#3399 RHORI S1E11 Part One: Arabian Slights

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2:17Watch what happens when there's so much that happens.

2:25Ben Mandelker: Watch what happens when there's so much that happens.

2:34Ronnie Karam: Well, hello and welcome to Watch What Grappens. I'm Ronnie. That's Ben over there. Hello, Ben.

2:40Ben Mandelker: Hi. How's it going?

2:43Ronnie Karam: and welcome to the show everybody happy monday i'm kai it's in june we're in june now wow

2:49Ben Mandelker: june 8th june 8th really fabulous day beautiful we're both here in new york i just happen to be my parents house and you're in the fancy a cast studios which is lovely look cozy nice little chair nice little wood paneling you look all bundled up you look like you're having the time of your life.

3:08Ronnie Karam: I am, basically. All my dreams are coming true.

3:12Ben Mandelker: I'm drinking some Dunkin'.

3:14Ronnie Karam: Coffee, lit stuff. Love it. And Real Housewives of Rhode Island. Also today, we have Amazon Live and Crappy Hours. So join us for those a little bit later. But for now, we're on Real Housewives of Rhode Island, Season 1, Episode 11. Stay home and carry on. I know.

3:37Ben Mandelker: I was a bit shocked that next week is the season finale. I was really shocked. Yeah. I felt like the energy at the end of this episode was leading up to a cast trip. But I guess since it's first season, it's more of an experiment. So their cast trip was spending that weekend in that mansion in Newport. But the way they were all talking about going to block island i was like okay they're gonna have a regional cast trip because they're you know they're their first season but it's actually just gonna be the season finale next week it's

4:13Ronnie Karam: shocking yeah that's so sad i feel like you're not a real housewife show until you embarrass america and some yeah i mean what the hell yeah it's a little weird um i i also feel like there's like

4:26Ben Mandelker: so much stuff happening on the show i feel like things are they're escalating in a way where it feels like just having one more episode doesn't feel quite enough. Although I do love a 12-episode season. I'm not complaining about the length of the season, but it just is surprising. It feels like, oh my goodness, there's still there's so much that needs to be addressed, that needs to be taken care of and whatnot. You know? I'm shocked. Shocked.

4:51Ronnie Karam: Yeah. I mean, I don't know how much there is to be addressed, really. I mean, Rula says she's cheating on her every week. And then, I mean, I think these crazy ladies will be over it in two seconds and then fight again. So So it's pretty good. It's a good 12, but I do need the vacation.

5:07Ben Mandelker: Yeah. We've had a lot of Bravo lately. And so I'm sort of okay for another show, sort of settling up for the season, sort of wrapping up and being done so we can have a little bit more time on our schedule just to relax for a moment. It can happen anyway.

5:25Ronnie Karam: You know, House of the Dragon comes back soon. Oh, yeah. We've got Love Island, which is on 97 fucking hours a week. Oh, geez. Oh, my God. Just make it. They've made out with so many people on that show. I mean, they always make out a lot, but I don't remember it ever being something where they literally just go person to person and every single person makes out, right?

5:47Ben Mandelker: I know. The premiere was crazy. They just, like, all made out all together. Let's get this over.

5:53Ronnie Karam: It happened. Like, nobody even cares. You know, you all are back to making out with everybody, just blowing out birthday candles, like, right on the gate.

6:01Ben Mandelker: yeah it's just it's just a lot of spit is getting swapped amongst all the people

6:07Ronnie Karam: all those idiots 2020 how are none of those hot guys making out with each other it could happen soon you never know i hope so because geez i feel like everything's gotten so much more fluid except on that show you know i mean they've got more fluids but i'm about to say fluids are not an issue on love island yeah but the fluidity of the people um you know I could handle more. Okay, so anyway, point is, oh, let's get to some Rhode Island stuff. So there was some controversy last week because I was arguing that the hair tug wasn't really like a hair pull. It was just more of like a threatening, like, oh, you listen to me, darling.

6:47Ronnie Karam: I could pull your hair, but I'm not really. And I got a lot of letters about that. Okay, you can have it. I mean, look, I'm just saying like in the scheme of housewives, to me, it wasn't, the most violent thing I've ever seen. But, you know, I still think you shouldn't touch people. I always said that.

7:07Ben Mandelker: Yeah, I remember I watched it the night before and I saw the hand in the hair and I was like, in my mind, I was like, oh, that's bad. Like, don't do that. Like, we know, don't touch the hair. In a tense moment, don't touch the hair. Especially when you just got mad that Joellen had, like, touched you on the knee in a sort of, like, reassuring way. Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me. and now you're going to like put your hand in her hair i don't even remember what i said on the podcast i never remember what i said but i do i seem to remember feeling like the the kicking of the chair was actually more problematic for me because i'm like now you're actually you're basically shoving someone that is like you're you're and you're gonna hide behind the fact that your foot was on the wooden leg of the chair and then that's not so therefore it's not any sort physical assault but like that i think we all either way i don't know we got some flack for not like dwelling on the hair thing longer to the point where you know someone even said like that we didn't even watch the show that we didn't even like actually we just relied purely on the notes if i knew that was an option for some of these shows i would have done it i can assure you well, I'm watching every single one of these shows.

8:23Ronnie Karam: I mean, give me a break. I don't know. We couldn't do that if we didn't watch this. Watching. You know, one thing, it's important for us to be honest about what we're doing, right? So when we ended up hiring note takers a couple of years ago, we're very honest about it. We're not going to be like, oh, we're still doing all, you know, 20 pages of notes by ourself. We did that for 13 years, but now we have people that take the notes. but that doesn't mean we don't watch the shows and that's kind of a ridiculous alligator i mean look if we miss things sometimes which we do or we get things wrong sometimes which we do it's not because we're lazy it's because we're olds yeah and there's there is

9:03Ben Mandelker: something to be said for that and people forget how much we also mess things up when we were taking our own notes okay like and i can't remember i can't remember shit from this morning okay so sometimes like also it's possible like once in a while i'm watching a tv show and i my eyes look elsewhere in the room and then i return my eyes to the tv it can last all of like two seconds and it's like the moment i do that it's like i've missed some important thing about how someone's fingers were in someone's hair and it's like oh my god like i looked away i looked but i did actually see the fingers in the hair yeah i was like i mean look we went to dinner

9:39Ronnie Karam: the other night and if Ben told you what happened at dinner and I told you what happened at dinner, they would be two completely different stories and we would both stand by them. That's how memory works. I don't know what to tell you. But I do remember the hair pull. I did watch the hair pull and I still remember the hair pull not being that big of a deal. Sorry! But we hear you. I just wanted to answer you. You fucking slam pig. We are watching the shows.

10:05Ben Mandelker: We are watching it. I was like really upset by that i'm not gonna lie i was really really offended but i um uh i i will say this though there are some things where you watch it and you're like whoa what was that and you're like i like will go i'll rewind and watch it again and be like oh upon second doing this or that whatever and i i did feel like when i watched it when i when we were accused of this i of course went back and looked at the scene and i was like oh that's interesting because in my memory she had sort of put her finger in there and she was like touching the hair and then looking back she had sort of actually kind of like put her fingers in and kind of clawed down.

10:43Ben Mandelker: It was like a little bit more than just touching the hair. A little bit less than tugging. But it was something. But the point was that I didn't go back the first time around. I just saw the hand of the hair and I just kept going forward with the show. And that's what I based my experience off of.

10:57Ronnie Karam: Low, gentle. I took it as a very threatening like I could grab you I could pull your hair but listen here, dolly. Listen here, dolly. It was very threatening.

11:10Ben Mandelker: Well, she is scary. And she hates that about herself. And she's trying so hard to not be scary. It's almost like she came onto the show to finally put to bed all the rumors that she's scary. She's like, you know, I'm going to go on to reality TV and everyone's going to say I'm a nice person. I'm sick of like for 20 years in Rhode Island, People say I'm scary. I'm not scary. I'm going to go on to Rhode Island. I'm going to be on Bravo TV. People say I'm a sweetheart. And she goes on to the show. And everyone's like, damn.

11:40Ronnie Karam: You're terrifying. She's scary. Nightmare Before Christmas or a skeleton or whatever wants to be Santa Claus. Because Santa Claus, everybody loves Santa Claus. And he's so happy. And he wants to be Santa Claus. So he goes to Santa Claus World and scares the shit out of everybody. And ruins Christmas because he's terrifying. Just be happy being mayor of Scary Town.

12:01Ben Mandelker: Yeah. It's an asset, really.

12:04Ronnie Karam: Yeah, no one wants to see a shark with a bow in its hair. You know? We want to see the shark ripping off legs. Like, there would be no shark week if sharks could hug.

12:14Ben Mandelker: No. Yeah, exactly. It's also, like, honestly hypocritical. I do feel like, regardless of where we land on what the hair looked like, and I'm sure there will be people who will be like, well, you don't have long hair, you don't understand the way that the hand and the hair feels, it feels much worse than it looked. regardless of any of that what i will say is that if joe ellen did the exact same thing to uh to what's her face's hair then i guarantee that liz would have flipped the fuck out because again she'd be dead dead and done because liz was already upset when joe ellen touched her to be like like please share with me and she was already mad about the touching there so if joe ellen even touch Liz's hair.

12:58I think you're completely right.

13:00Ronnie Karam: And I just, I meet people where they're at, you know what I mean? And it should be unfair for different people to have different rules, right? Like the rules should be the same for everybody, but they're just not. I mean, look at the court system. It's just not the same for everybody. We all know that. And I think that when you have a defendant like Liz, you know, if I was Liz's lawyer and I was defending this in court, I would say, but look at what she could have done. She's terrifying. She's probably connected to the mafia. She's got a blue tongue still from all these damn guns. She's been testing.

13:31Ronnie Karam: She probably killed somebody. I mean, let's face it. This woman is probably taking that fishing boat out and dumped bodies into the, into the sound or whatever. So she could have done. And this wasn't that big of a deal.

13:47Ben Mandelker: Like, I wait, the, the crux for those, for those who need like a summary, Ron is basically saying, look, Liz could have like murdered. her. So I think this is not so bad. Yeah, that is

14:00Ronnie Karam: what I'm saying.

14:00Ben Mandelker: It's either death or a hair pull and you get to choose which way you want

14:04Ronnie Karam: it to be. No, team Liz, because I also think that, no, I'm not really team Liz because look, you should never put your hands on anybody or kick their chair. Also, I'm team chair as a person who's in the restaurant service industry for so long. I don't believe in people manhandling chairs or moving things around in a restaurant. I don't like that either. But, you know, She could have been a lot worse. And also, I think that Joellen is an instigator. I think Joellen's really getting off easy with the audience. When somebody walks away from you in an argument and then walks away again and then walks away again and then walks away again, Joellen really is getting up in her face over and over with her shaky head and doing all of this stuff.

14:44Ronnie Karam: She's instigating in a lot of ways that I think people aren't catching on to yet because she's really framed herself as a victim. Like even in this show, she's like, well, I guess I'll just sweep it under the rug just like I had to do when I was a child. I was like, oh, all right. Now you're bringing your childhood trauma into it. So Joellen's not as innocent as she's getting off, I think.

15:05Ben Mandelker: I think I'm going to be team chair also because the truth is I'm definitely not team Liz in this. And I don't know how people got that impression of me last week. And I'm not trying to revise to make people happy. I was not team Liz.

15:19Ronnie Karam: That was one where you got swept up in the Rani of it all.

15:23Ben Mandelker: Well, I'm happy to be swept up with the Rani of it all. But I think I probably said something along the lines of like, I understood why Liz was frustrated with Joellen. She just wanted some peace. She just needed to come down. She wanted to be advocated for. But I think that ultimately Liz needed to drop it. It was a stupid point that she was dying on the cross for. And it was a stupid point. and then she was immature in how she handled it afterwards. She was very passive-aggressive and crazy. I 100 % also think that Joellen should have not gone after her. She was so determined to try to make things all right and okay.

16:00Ben Mandelker: And if you wanted to do right by Liz, your opportunity was in the car. You could have said, Look, Liz. Look, Alicia. I don't think Liz means it in this way. Now, again, I'm not standing up for what Liz was saying or doing. I'm saying that would have been Joellen's moment to be more of the hero if she wanted to be a hero. but I think she should have stayed back so I think Joellen did contribute to it I think Liz was the greater offender and that's why ultimately I have to be team chair because I really don't think I want to be on either of their sides so I'll be on the side of the chair that remained surprisingly upright despite the fact that it was kicked aggressively by Liz I was like the fact that that didn't topple over says that that chair was made well and I have to give kudos to it so team chair today

16:42Ronnie Karam: if the fake Frank Sinatra's voice was as stable as that chair, he would be sold out every show. The fact that that chair just slid... It's an entre concert. That was the worst part of that show. I would have pulled your hair. If I was in that show, I would have just started pulling random people's hair because that was crazy.

17:01Ben Mandelker: Can we be team floor two? Because that chair would not have slid if it weren't for that floor two. If it had been carpet, good luck. Joe Allen's down on the ground. But it slid just so nicely. I was like, this was a team effort between floor and chair. Good job, both of you guys. Yeah, good job, guys.

17:16Ronnie Karam: It's time for a commercial. It's time for a Crappens commercial.

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17:31Ronnie Karam: It's called Age, man. Okay, it's age.

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18:52Ronnie Karam: Go to shopify.com slash WWC. That's shopify.com slash WWC. Cha-ching! Losing weight is one thing, but keeping it off, that's where it gets really frustrating. and that's why Weight Loss by HERS now offers access to the FDA-approved Wagovi pill and the FDA-approved Wagovi pen. Wagovi is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off.

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19:31Ronnie Karam: Everything is 100 % online through HERS. You'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you. And if prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door. No insurance necessary.

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19:58Ronnie Karam: Weight loss by HERS is not available in all 50 states. Wagovi is a registered trademark of Novo Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wagovi clinical study information and restrictions, visit 4hers.com. Okay, so Liz and Joellen have just had a blow up at one of those tables that's right on the curb of the street. And Joellen sticks up for herself and Liz is like, fuck you, die. I hope you die. I hope ducks come into your house and eat your eyes out, bitch. And so she gets up and leaves, and she's parked right in front and then rolls down her window, and she's like, you jackass.

20:40Ronnie Karam: She leaves. So she leaves, and Joellen's like, dickhead? Okay.

20:49Ben Mandelker: So she immediately calls Alicia. And she's like, what happened? And she's like, well, I didn't go so great, Alicia. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. okay she told me that I'm delusional for thinking that that she and I are best friends or even friends so she just kept going on and on and on and like she was going like yeah yeah I know I know I know how fake you are and like she's like oh you're trying to ruin people and I'm like you sound psycho and Joellen's telling us that Liz does what she wants and then she's very unapologetically herself as she is she goes but I'm just not as cool which you know it's still season one So, so far, she has not presented as cruel so far, but we'll see.

21:32Ronnie Karam: She's sneakier about it, which I think is Liz's point. You know, Joellen's doing this whole, like, your husband's cheating, your husband's cheating, your husband's cheating. Okay, now I'm going to have somebody follow you around. Like, nobody's questioning, wait a minute, how does Joellen have footage? Like, Joellen literally has somebody following somebody around to get, like, secret footage. That's her crazy behavior. I'm sorry. Yeah. Nobody is really questioning any of that. I mean, Rula is, look, I think at some point when you're with a pig and your friends are like, your husband's a pig, I saw him cheating on you.

22:04Ronnie Karam: And she's like, well, I don't care. I'm staying with him. That's it. Yeah. At the point where you just have to keep reminding them that they made a bad decision every day. I mean, they know.

22:14Ben Mandelker: I think that like Joellen is dogged. I'm not saying she's a dog. I'm saying she's dogged. I think she is very concerned with making sure that people know that she's not crazy. So she's determined to make Rula see, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm actually doing a service for you. And now she's determined to try to tell Liz, I'm not the bad guy. I was just consoling a friend. I was consoling Alicia. like she is like she gets very wrapped up in um in people and trying to have people see her the way she wants to be seen and i think it's a little different than saying she's she's not trying to be friends to everyone i don't think because that's what liz said liz said she's being fake she's trying to be friends everyone i think it's more like joellen has a perception of herself and she when people are not seeing that perception of her she like loses it she's like no this is who i am And it's probably all does stem back from the fact that her mom sent her off to like the state system when she was like a tween.

23:20Ben Mandelker: And she probably like lives with that now. And like every, all these, these moments are just like re litigations of childhood trauma brought on by her mom. You know?

23:32Ronnie Karam: Yeah.

23:33Ben Mandelker: The best kind, quite frankly.

23:34Ronnie Karam: Joellen runs around saying the whole season, like, I'm such a bitch. I'm such a bitch. Like I'm the biggest bitch in town and everybody knows that nobody better rest with me. but then if anybody suggests she is she's like how dare you well i think she's i have to follow my friend around so that i can prove that i'm not a crazy b i don't think that she's determined to

23:54Ben Mandelker: say that she's a nice person i think she's just more like when she does something nice she wants to get the credit for doing something nice and when someone's like yeah you're still a bitch though she's like no but i just did something nice i'm a bitch this is my i just did my nice thing.

24:08Ronnie Karam: I get it because I don't do that many nice things. And I, like, I'll give, uh, I'll give like a homeless person a fiver and I'll want a receipt. Like, I need to show this to people. No one did this. Could you just record something into my phone? Say thank you.

24:27Ben Mandelker: Thank you, no.

24:28Ronnie Karam: Thank you, Roddy. You deserved that, Tony, last night. Sorry, I didn't get it. Thank you. It was worth the$5. So, um, she's like, uh, Joelle's like, yeah, You know what? Liz is unapologetic. And she just kept on saying what an awful human being I was. And I'm disloyal and ingenuous. And I don't know why it affects me so much. I just need to suck it up. But, you know, I guess I'll just sweep it under the rug. Like, it's not like, woe is me. It's just like when my mother abused me in that girl interrupted place. It's just like that. But it's not like that. I mean, I don't want to be a victim. But it's just like what my mother did to me.

25:02Ben Mandelker: So it's just like, Joellen's like, oh, and I didn't stick up for you enough. You were wrong. Apparently that's what I did wrong. I didn't stick up enough. And Alicia says, well, you were just like, you are like a support of which like any, uh, any person, normal person would do. It was like, it's like fucking insane. And I thought that like, you did nothing wrong like this. I thought she was like family to me. And like, so that's like what kills me too. Like out of respect for my family, she should have never questioned me. I never attacked me. I never like talk to me like that. And like, you know, like I love her.

25:28Ben Mandelker: And like, that's why flip flop is like me. It's like, she's like fucking mean.

25:34Ronnie Karam: Joellen's like, oh my God, it's like so awkward. it's going to be so awkward at the next group event. I feel really bad because I'm going to keep telling you, you did nothing wrong honestly. I want you to be okay. Bye. Bye.

25:46Ben Mandelker: You did nothing wrong. Bye. Okay, hold on. I've got to drive over a small bridge over a culvert. Okay. Bye. It's scary.

25:52Ronnie Karam: I'm sweating. I'm sweating. I'm sweating. So now we go to Rhode Island foot care. I cannot be the only person in this country who got a boner. I know. What a stud. The guy with the foot care Botox and Testosterone clinic Rolled into one

26:13Ben Mandelker: I'll tell you when I saw That single story brick Building with the Decrepit Sign swinging From one corner The other chain hanging the other corner Dangled and like the Slow drips of water From the gutters I was like like wow this is where i'm gonna go to get everything done this is the place yeah so ruler

26:41Ronnie Karam: comes in and she's like hello ladies i'm here to see my husband it's me glamorous ruler is he in

26:52Ben Mandelker: i of course got a flashback this is a deep cut but i know you'll get it i got a flashback to gail of secrets and wives who was uh married to the plastic surgeon who would come in and and she made all the women at the office wear blazers because she didn't want them looking too hot

27:07Ronnie Karam: they're like oh the wife is here again it's like the wife comes in one time a year and acts like she's the president and makes everybody change her uniforms and why aren't the plants water

27:17Ben Mandelker: yeah you know they can't stand it so ruler comes in you know i feel like they probably don't get mad when ruler comes by because ruler is so low energy that they probably don't even notice that she's there they just think it's the vacuum coming around i know someone just walks up to Rula and pulls at her

27:32Ronnie Karam: elbow. She's like, what are you doing? Oh, we thought you were the water cooler. Talk to your wife, Sia.

27:39Ben Mandelker: Oh, we thought someone was moving the fake plant across the room. That's you, Rula.

27:43Ronnie Karam: The plant is walking. She's like, no, it's just me, Rula.

27:49Ben Mandelker: You guys, I never thought the day would come. The phone came alive. Watch out. I don't know why I'm making the receptionist talk like Rula also. They're just all Rulas in there.

27:58Ronnie Karam: There are many Rulas in there. I believe he's not cheating. I believe he's not cheating as well. 11 o 'clock, you're up. He's not cheating. So this whole episode, Rola and Brian are trying to pretend they're this happy couple, and it's really funny. She's trying to do this young lover energy. She's like, hey, baby, so good to be back at your place. I haven't been here in so long. I brought you some goodies. Ooh, ah, ha, ha, ha, son, Rola.

28:31Ben Mandelker: fun rulers here everyone can you check my toe he goes you give him toe let's do it so in the middle of this guys here's a good story on their foot doctor i know next gym i know so guys i know we haven't seen a lot of ruler ruler this season but uh the good news is she always has a good story when she comes back guys in the middle of the summer my toe caught the lip at the vanity in the guest house and just lifted my toenail. And I was just about to go jump on a Zoom call. And I was like, ah.

29:05Ronnie Karam: I hate sitting in this chair because I never know what's going to happen. Thanks for squeezing me in today, my love.

29:12Ben Mandelker: He goes, well, of course, you sleep with me, you know? Huh? Look at that. Loving husband banter. So she says, he explains why the waiting room is full of blonde women. You know what, guys? I know you wanted a follow-up on my first story because it was so good. He numbed my toe with Novocaine and then he removed the toenail. I didn't even feel it. But I was more distraught at the fact that here we are in the summer. There goes my pedicure. The end.

29:42Ronnie Karam: It's nice to see when they tie up storylines.

29:47Ben Mandelker: I mean, can you believe I'm sitting here saying I didn't feel like we're going into the season finale and look at this.

29:53Ronnie Karam: He's like, so what happened to your gimp toe? did you hit it again? And she's like, no, I didn't hit it. I just want it to look better. So maybe you could put some of that oil or something on it. So it could look better. You're here to get oil on your toe.

30:09Ben Mandelker: Yeah.

30:10Ronnie Karam: Really? There are people, there are people that are dying, Kim. Okay. At least ask for an implant or something or glue on like a press on. Give it a weave.

30:21Ben Mandelker: I have to say, what'd you say?

30:24Ronnie Karam: Give it a breast implant.

30:25Ben Mandelker: It's just going to be a whole other real housewife down on her toe. Hair, boobs. Hey! So, uh, Doctor from Scholes asks, What's going on with the lady that's down on your toe? Does she have new boobs?

30:41Ronnie Karam: We'd like to welcome the newest housewife, Rula's toe. Rula's toe. Did you get a new boob?

30:49Ben Mandelker: This whole scene made me so uncomfortable. The whole toenail thing, because it was giving me vivid flashbacks to Kristen Tatekman's toenail on Girls Trip. And I was so grateful that they did not do a close-up. I was just dreading it. Honestly, I'm sitting here uncomfortable. But luckily, Rulo says, you know, I was thinking this summer flew by and we haven't had a party yet, so why don't we throw a party? Because we haven't had one. I just like the way... You know, I was thinking we haven't had a party, so we should have a party because we haven't had a party.

31:21Ronnie Karam: i love redundancy good at the end of the summer because it's the end of the summer should we have an end of the summer party at the end of the summer because we haven't had a party yet had a party yet it's like what i've heard um about from writers who are writing shows for

31:38Ben Mandelker: netflix is that um like every 15 minutes they have to like reiterate what's going on in the episode because i guess people aren't paying attention anymore they're like they're distracted with their phones and that's what rule is doing she's basically like she's like a streamer she's like because we haven't had a party so let's have a party you know it's like what about i don't know you're lebanese how about a hookah party arabian nights because we haven't had a party this summer so we should have a party this summer it'll be called arabian nights like arabian nights yeah this cast isn't problematic enough you know what i could do i could finally wear my dress that's a strobe light.

32:19Ronnie Karam: It was really weird. She's like, I can finally wear my little girl in a dance recital wings.

32:27Ben Mandelker: It was so funny because we're going to get to it, but that entire scene, her dress was flashing.

32:34Ronnie Karam: I know. She's cheating on you and she's got this flashing pair of wings. this week's room.

32:44Ronnie Karam: She's like, yeah, that would be fun because it's the end of the summer. Remember how New Year's, we had that New Year's party on New Year's and the belly dancer there? Remember her? She shows back up. She's pregnant. It's like, how many years has this been?

33:03Ben Mandelker: So she goes, we always have wet and wild parties in the summer because it's the summer. so we've had your bye bye to summer party and we have an annual new year's eve party now it may sound like i just repeated what i just said but actually i'm just saying it again in case you didn't hear it the first time anyway we're gonna have a party he's like i could rock a vest with no pants and no shirt on i'll be like aladdin he's like oh god you better work on that six pack I'm almost there. I got a four pack. Oh, God. The Arabian Nights reflects my culture. Like we'll have some belly dancing and the cuisine.

33:43Ben Mandelker: We'll have Arabian attire. I might bring a camel, but I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I like to plan. And this is short notice.

33:53Ronnie Karam: So we could invite the ladies from the group. With one minor exception, we can't have Joelle in there. You know I've gone into everything with great intentions, but every time we blink, Joellen's stirring the pot. It's like she makes a point of it. And I don't want the party to be that way. I want the party to be Arabian Nights at the end of the summer. Because it's the end of the summer.

34:17Ben Mandelker: Arabian Nights, like Arabian Days, right? And so Brian is like, yeah, I don't want that at my house. No, I really have such a good heart that a part of me feels bad because even despite all the bad that's been done towards my family, yet I believe in energy and I can't have bad energy at my house when I have a party because it's the end of the summer because we haven't had a party yet and it'll be Arabian Nights.

34:42Ronnie Karam: There's a greater probability of a genie popping out of my party than Joellen being allowed to step foot in my backyard. No pun intended. that.

34:54Ben Mandelker: Joellen and Gary on the blacklist and then everybody else. I hate to say it, but it had to happen for the party at the end of the summer.

35:03Ronnie Karam: He's like, well, I'll police detail and security for this big Arabian Nights party in the backyard. So if shit's going to go down, they'll get tossed. Commercials. Here comes one right now.

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37:16Ronnie Karam: so now we go to ashley's house and she it's like a big family scene her parents are over and stuff and there's kids running around and she's like um i'm sorry i'm making tacos tonight babe it's just i really love the taco bell seasoning packet okay ma 'am save it for your instagram stop trying to

37:33Ben Mandelker: influence us right now this is like a blatant like deal she had with taco bell yeah and so

37:40Ronnie Karam: Like tacos? Why are you trying to make it look like I dislike tacos? Why are you apologizing for tacos?

37:47Ben Mandelker: Stupid on TV, babe. They have such an uncomfortable relationship. I just feel so uncomfortable around them. I feel like she's always trying to appease him or mollify him in some way. Or if she anticipates that a moment might get tense, she's going to try to calm it down. It makes me deeply, deeply uncomfortable. And what's worse is that they're both so uninteresting to me, and yet I feel tension. I don't want to feel tension between uninteresting people, the interesting people that I can feel the tension between.

38:20Ronnie Karam: Oh, yeah. I mean, I get that they're uninteresting people. I don't feel tense around them at all. But I get them from The Bachelor days from watching that show. It's just always been like this. He's just really depressed, and then she cries a lot over nothing. and he didn't really want to be with her, but she really wanted him to. It's the same dynamic. It's just going to go on forever.

38:42Ben Mandelker: The energy she gives me is that like, oh no, this is all about to fall apart. Like, oh God, oh God, got to make sure he's okay because he's about to leave me.

38:52Ronnie Karam: He is going to leave one day. I mean, obviously. Because you're a guy that's like clearly not into her, you know, but Jared's one of those guys in his defense, he's not into anybody or anything. He's just like, it's like the sad cloud from the depression commercial yeah i think that i think that

39:07Ben Mandelker: ashley could do so much better you know like i don't think she's i don't like love her on this show but she seems very nice and she seems like she she i feel like she just wants more from life and that she is trying she's like dumbing herself down and so she's talking about um his eating habits and she's like jared isn't like a picky eater he's just a basic eater and then he's like this can opener is not working which by the way already like we spent a lot of time last week talking about why audrey's really feels like a failure to us just based on decor but now we have the proprietor who does not eat food and he doesn't know how to use a can opener i'm sorry

39:51Ronnie Karam: i'm never going that coffee shop there really are so many layers happening in the scene right now okay so let me just go through these lines exactly because they're so funny i don't dislike tacos goes well i mean what's going to be easy for all of us to have he's like tacos are great well i mean except for dawson who will probably have macaroni and cheese yeah i'll have macaroni and cheese too well then what the fuck are you sitting here arguing that you like tacos the whole time are you worried about the taco coalition coming after you don't like a taco just have a have an opinion jared and then he's like yeah this hand opener doesn't work so he takes a steak knife and cuts into the can with who does that first of all and second of all you're giving your children broken off shards of metal it doesn't just you're fucking you're

40:38Ben Mandelker: fucking up your knife you're this everything it was so bad and everyone just didn't no one no one even jumped in to say oh here here's how we can fix this this situation how does the can opener not work how does that how does that happen i don't know if you have an electric one you got to have a backup we all know a hundred percent so she's like well i'm a foodie which also i don't believe no and she's like a foodie the way the way jonathan shabon or whatever his name is not jonathan shabon whatever you know the guy who calls himself food god that's i think how she's

41:09Ronnie Karam: probably a foodie she's like my way to go to new restaurants that's not a foodie like trying out the newest chili's location doesn't make you a foodie and like because what i see on their Instagram pages and Jarrett's just like, no, we'll just go to the same restaurants for the sake of nostalgia. Meanwhile, she's opening a plain can of refried beans for him to eat.

41:31Ben Mandelker: Meanwhile, she opened the scene saying, guys, I'm making tacos because I just love the Taco Bell seasoning packets. Yeah.

41:40Ronnie Karam: So, the dad's like, you're making me a little nervous with that knife there. He's like, I know, but don't worry, I got a handle on it.

41:48Ben Mandelker: And then the dad's like, you don't have a can opener? Ashley goes, Jared's not a foodie. He's just bland. I mean, I do feel for her. I mean, I have a hard time imagining that Ashley is truly a foodie the way she says she is, but I do have to imagine that she probably wants to try new places and he just will not do it, and that's got to be very aggravating.

42:12Ronnie Karam: She just wants to go anywhere with her husband. That's not Audrey's. That's not Audrey's, exactly. he's slicing a tomato and the husband's like well you're very good at slicing or jared or jared everybody following around jared like look let's let jared open the can okay he's using a serrated knife okay well jared well he can slice the tomato you're doing good at slicing it's like the most basic thing in the world and like i mean i do this every day i guess i should be using a bigger knife and she goes well i hate telling you this but it's not like sandwich slicing for tomatoes. We need like diced tomatoes.

42:51Ronnie Karam: It's going to be Mexican food, okay?

42:54Ben Mandelker: Again, this is a restaurant proprietor who is preparing tomatoes for tacos by slicing them in giant rounds. It's like, you know those are not the shells, right?

43:05Ronnie Karam: Like, hey, I'm a restaurant owner. You want diced? I'm going to do diced. And he goes,

43:11Ben Mandelker: it takes two seconds. It's not a big deal. Okay, well, that's fine. We're not questioning whether it's a big deal. If it weren't a big deal, then why are you getting huffier right now? Just dice it. Don't be an idiot.

43:23Ronnie Karam: What's up with Audrey's? You'll lease up or what? When is this over? He's like, well, it's fall, fall, winter, fall, spring, spring, summer, joggers.

43:32Ben Mandelker: He's like, yeah, I mean, I have such mixed feelings about Audrey's lease ending, but I feel like I don't want to give it up, you know? It's just like all that stuff. Ashley's saying she has mixed feelings too, and she doesn't she doesn't want him to give up audrey's but um you know it would also be like long term it would be good he just would be sad if he did it and jared is saying jared's pretending like he's considering giving it up but he has no intention he's going i don't know there's pros and cons i mean what i love so much about audrey's is i don't know it's hard to talk about it obviously and so she goes oh he's gonna cry guys and he's like no i'm not gonna cry i just She's like, okay.

44:13Ronnie Karam: Isn't this household? You always have to be ready for someone to cry because she's crying every five minutes. Oh, my God, you guys. Did you see him working on that tomato? He's going to cry. I'm not crying, honey. Okay. Okay. Back to normal. And the mom's like, well, maybe if Audrey was so small. Like, it's huge. Does it need to be? Thank you.

44:32Ben Mandelker: Thank you.

44:32Ronnie Karam: Thank you, mom. It is big. But, you know, look, Audrey's has taught me a lot. And I do think Audrey's has been successful in so many different areas. Steven, your chai is up. It's a long way. Bring it home with me. Bring it home.

44:48Ben Mandelker: Ashley goes, you know, even if you close it at a year, it was a success. Which is not true. And she says, you know, the lease is up in September. But Jared wants to ask to extend it a little bit because he has all these reservations for after parties that he doesn't want to leave them high and dry for their wedding. Okay, fine. It's an after party. It's not the reception. he doesn't want to end the lease he obviously does not

45:09Ronnie Karam: and you want the after party at a coffee shop in a strip mall we're not getting married

45:14Ben Mandelker: yeah there's that too thank you I think that he basically wants to hang around long enough to see if the show is going to give Audrey's a boost and I'd be interested to see if it does

45:23Ronnie Karam: yeah it probably does I mean shit if you know you get to see Jared every day

45:28Ben Mandelker: then I probably wouldn't go

45:30Ronnie Karam: I would just to see those cheekbones and that jawline crazy that's like cartoon level. I want to go see if it's real. I want to be like, could you cut a tomato?

45:42Ben Mandelker: Hello, do you guys serve tacos? I have a scan. Could you open it for me, please? Thank you.

45:49Ronnie Karam: So, Ashley's like, sell it or just close it. And he's like, close it? The dad's like, close it. And Ashley's like, well, I'm never going to give him that old tomato, okay? He says it sucks, but the most beneficial thing would be to close it. but I don't want that. You know, I'm trying to think of the best decision for Ashley and I as a couple and as a family.

46:12Ben Mandelker: Oh, I just realized what that decision is. Ashley, I'm leaving you. Okay, everyone, enjoy your tacos. I'm going back to Audrey's.

46:20Ronnie Karam: So she's like, well, I mean, if it was making you happy and the money was there and you felt like you were providing, of course I'd let you keep it. And he's like, well, the problem is I could do something different that I could be making more money, but Audrey's is becoming more successful and it's fulfilling. and we're finding a decent work-life balance. You do all of the life stuff and I stay at work.

46:41Ben Mandelker: He's like, yeah, I don't want to sell it. So then the baby just starts screaming. He's like, okay. Yeah, Audrey is, I don't think, I think he is happy to have a reason not to be around Ashley. And I think he is, yeah, he is not interested in anything else. So now we go to the Rhode Island Statehouse, which is this big, gorgeous Capitol building. And Dolores and Liz enter. And Liz is like, this is so exciting. And Dolores is like, it really is. You know what? This could not be more beautiful. Wow. What a beautiful state house. Look at all the marble staircases, banisters. It could not be more beautiful.

47:20Ronnie Karam: The noble architecture, the columns, and the floor. I mean, it really is just beautiful. So they go in and they're talking to the state representative about menopause.

47:34Ben Mandelker: And Dolores is starstruck. It's the senator and the state representative. And Dolores goes, I'm starstruck right now. It's like Lori and Karen. She's like, oh my God, starstruck. So they have a nice little meeting. And they're talking about how menopause. Rhode Island is the first state to make women going through menopause. protected class which is awesome and uh they start talking about it and how it's so not fair that you know women have to undergo you know the physical duress of menopause and there's just like you know their jobs often suffer for it so so they talk about that for a while dolores is like i mean

48:18Ronnie Karam: women who go through menopause i mean we deserve a parade am i right i would love a parade for menopausal women. Air conditions. And air conditions. Preferably inside. All right. Well, we could maybe sit down every couple of weeks. It's very difficult. It's very difficult.

48:35Ben Mandelker: Get Gerald. Get Gerald there from Atlanta. He can just have, like, put all of his air conditioners on, like, a flatbed and just drive through Providence. You know?

48:46Ronnie Karam: How this law protects women with menopause in the workplace. And Dolores is like, we need to do more about menopause. more people need to know about it i mean it's insane like men literally don't know what menopause is which i think is actually true yeah and they're they're saying yeah i mean once we they're talking about how they had to explain this to all the politicians because it's mostly men and they're like well this is how menopause affects people and the guys are like what you get hot you sweat your body changes you stop having your period nobody told me about this no idea yeah you know what who told you about this every woman who's ever been on the earth you fucking jackasses you

49:31Ben Mandelker: just never listen yeah it's shocking it's just shocking how they're like whoa really i didn't know i thought menopause meant that you were taking a pause from sleeping with men whoa yikes

49:44Ronnie Karam: so um liz uh they they really do talk about menopause for a very long time so then um liz is like well delores and i are developing a product utilizing the cannabis plant components so thank you very much let me just tell you before i go you better try this menopause product You better try it. It's good for you. Is that woman pulling my fucking hair?

50:15Ben Mandelker: Liz, did you just kick the senator's chair?

50:20Ben Mandelker: You're never homeless. By the way, we actually got a message from someone who does social work. And actually, based on Alicia's lived experience, she says that actually does qualify as homelessness. so just putting that just letting everyone know a little moment of edification yeah for all the

50:42Ronnie Karam: Liz heads out there so Alicia

50:46Ben Mandelker: it's really for the Alicia heads I think or is it to educate the Liz heads

50:51Ronnie Karam: to educate the Liz heads I'm not homeless I'll tell you what homeless all the people standing at the gates of homelessness to be like this is what's homeless and this is what's not homeless yeah the

51:04Ben Mandelker: very kind person who works in that field was like, yeah, it all counts.

51:13Ronnie Karam: Congratulations, you've reached the end of part one of a two-part recap. For part two, go look for the recap that says part two.

51:22Ben Mandelker: See you over there, suckers. Watch what crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. She answered the call, it's Adia Paul. Ain't no thing like Alison King. Our way is the Amber way. It's the Foster and the Furious. It's Amanda Foster. It's Always Automatic with Ashley Otto. Put your hands together for Carly Clapp.

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53:53Ben Mandelker: We cannot tell a lie, it's Sarah Tell of Sun. Shannon out of a cannon Anthony Please don't stop it's Soli and Pop Let's take off with Tamla Plain Strike a pose it's Tori Rose

54:05Ronnie Karam: She ain't no shrinking Violet Kuchar We love you guys

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