There are few things more dangerous on The Real Housewives of New York City than brunch.
Alcohol before noon? Fine.
Unresolved friendship drama? Excellent.
A returning Housewife with decades of deeply personal history being interrogated about dead family members while everyone eats?
Maybe put the mimosa down.
Season 16’s second episode, “Much Ado About Brunching,” aired September 15 and continued the promising chaos of last week’s premiere. Daisy Toye attempted to throw Sai De Silva a surprise brunch, Erin Lichy and Jessel Taank tried to repair their friendship for approximately seven minutes, Hailey Glassman arrived with grievances, and Carole Radziwill officially reentered the RHONY social ecosystem.
By the end, we’d discussed divorce, a flooded Hamptons house, lesbian relationships, dermatologists, Martha Stewart, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and whether the Kennedy family is “cursed.”
Normal brunch stuff.
Let’s discuss.
Erin Lichy’s Hamptons House Has an Actual Disaster
We begin with Erin and Abe Lichy heading to their Hamptons home after learning that a pipe burst.
And this isn’t “one throw pillow got wet” rich-person disaster.
The damage is extensive.
Their primary bedroom has been destroyed from floor to ceiling, mold has already started growing, and the finished basement has suffered even worse damage. Erin becomes particularly emotional when she sees the wall where they’d recorded their children’s heights over the years has been ruined.
For once, Erin is upset about something that has absolutely nothing to do with Jessel.
Enjoy these four minutes.
She’s earned them.
It’s actually a sad scene. Whatever you think of Erin, watching physical pieces of your family’s history destroyed overnight is awful.
Unfortunately, RHONY waits approximately zero business days before returning her to active combat.
Meet Erika Hammond, Former WWE Diva and Current Billionaire Wife
Then we properly meet Erika Hammond.
And her résumé reads like somebody spun three completely different careers on a wheel.
Erika teaches a kickboxing class attended by Hailey and Daisy. She reveals that she boxed from a young age, spent two years in WWE under the name Veronica Lane, helped develop programming for Rumble Boxing and later worked with Equinox on its KNOCKOUT program. She now runs her own fitness business.
So basically:
She can fight.
She can teach you how to fight.
And she’s joined Housewives, where those skills have historically proven transferable.
Erika is also married to Ankur Jain, founder of Bilt Rewards, whom Bravo identifies as a billionaire entrepreneur. They met while Erika was teaching a fitness class and married in Egypt in 2024.
More importantly, Erika already knows several women in the group.
She has existing connections with Jessel, Erin, Daisy and Carole, with Martha Stewart apparently functioning as some sort of luxury Manhattan friendship router connecting half these people.
Honestly, Martha Stewart being RHONY’s unofficial social casting director makes perfect sense.
Daisy Calls Erika’s Career Her “Little Job”
After class, Daisy refers to Erika’s work as her “little job.”
Ma’am.
Erika was once professionally suplexing people and helped develop major fitness programs.
But sure.
Cute little hobby.
Daisy continues to fascinate me because she can deliver something that sounds wildly condescending with the energy of someone complimenting your napkins.
That’s a useful Housewives skill.
Hailey Glassman’s Love Life Requires an Organizational Chart
Meanwhile, Hailey continues introducing us to her unconventional relationship structure.
Season 16 has established that Hailey describes herself as being in a “lavender marriage” while also having intimate relationships with women.
And Erin is apparently fascinated by it.
Hailey?
Not fascinated by Erin.
Hailey compares Erin to strawberry jam because she thinks she’s boring.
We’re two episodes into this relationship.
Promising.
There is also already history involving Erin discussing Hailey’s romantic life with Hailey’s girlfriend.
File that away.
We’re going to need it at brunch.
Obviously.
Daisy Decides Sai Needs a Surprise Brunch
Daisy wants to do something nice for Sai.
Sai is going through a separation from David Craig and worrying about what their financial division could look like. Sai has also said this season that she had become the primary financial support for her family as her career grew.
Daisy knows about the separation.
The rest of the group largely doesn’t.
So she organizes a surprise brunch.
Except this is Housewives, which means inviting two women who currently hate each other is apparently included in the catering package.
Erin and Jessel haven’t spoken since Jessel kicked Erin out of her Lunar New Year celebration during the premiere.
Daisy invites both.
What could happen?
Carole Radziwill’s Office Is a 1992 Jeep
Before we get to brunch, we need to discuss Carole.
Carole is back.
Not metaphorically.
Actually back.
And her grand reintroduction to RHONY includes an old Jeep Cherokee.
According to Vulture’s recap, Carole still drives her 1992 Jeep around Manhattan, partly because she’s figured out the economics of parking tickets versus actually paying for parking.
This is extremely Carole.
Rich enough to live in SoHo for decades.
Connected to American royalty.
Still performing municipal parking mathematics.
Erika meets Carole for coffee in what Erika jokingly describes as Carole’s “office.”
The Jeep.
Erika adores her.
She tells producers Carole is the ultimate New Yorker because she simply doesn’t care what anyone thinks.
Correct.
Carole has returned to Housewives with the energy of someone who knows she already survived Bethenny Frankel and therefore cannot possibly be frightened by these people.
And Yes, Carole’s Apartment Is Still Very Carole
We’re also getting another glimpse into Carole’s longtime SoHo home.
She’s lived there for more than two decades, having moved downtown after her husband Anthony Radziwill died in 1999. The apartment has undergone major renovations since viewers last saw it regularly, though pieces of her history remain, including furniture connected to her life with Anthony.
There’s something comforting about seeing Carole back in the same apartment.
RHONY changed.
The cast changed.
Bravo changed.
That apartment apparently looked around and said:
I’m staying.
Respect.
Everybody Arrives at Daisy’s Brunch
Now we reach the main event.
Daisy has organized the brunch for Sai.
Erin arrives.
Hailey arrives.
Erika arrives.
Jessel arrives.
Carole arrives.
Sai eventually arrives and seems less “SURPRISE!” and more “Why are all of you standing here?”
Excellent surprise party.
No notes.
Carole also apparently doesn’t remember having met Sai several times previously.
Carole attempts to roll with it.
This is exactly the sort of tiny social awkwardness I missed from RHONY.
Not everything needs to be a federal indictment.
Sometimes one woman simply has no idea who another woman is despite apparently having met her multiple times.
Jessel and Erin Attempt Peace
Eventually, the conversation turns toward Erin and Jessel.
Because of course it does.
Their fight started before the season even properly began.
Jessel heard that Erin had been calling her thirsty, fake and a snake following the previous season. During the premiere, Jessel confronted Erin at her Lunar New Year celebration, and Erin eventually got kicked out.
Now they’re sitting together again.
Jessel argues that Erin should have spoken directly to her rather than discussing her with everyone else.
Erin points out that she believed they’d developed a genuine connection, particularly around losing their fathers.
Carole jumps in and reminds everyone that Erin did, in fact, call Jessel desperate and thirsty.
Thank you, Writer Girl.
Minutes back on the show and already performing light stenography.
And Then They Fight About a Dermatologist
Naturally, this conversation about betrayal and grief evolves into…
Dermatology.
Apparently multiple women use the same dermatologist.
Jessel.
Erin.
Daisy.
Even Martha Stewart apparently enters the dermatological cinematic universe.
Only RHONY could turn skin care referrals into evidence during a friendship dispute.
Jessel tells Erin she doesn’t have any real friends.
Erin returns the accusation.
We’re discussing emotional intimacy through the lens of who recommended whom to a dermatologist.
New York is back.
Somehow, Erin and Jessel Actually Apologize
Then something miraculous happens.
Erin apologizes for talking about Jessel.
Jessel apologizes for kicking Erin out of her party.
Wait.
Is that…
Conflict resolution?
On Housewives?
Production must have been terrified.
Thankfully, Hailey saves the show.
Hailey Says, “Actually, Since We’re Discussing Erin…”
Hailey decides this is the perfect moment to confront Erin about talking to Hailey’s girlfriend about one of Hailey’s sexual encounters.
Erin is immediately confused about why she’s suddenly receiving fire from another direction.
She wonders whether everyone is piling on her.
And…
Kind of.
Carole even points out that the group is piling on Erin.
This is where Erin’s particular Housewives problem becomes obvious.
Erin talks.
A lot.
Then the talking travels.
Then the person being talked about hears about the talking.
Then Erin becomes shocked that the talking has returned home.
It’s an ecosystem.
Carole’s Return Suddenly Gets Very Uncomfortable
And then we move from fun Housewives mess into a conversation that becomes genuinely awkward.
The women begin asking Carole about FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.
This isn’t abstract celebrity history for Carole.
Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was her close friend.
John F. Kennedy Jr. was the cousin and best friend of Carole’s late husband, Anthony Radziwill.
John, Carolyn and Carolyn’s sister Lauren died in the 1999 plane crash.
Anthony died from cancer only weeks later.
These are people Carole loved.
Not characters from a streaming series.
And you can feel that distinction disappear around the brunch table.
Jessel Asks Carole About “Carolyn Bessette Summer”
Jessel starts discussing the renewed fashion fascination surrounding Carolyn.
Social media has been treating her minimalist 1990s style as inspiration for a “Carolyn Bessette Summer.”
Carole hates it.
She has said she watched only a few minutes of Love Story because the experience was too emotionally difficult, and she’s been critical of fictionalized retellings of John and Carolyn’s relationship.
Again:
Carole knew Carolyn.
Very well.
So discussing her as a Pinterest aesthetic while Carole is sitting there is already delicate territory.
Jessel chooses to proceed with a bulldozer.
“Was She a Bitch?”
Yes.
Jessel asks Carole whether Carolyn was a “bitch.”
At brunch.
To Carolyn’s close friend.
On television.
Twenty-seven years after Carolyn died.
Jessel has since defended the question, saying she was curious about Carolyn’s personality from a fashion perspective and acknowledging that perhaps the wording wasn’t ideal.
Perhaps.
That’s doing some heavy lifting.
Carole explains that Carolyn was funny, warm and a real person rather than the image now being constructed around her.
And this should have been the point where everyone says:
Got it.
Moving on.
Jessel has another question.
Of course she does.
Then Jessel Asks About the “Kennedy Curse”
Jessel raises the idea of the so-called Kennedy curse.
Carole is visibly uncomfortable.
Other women notice.
Erin, of all people, recognizes that this is becoming insensitive.
When Erin Lichy is the person signaling that maybe you’ve discussed somebody else’s personal life enough, the conversational smoke detector has been going off for several minutes.
Carole later says in her confessional that she wanted to “strangle” Jessel.
Metaphorically, obviously.
But spiritually?
Understandable.
Carole Also Reveals the Weirdest Dating Coincidence Imaginable
The episode does give us one bizarrely fascinating detail from Carole.
She reveals that she dated men who had auditioned to portray her late husband Anthony in Love Story.
Yes.
Plural.
She says she went on several dates with one man before discovering he’d auditioned to play Anthony. Another man she’d dated also apparently auditioned for the role.
I don’t know what algorithm is running Carole Radziwill’s dating life.
But shut it down.
Immediately.
Imagine going on Hinge and accidentally matching with someone auditioning to play your deceased husband.
Twice.
New York dating is officially over.
Carole Leaves, and Everyone Immediately Returns to Nonsense
Eventually Carole departs.
The women then watch a burlesque performance because Housewives producers remain convinced all groups of adult female friends spend approximately 40 percent of their lives attending burlesque shows.
The emotional whiplash is remarkable.
Kennedy family tragedy.
Grief.
Fashion mythology.
Burlesque.
Housewives editing remains undefeated.
And Erin Starts Talking Again
Back at the table, Erin begins spreading more information.
Because apparently today’s lesson did not take.
Erika watches this and begins understanding Jessel’s argument about Erin.
Her conclusion?
Erin is a shit-stirrer.
Two episodes.
That’s all Erika needed.
Fast learner.
The Velvet Receipt: Who Won the Episode?
Carole.
Easily.
Not because she screamed.
Not because she created the central fight.
Because she walked back onto RHONY after eight years and immediately reminded us why she worked on this show.
She’s dry.
She’s weird.
She’s emotionally complicated.
She drives an ancient Jeep despite being surrounded by absurd wealth.
She’ll quietly identify when everyone is piling on someone, then sit through a catastrophically inappropriate conversation about people she actually loved without turning it into a rehearsed Housewives monologue.
That’s interesting television.
Erin also had a strong episode, although mostly because she managed to become the defendant in approximately four unrelated cases before dessert.
Jessel?
Funny.
Messy.
Absolutely incapable of detecting conversational danger.
The woman saw Carole Radziwill visibly recoiling from questions about her dead friends and apparently thought:
I should ask one more.
RHONY Season 16 Is Starting to Feel Like New York Again
We’re only two episodes in.
I’m not declaring victory yet.
But something is working.
The cast has actual connections.
Erika knew several women before filming. Jessel and Erika are genuinely close. Carole has existing relationships. Daisy knows people through her work and social world. Martha Stewart somehow appears to be six degrees away from every woman on the show.
And the conflicts are moving.
Jessel and Erin fight.
They apologize.
Hailey immediately starts another fight.
Carole gets dragged into an uncomfortable conversation.
Nobody spends seven episodes debating whether somebody used the word “weird.”
That matters.
Classic Real Housewives of New York City worked because the women could destroy a friendship at lunch and still have plans together that evening.
Season 16 is beginning to understand that rhythm.
Last night’s episode wasn’t Scary Island.
It didn’t need to be.
Give me an old Jeep, a flooded Hamptons mansion, a dermatologist feud, Martha Stewart somehow lurking in the background, Carole Radziwill silently regretting accepting Andy Cohen’s phone call and one woman realizing in real time that Erin Lichy cannot keep information inside her body.
That’s New York.
And for the first time in a while, Tuesday nights are starting to feel properly dangerous again.
