Tamra Judge is crucial to the success of The Real Housewives of Orange County . From Gina and Emily’s bubbling tension to Alexis’ tornadic attack on Shannon , Tamra’s fingerprints are at the scene of each and every crime. She isn’t going anywhere.
Much has been said about what makes a good Housewives villain, and for as popular as this season has been, it hasn’t escaped numerous calls for Tamra’s firing and claims she’s too nasty to make good TV. But here we are, watching the best Housewives season of the year, of which Tamra is the mastermind. And I can’t help but wonder, why would we remove the most crucial piece of this Jenga tower without worrying it will crumble in the aftermath? This carefully plotted season has chaos running from end to end, and it’s not just petty drama, nor is it a retread of past feuds.
That’s one of the many reasons Tamra excels in the art of villainy. She’s spent this season shamelessly attacking Shannon while slowly dismantling Gina from the sidelines, just for fun, and she’ll spend next season either eviscerating Alexis Bellino or getting re-baptized (probably both). RHOC dynamics are ever-changing, so it’s rare a Housewife has no allies.
For Shannon, the devastating loss of Tamra as her best friend mixed with the return of Alexis could have spelled a takedown, yet the La Quinta trip is proof the cast are too elastic to let that happen. As her former enemies Gina and Emily—and her former arch enemy, Heather —rally a.