This season of Real Housewives Of New York has been filled with a lot of Ramona Singer-led ambushes. She surprised LuAnn (de Lesseps) D’Agostino with the news everyone was placing bets on whether The Countess’ upcoming wedding would even happen. She infamously tried to shame Bethenny Frankel for a decades-old B-movie by using her daughter against her. Ramona literally ambushed Bethenny’s new dogs by accidentally kicking one of them and purposefully not apologizing. But, despite the RHONY veteran's terrible behavior, even she doesn’t deserve a taste of her own medicine, because no one deserves this kind of treatment. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened at the close of Wednesday night’s "Tequila-thon" and it was truly a sad sight after a surprisingly positive episode for Ramona.
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After questioning when, oh when, Ramona and Bethenny’s Never Ending Story of a "feud" would end, this week’s installment finally gave me some hope. At the top of the episode, Bethenny tells Ramona she would prefer her frenemy skips the big Tequila, Mexico, trip the next day, since it will be tied to her Skinnygirl company, and therefore her livelihood. Since Ramona clearly hasn’t had Bethenny’s best interests at heart for months — and even committed the mortal sin of criticizing the boozy beverage company during the Vermont trip — it’s no surprise the Turtle Timer probably shouldn’t go on a Skinnygirl day trip. Usually Ramona would react to this kind of exclusion by hurling some bizarre insult at Bethenny and rolling her eyes. Instead, for once, she goes into a Bryan Abasolo-level charm offensive, buying Bethenny any Mexican trinket she wants during a shopping trip, donning a possibly tribal outfit Bethenny calls "the greatest thing [she’s] ever seen," and finally pretending everything is "great" with her co-star.
"Tequila-thon" feels all the more tragic now, considering how much progress Ramona continues to make in the episode. When Sonja Morgan is dispatched to officially invite Ramona to the Tequila trip, she finally admits of Bethenny, without a hint of malice, "I hurt her feelings. That’s the bottom line. I hurt her feelings … it doesn’t matter if what I said is good or bad, I upset her." The moment is such a big breakthrough Sonja gives her longtime friend a huge hug for finally — finally! — saying out loud she has "a problem" when it comes to her interactions with Bethenny. In a talking head interview, Ramona even says she "fucked up," adding, "It was never, ever, my intention to hurt Bethenny." Finally, I believe her. Ramona’s new leaf is all the more evident when Bethenny later starts tearing up while begging her not to do anything "bad" during the Tequila field trip. Like the Skinnygirl mogul’s tear-soaked conversation earlier in season 13 with LuAnn, this isn’t scripted. The emotions are 110 percent real. It’s clear from Ramona’s face she’s only just realizing how terrified Bethenny is of her cast member’s hypothetical antics, and the pinot grigio fan is ashamed. "I’m trying [to be better]," she tells Bethenny. "But tomorrow I’m gonna promise [to be better]."
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After seeing all of Ramona’s legitimate work to be a "good, nice person," as Bethenny asks Ramona to be, the final minutes of the episode feel like a gut punch. After doing upwards of eight tequila tastings, the women all return to their villa. Sonja Morgan, for her part, doesn’t even know she’s "shit-faced," as Carole tells her. At the house, Ramona begins explaining she knew her marriage with adulterous ex-husband Mario Singer was “in trouble” when he left his wedding ring at home to play tennis. Obviously, after the "drunk day" everyone had, Ramona believes she’s in a safe space to share this painful memory.
Instead, Sonja tells her friend, echoing an earlier gossipy conversation with Bethenny and Carole Radziwill, "And now you say you're happy. And you're happy without Mario. I don’t believe it. You don’t go from getting banged every night by Mario [to] getting nothing." Sonja also reminds her vacation roommate of her "great sex" with her ex-husband and the fact Mario is "like a sledgehammer." Ramona attempts to sidestep the painful conversation, but Sonja keeps pushing, "She has to stop with this fake shit ... She always says, ‘Oh, I’m happy.’ She’s not happy. She misses Mario. [You miss] what you had and it’s not there anymore." Even Bethenny attempts to defend Ramona against Sonja’s badgering, but the Grey Gardens Home For Wayward Socialites proprietor yells, "I want you to admit you’re not happy like you say." It's unclear why Ramona must admit she’s depressed over her failed marriage of over two decades. The episode closes with Ramona screaming in Sonja’s face, "I am fucking happy, bitch! I. Am. Happy!"
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Throughout this season, Ramona has made some odd references to how upset she is over her divorce. Most of these allusions arrive during her vino bianchi-drenched arguments with Bethenny, where she would randomly bring up her breakup, no matter the topic at hand. During the steak dinner episode earlier this month, the frenemies were discussing all the times Ramona was "nasty" to Bethenny. Out of nowhere, Ramona’s face crumpled, tears started welling up in her eyes, and she ranted, "Don’t attack my business, because I support my family. And I gave fucking half my money to my husband that I was married to for 30 years, okay? You were only married two! Talk to me when you’re married to someone 30 years. It’s like my heart was cut out. And my legs! And my arms!" Literally, all roads lead to Mario, including roads that should only involve cases of wine. Clearly, Ramona is not at all okay about her divorce; there’s no reason to drag her about it when everyone is drunk in Mexico.
All we can hope is, after an experience like being on the wrong side of Sonja's tequila-powered tirade, Ramona's bad behavior has been cured for good.
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