Ice cold! The Real Housewives of Orange County‘s Monday, July 18, episode was titled “Frozen Assets,” and for good reason. From frozen friendships to frozen sperm, this one had it all! Did one of the friendships thaw out due to unforeseen circumstances? Read on to find out.
Shots at the Beach Party!
The episode picked up at the beach party where the previous one left off. Vicki Gunvalson was chatting with former friend Tamra Judge about moving past all the drama surrounding the cancer diagnosis of her ex, Brooks Ayers. Was the chill in the air due to Tamra’s poor reception of Vicki’s excuses? No, it was actually cold out, so the women moved inside.
Vicki stayed focused on her goal of talking to each of the Housewives individually, so she cornered Shannon Beador for a hug that Shannon very clearly did not want. Then, Vicki apologized, saying, “You guys were right, and I was wrong.”
Shannon countered that she still didn’t believe Vicki didn’t know Ayers was lying about his cancer. Just like the conversations with Heather Dubrow and Tamra, this one didn’t end with much closure. Vicki began to cry, and Shannon coldly said that she didn’t think they could be friends again.
Meghan King Edmonds, on the other hand, had plenty of friends. Heather and Kelly Dodd, who both conceived via IVF, helped Meghan with the shots she had to give herself in order to have a baby with her husband using his frozen sperm. That’s how they party in Orange County!
Vicki wandered over to where Meghan was doing her needlework, and the OG Housewife continued crying. She begged the assembled women to be her friends again, and Meghan shot back that they were never friends. A disgusted Kelly led Vicki from her house, telling the camera in a confessional, “I’ve been ganged up [on] by girls many times in my life, and when I see someone doing that to somebody else, I want to protect that person!”
Whoop(ing Cough) It Up
Meghan and her husband, Jim Edmonds, went to get the frozen sperm that he had saved up just in case he ever wanted to have another kid after his vasectomy. They just stuck the cryotank in their car, and away they went.
Jimmy frustrated Meghan by showing no interest in the IVF process, and also by leaving for work while she underwent surgeries and procedures. Once again, her mother was coming into town to hold her hand through it all.
Vicki knows a thing or two about holding her daughter’s hand through tough medical situations. The next scene showed her rushing her daughter, Briana Culberson, to the hospital after she complained of difficulty breathing. (Last episode, Vicki moved Briana from Oklahoma to California, so she could help her through her terrible infection, remember?) The RHOC camera crew stayed back as ambulances rushed around, but mics caught Vicki sobbing as her daughter was taken away.
Here’s where it got really crazy, so stay with Us! Tamra’s son Ryan Vieth was once engaged to a woman named Sarah Rodriguez. They broke up, but Tamra was always on Ryan’s case about making things right with the mother of his child. Now, who do you think just so happened to be at the gas station that Vicki pulled over at to call 911 when she realized she couldn’t drive Briana to the hospital fast enough? That’s right: Sarah!
Sarah offered to go to Vicki’s house to watch Briana’s kids at the same time Vicki texted Tamra about what was going on. Tamra called Sarah to ask her to head over to Vicki’s to help out, only to learn that Sarah was already on her way. Later, she recounted to her almost-daughter-in-law how shocking it was to hear Briana gasping for air in the background of the call.
“Jesus did that!” Tamra exclaimed. She insisted that it was divine intervention that put Sarah in Vicki’s path that day. Then she pivoted, asking Sarah if she would ever get back together with Ryan. The younger woman quietly explained that it was Ryan who was making it hard for their relationship to progress.
Later, it was revealed that Briana’s lymph nodes were swollen to the point that they were pushing on her lungs, giving her trouble breathing.
With Friends Like That, Who Needs Party Invites?
Meghan had Kelly over for “girl time” because she was feeling so lonely without Jimmy. Once again, Kelly brought up her inclination to take Vicki’s side in the battle of the Housewives.
Meghan, as usual, told her that she was “overstepping her bounds a little bit.”
“I love Meghan, but I’m not 16 years old. I know how to act,” Kelly quipped to the camera. It was clearer than ever that she wasn’t going to fall in line with the other OC castmates and give Vicki the cold shoulder.
You know who wasn’t giving Vicki that cold shoulder anymore, though? Tamra! She called to find out how Briana was doing! So were they friends again? Or was Tamra just being nice?
Later, Tamra grabbed lunch with Shannon and told the story of Briana’s rush to the hospital, but the tale didn’t fall on sympathetic ears. “Why is she here?” demanded Shannon. “Why isn’t she in Oklahoma? Because her mom bought her a house?”
They gossiped about whether Vicki had forced Briana to move away from her husband, Ryan — who was still stationed in Oklahoma by the Army — by promising her a free house. So no, maybe Tamra wasn’t Vicki’s friend after all.
Wait … but then, Shannon read Tamra an email that she planned to send Vicki. Shannon was inviting Vicki to her upcoming party, even though she did not want to pursue a friendship. Tamra chastised her gently for how “passive-aggressive” and “backhanded” it was, then forced her to rewrite the invitation in a kinder way. Tamra also advised Shannon to just forgive and forget. Uh, this is giving Us whiplash.
Tell Us: Is Shannon’s party going to be a disaster?
The Real Housewives of Orange County airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET.
