The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Finale

(January 29, 2012) – My reaction to Lisa’s daughter’s wedding surprised me. All season long I felt indifferent to Pandora and Jason tying the knot and I’ve made no secret of my boredom with Kevin Lee, the wedding planner many other people find hysterically funny. But truth be told, Kevin’s over the top “spend, spend, spend” doesn’t interest me.

Despite my disinterest in this shindig, I was enchanted by all of it and I shed a few tears when I heard Ken’s speech and also when I watched him dance the first dance with his daughter. Pandora looked beautiful. Jason seems like he loves her. And it is very obvious that Lisa and Ken want nothing but happiness for the newlyweds.

Just thinking back on the finale episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills makes me happy because I love positive episodes of any Bravo series. Still I think it is bizarre that I liked this wedding so much because I am not invested in Pandora’s story. Sure she seems like a nice girl, but beyond that, I know almost nothing about her and even less about her handsome husband.

That is truly strange. A year ago I never would have believed someone could appear on a Reality TV show week after week and become the focus of its finale and yet, reveal next to nothing about herself. Truth be told, that impresses me but I am still not interested in Pandora.

As much as the allure of Kevin Lee’s personality escapes me, I must say he did a fantastic job creating the “sexy, intimate wedding” Lisa wanted. I could not be pickier about events, food, wine and anything related to hospitality. It is not that I need everything to be expensive. Not at all. I just want everything to be exquisite, regardless of its cost. I think Kevin delivered that with a charming mix of luxurious elements – from the air conditioned tent to the meadow’s worth of flowers – and a touch of the homemade, like the rosettes Pandora sewed onto her dress and the labels she personally affixed to the wine bottles.

It is anyone’s guess if Lisa forced Kevin to allow her daughter to have a personal hand in making the wedding beautiful, rather than leaving mindless sewing and labeling to seamstresses and interns. But I like both touches. They made this pricey wedding seem more like a sweet backyard celebration, rather than the society event I expected Kevin Lee to deliver.

Curiously I attended a similar wedding in Manhattan a few months ago. A fabulously wealthy man married his gorgeous bride and both families and their friends celebrated their marriage in a heated tent on Park Avenue. The event planner took a week to construct it and when he was done, the inside rivaled the beauty of the ballroom of any of New York’s landmark hotels. There were columns and chandeliers, zillions of flowers and museum-quality furniture. There was vintage Champagne, scrumptious white truffles, course after course of spectacular delicacies and everyone laughed and danced well into the early morning hours when we gathered together again for a post-party meal of mini sliders and other playful snacks. Like Pandora’s wedding, its Manhattan equivalent looked like a million dollar event, but in fact it only cost a mere $600,000.

I mention this because I agree with Camille Grammer that Lisa is smart enough to throw an unforgettable party without spending seven figures. And I know from the event I personally attended, that party didn’t come even close to that sum because in the case of the New York society wedding, there was a huge location fee for the use of the Park Avenue plaza in prime time Midtown Manhattan. And I am sure Lisa neither had to pay Kevin Lee for his services nor for the food and wine at retail prices.

I like that. Kevin’s interest in conspicuous spending strikes me as vulgar. I don’t care what you spend. I just don’t want to know about it. For that reason Bravo’s subtitle that let us know the wedding cake cost $9,500 seems cheesy to me because I don’t care about prices. I want to know if the cake was delicious. I also want to know if I heard correctly that Kevin Lee’s assistant was suggesting to Lisa that they achieve Pandora’s dream of having flowers cascade down the cake by using fresh flowers. That sounds disgusting to me and it actually breaks the cardinal rule of food that everything on the plate is edible, rather than a decorative prop.

I get why Lisa was so nervous about every detail hours before the wedding began. I would have been nervous, too.  Through my work I have hosted many events and I am always a wreck trying to get everything done before the first guests arrive. Still I am sure Lisa would have had a heart attack if she celebrated her daughter’s wedding in New York City with the help of a big time Manhattan event planner. I’ve seen how those guys work. None of them have ever arrived at a location four hours before a party begins. Sure their staff is there hours in advance, but the boss never arrives very early. And the hostesses are always wringing their hands, terrified that the creative genius will never arrive.

About ten years ago the reigning king of New York City party planners was Robert Isabel, a florist who all of the society ladies hired to make their events spectacular. Why they hired this man is beyond me because they were all invariably reduced to terrified wrecks before the city’s most talked about events began. And then, less than one hour before guests would arrive, Robert would stroll in and transform the space like a magician. I doubt Lisa could have survived that kind of stress.

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The wedding did wonders in sparking my interest in Lisa’s husband Ken. For the last two seasons I have seen him as nothing more than the handler of a privileged, overdressed dog. And while, yes, Ken was very concerned about which outfit Giggy would wear, he also proved to be a smart, loving, hospitable man who for whatever bizarre reason feels comfortable fussing over a pack of lapdogs.

I loved it when, in his wedding speech, Ken made it a point to praise Jason and make it clear he supports their marriage and welcomes him into their family. Saying the couple “belongs together” is a smart, gracious gesture that the groom will always remember during rockier times in their marriage. I loved it also when he emphasized how much he truly loves “my darling daughter,” just as much as I loved it when Lisa told her Pandora, “If Jason loves you half as much as I do, you’re a lucky girl.”

Pandora is a lucky girl. She is very lucky to have two solid parents, who, while offering her a privileged life, did not deny her a front row seat in seeing how hard they have worked to build their wealth. Children of affluent families always have a better chance of making something out of their lives if they see what it took to make that money.

Random Wedding Thoughts:

♥  I loved it when we saw how kind Lisa was to her housekeeper. Not only did she tell her very sincerely that she looked beautiful, she also offered the pretty young girl a pair of her shoes.

♥  While Giggy did look cute in his tuxedo, I wondered why their other dogs, Pikachu and Lollipop were not required to wear formal outfits. It makes me wonder if Ken and Lisa have prioritized their pets in some sort of a English caste system.

♥  I love the idea of Adrienne and Paul dancing for two hours non-stop. It’s nice to know they take a break long enough from their Bickersons routine to enjoy themselves.

♥  I thought the wedding song was beautiful. Somewhere online I read that it is “No Place Like Home” by Rana, but I cannot seem to find a video of it.

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The only part of this episode that I did not enjoy even slightly was Kyle’s post-suicide get together that Bravo tells us occurred three weeks after the wedding. I think it was contrived, forced, and something about it, that I cannot put my finger on rang completely false. As a result I have trouble believing anything about that scene.

Just typing these words makes me wonder if there is another network on the television dial that inspires as many suspicious thoughts in its viewers who are devoted to its shows. I sincerely doubt there is. And I suspect that is because Bravo is like that bad boy, bad boyfriend. He charms you. He seduces you. Once you’re hooked, he starts the lies and the inexplicable disappointments. And the moment you begin to walk away, he reels you back with half baked excuses and promises to change.

I recognize that is an odd thing to say, but the truth is watching Kyle’s post suicide party made me question everything I saw on screen. For whatever reason I do not believe it was filmed three weeks after Russell’s death. Not that it matters even slightly, but my gut tells me it was not. I do not get why the ladies were laughing and having fun under such gruesome circumstances. I do not understand why Taylor walked in smiling and later asked if Pandora’s wedding went off without a hitch. I know people deal with tragedy differently, but something rang very false about Taylor’s behavior but I suppose that’s nothing new.

On a side note I thought it was interesting that Kyle told us she does not have a “real relationship” with Kim because she is not allowed to confront her. I believe in honest communication as much as the next person, but I really question that word “confront.” It sounds overly aggressive and while I can handle someone questioning what I have done or how I have treated them or hurt their feelings because I do not want to hurt anyone, I never wanted to be “confronted.”

But it’s worth noting that what Kyle is essentially saying here is that Kim is 100% responsible for their problems. Kyle simply cannot take responsibility for any of her behavior, which included her telling Kim at one point that she was nasty to Kim in Hawaii because she wanted to spend time with her. As if wanting to spend time with someone justifies nasty behavior. What’s more I suspect few people would want to spend some with a nasty person. The way Kyle treats her sister is a perfect recipe for inspiring Kim to stay away.

The only other thing that interested me at all about the post suicide get together was when Lisa said season two has been a “surprising journey” and that we should not judge people too quickly because “all will become evident in the end.” I haven’t the slightest idea what she is talking about but I suspect it has to do with the demise of her relationship with Kyle. I suspect we’ll be hearing more about that during Monday’s reunion episode.

Tags: Adrienne Maloof, Brandi Glanville, Camille Grammer, featured, Kim Richards, Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Russell Armstrong, Russell's Suicide, Taylor Armstrong

Category: Adrienne Maloof, Brandi Glanville, Camille Grammer, Kim Richards, Kyle Richards, Lisa Vanderpump, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Russell Armstrong, Russell's Suicide, Taylor Armstrong