. Erin gets short with her husband, Abe, as she “criticizes” his words and calls him dumb for bringing mushrooms up on camera. She says that she’s not ready to talk about “all the stuff” about her and Abe. Hmmm….
Racquel is prepping for Brynn’s night out. She’s not sure what she’s getting into, but she does love adventure, so there’s that. Racquel and her fiancé Mel have three motorcyles. Maybe they should ride away on one of them before this party so she steers clear of the drama.
Brynn’s night out is underway. Jenna is the first to arrive and Sai comes next, which makes Brynn hopeful that maybe they can rekindle their connection. Erin is “apprehensive” about seeing Brynn since she “manipulated a fun, light-hearted story” into something more sinister.
Jessel realizes she is in trouble with Erin after receiving an “I’m so disappointed” text from her. Jessel feels like Jenna told Erin they were talking about the poor rumor, but it’s clear that something is brewing.
Sai talks to Jenna and wants to know who told Jenna that she said she hated her. Jenna points in Brynn’s direction, which should be no surprise based on the drama she is starting. Sai denies using those words and when Rebecca asks if she should know what they are talking about, Jenna puts the new girl in her place by saying it’s a little early for her involvement.
Erin feels like it’s weird that Brynn is misconstruing words and Brynn’s motive is getting questioned. Sai is annoyed, since she came to this party to try and smooth things over with Jenna, but Brynn keeps throwing curveballs. To try and clear things up, Sai apologizes to Jenna and claims she doesn’t have any issues with her. They have come a long way, but Brynn keeps stirring the pot by trying to keep the ladies warring.
Erin wonders why Jessel is so mean to her and Jessel asks Erin outright what is up with that “disappointed” text. Since Jenna has forgiven Erin about the poor rumor a while back, Jenna called Erin to give her a heads up that it is STILL circulating. Erin feels like Brynn is a manipulator and refers to herself as a straight shooter. The problem with Brynn is she makes you look like a liar. Erin is not trying to cause a rift between her and Jenna, and so Erin calls Jenna over to clear things up.
Erin is hurt about the lying that is occurring over this and when Brynn walks over, Erin lets out an audible “ugh.” She lets Brynn know she has integrity. According to Erin, she tells the truth and Jessel just confirmed it. Brynn tells Erin to stop saying things about her character and points out that Erin isn’t innocent. In fact, she did not stop Jeff Lewis from insinuating that Brynn “f*cked men for money,” except, that’s not at all what Jeff Lewis said. It’s what Brynn thought she heard. There’s a difference.
When Sai interjects, Brynn, in a moment of deflection, brings up how Sai called Jessel’s husband a “Dory from Finding Nemo lookalike,” a problem that was in the past and has been squashed. Brynn is messy and is causing havoc.
Sai calls Brynn unwell and tells her “not today, Satan.” According to Sai, Brynn has no accountability for her actions. Brynn walks away saying, “this is trash” and fills her brother in on how she “giggles and laughs all day long;” therefore, she simply could not be Satan. Brynn leaves after the tornado of rumors come to a head and Ubah enters, as if on cue, like a breath of fresh air. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the game of telephone works.
