Recap of Season 7 Episode 4 of “The Real Housewives of New York City
In last week’s episode of the brand new and improved Real Housewives of New York City, the six new cast members continued their ladies’ journey to the Hamptons with a steamy backyard workout, drama over shakshuka and bickering over sleeping arrangements. In Episode 4 this season, the ladies have returned to the city in time to celebrate Thanksgiving with their friends in style.
Three weeks after Erin Lichy’s shakshuka was first mentioned, on the last morning of the Hamptons excursion to her (very cold, non-ocean front, food deprived) home, it finally made an appearance. With the exception of Sai De Silva (who, it seems, has many opinions regarding food), the ladies ate everything quickly while we were treated to yet another round of “”these ladies are strange”” shenanigans. At the same meal when Ubah Hassan ate with a knife instead of a fork and Brynn Whitfield slept in a cot, Jenna Lyons elected to wear dozens of diamond bangles. Almost no one was surprised to learn that Jenna had a severe allergy to onions.
The generally upbeat Brynn, however, begins to tell her tragic history over breakfast. She was reared by her grandma in Indiana despite their financial and social hardships. She has cut ties with her biological family but has maintained friendships with the families of her three exes, one of whom she claims has a 20% chance of becoming her husband. However, the threat of feelings is hanging large as the holidays approach.
Once we return to New York, we see the women going about their day-to-day activities in a series of fairly routine sequences. Here’s a summary of our findings: Jenna has seen boobs, Sai has a handsome husband, Jessel wants to send her kids to an expensive Montessori pre-school, Ubah has a line of hot sauces, and misses her mother, Brynn goes to the hair salon once a week and connected with her Blackness growing up at a beauty salon, and Erin works in real estate and speaks a little Spanish.
In a very generous gesture of magnanimity coming from Mrs. I Hate Your Shakshuka, Sai decides to host a friendsgiving that she has nicknamed “”Brynnsgiving”” in order to cheer up Brynn over the holidays. Unfortunately for Brynn, it appears that the caterers are all married males who have chosen not to include any Thanksgiving-themed dishes on their menu. The ladies arrive dressed to the nines and are promptly instructed to remove their footwear (this does not sit well with Erin and is further evidence that Sai and Erin are headed for a blowout). Despite her husband’s advice, Jessel is as socially uncomfortable as ever, and her off-the-wall remarks about Erin’s grandmother’s funeral service offend Erin.
As the ladies settle down for dinner, however, Brynn, who just wants to have a nice time, is put on the position and asked about her tragic background. She breaks down in tears as she describes the childhood abuse and neglect she endured, making it one of the most moving parts of the presentation. As the other women begin to cry, she loses it and is unable to discuss the incident even in confession. “The two people who were supposed to love me did not, or could not,” she explains. After this heartbreaking pause, the words “to be continued” appear on screen. If you want to know how Brynnsgiving concludes, you’ll have to see Episode 5!
