The past few episodes of The Real Housewives of Orange County have been very tough on Vicki. But now she’s hoping to say a proper goodbye to her mother with the help of a medium. And while Vicki is grieving the loss of her mother, Tamra just welcomed her first granddaughter, Ava, to the family. But the new arrival isn’t easing tension with Eddie at their gym.

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Calling All Spirits

In this episode, “Bowling in Heels,” Shannon meets with a holistic personal trainer for a workout session. She’s put on some weight since her troubles with David and now she can’t look in the mirror without feeling like the reason for his affair. I can’t help but feel so much pity for poor Shannon. I just wish the holistic expert would tell her that the thing she needs to remove from her life to get rid of the stress is her husband, not the weight.

The sheen of working with Eddie at Cut Fitness has worn off for Tamra. She says he can be intimidating and bossy, which doesn’t fly with her since she’s the owner of the place. They’re shooting a video for an ad campaign to drum up business and she can barely stand being in the same room with him. She says she’s stressed out and doesn’t want to spend as much time there now as she did in the past.

Vicki and Brooks invite Vicki’s brother Billy, Shannon and Tamra over for a seance. Shannon gives Brooks some grief about not calling the holistic cancer doctor that she recommended. Back off, Shannon; how he handles his cancer is none of your business.

The seance is just ridiculous. First off, the medium’s name is Tim, which sounds like an awfully generic name for a medium. Although he does start off on a roll, feeding off Vicki and Billy’s energy and telling them their mother was not in any pain when she died, he gets thrown off when Tamra interrupts him with a question. Then he tells Billy he needs to go on a cleanse to clear his bowels and he tells Brooks to take care of Vicki. It doesn’t seem like anything supernatural is going on in the OC in this episode.

Learning to Parent

Meghan is still trying to learn how to be a step-mother to Hayley. She tries to offer her suggestions on her schoolwork and how to save her money, but it seems like it’s going in one of Hayley’s ears and out the other. Meghan admires that Heather is a mom to four kids, but Heather didn’t inherit a teenager who is less than half her age to parent, so I’m sure Meghan is doing well enough learning as she goes.

Shannon and David go out to dinner for Valentine’s Day. She’s surprised and touched that he bought her a gift because he completely forgot the previous year. It’s a beautiful diamond dragon bracelet, and Shannon tells him she’s grateful that he’s showing his love for her.

Heather and Tamra work out by climbing a big set of stairs by the beach. Afterwords, they sit down to discuss their shared business ventures with their spouses. Tamra tells Heather that she hasn’t enjoyed working with Eddie and she feels like their relationship is suffering. Heather tells her she has to make time for Eddie, whether it be date night, face time (that’s not work time) or having sex. Tamra admits that starting a business so soon after getting married may not have been the best idea.

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Bowling Night

It’s bowling night and Heather Fancypants Dubrow is too posh to wear those ugly bowling shoes. The object of the night is to get Vicki’s mind off things and have a little fun — and in that, they succeed.

Tamra asks Vicki if it would help things with Brianna if she were to sit down and have a talk with her about Brooks. Vicki’s not so sure about that, but she does want to plan a trip to Las Vegas with Brianna to just have some fun. Tamra tells her to get a sitter set up so they can make that happen and Vicki says that her mom will take the kids, temporarily forgetting that that is no longer an option. The ladies comfort her when she gets upset again, but she rallies for the time being and wins the bowling game with the high score of 100.

Shannon corners Vicki once again about Brooks’ health. She tells her that he shouldn’t be having so much juice in his diet because that’s too much sugar to consume while going through chemo and he needs more protein. Vicki assures him that he’s following professional advice when it comes to fighting the cancer and she appreciates Shannon’s concern, but she really needs to butt out.

At dinner, Vicki expresses how appreciative she is for everyone being there for her in her time of need. She says she wants to plan a getaway for all of them to Tahiti. Everyone’s excited about it because of course they are! It’s Tahiti!

Tamra and Vicki share a car on the way home. Vicki’s irritated with Tamra for talking so loud and for talking about something that isn’t her or her mom. She quickly changes the subject to both of those things, and they talk about what they want to do with their bodies after they die. Vicki wants to be in the mausoleum next to her mom, and Tamra wants to be stuffed like a department store mannequin. Not creepy at all.

Meghan gets home after bowling and finds Hayley’s homework unfinished. She feels like she’s failing as a parent and all alone while Jim’s in St. Louis. She thought she could be a good step-mom to Hayley, but now she’s doubting herself.

At Cut Fitness, Tamra and Eddie continue to fight. She tells him she’s exhausted and needs a break. She says Eddie doesn’t need her there anymore and he agrees. He says it’s easier when she’s not there because then they don’t fight. They agree that Eddie will spend a majority of the time at the gym and Tamra will go back to doing real estate, which makes her happy.

Next week, the ladies head to Tahiti!

  

The Real Housewives of Orange County airs Mondays at 9pm on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

Gina Pusateri

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV