VlogJam

Ahead of the Reunion, The Real Housewives of New York City Season 14 aired its finale on Sunday.

Among so many other things, we saw the best possible callback to Jessel calling Erin Sai’s “pet parrot.”

Brynn throws a big party that’s all about her, as all parties should be. (Also, it’s her birthday)

Sai isn’t the only one beefing with Jessel, but things get even worse between Sai and the birthday girl by the end of the night.

Does Bravo have some sort of contract with psychics? The franchise has a history of featuring very accurate divination.

Anyway, Brynn Whitfield visits her psychic, Dante. His tarot spread appears to indicate that Brynn’s future will see conflict between people close to her.

He’s right. Of course, Brynn will have her own role to play.

Remember when Ubah Hassan and Erin Lichy had their intense feud? Things are a bit more chill now.

The two ride bumper cars. This is when they gossip about things, with Erin telling Ubah that Pavit praised Jessel “because she lets me do what I want.”

Actually, no, Erin, that’s not the truth. He more or less said that Jessel is happy to do the things that he loves doing — including traveling and having fun.

Ubah also pushes back on Erin’s characterization.

Her impression was that Pavit was praising Jessel because “she loves me for me” instead of trying to change things.

Ubah isn’t always right … but she is right a lot of the time.

Another pair of Housewives are Brynn and Sai De Silva.

The two head to Central Park for the first time in forever. Their mission is a somber one.

Their goal is to find a tree that Brynn will dedicate to her late grandmother. It’s very sweet.

Meanwhile, Jessel is doing a photoshoot for her fashion platform. Somehow, we haven’t heard about this before.

Anyway, she shows up to Jenna Lyons’ house, because of course that’s a great place to do the photoshoot, and Jenna has a very generous spirit.

Jessel finds Jenna hard at work. She expresses surprise at how much Jenna does herself, considering her standing in the fashion world. Honestly? Jenna is a perfectionist, so she’s going to do a lot of things herself.

Shooting at Jenna’s turns out to have benefits beyond a beautiful location.

Jenna weighs in on some of the shots, even shifting some of her own home’s decor.

Jessel is grateful for the help. She adds that she’d hire Jenna to do these photoshoots if she could afford to do so. But she cannot.

Ahead of Brynn’s birthday bash, Erin and Sai visit a costume shop. Brynn’s party will be a masquerade.

Somehow, the two of them seem to spend the entire episode griping about how much they loathe Jessel.

“I’m not mean,” Sai says of Jessel calling her a mean girl. “I’m abrasive and straightforward.” Girl … is that not mean?

Erin shares that Ubah felt that Sai’s husband, David, had insulted her when asking “How is it possible you don’t have a man?”

He didn’t mean it as an insult. But it did sound that way. Either way, it was an inappropriate question. Just a little intrusive.

It’s good that she brought it up. At Brynn’s party, David approached Ubah and apologized. The two hugged it out. Super mature, and a normal way to handle conflict.

A lot of people who attend masquerade parties like Brynn’s will ditch the mask ASAP. Why? It’s over your eyes, you’re in a crowded room, you’re sweaty.

Jenna, however, went all out. Not only did she wear a gorgeous butterfly mask, but she didn’t even consider removing it.

Personally, I love her hyper-literal determination to do the absolute best at anything that she attempts.

Speaking of Jenna, the tensions between her and the birthday girl were … non-zero.

It’s hard to say how much of this is playful banter and how much is, like, actual will-they-or-won’t-they.

I want to say that, anecdotally, every woman watching seems to want them to hook up. But while I know plenty of people who watch RHONY 14, I don’t know any straight women who watch. That could be a whole different viewing experience.

Jessel knows that there are a couple of castmates who are gunning for her. But, when she arrives, she says a courteous greeting to Erin and Sai and then walks off.

Erin tries to confront her, to which Jessel notes that Erin’s been badmouthing her husband extensively. (Can I be real here? I have never cared less about anything this season than about Pavit’s flights to Vietnam)

According to Erin, she’s just saying what she thinks. Girl, we know. She also accuses Jessel of lashing out. That’s not what’s happening.

Later on, Sai directly accuses Jessel of lying — all about the deeply uninteresting Vietnam thing. (Occam’s Razor says that Pavit would have a more convincing cover story if he were cheating, and maybe he’s just a goofball who enjoys flying and racking up points)

Ubah wisely steps in and asks everyone “Why do you care about this?” That’s a solid question!

If Jessel were worrying sick about this, that would be one thing. But other than that … what’s the issue? And how did Jessel lie? (Hint: she didn’t)

Brynn then stirs the pot with the party.

Gathering everyone around, she suggests that they all air their grievances.

This is not a standard party game, and was bound to cause more chaos than resolution. But maybe it was necessary.

Sai seems to be fixating on the idea that Jessel is lying, but can’t come up with an actual lie.

To be clear, Jessel does have her issues. She’s not always super self-aware, and she’s not a great storyteller. But where are these lies that Sai is talking about?

As many people have pointed out, Sai just doesn’t like Jessel, but keeps trying to come up with reasons. It’s weird. If I hate someone, I’ll have reasons — but if you just don’t vibe with someone, then you just don’t vibe with them.

One real highlight of the night was Erin’s costume. Yes, Erin “Stop The Steal” Lichy did something genuinely funny — dressing as a parrot.

Jessel had described her (to Sai) as Sai’s “pet parrot,” and Jessel absolutely cracks up at this.

They sit down and talk things out … a little. Sai seems to become easily annoyed with people. It has to be more than just being hangry, right?

With the help of various husbands and boyfriend, Brynn cuts the cake. (Gosh I love Brynn)

She also blurts out that Ubah is dating a man in Connecticut. This isn’t a huge revelation, but it’s more than Ubah has shared with the group.

Apparently, Sai had an off-camera dinner with Erin and Brynn. During this, she shared everything that she knew about Ubah’s man. (Just for the record, that’s a very normal thing for friends to do … but reality TV does make it different)

Though Brynn offers her apologies, Sai sounds like she no longer wishes to even speak to Brynn. The title cards seem to confirm this.

Jenna’s comment, that “You can’t be open in an environment that doesn’t feel safe,” really defines this season. Some of the Housewives felt increasingly safe and secure during the season. Others did not.

According to the title cards at the end of the season, Sai invited everyone out to her home upstate — except for Brynn. Yikes!

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