This season of The Real Housewives of Orange County is asking the brave question: What will viewers think when the most annoying Housewife, Gina Kirschenheiter, gets such a prominent edit?
It’s an interesting method, one riskier than you may expect from such a banner season, and one that’s proving to have mixed results. On one hand, Gina’s top billing in the drama is no doubt the calm before the Storms-Beador, but it’s also testing the limits of how much we as an audience care about her, six seasons in.
Tonight’s episode picks up where we left off, with Gina dramatically leaving Jenn in the dust at a coffee shop. The two ladies each call up a peer, Gina phoning Emily and Jenn FaceTiming Shannon, to relay what just happened. Gina’s version of events leaves a lot to be desired, though. Don’t let the newsboy cap fool you, Gina’s no unbiased reporter. She’s incapable of realizing that beating Jenn down isn’t exactly the most effective method, nor that she comes across much less intact, despite being technically in the right.
“I am no longer here to try and educate Jenn how not to be an idiot,” Gina shares in a confessional, but maybe she could learn a thing or two from Jenn when it comes to being a good Housewife.
It pretty well-encapsulates the difference in how Gina and Jenn approach their roles as Real Housewives that Gina ran away screaming at cameras, not Jenn. Gina kept herself elevated to a 10, while Jenn calmly sits at the table, looking a bit upset. Gina’s always looking for her next moment, but Jenn’s magnetic ability to be authentic on screen naturally lends itself to moments, both big and small.
We follow this with the season’s second group event, as the ladies meet up for a random game of flag football. While Heather sidelines herself as referee, team captains Tamra and Emily pick their teams, unsurprisingly pitting friends against foes, but it doesn’t amount to anything beyond a friendly game. It’s off the field where things get a bit ugly.
