Why Was This Season Of ‘The Real Housewives of Orange County’ Such A Dud?

Tonight kicks off the 2-part season 12 reunion for The Real Housewives of Orange County. The previous two seasons of the show required 3-part reunions, mostly to ask: does Brooks have cancer, and did you know Brooks was lying about having cancer? The cancer talk will continue, only this time it’s one of their own, and that they need less time to discuss it, tells you everything about this season.

Few viewers will point to this season of RHOC as one of their all-time faves. It just didn’t give us the goods we’ve come to expect from the show. It wasn’t all bad — oh, no, there were some classic moments buried underneath the boredom. But perhaps we should look at this season as a “rebuilding” year — this is a term sports teams use when they’re not having a great season as the team members are honing their skills and learning to gel together as a unit. It’s possible that Heather Dubrow’s departure from the show last year had a bigger impact than anyone expected it to. Or that Gretchen Rossi’s ever so brief appearance on the show this season didn’t have nearly the impact anyone was hoping it would (except for Tamra). So that leaves our main players to get the dramatic job done, but it didn’t quite click into place.

There are a few reasons for this: RHOC started two months after the last season of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, which ended on a FOUR-part reunion (the lies, the lies!) and that was hardly enough time to recover from those monster revelations. Plus, The Real Housewives of New York was in full swing at this time (just before the Mexico trip!) so our expectations of what Vicki Gunvalson & co would be bringing to the table could’ve been…inflated. Which leads us to…

Problem #1: Vicki doesn’t want to be involved.

We saw her straight up walk away from the drama in Iceland, but it’s a new thing she was trying out all season long. Look, we get it. She’s in a happy relationship with normal guy Steve, she just wants to hang out with her daughter and grandsons, and there was no drama juicy enough for her to jump into this season. She was as bored as we were. Sure, she tried to beg back Tamra’s friendship, and she wanted to make sure she didn’t cross over onto Peggy’s bad side, but neither of those were really interesting enough to last past an afternoon coffee meet up. More than alcohol or blond hair dye, this show relies on Vicki getting involved with the drama. If she can’t be bothered, then why should we?

Problem #2: The drama was at home.

Both Kelly and Shannon announced separations from their husbands before the end of the season this year. While both, and in fact, especially these two, contributed to the screaming and crying this year, they were fighting their biggest battles at home. They were too bummed and sad to stir up anything worthwhile with the women. Which is why they took out their marital frustrations on their gal pals in nonsensical screaming matches that weren’t even worth pursuing. The writing was on the wall for viewers long before each announced their separation, so there was an underlying somber tone to the actions of these two women. While Shannon struggled to lose weight and Kelly got her boobs reduced, we need these two women to be looking and feeling their best to really get fired up.

Problem #3: The newbies.

While Lydia did have one previous season under her belt, she was a new person in her return. She was much more outspoken, more confident in calling people out, more willing to make a (moderate) scene and (semi) storm out. This version of her was more fun and more suited for the show. However, no one wants to hear the phrase “Balls voyage” ever again in their lives.

Lydia is responsible for bringing her pal Peggy Sulahian into the group, not only the 100^th Housewife, but one unlike any we’ve ever experienced. We can count on one hand the number of times this woman raised her voice, and it was usually to vent frustrations to her family members in the privacy of her own home. By the end of the season, “Are you okay?” became her catchphrase, which pissed off Shannon, who didn’t really know how to answer except for getting angry.

But Peggy proved to be different from these women — not in a bad way, just a new way. She could be calm and reserved, doing something called thinking before speaking. She was deliberate with her words and her actions, and yes, even that time she pursed Meghan’s lips together. Plus, she came into the experience after a brush with breast cancer, a fact the women were much more interested in getting the hot goss on than serving as a support system. Joining the cast as a classy woman in a loving marriage just looking to make some new friends is Peggy’s own fault, but not one that deserved the treatment she got from most of these women.

So we’ll spend the reunion talking about Shannon’s weight and her divorce, and that time her husband and Peggy’s husband had a conversation, and maybe a little bit about Vicki and Tamra’s irreparable friendship. Let’s shut this season down quietly and defer to Atlanta and Beverly Hills for the winter while the OC ladies strategize on plays for the next season. Because then it’s game on, and these ladies have got to be ready to play ball.

Where to watch The Real Housewives of Orange County