There were some lighthearted moments in this episode.  Julie and Bethenny stalked Cookie and the dog walker, Paolo, to see how Cookie behaved when she was with someone other than family.  Wearing blond wigs and dark glasses, the two women spied on Cookie at the dog park until Cookie gave them away and the two ran off.   Dwayne, the driver, is enjoying his camera time, and is a perfect foil for Bethenny.  He attended both a self-defense class and a class on CPR with Bethenny and her female friends.  While learning to do CPR Dwayne said that it was important for him to acquire the skill because he has four, or maybe five, children – he wasn’t quite sure.  Even the conversation between Jason and Bethenny regarding an upcoming trip to Cabo was a silly one, as Bethenny explained that their having sex should be considered a gift from Bethenny to Jason.

The couple had meetings with the team of design professionals regarding their new apartment.  The crux of those decisions was over the use of a room, and it came down to whether it should be a man cave or a dressing room.  The team and the couple, finally agreed that the space would be better used as a large closet/dressing room, particularly for resale value.  A compromise was reached by a decision to place a large screen television in the  living room, which could be hidden when guests were visiting.

The not so fun parts of this episode were due to the news, received by text from Bethenny’s publicist, that her estranged mother, Bernadette Birk, has sold a story to Star magazine.  Her mother has had a lot to say about Bethenny since the Skinnygirl brand has become successful.  She has told the tabloids that her daughter is going to be divorced, because she puts money and power ahead of all else, including family.  She is also claiming that she came up with the idea for the now famous cocktail mixes.  I think she has even said that aliens will eventually abduct Bethenny, freeing the world from the evil works she has done.  The bottom line is that she has  spoken about things she has no real knowledge of as she and her daughter have had very little contact in the past decade.

This is a very odd phenomenon with parents who either abandon the children or lose interest in being parents, only to resurface when fame or fortune come to those children, or just because the hard work was done by someone else, and now that parent wants to rekindle the relationship.  Country singer Kellie Pickler experienced something similar with her own mother.  On the heels of Pickler’s new success, following her appearances on American Idol, her mother also began her own tabloid tour.  Pickler reacted with anger and heartbreak – both of which seemed appropriate given the circumstances.

Bethenny talked to Dr. Amador about her life as a young child.  She described what it was like to watch her parents hit each other and argue incessantly.  Bethenny told her therapist that both of her parents tried to draw her into their battles, perhaps as a witness, perhaps each hoping for an ally.   She said that she would spend full days at a local roller skating rink, after her mother would drop her off.   Bethenny told Dr. Amador that she remembered her childhood as lonely and that she felt alone.  With each of these episodes and each of these glimpses into her therapy sessions, another layer of the onion is peeled away.  When enough layers are taken away, Bethenny, her husband, her friends and the viewers might just find out who the real woman is.

Empress