I defended this season RHONY, say that Bravo is trying to do something more upscale and sophisticated, and that not every franchise needs to vibrate on such a high frequency as RHOSLC. I’m sticking with it, but as the season progressed it felt like everything was getting a bit boring. Everyone was holding back and not ready to be housewives and really go there.

I wasn’t sure who to blame. At first I thought it was Erin Mew Mew Lichy’s fault because I didn’t like her and always want to blame her first. Here she’s not talking about her husband selling his crypto or letting him joke about them picking mushrooms. Oh, and how can we forget the countless ridiculous pranks that no one asked for? Then I thought it was Jenna’s fault because she set such clear boundaries after the first season and still became a fan favorite. I assumed that all the other women thought, “If Jenna isn’t talking about things, then neither am I.” Then I thought it was Brynn’s fault because she kept creating drama based on manipulated versions of the truth based so we could see how what really happened and what Brynn said didn’t match. I never really blamed Sai, Jessel or Racquel because I think they were as present and willing as they could be. And, well, I try not to think about Becky Minkoff unless I really have to.

However, I have come to a new conclusion. It was Ubah all along. Just as Agatha Harkness shows up at the last minute to take credit for the chaos she has wrought, so Ubah Hassan is the real demon behind this slumber of a season, and just like Agatha, now that she has revealed herself, perfect sense, and we should have seen it all along.

The reason why everyone is holding back is because when they bring anything up, Ubah just shouts at them until the conversation is over. The reason there is no drama in the group is because Ubah jumps in every time and overlays it with whatever she is angry about that day. The reason no one is having fun is because Ubah shuts down every time he tries. If it’s something she doesn’t agree with, if it’s not her thing, or if she’s just not in the mood, she sulks, frowns, and drags down the mojo around her. Ubah actually destroys the show.

Because it’s not like the ladies can do without beef. This is what this trip has taught us: They all just sat on their complaints all season long, only for them to finally appear all at once at the end. This is what happens when you repress things and put them under pressure. They don’t disappear, they simply explode with a million times the force it took to keep them down for so long. Look at all the fights that break out at once – Erin, Brynn and Sai think Jessel is tacky; Sai believes Jessel’s husband owes her an apology; Ubah believes Brynn got her job through sex; Brynn believes Erin will never get her back; Erin thinks Ubah should mind her own business about her marriage – these have all been here since the beginning of the season, but it’s only now, at the very end, that they all come out. I think the reason they haven’t done it so far isn’t because the other women were trying to protect themselves from the public; They tried to protect themselves from Ubah.

A perfect example of the problem is when Racquel talks to Ubah about her inappropriate behavior on the beach, telling her that she didn’t like it when she said out loud that it was “disgusting.” Ubah says: “But it was disgusting. It was disgusting and it stank.” Ubah cannot understand Racquel’s point of view and not only reinforces her contempt, but makes it worse. Ubah tries to say that Ubah wouldn’t care if Racquel behaved the same way in Somalia because it’s the truth. Please. If they all went to Somalia, the first person who so much as batted an eyelash would catch Ubah with both barrels.

Then Ubah Racquel, who hasn’t been to Puerto Rico in six years, tries to say that she’s been there four times and cares more about Puerto Rico than she does, which is just absolutely ridiculous. It’s completely crazy. At this point, Sai has entered the room and they both try to tell her that the island has been through everything after Hurricane Maria (Hello, remember that). RHONY Season 10?) met their comments differently. But Ubah still doesn’t understand. She tells Racquel not to listen to the other people in the cast when they say that Ubah is rude, that she isn’t being rude, it’s her.

Yes, but in this case it was rude to be herself! And it wasn’t other voices that told Racquel this, but her own feelings. I think the point Racquel missed was to say it was rude instead of saying it hurt her feelings. Racquel took her to a real Puerto Rican beach, which had been her favorite since she was a child. She wanted to give them a real insight into life on the island and open up to them by showing them a place that was important to them. As soon as Ubah arrives, she starts trashing it and throwing a tantrum. Sorry, but this is rude, unfounded and not nice to Ubah’s supposed boyfriend. If she had seen that both Sai and Racquel were hurting on a deeper level, she might have reacted differently, but I don’t think so. There is no other way to tell Ubah; She thinks that her feelings are absolute and all her opinions are legitimate facts.

When Erin and Brynn try to prank (oh, Catholic Jesus, no) Erin’s husband Abe, just look at what happens next. Erin calls him and he’s on the phone with Brynn and Erin and the whole group surrounding them and Brynn acts like she and Erin are in the bath together trying to upset Abe. As pranks go, it seems harmless, and Abe clearly knows he’s on camera, and since it’s a business trip, he knows he’s on camera too. That’s why he was so careful with what he said, but also played along with the game.

When Ubah sees what’s going on, she shouts, “Abe, you’re on the phone and everyone is listening to you.” She storms off, talking about how wrong it is for Erin to do this to her husband. Yes, but that’s it Erins Husband. She can treat him however she wants and he obviously has no problem with it or he would have hung up on her. Everyone is fine with it. Even if Ubah thinks it’s stupid, just let everyone laugh a little. Brynn is right: the fun is lost in Ubah. But to make matters worse, she shouts, “Have some respect; Some of us pray for a husband every day.” Okay, it’s disrespectful for Erin to prank her husband, but the way Ubah acted on the beach earlier that day, isn’t that? Where is the GIF of the lady doing impossible math when you need it? And why is Erin’s behavior disrespectful to people who don’t have a husband? Please copy and paste the Math Lady GIF again.

Jenna may keep large parts of her life away from the camera and won’t even tell us how much money she made on her stoop sale (maybe for tax reasons?), but she’s a good sport. When she comes outside and all the ladies are making fun of her, she starts laughing hysterically. She’s in on the joke. She even goes as far as styling them to make them look better. Jenna then tries to get all the ladies to join her in synchronized swimming, which she has loved since she was a child. (She says if there was a gay team she would join it, and I’m happy to report there is one in New York City, and I bet they’d love to film for next season.) It is the only time this season I can imagine this happening is when the women are all together and having fun. We need more of what Jenna brings – without elbowing Racquel – and a lot less of what Ubah brings.

When the artistic swimming exercise is finished, Ubah asks Erin what’s wrong and Erin tells her that she didn’t like her yelling about Abe. “Every minute you find something to be angry about,” shouts Ubah. “She’s ruining everything.” Okay, that’s a projection. You know what I think about Mx. Mew Mew Lichy, but it’s not her who’s always mad at something or ruining everything, it’s Ubah. And besides, Ubah, if you weren’t so rude and bombastic all the time, maybe people wouldn’t always get mad at you.

Then it’s time for Brynn and Ubah to get into it. Brynn tells Ubah that it’s a commercial flight and Brynn is only flying private, which is the kind of annoying and stupid reading Brynn always likes to do, but Ubah tells her, “With who?” Someone else’s husband?” Okay, that’s just below the belt. Ubah takes the worst things people say about Brynn on the internet, brings them on the show and throws them in her face. And don’t force me to say this, but Ubah thinks she’s of the same caliber as Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bündchen? Please. Where is her big fat mansion? Where are all her Paris runway walks? Where is her Russian oligarch and/or Super Bowl-winning husband? Naomi and Gisele don’t even know Ubah’s name, she’s not in the same league. Period. Excuse me. But she made me!

At this point, Erin and Brynn begin their little argument about whether or not Erin had Brynn’s back (she didn’t), and then Erin’s third argument of the evening erupts when Ubah tells Sai that they talked to Erin about it earlier , what Erin did. Brynn and Sai said about Jessel in the last episode, Erin said they just talked and she listened. Okay, that’s classic Mew Mew, putting all the blame on others, but Ubah’s behavior also played a role in this argument. As Erin said, if she told Jessel and Ubah what was said, Ubah would yell at Erin for being a pigeon. Now Ubah is yelling at her And Sai because he didn’t want to say anything. This is what I mean by it being Ubah’s fault; All women feel trapped by their behavior. No matter what they do, they fall prey to irrational and vicious cries and don’t want to poke the bear, so to speak. Many lesser characters poke the bear at every opportunity, fighting the same battle over and over again until we’re exhausted by it. Luckily, this cast only signed up to fight once, at the very end of the season, and for the first time since episode one of this season, I can’t wait to see how this fight ends.