The Ladies of London are in Scotland. No overgrown frat boys in hot tubs. No sharing an RV bathroom with Jax Taylor. Just lovely surroundings, silver paillettes and Juliette making everyone cry. What could be better? So let’s jump right in and see who shows their arse tonight.
We pick back up at brekkie. Our national treasure has already caused Marissa to run sobbing from the table so she turns her attention to Sophie. Even Caroline Stanbury is cringing in the corner. You know things are bad if La Stanbury doesn’t enjoy your bullying. Sophie ends up apologizing (of course) so once again Juliet’s bad behaviour is rewarded with the attention she so desperately craves.
The ladies hit town for some sight-shopping. They separate into two groups (Caroline Stanbury, Sophie, Juliet and Julie go one way, Marissa, Caroline Fleming and Adela the other). They’re all grateful for the break. They have some fun and then get down to business: discussing the Juliet issue. After playing second fiddle all season, Juliet finally gets a storyline! Sure, it’s about how obnoxiously aggressive she is, but it’s camera time so I’m sure she doesn’t mind.
You know who does mind? Caroline Stanbury. If we’re talking about Juliet, the focus is off her. And that won’t stand. So she switches the conversion to her favorite topic: Caroline Stanbury. Since she’s surrounded by yes men and pushovers it’s an easy job. She gets to pour her heart out about how hard things are for her and the scene ends with everyone kissing her ass, almost literally.
For their final dinner before the men arrive, the ladies have a whiskey tasting. They don’t enjoy it. Caroline Fleming asks the sommelier if he’s wearing knickers under his kilt. He gets offended. It’s kind of funny to finally see Fleming make a faux pas. She works her way out of it gracefully and the ladies head to a cavern dining room. The haggis gets a bagpipe escort. After tasting whiskey on an empty stomach, everyone giggles. The piper explains that traditionally, the haggis gets an “address” (a 250 year old poem written in old Scottish). He takes it quite seriously. The only words we understand are entrails and reek. Yum. The ladies were already dreading the haggis and this is making it worse. But Caroline Stanbury decides they’re all going to try it (no rules).
Then Caroline Stanbury decides to exhibit her “softer” side and apologizes for upsetting Marissa. This allows Marissa to break down. She’s tired. She doesn’t have the energy to fight anymore. Julie worries that she’s going through postpartum depression and is masking it with her “I want to party” attitude. All of the Brits sneak away, leaving Julie, Juliet and Marissa at the table. Juliet finally gets it and tells Marissa she’s there for her. Marissa sobs that she’s not strong enough for Juliet’s barbs. “You just gotta be my friend. Please.” Juliet really hears her.
In the poolroom, Caroline Fleming introduces the ladies to the balloon game. The idea is to see which team can pop the most balloons by grinding them between their lady bits. Hilarity ensues. Juliet is really good at thrusting. Maybe she shares a predilection with Amber Marchese (NTTAWWT).
The next morning the men arrive. Marissa immediately pulls Matt away. She’s not doing so well. Matt listens and supports. They’re a really sweet couple.
Caroline Stanbury schedules some falconry because she thinks it will scares the ladies. It does. Well, except for Caroline Fleming, who has a mystical connection with the bird (of course). Then it’s time for archery or quadding. Guest’s choice because this is the oh so cool, no rules vacation. Or, as Caroline Stanbury says, “No rules equals fun.” Yeah, we get it. You’re the best and Julie sucks. Yawn. They play croquet and explore the castle. Other than Caroline Stanbury’s tit for tat, this looks like a great vacay.
For their final dinner the men wear kilts. While Cem is making his toast, Adela grabs his ass and confirms he’s wearing underwear. He tells her to have starters before dessert. Sophie makes a toast about missing Caroline Stanbury. It’s sweet and heartfelt and it angers Julie. They may be playing nice for the moment but the Caroline vs Julie feud is still going strong. So naturally Julie decides to make a toast too. It’s awkward from the get-go. Passive-aggressive doesn’t even begin to describe it. No one knows how to react. Finally it’s over and everyone totters outside for fireworks. Everyone celebrates surviving their group trip Caroline Stanbury.
Next week: Caroline Stanbury has awkward tea with her mother. Sophie realizes she has to tell her sons about the divorce. Caroline Fleming weirds people out. Everyone fights at the regatta.
I’ve been sick for weeks over Xmas, so catching up on a few episodes at once. Apologies if my comments aren’t all specifically on this episode.
Firstly, I really miss Annabelle talking about Alexander McQueen, and how bohemian and cool she is, and her grandmother’s ridiculous title (Marchesa Campus di Santenelli) every week. She was born to a life that all of the women left on the show now have either married into or don’t really have, so I miss the deeply-ingrained haughtiness that comes from a lifetime of inheritance and privilege. When Caroline or Julie try to affect that kind of attitude, it feels false – as if they’re behaving how they think people with access to castles should behave. Even Caroline Fleming’s meltdown over the eggs felt like a bid for camera time.
I’ve come to like Julie less and less with each episode, she’s claiming on Twitter that she was forced by producers to say stuff like “she had to rent her castle, I have Mapperton” etc., but that’s a poor excuse. She’s a grown woman. The thing that really repulsed me this week was her uncontrollable desire to get between the Stanbury sisters-in-law – there are children involved who’ve already been kept apart by this division between the Stanburys, so Julie should step aside and allow them to bury the hatchet (however forced the reconciliation may seem).
I think Caroline’s starting to realize her brutality all season long has done her no favors, and she’s now trying to build bridges (probably too little too late). I liked her a great deal in previous seasons, and the show would be so dull without her, so I’m inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt when she says she’s behaved this way because she’s scared of the show jeapordizing relationships she’s had for 20 years. I can see why she thinks loyalty should be given in that scenario, and I’d lash out too if a longtime friend like Adela joined the show and immediately sided with the people who’d been gossiping behind my back.
Marissa’s scenes were very sad, I don’t know if she has got baby blues, post-partum depression, plain old exhaustion, or just a bad case of “I hate these women Bravo have sent me away with”, but it was actually scary to watch. I hope she’s doing better since they moved to California, that seems like another big life change for someone who’s been through so much, but as the other girls commented she tends to pretend her life is sunny and perfect and wonderful so it’s hard to get a read on her. This season is the first time I’ve seen her run off crying where I didn’t feel like she was doing it for sympathy (as Juliet quite rightly pointed out).
I really enjoyed the scenes where they were doing quad biking and archery, and the balloon game. That all looked so much fun! These ladies are still a lot of fun to watch most of the time, and the relationships feel more genuine and long-established than those on any of the current Housewives casts. This week’s episode felt strangely like a finale, but I guess we’re still a couple of weeks away from that?
It did feel like a finale. I was surprised to see scenes from next week.
Marissa must be really hurting for cash if she’s that exhausted but feels the need to go on this trip and film. She needed to be home in bed.
I miss Annabelle too. 🙁
I’ve always assumed these are contractual obligations. We’ve seen other people skip out on the trips the past, (Avida) but they weren’t invited back. Marissa seems like a trooper and I wonder if she thought she could push herself and didn’t realize her limitations.
It did not dawn on me until this episode (I wasn’t paying attention) Marissa had a total hysterectomy after the baby was born. When the ovaries are removed that immediately puts the body into an early menopause. I have thought she was a little “hormonal” I think this is partly responsible for her mood swings and I do believe she has some postpartum depression. She most likely thought the change of scenery was going to be good for her….unfortunately one cannot run and hide from the hormonal changes in the body.
If I was breast feeding and just had a full hysterectomy – I would be a basket case! Also she has two other young children and a baby who had to be hospitalized. Well then just film a TV show – no pressure.
It has to be rough on her. Hope things get better soon. She is a bit fake but I think sweet
LOVE this show! I wish the Housewives would get back to this formula and stop it with the broke pretenders who wish they were wealthy (I’m looking at most of the Atlanta Housewives and a few from NY) and contractual friendship which tends to produce scripted crap. In my opinion this show feels more organic than the others and I believe it is because of the 20 plus years of friendship shared between most of these ladies.
I love how they don’t let petty fights overshadow a great vacation and in the end most of their issues are resolved to the point where they can at least be civil. I still love Caroline S and I’m glad to see her ice gradually melt over the course of the last couple of episodes. I have understood her point all season about having long time friends and family (Sophie) turn on you the second the cameras begin roll. I mean Sophie and Adela truly did come out of the gate in the first episode and I’m glad to see Sophie FINALLY open her eyes to Julie. I think one of Julie’s biggest issues with Caroline S (besides Caroline’s posh put downs) is while Julie may have the title and the estate she tends to lack the supportive husband Caroline S has and maybe she feels Caroline S doesn’t deserve. I notice it was at the New Year’s Eve party last season where the husbands were present that Julie was extra sensitive and broke down over a throw away comment from Caroline. Then again this episode once the husbands arrived Julie’s claws really came out hard against Caroline S even after Caroline S had softened towards Julie and already apologized to Marissa Julie felt the need wind up Matt. I feel bad saying this because I think Julie’s husband struggles with depression or something but still it must suck for Julie to see the other ladies with their husbands and hers is never available, though he did film more this season than ever before.
Juliet needs to pay both of the Carolines a % of her Bravo check because they are the reason she is still on this show. They practically carried her because she had no story line and they are the only two that consistently filmed with her all season.
I hope Marissa is doing better but I still wouldn’t miss her if she didn’t return. She and Julie are my two least favorite.
I hope Sophie and Caroline S get back to a good place and I wish Adela the best. She has grown on me the last few episodes.
This did feel like a finale episode and I’m so happy it’s not. I’ve felt that show deserved at least a few more episodes more than the 7 or 8 I think it’s been for the first 2 seasons
In the scenes I’ve watched, I thought Julia’s husband seemed pretty supportive, just very reserved and uncomfortable in front of the camera. Considering their circumstances, I thought their relationship seemed really, normal/typical. I also saw nothing to indicate that he suffers from, “depression”. He’s probably had less than 10 minutes total filming time.
I should clarify, I was referring to an article about him that Julie confirmed was correct that explained he had a lot of issues with a medication that was not properly prescribed which left him in a depressive state that took quite some time to overcome when the problem was discovered and he had to switch meds. That article was out during the first season which may have been circulated in part to explain why we hardly saw him at all in the 1st season. This is the most we’ve seen him this season. I tried finding the link to share.
I don’t think I can post a link to an off-site story, but Julie has discussed Luke’s painkiller addiction in interviews. He was prescribed something in 2010 that he shouldn’t have been, which spiralled into a long addiction. I think it was around Christmas in 2015 when he got sober, when Julie was still part-time on the show.
They sued and won a £1.35 million ($1.7m) settlement, so don’t feel too sorry for them when they moan about the costs of running Mapperton…..
From what I read on bravo, where she discusses it, it wasn’t for painkillers. It was a sleeping pill, clonazepam and antidepressants. She said he was misdiagnosed with a chemical imbalance after an adverse reaction to anesthetic given during an operation. He was foggy, alterred, etc and a dr. put him on antidepressants, then later the sleep meds.
Just as upsetting, but not as salacious as painkillers lol
Interesting, the tabloid headline I read refered to painkillers, but Julie didn’t go into specifics in her interview with them. She just said it gave her something of a meltdown over Christmas that year, and things came to a head shortly after.
It’s unusual for these kind of legal cases to be brought in the UK, probably because it’s considered a far bigger deal to take antidepressants or sleeping pills compared to the US, so I’m surprised more details weren’t reported given Luke’s status. I guess it was an out-of-court settlement, so we only know what Julie has shared in interviews.
Thanks for taking the time to explain your point of view. I know that Annabelle was quoted as saying that during the first season, Luke didn’t want to film with any of the other housewives, just her. They were friends for many years, he trusted her and he also asked that she look out for Julie.
I don’t care for Julie so much this season but I have empathy for her. She certainly has a full plate already and watching a loved one cope with depression or addiction is really rough.
I’m wondering if it’s because he’s a member of the aristocracy and feels it’s not the right thing.
Scottish Person Alert!!!
1. Noone gets offended at the are you wearing knickers question. Bored of it, maybe, but were used to it mainly because each time you deign to wear a kilt, you will be asked that question approximately 2.5 million times. We will respond with a cheeky wink, or our number if you are hot.
2. The haggis is only addressed during a Burns Supper. Otherwise its just a food you eat whenever. Like for breakfast. But the best way is dipped in batter and deep fried from a fish and chip shop. For reals. And im a picky eater.
I love when you fill us in on all this stuff. Thanks!
Interesting. What’s a burns supper?
I thought it looked good, I’m such a carnivore I would totally try it lol
Robert Burns, the poet. Probably the most famous Scottish poet/lyricist.
I think he gets the credit for Auld Lang Syne. I also think he wrote My Love is Like a Red Red Rose. Its been a while though – I might be confusing the rose one with Robert Herrick (an English poet)
Celebrates Robert Burns the Poet. A traditional dish of Haggis, Neeps (Turnip or swede) and “Tatties” (Potatoes) is served with whisky. When the haggis is served, it is piped in by a bagpiper and “Ode to a Haggis” (or “Address to a Haggis”) is read. It’s all very pomp and circumstance-y.
With deep fried Mars Bar for pud?
Thanks for another great recap, Lady Cocotte. “Sight-Shopping” is just too good for me not to steal at the first opportunity.
I enjoy this show and the recap. My only comment is how Caroline S needs a make up guy to go out anywhere, while the other ladies can manage on their own. I find that kind of sad.
I can’t get over how Caroline F. gets away with a little mascara and still looks stunning. She’s gorgeous, IMO.
As a matter of fact, most of the ladies look lovely and natural. Not at all like the heavily made up HWs in the other shows.
Julie is underhanded, weak and annoying. If I knew her I don’t think I could help but to wind her up until she cried. Every time I see her on my screen I cringe.
I’m not feeling Marissa either. Her pretense is that she’s sweet but she’s got a cruel and vindictive side. I didn’t like how she excluded Juliet from the Christmas concert last year and how she talked shit about her coming to visit Sadie. If she didn’t want Juliet there, she shouldn’t have invited her.
If Julie and Marissa didn’t return, I wouldn’t miss them. There is no show without Caroline Stanbury.
Julie is one heaping pile of insecurities. I liked her better when she was the scraggly yoga teacher pitching energy balls.
Poor Marissa. Early menopause and a newborn with health issues. I feel bad for making fun of her annoying vocal fry.
I really like Caroline Fleming. There’s something about her that I find charming. I like when the women drop the veil and you see what’s really happening with them. In Caroline F’s case, sharing her pain over the often strained relationship she has with her family and in particular her father.
I also love when she ignores the drama going on all around her and concentrates on her food! Lol! She’s also gorgeous and has great style.
I find Caroline s a misrible person that cant stand being with her family so she pretends to be so posh and busy to ignore them. She is so self absorbed. I wouldn’t doubt she has affairs and even takes drugs to party and live out “her glory days,” of being 20 but she is far from it. I actually find her a repulsive human. After hearing she was on a ski vacation while her employees with families, rent and bills to pay were just shut out od her business with no warning or severance pay not to mention she skipped out on dealing with it herself makes me sad for her. She is just horrid. Awful heartless ice cold woman. Funny looking too.