If Tennessee Williams were still alive, he’d be chainsmoking cigarettes and throwing crystal ashtrays at the wall, fuming with envy that he couldn’t manage to write a Southern family drama as gripping as the one airing on Season 14 of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
The trip flitted between hilariously absurd, you-couldn’t-write-this situational comedy and harrowing trauma excavation — the ideal formula for “Housewives.”
For a series that doesn’t often veer from the flashy and frothy lives of the women in one of America’s wealthiest zip codes, the multi-episode arc in the middle of this season was a welcome change of pace. Thorny family trauma has been a “Beverly Hills” staple since the franchise’s inaugural season in 2010. The first handful of seasons were replete with dark, twisted turns playing out in front of the camera. Cast members navigated onscreen blow-ups between two child star sisters and offscreen abuse that resulted in the death of one housewife’s husband after his cruelty was broadcast for millions to see.
But in recent years, “RHOBH” has only occasionally dipped into these moments of genuine emotional gravity. Sure, there have been storylines about robberies (yes, multiple) and the headline-making fraud case against Erika Jayne’s ex-husband Tom Girardi. Tangible information about these instances was sparse, yet these plots were milked dry, stretching on for weeks as the “Beverly Hills” cast argued, screamed and cried about things that, frankly, not many viewers could relate to. Season 14 has been no exception, with most of the episodes consumed by Dorit Kemsley and Kyle Richards’ respective separation and divorce drama, which is, how do I put this nicely… ungodly boring. Loyal “Housewives” viewers have seen this flavor of domestic drama play out countless times in this franchise, and even adding a few million more dollars of net worth to the equation can’t change that.
But that won’t stop Sutton Stracke from trying! Since the boutique owner and uber-wealthy divorcée Stracke joined the show in Season 10, she’s injected “RHOBH” with a dose of squirrely unpredictability. Stracke is an old-fashioned, tell-it-like-it-is Southern woman, the kind of Housewife with personality coming out of her pores — an especially welcome change given that this cast has the most robotic lineup of any “Housewives” series.
During a recent trip to Stracke’s hometown of Augusta, Georgia, viewers witnessed a much-needed shift in the drab dynamics of “Beverly Hills.” Stracke invited her bestie Garcelle Beauvais and Richards along with her to visit her 82-year-old mother, Reba, who is essentially a lab-made amalgamation of every Southern matriarch from a stage drama about buried family trauma. Stracke’s father, John, died by suicide in 2002, and his death caused a horrible fissure between the once-close mother and daughter that had yet to be formally addressed. Stracke told Beauvais and Richards that she felt it was time to make things right with Reba and asked them to come along with her for moral support. Stracke warned them that it would be a difficult trip, but like any good friends, Beauvais and Richards packed their bags and hopped on a flight. It was a display of altruistic loyalty that didn’t demand any caveats or discussions that stretched over six episodes, and the bonding and familial revelations that followed displayed the kind of depth that “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” has been lacking for some time.
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But because this is “Housewives,” a healthy amount of humor and inanity occurred when the trio landed in Georgia. They were off to the races once they arrived at Stracke’s massive home, where Reba lives in a swanky abode out back. The group greeted Reba with awkward hugs and stilted hellos. Trying to make conversation, Beauvais mentioned that she loved Reba’s “smart and sweet” grandchildren. “They are smart, James is kind of weird, but smart.” Reba’s dig at Stracke’s son was the sort of casual, unthinking barb that plenty of Southern mothers have perfected, tossed into a group conversation as nonchalantly as a request for sweet tea. Beauvais, the expert she is, played it off. “I got a weird one too,” she added, before the episode cut to her in a confessional throwing her hands up in confusion.
The introduction set the tone for the rest of the trip, which flitted between hilariously absurd, you-couldn’t-write-this situational comedy and harrowing trauma excavation — the ideal formula for “Housewives.” It was refreshing to watch Stracke, Richards and Beauvais try to navigate how they’d approach Reba, or when they’d dart in the other direction to avoid talking to her. These moments were lighthearted and genuinely fun, reminiscent of the antics seen in one of my favorite multi-episode arcs in “Housewives” history, when the ladies of “The Real Housewives of New York City” ran around Dorinda Medley’s Berkshires estate plotting and yelling for 24 hours straight in Season 8.
Sutton Stracke in “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (Griffin Nagel/Bravo)But for as many silly moments as there were during the Augusta trip, there were just as many heartwrenching conversations, and the atmosphere could flip at a moment’s notice. This wasn’t just great reality television, it was great television period.
Stracke’s strained relationship with her mother following her father’s death has been a sore spot since Stracke started on “RHOBH.” Stracke spoke of her father’s suicide multiple times throughout these last few seasons, and shared in Season 13 that after he died, their family never talked about it again. Clearly, this trip had been a long time coming, and the weight was not lost on Beauvais or Richards, who even agreed to come along as Stracke visited her childhood home nearby, where her father passed. As they walked around the house — which they were graciously allowed into by the current residents, a truly gobsmacking act of kindness — Stracke reminisced about all the memories she had from living there with her father. She showed her friends her childhood bedroom, the wood-burning stove where they’d make pancakes as a family, and described the scrambled egg sandwiches on white bread with mayonnaise that her dad would make. Stracke admitted that it sounded disgusting, but for her, it was a warm memory of her father, the kind of unique little quirk a child doesn’t realize they’ll miss until their parent is gone.
When the women entered John’s den, Stracke broke down remembering that it was the room where she last saw her father alive. In a confessional, Stracke said that, whenever she’d say goodbye, her dad would put his hand out for her to slap. It was their thing, another way to say, “I love you.” But she told Beauvais and Richards that her dad was so “out of it” the last day she saw him that he didn’t put his hand out for her as she left the room. “[It’s one of] those memories where you think, ‘I should’ve sat with him or something,’” Stracke said. “I wish I had sat down, even for five minutes, I feel really bad that I didn’t. That was so selfish of me.”
It’s frustrating to watch a show that features the word “real” in the title become so manufactured and unauthentic. But the incredible Augusta-set episodes of “RHOBH” suggest there is hope yet.
It’s stirring seeing Stracke realize these regrets as they wash over her in real-time. Her unedited, unfiltered feelings about her father’s death and all of the things she wishes that she would’ve done in the moment are so far removed from the superficial proceedings that viewers are used to seeing not just in “Beverly Hills,” but in most “Housewives” franchises. Producers, editors and cast members have all been hyper-aware of the need to create gripping drama and emotional storylines, so aware that their intention has done the opposite. We just watched “RHONY” flatline worse than it ever has, only two seasons after being rebooted, because its cast was too conscious of how they look on camera and what they do and don’t reveal. And while “Real Housewives of Potomac” just wrapped up a fresh new season, it lacked any concrete emotional throughline. (Though, for a series that managed to scrape its way back up the mountain after free-falling, that’s probably for the best.)
The most recent season of “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” did, however, feature an incredibly moving intervention scene that managed to avoid feeling exploitative. But until Stracke’s arc on “RHOBH,” anything sincerely poignant in contemporary “Housewives” felt more like an anomaly than a pattern. But between the “Salt Lake City” intervention and the “Beverly Hills” trauma revelations, “Real Housewives” is finally getting back to what made its nascent days so gripping. In the late aughts and early 2010s, cast members were far less concerned with editing themselves or avoiding details about their personal hardships. That candor is what made the show engaging. These days, most Housewives seem to be tight-lipped about damn near everything unless it’s about a fight between people in the same in-group. It’s frustrating to watch a show that features the word “real” in the title become so manufactured and unauthentic. But the incredible Augusta-set episodes of “RHOBH” suggest there is hope yet.
Erika Jayne, Bozoma Saint John, Dorit Kemsley, Kyle Richards, Sutton Stracke, Garcelle Beauvais and Jennifer Tilly in “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (Griffin Nagel/Bravo)After all, these shows aren’t just about the individual women in their cast, they’re about how the cast members interact and bond. The Augusta trip gave viewers a chance to remember what actual camaraderie and love look like. There was nothing phony about Stracke, Beauvais and Richards’ intimacy. Beauvais even offered Stracke the kindness of sitting Reba down to explain why Stracke felt so disconnected from her mother. Granted, that conversation did begin with Reba saying, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.” But Rebca eventually came around when Beauvais explained that all Stracke wants is for her mother to say she’s proud of her daughter. That chat begat the climactic talk between Stracke and Reba, one that went a lot more smoothly than she initially imagined — and featured an all-timer shot of Beauvais and Richards stealthily listening from the other room.
The mother-daughter talk was two decades in the making. And though it was only grease for the wheels, it was a start. Having their intimate, honest conversation captured on camera will no doubt resonate with viewers who have similarly tense relationships with a parent, or perhaps even parents struggling to bond with their children. Watching two women reach out to one another, across all of the time that has slowly pulled them apart, was nothing short of miraculous. Even if it was just the first of many important discussions between the two, it was the beginning of a new era for Stracke.
Hopefully, it signals a new era for “Housewives” as well. These shows are much more vital when the cast stops fighting or toiling in the same drama they’ve been mucked in for years. Sure, every bond will eventually be broken again, but sharing a history of intimate friendship allows those connections to be repaired. And though the fights and divorces are fun too, watching these women mend their friendships through those low points will raise “Housewives” back to its zenith.
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