The third and final part of The Real Housewives of Orange County Season 18 reunion ended with a shocker involving a new scene.
It’s rare for the cameras to pick back up post-reunion, but the intent seemed to be to put a pin in the ongoing friction between Shannon Beador and some of her friends.
Of course, the reunion found Heather Dubrow and Tamra Judge trying to play nice with Shannon in the wake of harsh criticism from both viewers and their co-stars.
The additional scene in question revealed that Heather and Tamra learned that John Janssen heard Shannon crashing her car the night of her DUI arrest.
While the scene unified the women as they headed into Season 19, viewers took to social media to express their concerns.
Given that there was no prior indication that an additional scene had been filmed, it’s perfectly valid to question why it was added at what seemed to be the last minute.
RHOC fans hit back at the scene
One fan questioned the “manipulation tactic” and slammed the scene as “fake.”
The viewer believes that Tamra is “saving herself.”
Tamra has caught a lot of heat this season for her treatment of Shannon, so it makes sense that she would try to get back on good terms with viewers ahead of Season 19.
“Heather and Tamra caught the heat for treating Shannon like crap and now they are trying to save face,” another critic complained.
Another viewer questioned “the point” of the additional scene but noted that they “still don’t trust Tamra or Heather.”
Then, a viewer wondered why the two women didn’t “bring this up at the reunion.”
The scene’s timing is suspect because the ladies had all been together after the season finale was taped.
Fans are over the fakery on RHOC
Another fan mocked Heather and Tamra for being “so kind and compassionate all of a sudden.”
“I wonder why?” the viewer said with a bunch of laughing faces.
A sixth viewer said the pair were “desperately trying to save their reputations after this last season.”
The fan felt that their performances could be added “to their IMDBs.”
There’s no telling what the future holds for RHOC, but the last-minute happy scene suggests that producers don’t want feuds from this season to carry over into the next.
Perhaps everyone involved knows what happened to The Real Housewives of New Jersey. At this point, the show is pretty much at death’s door.
What are your thoughts on the scene? Do you think it was a calculated attempt to make Heather and Tamra look better?
The Real Housewives of Orange County is on hiatus at Bravo. Stream Seasons 1-18 on Peacock.