Last time on The Real Housewives of New York City, Dorinda and Carole took an emotional trip to London to pick up Carole’s late husband’s ashes, while the single ladies were mingling at Bethenny’s Skinny Girl party. Let’s see how the two groups rejoin at Sonja’s fashion show in this episode, “Rumble on the Runway.”

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Putting on a Show

Carole and Heather catch up over drinks. Carole tells her how well she got on with Dorinda in London, and Heather gives her signature phony smile. Carole says she’s happy to have her husband’s ashes back and she doesn’t plan on parting with them again.

Heather then fills in Carole about Bethenny’s party. She says Ramona is on a weird trip right now, and although she claims she’s changed for the better, she’s still unfiltered and rude.

Bethenny meets with some of the members of Team Sonja about Sonja’s fashion line, but Sonja is conspicuously absent. It turns out she ran into traffic, but Bethenny says that’s no excuse to be late to her own meeting.

There’s some confusion as to what the meeting is actually about and why Bethenny is even there. Sonja says she’s picking out models for her fashion show, but she has no fashions to show Bethenny just yet. Bethenny says picking models isn’t quite in her wheelhouse; she’s more of a marketing expert.

Heather arrives a bit later, who at least has some experience in the fashion industry and choosing models. But she’s confused too since she doesn’t know what Sonja is looking for or what the clothes look like.

Things get even more awkward when Sonja starts relentlessly critiquing a model right in front of the model. Both Bethenny and Heather are uncomfortable with that and they tell Sonja not to do that. Sonja takes offense at them trying to tell her what to do because she used to be a model and she knows how this works. Heather says if she doesn’t want their help, then she shouldn’t have invited them there. Eventually, Sonja settles on a model who completely represents her brand, so this poor girl is going to have to walk in a Sonja Morgan fashion show. I hope she gets paid more than Sonja’s interns.

Heather also tries to talk to Sonja’s team about her fashion line and gets the same indirect answers that Bethenny got earlier in the season when she tried to ask them the same questions. Heather thinks that anyone starting a business should be able to answer these simple questions about brand placement and goals, but for some reason, neither Sonja nor her team can do that.

Dorinda and Ramona meet for lunch to catch up. Ramona talks about her personal life and her journey as a single woman, and Dorinda encourages her to take it day by day. Likewise, Ramona is a good friend to Dorinda and listens to and supports her about still grieving for her late husband. They also unceremoniously flirt with the waiter, because of course they do.

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Fashion Week

It’s New York Fashion Week and Kristen is excited because Elie Tahari is incorporating her nail polish brand, Pop of Color, into his fashion show. She’s proud of the product she’s created and of the fact that it’s getting some exposure at such a prestigious event.

Heather and Carole show up to support her and they talk about how they’re going to Sonja’s fashion show that night too, which is decidedly not at Lincoln Center but at some place called the Carriage House. All of the ladies hope for Sonja’s sake that this is a real thing and that she really has clothes to put on real models, but they won’t believe it until they see it.

Sonja is a frazzled mess backstage at her fashion show, but she’s excited to show the world what she’s been working on all this time. She brags about throwing her first fashion show when she was 14. Do you think Sonja believes her own BS? I suppose that’s why her castmates originally called her delusional.

Anyway, she’s running around doing more complaining about the amount of work she has to do than actually working. She’s also wearing a top that is revealing both of her boobs at any given moment, but she doesn’t seem to care despite Dorinda’s constant attempts to help her cover them.

When the ladies start arriving, Heather notices that she doesn’t see any of the department store buyers that she knows there. Sonja seems concerned with this too, but she’s more concerned about where her friends are going to sit when they come in.

Bethenny and Ramona have a run-in before the show starts. Ramona says she’s throwing a “new beginnings” party and Bethenny thinks it’s just ridiculous. She says she should call it an “old habits” party because as far as she’s concerned, Ramona is still the same old Ramona.

While the crowd grows impatient waiting for the fashion show to start, Sonja yells at her assistant backstage. He doesn’t appreciate her tone when he’s just trying to do his job and make sense of his dingbat boss’s nonsensical instructions. Add to that a no-nonsense fashion show director who was ready to start the show yesterday and you get a real circus behind the scenes. But Ms. Morgan would rather keep her crowd waiting than send out anything that’s not perfect.

Finally, the show starts and the line gets high praise from all of the ladies. Heather thinks it’s gorgeous and Kristen thinks that she used beautiful fabrics with a great variety. The only problem? Sonja only sends out half of the looks, and then instead of seamlessly rotating the models, she has the audience wait even longer while she gets everything perfect yet again.

Unfortunately for Ramona, this opens up a moment for Bethenny to confront her about some of her latest BS. Apparently, Heather told her that Ramona was calling Bethenny a cheater for cheating on her first husband, which, according to Bethenny, is a complete lie. Ramona spins her wheels and denies, denies, denies, but when she can’t flee the situation, she offers up several veiled apologies.

Bethenny lets Ramona know exactly what she thinks of her “new beginning.” She says she can’t believe that she’s changed after she’s talked so much crap, stolen dresses, been rude to the men she tried to set her up with and acted entitled in so many situations. Ramona says she’s sorry if she’s offended her, but she can’t change who she is.

Finally, the show starts back up again. Ramona has a sweet moment of cheering for Sonja when she walks down the runway after her show. Sonja says she’s proud of the vision she’s created and shared and now “Sonja Morgan” is an official international lifestyle brand. It just happens to be one that you can’t find in department stores.

Next time: the end is near! It’s the season finale!

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9pm on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

Gina Pusateri

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV