Real Housewives of Vancouver Episode 10

Jody continues to amuse with unadulterated absurdity while Ronnie continues to surprise with a more likable side. I have said before it is sometimes true that in the Real Housewives series the housewife you start out disliking can turn into someone you do like, or at least no longer utterly despise, as the season progresses and more seasons are added. It takes time for the varied complexities of each personality to be revealed, as is the case with pretty much anyone, whether on TV or not.

Let the good times begin! Here's to Rehab!

We are all flawed, but most of us also have nuggets of perfection embedded somewhere within our being.  And even when those good bits are not immediately clear, we can be assured they are there. It is just that the good in some people is buried deeper and takes greater effort to find than in others.

In the same vein, while some flaws are more readily apparent in certain individuals than in others, we can be assured that even when faults are not obvious, they are there. The question then becomes, does the good outweigh the bad or is the good so good that the bad is tolerable?

Ronnie: "There is an elephant in this room".

With regards to Ronnie, her insecurities, and consequent predatory tendencies, it seems her likability factor is a matter of preference and vulnerability, i.e. if you have even an ounce of kindness in you, you are potential prey. Mind you, Ronnie is a little more subtle and selective in her attacks when compared with Jody, which makes Ronnie slightly more likable than Jody and slightly less likely than Jody to make enemies. Ronnie, as well, tends to be more two-faced than in your face, although she definitely can get in someone’s face, especially when she has been fueled up with some alcohol.

With regards to Jody, she appears so absurd, dishonest, petty, judgmental and malicious that her likability factor must be relative to person, place, time and thing. Not only does she gorge on vulnerability, she is indiscriminate about it, i.e. she will attack friend (Reiko) or foe (Mary), it doesn’t matter to her. She also has no problem feeding on her victims right in the open where everyone can see, i.e. on a television program.

Jody: "I feel very sorry for Mary. She should apologize to herself".

Jody does it all: she is two-faced AND in your face, so the probability that she is going to rub a large variety of people the wrong way is huge.

We can look at Jody as the realization of that overstated adage: “If you have something to say, say it to my face”. Unfortunately, though, the average ego, despite demanding the “truth” from others, does not actually like a straight talker and maybe even HATES them. Few enjoy being openly criticized and insulted. We rarely appreciate anything other than flattering “truths” about ourselves.

Not only that, but just because one person sees you in a certain light, does not mean everyone sees you in that same light. Most of us have multiple sides that are either emphasized or suppressed, depending on the company and situations with which we find ourselves.

So while Jody is definitely the villainess fans love to hate, beneath her phoniness there seems to be this impish side that in the right circumstances could make her a hoot to be around. The problem is the second someone, no matter who it is, does something Jody perceives as “wrong” or threatening to her self-image, she is quick to pass judgment and attack based on faulty, unsubstantiated and tampered evidence. She furthermore judges others in this lopsided, unfair manner knowingly.

For example, Jody knows perfectly well that Mary was not the only one questioning the validity of Jody’s heritage and merchandise. She also knows Mary is a decent person and that there was no malice in her inquiries – Mary was genuinely curious, as most human beings are when they receive conflicting information. It is normal (for non-idiots anyway) to question inconsistencies in the stories and outrageous claims we hear. I do not agree with blind faith, and I also do not agree with going along with something you know with near certainty is untrue, without at the very least first trying to unravel the web of lies.

And a flimsy web of bizarre lies is what we get with Jody and Mia in their Bizarro world or should I say Bizarro LAND. This is a direct quote from Jody’s own pompous mouth:   “Fortunately the vibe from the other women is something I don’t notice because I live in my own land”. Yes, yes she does.

Mia and Jody argue who loves who more.

Later, near the end of episode ten when Ronnie brings up the elephant in the room, we are treated to more “Jody Land” rhetoric: In this particular scenario, Mia defends the defamation lawsuit against Mary TO Mary herself. Mia explains that the lawsuit isn’t “personal”, it’s just “business”. Jody approves of Mia’s assessment and says of Mia’s approach: “She carefully tells Mary how the LAND is laid without putting a fork through Mary’s front head”. Not so veiled threats? 

Mia thinks everyone is a hypocrite except for herself, her mother and Ronnie. 

Jody furthermore choruses Mia’s assertion that the attacks on Mary aren’t “personal”. Nevertheless, as Ronnie points out in the limo, Jody has been attacking Mary since the beginning in Whistler, long before we were privy to any hearsay about Jody’s shop, The Glass House, being a glorified consignment store.

Indeed, Jody has gotten “personal” with every housewife, except maybe Ronnie. Mary and Christina are frequent unwitting quarry in Jody’s crosshairs, but even Reiko, the “Switzerland” of the Real Housewives of Vancouver, has been treated to a Jody Land deluge or two.

As for Ronnie, she seems to be Jody’s biggest fan, even as Ronnie tells the other ladies she has “had enough” of Jody’s foolish spitefulness. Ronnie says she realizes Jody’s attacks on Mary are ridiculous, cruel and unprovoked, yet does not disinvite Jody and Mia to the Okanagan trip. Yet again we are left wondering how Mary can call this woman her “best friend”. Ronnie is as loyal to Mary as she is to her own rehabilitation process.

Ronnie Rehab & sidekick Jody Jester

THEN just to add another inane element of disbelief to the whole “clown show” Mary apologizes to Jody when Mary did not do anything wrong! In an earlier episode Christina did the same thing and apologized to JODY when it was Jody who was being the bully. In both of these instances Jody should have been doing the apologizing, certainly not Mary and Christina. But even more absurd in episode ten is that Jody says SHE forgives MARY??? Un-Be-LIE-vable.

Again, what kind of Bizarro Land is this where the victim apologizes to the offender and the offender forgives the victim? It’s madness, I tell you. Madness!

Mia: "My mom already knows I'm naughty".

Case in point, in the “Serenity Room” at the spa, Jody pretentiously states she thinks: “Mary needs to apologize to herself and then after she has worked on herself perhaps she can apologize to the others she has hurt”.

What is she talking about? Is she even sane?

I actually laughed out loud when Jody said this because it’s such a weird, crazy-ass thing to say. She has the imagination and logic of a 4-year-old or a mental patient. De-LU-sion-AL.

Mia is also just as delusional as her mother when she says, “Everyone besides Ronnie just seems like a really big hypocrite to me”. This is what they call a “projection bias”. Mia and Jody are in fact the hypocrites because they condemn behavior in other people that they condone in themselves. But hey, hypocrisy makes for good trash TV, so bring on the madness with episode eleven!

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