Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. After the peaks and valleys of a largely uneven reboot season, it is such a shame that the inarguable best episode of the year comes in the form of a supersized finale that was overshadowed by the live telecast of the Grammys. While the finale may have brought us one of the best bits of Housewives comedy we have seen in a while from any franchise not named Salt Lake City , there were definitely some key narrative points established as we bring this inconsistent year out to a close β namely, 1 the comeuppance of Karen Huger; 2 the establishment of Stacey as a Housewife who is here to stay; 3 the soft anointing of Wendy as an anchor for the future.
When you take away the brazen delivery of how Karen narrates her life, there is a melancholy to it that is hard to avoid: a woman who survived dropping out of UVA after assault and a failed first marriage to find a husband who will take care of her and her children, only to end up having to be the breadwinner after said husband made disastrous financial decisions, keeping her trapped in this caricature of a persona that in no way reflects her real standing in the community as a not-so-secret drunk and possible philanderer.
She certainly did so with Mia, as we saw that alliance form and collapse on camera; we saw it this season with both Keiarna and Stacey both clinging to her as the season evolved. The women have Karen dead to rights, and she has no wiggle room to bluster her way out of it with another random Grande Dame turn of phrase β and to add insult to multiple injuries at this point, she is now facing a felony and jail time. While this confrontation was inevitable, what did shock me was the party responsible, which is none other than newcomer Stacey Rusch.
All season, I have been openly debating whether Stacey is willfully playing up her cluelessness for the camera or truly operating in an alternate universe, and today we got our answer: Stacey is an apex-predator Housewife in the making. Between pulling together a charity event as the season finale and getting into minor and major tiffs with all the women as the season came to a close, the former QVC host really found her element and made an unassailable case for her return.
AJ is no newcomer to reality television, which was remarkably obvious from the second he started expressing his disgust at the entire concept of TJ, who has the charisma and swagger of a sentient pair of taupe separates.
