The ladies are still in Las Vegas, which means we have reached the portion of the vacation where everyone is tired, nobody is getting along, and a perfectly lovely trip to the Grand Canyon somehow turns into a referendum on motherhood, friendship, and who deserves the better hotel room. Because apparently the Grand Canyon wasn’t dramatic enough on its own.
We have Shannon’s ongoing room grievance, Vicki’s questionable understanding of boundaries, Tamra having an emotional breakthrough, and Carmella discovering that joining this group comes with an unexpected membership fee: having your parenting publicly evaluated by Vicki Gunvalson.
Let’s get into it.
It’s day two in Vegas, and the women are preparing for their excursion to the Grand Canyon. Before they leave, Jenn has agreed to switch rooms with Shannon. Jenn has already unpacked, but she’s willing to move so Shannon can have the room she’s more comfortable with. Which is generous of Jenn, although the fact that this entire situation is still going on is becoming a little ridiculous.
The original room drama involved Heather walking into one of the rooms, taking off her shoes, and essentially declaring it hers. Jenn took the primary bedroom, leaving Shannon with the remaining room. Shannon then became concerned about the elevator noise and even brought up the possibility of electromagnetic energy. Yes, we’re still doing this.
Shannon’s issue, however, seems to be less about the actual room and more about feeling that Heather made the decision without considering her. And now Jenn is the one doing the room shuffle while Heather gets to remain comfortably installed in her chosen accommodations.
Meanwhile, Shannon has also arranged a scooter for Vicki, who is still dealing with her knee injury. This is a thoughtful gesture, although Shannon immediately manages to crash into Vicki with it. Nothing says friendship quite like providing mobility assistance and then using it as a weapon.
The women split into two cars on the way to the Grand Canyon. In one car, Tamra talks about how upset Carmella was the previous night because one of her daughters was sick. Emily also brings up the business arrangement between Jenn and Carmella, because apparently even a road trip through Arizona is an opportunity to investigate Carmella’s motives.
In the other car, Carmella explains that her fourteen-year-old daughter, Faith, has the flu and is being looked after by her boyfriend, Danny. She also talks about her divorce from her ex-husband, explaining that she filed when the children were young but that the divorce was delayed because they continued to be involved in business together. Carmella says she stayed home to raise the children.
Vicki, naturally, is already suspicious. She seems to have decided that Carmella’s life story is a collection of inconsistencies that she personally must solve. We are not even at the Grand Canyon yet, and Vicki is conducting an investigation.
The ladies finally arrive, and they get to experience the glass Skywalk. They walk out over the canyon, enjoy some champagne, and take in the spectacular scenery. For a few minutes, everyone appears to be having an actual vacation. Imagine that.
Then it’s time to choose between ziplining and a cultural experience with members of the Hualapai Tribe.
Shannon, Vicki, Jenn, and Emily choose the zipline. The group has to climb seven flights of stairs to get to the launch point, which is already a questionable decision for a group that includes an injured woman and Shannon Beador. Vicki announces that she has a substantial amount of life insurance, which is not exactly the confidence-inspiring attitude one hopes to hear before participating in an adventure activity.
And then Shannon and Vicki decide they are not doing it. They climb all those stairs just to turn around and head back down. I appreciate knowing one’s limits, but this is a rather elaborate way to avoid a zipline.
Emily and Jenn take in the scenery, and Emily uses the opportunity to bring up Shannon’s behavior. She encourages Jenn to say something to Shannon about her tantrums and meltdowns over the room situation. Emily believes Shannon is directing her frustration at Jenn when the real issue is with Heather.
And she isn’t entirely wrong. Shannon is upset that Heather claimed the room without discussing it, but Jenn is the one who has been inconvenienced by switching rooms. Somehow, the woman who volunteered to help has become part of the problem.
When Shannon and Vicki return, the room situation comes up again. Shannon explains that she felt Heather simply walked into the room, took possession of it, and announced that Jenn would get the primary while Shannon could take the other room. Vicki contributes that Heather essentially marked her territory. Vicki has apparently decided the hotel suite is a wildlife documentary.
Shannon insists that she thought she had made her feelings clear at dinner, but the other women don’t think she actually addressed Heather directly. And that brings us to the bigger issue between Shannon and Heather.
While some of the women participate in the cultural experience, they listen to members of the Hualapai Tribe singing. Tamra, Gina, Carmella, and Heather spend time together afterward, enjoying the peaceful surroundings.
Tamra becomes emotional, saying that the experience makes her want to cry. Gina notices how different Tamra seems this year, and Tamra explains that she has been working on letting things go, appreciating her friendships, and not allowing insignificant things to trigger her anger.
Well, look at that. Tamra Judge has discovered the concept of not turning every minor inconvenience into a full-scale emotional emergency. I would like to see how long this lasts, but I will give her credit for the moment.
Heather also seems genuinely pleased with the changes in Tamra. She says she likes seeing this happier, more balanced version of her. And I agree that it’s nice to see Tamra having a moment that isn’t centered on screaming at somebody.
Back at the hotel, the room situation finally gets addressed between Shannon and Heather. Heather tells Shannon that if she has something to say, she should say it directly rather than discussing it with everyone else.
Shannon explains that she’s been going through a lot and has been feeling lonely. And there it is. This isn’t really about the elevator, the room, or the electromagnetic situation. Shannon is feeling isolated, and the room assignment has become another example of her feeling overlooked.
Heather seems surprised by the admission, but she also points out that Shannon could have spoken up at the time. Heather says she would have been willing to flip a coin or draw names to determine who got which room. She acknowledges that she could have been more considerate, but Shannon doesn’t seem entirely satisfied with the response.
I actually think there’s something interesting happening here. Heather tends to approach these situations as logistical problems that can be solved with a conversation. Shannon is approaching them as evidence of how people feel about her. Those are two very different conversations, and they are not necessarily going to meet in the middle.
Shannon wants Heather to understand that she felt disregarded. Heather wants Shannon to tell her what she wants rather than expecting her to figure it out. Neither woman is particularly skilled at making the other feel understood.
And while all of this is happening, Carmella is about to become the center of a much bigger argument.
The women gather for some gambling, and the conversation turns to Carmella’s business relationship with Jenn. Emily has apparently expressed some confusion about why Carmella is so interested in building business relationships with the women when she is still getting to know them socially.
Carmella explains that she wants to support Jenn and help her explore something new. Vicki immediately starts asking whether Jenn is going to be an employee or a partner. Because nothing says casual friendship quite like an impromptu business-structure deposition.
Shannon comes to Carmella’s defense, suggesting that Carmella is simply being generous and that the women are picking apart her kindness. Carmella agrees, saying she has never done something nice and had it scrutinized to this degree.
Vicki, however, is not finished. She questions where Carmella actually lives, and Carmella explains that she lives in Rancho Santa Fe and has a second home in Orange County.
Then Vicki goes straight for the children.
She tells Carmella that leaving her kids in San Diego is bizarre. Carmella responds that she always puts her children first. Vicki continues, bringing up the fact that Carmella’s fourteen-year-old daughter is sick while Carmella is away in Las Vegas.
And this is where Vicki crosses a line.
Vicki compares the situation to what she would do with her own daughter, saying she would never leave a sick fourteen-year-old behind. Carmella is clearly offended, and Heather immediately steps in.
Heather tells Vicki they are not going to discuss the children and tells her to move on. Vicki doesn’t appreciate being told what to do, but Heather doesn’t back down. She repeats that the children are off-limits.
Good for Heather. Whatever anyone thinks about Carmella’s business decisions, her parenting is not something Vicki gets to put on trial based on a few conversations and a hotel-room observation.
Carmella explains that her children are everything to her and that being a mother is one area of her life where she knows she’s solid. Shannon also speaks up, saying that you cannot criticize someone as a mother.
Carmella is understandably upset. The women have spent weeks questioning her gifts, her business relationships, and her intentions. Now Vicki has decided she can evaluate her parenting, too. At some point, the new girl is going to wonder whether she joined a television show or accidentally enrolled in a very judgmental neighborhood association.
Jenn and Gina go to check on Carmella. Carmella reiterates that her children are everything to her and that Vicki’s comments were particularly hurtful. Gina shares that she experienced some of the same treatment from Vicki when she was new to the group.
Meanwhile, Tamra talks to Vicki about what happened. She tells Vicki that she was mom-shaming Carmella and essentially calling her a bad mother. Vicki insists she never actually said Carmella was a bad mom, which is a distinction that probably doesn’t feel especially meaningful to the person who just had her parenting attacked.
Vicki also explains that she believes Carmella is buying her way into the group. And there it is again: the gifts, the business opportunities, the generosity. Vicki seems convinced that there is some elaborate strategy behind all of it.
To be fair, Carmella has made a very noticeable entrance. She has money, she gives expensive gifts, and she offers business opportunities. The women are allowed to wonder about her intentions. But questioning someone’s motives is one thing. Questioning whether she is a good mother because she went on a trip while her teenager was home sick is quite another.
Next, Heather organizes a Vegas-themed scavenger hunt. Each woman gets a showgirl name, courtesy of ChatGPT, because apparently artificial intelligence is now part of the production team.
We have Jenny Stardust, Carmella Rouge, Heather Highroller, Emily Electra, Gina Jackpot, Tamra Tees, Vicki Vavoom, and Shannon Del Mar.
I don’t know who came up with these names, but I would like to know what Vicki did to deserve being called Vicki Vavoom. That sounds like a woman who should be arriving at a casino in a feathered headpiece and immediately demanding to speak to the manager.
The women are divided into teams, and the scavenger hunt includes tasks like a model walk and a dance party. There is also a zipline challenge at the end, because apparently the production team has decided that if Shannon and Vicki won’t voluntarily zipline, they are going to keep finding ways to get them up there.
Vicki and Shannon are eventually selected for the challenge. Vicki manages to win, and Shannon finally conquers her fear. So we do get a little personal growth out of this trip after all.
As the women prepare for their final night in Vegas, Vicki approaches Carmella and apologizes. She tells her that she made her feel horrible and that she’s sorry.
Carmella accepts the apology and says they can move forward. But in her confessional, she makes it clear that she isn’t over what was said. And honestly, I wouldn’t be either. An apology is a start, but it doesn’t magically erase the fact that someone questioned your devotion to your children in front of a group of strangers.
Vicki, meanwhile, admits that she felt peer pressure to apologize. Which is a very Vicki way to approach an apology. Apparently, the problem isn’t necessarily that she said something hurtful; it’s that the other women made her feel she had to acknowledge it.
The episode closes with the women discussing relationships and whether scheduling sex is acceptable. Because after a day of Grand Canyon adventures, room grievances, and maternal accusations, naturally the next topic is everyone’s bedroom calendar.
Shannon also opens up again about feeling lonely and says she thinks she’s ready to open her heart up. It’s a more vulnerable side of Shannon, and it gives some context to why the room situation seems to have affected her so deeply. She’s not simply upset about having the third-best room in a hotel suite. She’s feeling disconnected, and the trip is bringing that to the surface.
And that, more than the zipline or the casino, is what this episode is really about. Everyone is carrying around their own version of feeling overlooked, judged, or misunderstood. Unfortunately, these women have chosen to work through those feelings in the least peaceful environment imaginable: a group vacation.
Vegas has given us a scooter collision, a failed zipline attempt, a friendship confession, a parenting controversy, and an apology that may or may not have been sincere.
The Grand Canyon is magnificent. The Housewives are exhausting. And Carmella has officially learned that in Orange County, even taking a vacation without your children can become a group discussion.
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