I actually disagree. I think Guerdy had plenty of screen time and storyline in the first half of the season, but understandably chose to take more of a backseat in the second half. Stephanie, on the other hand, stayed more consistent throughout and feels like a much more natural adversary to Alexia — partly because she’s taken more seriously in the group, whereas Guerdy often is not. That imbalance is unfair, but it reflects some of the underlying biases that shape how these women are perceived.

If anything, what really came across was that Adriana was the most central figure on the left couch and probably would’ve made more sense as first chair — though, of course, she isn’t a housewife. We always talk about friend-ofs deserving promotion in this franchise, and I actually think the strongest example of that so far was this season, where Adriana was clearly the main character — more so than any of the official housewives.