It was almost poetic that The Real Housewives of New York City kicked off its 10th season with a Halloween party.  The event was a shrill harbinger of the nightmarish season ahead for the ladies of the Big Apple.  It also highlighted an issue that’s haunted the entire franchise since its inception: it's lack of diversity.

It all started when Luann de Lesseps—the Housewife formerly known as The Countess—boasted about how much she’s “suffered” since her marriage to Tom D'Agostino ended in a Chernobol-esque disaster after a tumultuous engagement and a whirlwind seven months of wedding bleakness.  

Luann arrived to Dorinda’s Halloween party in with a gigantic, two-foot afro that was more befitting of Marge Simpson than the intended diva Diana Ross.  Ontop of that, her skin was seemingly darker than it normally is.  Yes, that’s right.  The woman, who made a career of preaching, writing and sing about class and etiquette actually wore motherfucking blackface in 2018.

If you’ve spent more than five minutes on this blog or my Twitter feed, you know I’m not shy about sharing my opinions.  It’s a blessing and a curse for an entertainment critic, because while I don’t want to have an intense feeling about everything from the flower arrangements at the latest trainwreck of a housewives event, I guarantee you I could do a five-minute rant on them. 

But that’s not to be said that I don’t have a ton of questions either.  I’m plagued with just as many if not more.  Here are just a few of the burning questions and maybe some answers on my favorite TV shows like Jane The Virgin, Grey’s Anatomy, Black Lightning and more…

In a Dubai hotel suite in more luxurious and sprawling than actual castles, six women bicker about the schedule of a chronically ill woman. 
 
In a Jamaican resort, a grown woman berates another for being passed over for a job opportunity.

In a beach house in Maryland, one woman insults another for allowing her husband and owner of the house to stay the night during a “girl’s weekend.”
 
​These incidents of cringe-worthy pettiness have all taken place on various editions of Bravo’s The Real Housewives’ series--Beverly Hills, Atlanta and Potomac, respectively.  If what used to make for addictive, live-tweetable television now feels like an exasperating, brain cell killing waste of time, you may have Housewives Fatigue.

Unlike overpriced Hermes handbags, every season of Bravo's "The Real Housewives" has its own unique in its own over-the-top, captivating flare. The women of New York are neurotic, anxiety-driven whack-a-doodles who talk so fast and so much that they can insult each other without the others realizing it until hours later.  The Beverly Hills wives are so deliciously connected that every conversation feels like a behind-the-scenes tell-all come to life.  Atlanta offers the best catchphrases ("Fix it, Jesus"; "Gone With The Wind Fabulous"; "Bloop") and supportive friendships.
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However, every franchise is built on a catty, insecure, zany foundation that's vintage Housewives, and it must be celebrated!  If you are 21 and over, you can play Small Screen Girl's Real Housewives Drinking Game!  An since Housewives diets are more regulated than American gun sales, you can trade alcohol for bites of your favorite carby or chocolaty treat, if you're underage, don't like alcohol or just hungry!  #DrinkResponsibly 

Take a drink or a bite if the following happens: 
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There is a montage of a Housewife's gigantic and impeccably decorated home.

A Housewife is frazzled during the set-up of a party, even though the caterers and event planners are doing all of the work.

A few Housewives decide that a glamorous party or a charity event is the perfect time to hash out their problems. It does not go well. 

A tiny disagreement between two Housewives becomes an episodes-long fiasco with people taking sides and possible hashtags (#whatdidHarrydo #tablegate #scaryisland).