Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author (Good Tea), and they do not reflect in any way those of iRealHousewives.com.
There’s no Housewife that has ever meant more to a franchise and a franchise that has ever meant as much to a Housewife as Jill Zarin. She was the key figure in casting and establishing this pop culture icon of a show and that’s why Bobby’s funeral was obviously covered by Bravo.
Jill still has existing relationships with the majority of the women on this show and any other past Housewife wouldn't even manage to get their husband’s funeral mentioned on the show let alone attended by Housewives elite and Bravo cameras whilst also being a driving factor for people watching this season.
I really don’t think Jill let the cameras come out of thirst, the funeral was almost a natural event that Bethenny, Ramona, Sonja (she came but it wasn't shown), Dorinda and Lu if she wasn’t in rehab, would've attended even if it happened OFF the show. For some reason, it made sense for the funeral to be featured on the show and Bravo did it in an extremely intimate, respectful and tasteful way. It wasn't exploiting Bobby's death, it was just covering the women on the show who all happened to be attending a funeral of their friend's husband. The tribute to Bobby was heartwarming and I'm not ashamed to say that I cried, he was truly an amazing human being who never had a bad word to say about anyone or anything. No one can hate on Bobby, you just can't.
Just as Bobby had been a healing force in life, he proved to also mend many of Jill's previous friendships in death. Wow, that sounds as dramatic as Jill's season 3-4 story arc, but it's true. Ramona decided to reach out to Jill and the two put their feud to bed having a Ramona Blue New Beginnings. If you've followed these two OG arch rivals beef since Jill has left the show through social media, WWHL tidbits and juicy interviews here and there, you'd know that these two bash each other in the press endlessly and then have a deep heart to heart and decide to move on every few months. Jill is a permanent resident aboard the Ramona Coaster and its kind of amazing that their frenemiship has continued well past Jill's apple holding days because it just proves how New York is the most authentic and genuine of all the cities. In what other franchise would two OG enemies still be fighting off camera all these years later?
Another relationship of Jill's that Bobby's death healed was obviously Bethenny's. Oh vey. I believe that Bethenny attended the funeral with the goodness of her heart and not because she was on Bravo's call sheet for 9 am that morning. After the holidays every season, the Skinnygirl mogul always feels more humbled because of her lack of family and shitty love life and she always loved Bobby which makes me really believe she had a moment where she wanted to be there authentically. That couple was a huge part of her life and reason behind her success so I think after a decade she wanted to pay respects to the man who she didn't send flowers to all those years ago in the hospital. I'm kidding, it's debatable whether she did or didn't send him flowers but how crazy is it to think that their OG fight was caused because of his first cancer battle and their eventual reconciliation was caused by his final one.
The former friends exchanged kind words in the New York street with them both talking about being alone and Bethenny joking about the funeral being bad because there were no gift bags. I understand it was a joke but really? It was short, sweet and completely appropriate for the situation. The one thing which really made me believe that Bethenny's intentions were pure for attending the funeral where that she introduced Brynn to Jill at the shiva OFF camera where the two had a Ramona Blue New Beginnings style heart to heart. That scene would have been everything but it seems way more authentic and believable that it happened between them and not a room full of 25 Bravo cameras and producers.
No one believes that the two will ever be where they were 8 years ago but it does open the door for a possible Jill Zarin return which I think we are all ready for. Maybe she shouldn't hold an apple but if Danielle Fucking Staub in all her filth can return to the show as a friend then Jill sure can. Although Bethenny has weirdly befriended Luann and Sonja of all people, her feud with Carole has really isolated her from the group and if she wants her reality TV career to continue I think she needs a Jill Zarin comeback because after their blowup there's no one who would be more loyal towards her and she knows it would make excellent TV for the fans. I'm ready, Bethenny's ready, let's just hope that Bravo is ready to give Jill Zarin the one thing she's wanted since the day Andy Cohen ruined her life by giving her the news she would no longer be a Real Housewife.
The funeral was really the only thing I cared about in this episode and it was over in the first ten minutes, it made Luann's arrest even feel redundant and THAT is saying something. For the rest of the time and oddly the majority of the episode we had to sit through Tinsley and her mom Dale really acting it up for the cameras. Seriously when I tell you that 70% of this episode was spent with Tinsley either screeching or crying in the hopes of trying to grab any attention she could away from Bobby's funeral, I'm not lying. It was rough. Did Bravo have nothing else they could show than the dumb scene of Tinsley trying on wedding dresses even though she isn't even engaged? That's the shit they leave in lost footage, not in an episode dedicated to the late great Bobby Motherfucking Zarin. It was an insult and quite frankly I'm waiting on a public apology from Mugshot Mortimer.
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Photo Credit: Bravo
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