Bethenny Frankel is preparing for a combined bachelor and bachelorette weekend in Atlantic City, but first she has to survive the increasingly ridiculous business of being Bethenny Frankel.
She’s pregnant, planning a wedding, promoting her book, developing a skincare line, and running Skinnygirl. At this point, the woman needs a personal assistant just to keep track of her personal assistants.
The work never stops. Bethenny heads to Costco for a book signing, because apparently even a warehouse shopping trip is an opportunity to expand the empire. She also has maternity clothes to shop for, appointments to keep, and a wedding planner named Shawn who is discovering that scheduling Bethenny is a full-contact sport.
Poor Shawn gets caught in the crossfire when Bethenny forgets an appointment and later takes out some of her frustration during a hair appointment. Wedding planning is supposed to be fun, isn’t it? Someone should probably tell Bethenny.
The pressure is getting to her. Between the wedding details, the baby, the book, and the skincare business, she’s overwhelmed and finally has an emotional breakdown. It’s becoming clear that Bethenny’s greatest obstacle might be Bethenny’s inability to stop working long enough to enjoy anything.
Then it’s off to Atlantic City for the joint bachelor-bachelorette celebration.
Bethenny invites her best friend Teri to be her maid of honor, and the festivities get underway. The couple’s friends gather for a weekend of gambling, drinking, shopping, and general mayhem. Teri is particularly enthusiastic about the drinking portion of the itinerary, getting rather well ahead of everyone else.
Jason, meanwhile, decides that a combined bachelor-bachelorette party isn’t quite enough. He ditches Bethenny to have a proper bachelor party with the guys. Because nothing says romantic getaway quite like separating from your pregnant fiancée.
The contrast between the two is spectacular. Bethenny is trying to enjoy herself while still thinking about the wedding and the baby, while Jason and his friends are busy having their own version of a bachelor weekend. The hangover situation eventually becomes a significant concern, particularly for Jason.
There are also some genuinely fun moments. Bethenny gets to spend time with her friends, hits the blackjack tables, enjoys the food, and finally starts to relax. For someone who has spent the entire episode treating wedding planning like a corporate merger, this is a welcome development.
And then comes the news she’s been waiting for.
The hotel Bethenny desperately wanted for the wedding is available after all. Suddenly, the weekend gets a whole lot better. One major wedding obstacle has disappeared, and Bethenny can finally celebrate.
Of course, there are still plenty of details to manage, a baby to deliver, and a business empire to run. But for one weekend in Atlantic City, Bethenny manages to put some of that aside.
The wedding is getting closer, Jason has survived his bachelor party, Teri has apparently enjoyed herself enough for everyone, and Shawn can probably take a very long nap.
Bethenny is 88% of the way to a million, but she’s going to need considerably more than a million to pay for all the people required to keep this operation moving.
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