1 week Ago By Louis Peitzman
There’s a moment in the season finale of Denise Richards & Her Wild Things that I can’t stop thinking about. Denise is on the red carpet — or, well, just outside the red carpet — when Sutton Stracke says, “She’s a movie star.” In the trailer for the season , it looks like Sutton is talking about Denise herself, but when you watch the episode, you can see that Sutton is actually referring to her bestie and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star Jennifer Tilly .
It’s an incredible example of deceptive editing, not only because it’s so blatant but also because it adds a punch line to a moment that’s been teased for weeks. While Denise is a former Bond Girl (something the show reminds us at least once an episode), she hasn’t really been someone you’d call a “movie star” since her brief run in the late ’90s. The editing trick feels like the series finally acknowledging that Denise is more D-list than A-list, and it helps make the finale the best installment of the show so far.
Kathy Griffin would be so proud. To be clear, Denise is not as funny as Kathy Griffin on My Life on the D-List , the now 20-year-old Bravo reality show, but let’s face it, no one is. But Denise is a winning presence on TV, and she’s most likable when she acknowledges that she’s not a superstar, no matter how much of a tabloid mainstay she once was.
The Denise I love is one who’s, well, a little floppy, so I appreciated the way this episode opened with an extended sequence about Denise leaving her body makeup all over everything. She stains clothes, she stains furniture, she stains walls. It’s actually shocking to see what the confessional couch looks like after she stands up, a Denise-shaped tan streak in her wake.
To show what the body makeup does, she sprays some on Aaron, and I can’t say I see much of a difference. I guess he has a slightly more matte finish; I just don’t think that’s something I look for in a person. When it’s Denise’s turn to apply body makeup, Aaron decides to expedite the process with hair dryers, both because she’s a walking hazard until she dries and because they’ve got a movie premiere to get to.
Again, we get some refreshing honesty from Denise, who explains that she goes to the events she’s invited to and walks the red carpets mostly to stay relevant. “If you don’t do any of that, then it’s out of sight, out of mind, and then they’ll hire someone else,” she admits. She also notes that you don’t need to attend the “opening of an envelope,” which is the second reference to Death Becomes Her in this episode if you consider body makeup to be on par with flesh-toned spray paint (and I do).
The big Hollywood premiere turns out to be for the Lifetime Original Tempted by Love . No shade to star Garcelle Beauvais, who seems to be doing quite well for herself in this soon-to-be post- Housewives chapter of her life, but the entire event feels a little low budget for a finale. Again, I think that’s perfectly apt for this show and for Denise’s actual level of name recognition.
We even get a scene of Aaron looking for parking and carefully reading the signs — stars, they’re just like us! When Garcelle greets Denise, she thanks her for coming to show her support and for being such a “girl’s girl,” which is a little sad since Denise already told us she’s there to be seen. Denise takes some pics with Sutton and Jennifer Tilly, who have just returned from the RHOBH cast trip. Sutton looks shell-shocked, and given the ambush on the “crazy yacht from hell,” who can blame her? As Denise finally makes it to the carpet, Aaron has to stand awkwardly to the side.
Stars, still just like us. Back at one of the townhouses, we get a brief scene of Denise, Aaron, and Eloise wrangling their hairless cats for a photo shoot so they can turn them into Instagram celebrities. As much as I’d like to hear more about why Tim Ballsackian was given a vasectomy instead of getting neutered — charming as his resulting name may be! — the real focus of the episode is the big (human) family photo shoot.
Denise, Sami, Lola, and Eloise will be photographed together ten years after a shoot with the same photographer. This is allegedly for a magazine, but they never say which magazine, and as another movie star once said, I have such doubts . Regardless, it makes for a nice way to end the season.
Part of the built-in drama is that Sami and Lola have been on the outs. (Although the estrangement was semi-resolved in the second episode , it’s been popping up whenever the plot requires it.) Denise just wants to get through this without any drama between the girls, which would be famous last words on Housewives but is a totally reasonable expectation here.
This is not a show with any meaningful conflict! Sami does almost bail on the shoot after her car gets stolen. (She thinks it was stolen. It was actually repossessed because she forgot to pay the bill, and yes, this is the second time that’s happened.
) Once she does arrive, Lola tries to make conversation — as a crookie obsessive, I would also like to know what’s in that Le Pain Quotidien bag — but Sami isn’t really having it. Sister strife aside, it’s interesting to hear Lola talk about her insecurity, given how comfortable Denise and Sami have always been in front of the camera. When she tells her mom, “I don’t feel pretty at all,” Denise answers, “I don’t either,” which is maybe not the proper parental response, but given the weird potato sack dresses they’re all wearing, I kind of get it.
The photos turn out great, of course — Eloise joins in for some full family shots, minus Aaron — and Denise concludes of her daughters, “If I back off a little bit, they will come together again.” I do feel like we also established that early in the season, and the sisters have been on a positive trajectory since then, but the Sami-Lola fight is the only real arc the show has, so I’ll allow it. In the end, Sami is glad that she did the shoot and concedes that one day, she and Lola will be glad to have these photos together.
“Deep down, I know me and her are gonna be on good terms again soon,” she adds, which is the kind of thing you say when you’re already on fine terms and need to play up an issue for the cameras. Denise feels like she succeeded in bringing the girls together, even though two minutes ago she was talking about the need to let them figure it out on their own. “I try to be the normalcy to our craziness as much as possible,” she says.
If this show is going to continue, I’m going to need everyone involved to stop acting like the Richards-Sheen-Phypers clan is the craziest family on television. They’re not even the most unhinged Richards family on Bravo. It looks like the episode is over until we’re hit with a dramatic “two days after the photo shoot .
.. the unthinkable happened.
” No, production didn’t pick up cameras because of an insane new development — Lola apologized to Sami, which I’m pretty sure she had already done. Nevertheless, this is treated as the one thing that was holding them back from being best friends again, allowing for a true happy ending. The final fake out is the perfect way to end the first (and potentially only) season of Denise Richards & Her Wild Things , a show that has not managed to be anywhere near as interesting as it pretends to be.
At the same time, I can’t deny that the finale showed some much-needed signs of life. If Denise is willing to keep leaning into the self-aware desperation that made Kathy Griffin’s show must-watch TV, I’ll be seated. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us.
.
