After Mary’s personal loss, the women reconcile what’s really important in the face of being on the moneymaking grind.
From the minute we hear a minor chord and see Mary’s name onscreen, we know the worst thing in the fucking world has happened: She’s lost the baby. It’s a heart-wrenching moment, and how the show deals with it has forced me to reconsider my previous thoughts on what it intends to be and whether that even matters. Amanza is there for her immediately, of course, because Amanza is, above all, a good friend. There’s also Romain, who earns another huge gold star for knowing exactly when he needs to sit there and be silently supportive, and when he needs to speak up and provide verbal reassurance, like when Mary worries she waited too long to start a family, and he says “We both wanted to wait.” Still, I’m devastated for Mary, who was finally breaking out of the bullshit and beginning to thrive.
The women at the office react by having a sensitive, thoughtful discussion about pregnancy loss and how to be there for Mary. It almost makes up for the show sort of trying to humiliate Bre for being in “mommy mode” too much. For the unfamiliar, “mommy mode” is when you haven’t slept in days because you have an infant in your house whose life you are responsible for, and you fail to bring in hundreds of thousands of extra dollars for your two dude bosses who are trying to build a nightclub next door. She’s shown arranging one showing for her pitiful $5 million listing, with a phone call Jason watches her make. Meanwhile, Chelsea has already thrown an open house and received three offers on her Mulholland Drive mansion. Maybe we’re supposed to be happy that Chelsea gets her comeuppance by winning this particular bake-off after Bre so rudely shot down her business advice last year. But mainly, I just feel sad for Bre and for all such women trapped in a grind that prioritizes nothing but money for money’s sake.
For reasons that will forever be beyond me, the Oppenheimer boys decide the thing to do is take the whole office to Cabo to see yet another office. We can already tell what’s coming, but I would not have foreseen that a private-jet ride would be the thing that makes me pity Nicole. It’s not that I think she should have been invited on the jet — in my opinion, you should never get on a private jet with people you aren’t willing to fuck or die with — but if the itinerary was truly distributed to all, and then only Nicole’s invite was rescinded, that is just tactless. In the argument about it at dinner, Chrishell once again devolves into being mean, mainly by contrast, because Nicole just seems so … fragile. She’s almost shaking when she says, “I’ve never flown private in my life,” and for a brief moment, I legitimately believed this to be an injustice like she’s a laboratory beagle who’s never walked on grass. Anyway, they should’ve just flown commercial; private jets are bad for the environment, Emma!
I deeply understand why people don’t like Nicole, to the point where I am starting to love her. “I am a stickler when it comes to punctuality,” she tells us when Emma and Chrishell arrive to dinner slightly late. Her sour attitude is such a refreshing break from all these big smiles and fake hugs. This is, unfortunately, what makes her such a good villain, whether she likes it or not. When Chelsea pisses people off, it’s because she tries to make a joke that doesn’t land or accidentally bullies someone she didn’t realize people liked. When Nicole pisses people off, it’s because she’s insisting for no reason at all that Chelsea’s $10 million listing isn’t “turnkey.” She didn’t apologize to Chrishell when she had the chance, and she even tried explaining to Mary that she just wanted it to happen “organically.” How do you apologize “organically”? Like, is this apology a French kiss? She needs to wait for just the right moment when their eyes meet under the light of a full Cabo moon?
Ultimately, I don’t think Chrishell is wrong to stay separate from the rest of the group and try to keep her distance. After all, she’s suffering on two fronts here: Nicole and Jason. By all standards, she has already allowed these people into her life an incredible amount, considering they are literally just her co-workers. And it’s a proven fact at this point that she and Nicole can barely be in the same room together for ten minutes without going for each other’s throats. Meanwhile, Jason is her boss and also her ex-boyfriend. Even knowing nothing else about the situation, I would say that’s a guy you don’t need to share a house with in Cabo. Add in the pressure to be responsible for Marie-Lou’s feelings, and there’s all the more reason to avoid this man altogether.
In the middle of all this again is Amanza, who is pissed to find while she’s on the plane that Chrishell and Emma are staying separately from the rest of the group. Chrishell encourages her to “focus on the positive,” but Amanza was just holding her sobbing best friend in her arms a few days ago. She wanted this to be a fun opportunity to heal some wounds and cement some bonds. Now, it’s just a work trip. It’s a disappointment because this isn’t about work anymore. This is about women healing one another, looking out for one another, and engaging in healthy competition. That’s what Chrishell is missing when she’s shouting, “You traveled with the main guys of the whole place!” at Nicole. Nicole didn’t want to travel with the main guys. The main guys suck. She wants into the sisterhood of the sparkly leather pants, even if it means getting into a vicious argument in the middle of the sky. Right now, it seems like the only thing holding this group together emotionally is Amanza, and who can say how much more she has to give?
Unlisted Observations
• “For a baby, he’s actually great!” —Bre on her son.
• When Nicole told Mary she didn’t apologize to Chrishell, I heard Mary’s “Ohhhhh, shit” in my bones.
• I can’t believe we got probably three full minutes of Nikki Glaser just doing stand-up for Chrishell alone? And honestly, she’s a great audience.
• Nikki saves a bee and does like three minutes of stand-up comedy about Jason dating a younger woman.
• The house with the photo booth, for some reason.
• Burglars, take note: “You could probably break into half the homes in the city with the code 1-2-3-4-5-6.”
• I love it when this show teaches me about things I will never in my life use, like “seller financing” … okay!
• That man wasn’t lying. This really IS the most beautiful bathroom in all of Los Angeles.
• Emma’s Death Wish Moment: Flying private is the biggest killer of rich people since the Titanic, and she just goes for it.
