Tamra Judge is crucial to the success of The Real Housewives of Orange County. From Gina and Emily’s bubbling tension to Alexis’ tornadic attack on Shannon, Tamra’s fingerprints are at the scene of each and every crime. She isn’t going anywhere.
Much has been said about what makes a good Housewives villain, and for as popular as this season has been, it hasn’t escaped numerous calls for Tamra’s firing and claims she’s too nasty to make good TV. But here we are, watching the best Housewives season of the year, of which Tamra is the mastermind. And I can’t help but wonder, why would we remove the most crucial piece of this Jenga tower without worrying it will crumble in the aftermath?
This carefully plotted season has chaos running from end to end, and it’s not just petty drama, nor is it a retread of past feuds. That’s one of the many reasons Tamra excels in the art of villainy. She’s spent this season shamelessly attacking Shannon while slowly dismantling Gina from the sidelines, just for fun, and she’ll spend next season either eviscerating Alexis Bellino or getting re-baptized (probably both).
RHOC dynamics are ever-changing, so it’s rare a Housewife has no allies. For Shannon, the devastating loss of Tamra as her best friend mixed with the return of Alexis could have spelled a takedown, yet the La Quinta trip is proof the cast are too elastic to let that happen.
As her former enemies Gina and Emily—and her former arch enemy, Heather—rally around Shannon, the resounding result is beautiful. Shannon shares with the group how shocked and betrayed she feels that John would sue her when she paid for everything in their relationship, breaking down in tears in Emily’s arms.
It’s a scene that not only contrasts the extreme drama of the season, but makes it stronger in the process. This drama is grounded in the reality of RHOC with more than a decade of storytelling to back it up, and it hits extremely hard. The subversive nature of Shannon having her most sympathetic season yet after a disastrous year capped off with a DUI is just perfectly Shannon, as is Alexis torpedoing her long-awaited return after fans finally reappraised her initial run.
This season is an interesting dichotomy between two women who lack awareness and can’t be anything but their authentic, often idiosyncratic selves. Tamra stands at the middle of it all, acting as the devil on Alexis’ shoulder, while her brazen attacks on Shannon no doubt are fueling the kinder reactions the fanbase (and Gina/Emily) are having towards her.
After the rally around Shannon, the ladies of Big Bear have a lovely moment too. Jenn gets vulnerable and shares that she struggles with her ex-husband making memories with her children and finding happiness in a new relationship, knowing that he couldn’t be that vibrant person with her, and each woman shows genuine support.
Tamra cries as she relates to the feeling, having been estranged from her daughter since her divorce with her first husband. It’s a song and dance we have heard many times over, yes, but it’s one where Tamra’s pain resonates. The previously unseen footage of Alexis consoling Tamra and praying as she bawls reveals something I hadn’t really considered: Maybe this strategic friendship is more than just one of convenience. I don’t fully believe that, but the fact I thought about it for even a moment is a reminder that Tamra’s always keeping us on our toes, and I appreciate it.
Unfortunately, Alexis doesn’t have the edit to support much nuance. We don’t get to see how she’s adapted to motherhood as a divorceé—and proudly accepts her transgender child despite saying gay people will go to Hell in her initial run. We don’t get to hear about her grief, having recently lost her mother.
This is the first episode we get to see some layers from her, thankfully. Before the ladies leave Big Bear, she gives Katie some astute advice to fix things with Heather. It’s a shockingly sound sentiment, and a humorous reminder that Alexis may lack self-awareness, but she’s not oblivious to others’ roles in the group dynamic. Remember, she knew that Tamra buddying up to Gretchen wouldn’t end well, and right she was.
So it’s also revealing when John calls Alexis and changes her demeanor instantly. It’s very clear that John’s spinning a web and inflicting Alexis with the backlash in the process. If we’re going to acknowledge his dark sided behavior towards Shannon, it’s fair to also give grace to Alexis as she goes about her own experience with him. It wasn’t long ago Shannon was blindly defending his behavior, too.
Meanwhile, over in La Quinta, Gina and Emily break down over a “game” of pickleball, if you could call it that. Pickleball isn’t a real sport. And it never will be, no matter how many little scenes Bravo sprinkles into its programming. We are #TennisStrong.
Their fight is really a proxy war, minion to minion. Emily’s mad that Gina is nothing more than a Heather sidekick, while Gina resents Emily’s new status up Tamra’s butt. It’s their sixth season as Housewives, yet both still exist as ideas rather than fully formed characters, and that’s finally coming to a head in an interesting manner.
Both make genuine sense, too. Emily’s right to feel wary of how Gina turned on Katie after prodding from Heather, and Gina’s right to feel annoyed that Emily is branding herself as “Tamra 2.0” these days. The two junior employees are fighting to unionize against their corporate overlords, scared they’ll be seen as easy cuts by management if they don’t step it up. And they’re right! Chop one and chop two stand before us on the pickleball court.
The fight is also fun because it’s the first real tension we’ve seen between the two since Season 14. It’s real, raw, and super funny. Their authentic friendship does shine through, and it’s nice to see two women fighting to hold themselves to higher standards. Here’s hoping they get that metaphorical union in order before it’s too late. Heather’s already questioning Gina, and Katie has lost trust. The doors are closing in…
Gina running away into the sprinklers, then hitting a locked door and having to slink back to the court is a lovely character note. She can’t even get a walk-off right, and in doing so she finally has a cute moment. Keep it up, Queen-a.
Actually, Gina’s quietly redeeming herself all over the place lately. Once the ladies return from their separate vacations, she and Tamra meet up. Since Tamra returned, Gina has somehow been the most adept in dealing with her, partially helped by the fact Tamra rarely acknowledges her existence. But their conversation is very revealing in exposing Tamra’s bad-faith intentions with Shannon, and a necessary catalyst towards the episode’s final one-on-one.
Halfway through Tamra’s point that Gina didn’t have a drinking problem when she got a DUI, Gina retorts, “No, I had a drinking problem,” completely cutting the wind in Tamra’s sails.
Tamra’s very good at attacking people, and she’s good at feigning concern, too. But Gina calmly explaining to her that eviscerating Shannon won’t actually help is necessary, even if Tamra already knows that. It pairs nicely with Jenn’s scene with Tamra earlier in the episode, where Jenn encourages her to sit down with Shannon and actually come from a place of compassion.
Tamra’s at her best when she’s pushed back against and forced to really examine her role in the drama. And these conversations are crucial to getting Tamra and Shannon to a “better” place by the end of the episode.
The episode closes with a perfect sit down between the consummate professionals, and it’s such a classic RHOC moment. There’s nothing like the rush of two women driving down the golden hour coast of California to meet each other at a dinner they’ll never eat. It’s what this franchise was built off of.
Tamra enters the conversation ready to make nice—if Shannon’s willing to say she’s entirely at fault. Within 30 seconds, Tamra’s mimicking Shannon and acting like she’s having a psychotic break, questioning how she ever defamed her. Since when is calling someone a lying alcoholic who emotionally berated her ex-boyfriend and owes him tens of thousands of dollars defamatory?
When Shannon hits back that Tamra has done unsavory things while drunk, Tamra retorts: “Have I driven my car into a house?” Naturally, Shannon does her Shannon thing, walking away. She’s always “gotta walk away for a second.” Meghan King once summed it up: Shannon storms.
Tamra looks beyond irritated when Shannon leaves, too, wanting to wrap the scene so she can go eat a real dinner. Her evil smirk when she asks a producer, “Is she getting a drink?” is so twisted. No one does a toxic workplace like this diva.
Shannon tells a producer, “I don’t need f—ing Tamra Judge to be the person that decides my punishment.” And that’s the issue, isn’t it? Tamra’s sliding down a slippery slope, acting as the moral arbiter whilst having her most overt villain season in years. It’s the kind of scheming where, if she's not careful, she could end up on the outs.
But Tamra is careful, and she’s smart. When Shannon returns to the table, the two have a heart-to-heart. Shannon reveals that John is actively suing her, which gets Tamra to finally put her sword down and admit, yeah, that sucks. Here, Tamra makes some long-term moves. First, she sets herself up for the inevitable flip on Alexis (“I can’t support John!”), while making temporarily nice with Shannon to invite her (and Vicki) to a Traitors-themed dinner, where it’s all sure to fall apart.
The resolution isn’t going to last, but it’s a welcome reprieve that keeps the story moving. RHOC has been so phenomenal this year, and it’s such a pleasure to watch this masterclass from top-tier Housewives. Yes, Tamra’s indefensible in many of her actions. But who’s defending her? Who’s standing by her, looking to blindly justify her villainous behavior?
Tamra is the villain RHOC needs, helping boost the entire ensemble with her antics. For the first time in years, RHOC is the franchise to beat. We all know why.
