Bethenny Ever After - Season Premier

So it was the premier of Bethenny Ever After yesterday. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Still love Bethenny, but I loved her way more when she was on Housewives making fun of silly women and not insulting nice little towns and the people who live there.

The show starts with Bethenny and Jason going for a walk with Cookie and Bryn. Bethenny asks Jason if he can help her out with her business and I think it's nice that she's trying to give him work since it doesn't appear as though he actually has a job. Jason says he'll work with her, but doesn't want to work for her. (Good luck with that buddy.) Then they discuss death and who gets what if the other one dies. Bethenny is getting rich and she's worried Jason might decide to off her and blow all her money on some 20 year old hoochie. She wants to get a will to be sure that his new girlfriend doesn't get any of the money she worked so hard for. They didn't discuss what would happen to Jason' money if he died. I assume that's because he doesn't have any.

Bethenny and her girlfriend who's name I can't remember go to get fitted for some brars since that's one of those "things" Bravo likes to make their Housewives do, along with shooting guns and filming botox injections. Bethenny finds out that she's a size F, which the sales lady explains stands for Fantastic. I don't understand why the women always go to these random little dumpy stores for their bras. Don't they have a Victoria's Secret? So anyway, Bethenny stands in the store half naked telling the brar lady her whole life story because that's totally normal and not at all done for shock value or ratings.

After the bra experience, Bethenny and Jason pack up the car and head out to Pennsylvania to spend the weekend with the grandparents. But first they need to stop to pick up a cake, walk the dog, eat, feed the baby, and find out what exactly is making the car smell like shit.

After 16 hours they finally manage to get out of Manhattan and when they arrive in Pennsylvania Bethenny acts as if she's never seen grass before. She can't seem to get over the fact that the entire world is not covered in concrete and buildings.

They finally arrive at the grandparents home and it's a lot of hugs and kisses and excitement which seemed to annoy Bethenny. Bon Jovi stopped by with a "Hot Mom" t-shirt, which I guess was supposed to be a compliment to B. It appeared to be the first time she was meeting him, and it makes me wonder why he wasn't invited to their wedding, or why she hadn't met him on previous visits. I guess with all the traveling required to keep up his hair style he must be on the road a lot.

Being in the small town made Bethenny realize how incredibly different Jason's childhood was from hers. As they walk down the street Bethenny makes observations about the empty town and all the closed stores. Jason assures her that they will be paving Main Street any day now.

They stop at a local restaurant for some chili dogs and Bethenny acts like she's been taken to another planet and doesn't understand who these space creatures are that surround her. It was serious over kill with the constant shocked observations. Small towns are different from Manhattan. Point made, get over it. While they were eating, a young girl came up and asked Bethenny for her autograph, and even got a hug from her too. She's probably the most popular girl in high school right now for making it on the show.

That night the family goes out to a local restaurant for Jason's mom's (can't remember her name) birthday, and when they walk in you get the feeling that she just might have called everyone she knew in town and told them to be there that night if they wanted to get their faces on camera. The owner of the restaurant introduced himself and tells Bethenny that her being there is the biggest thing to ever happen to the town. That's sad. Very sad.

At dinner the conversation of how often they should be visiting the in-laws comes up. Bethenny explains that she doesn't want to exclude anyone, but she needs some things to be just for them. She told them how it upset her when the baby rolled over for the first time and Jason's immediate reaction was to call his mom and tell her about it instead of just sharing that special moment with Bethenny alone. So basically, Jason is a big ol mamma's boy. And that's always a problem.

The next night at dinner the same conversation comes up again about how often they should be visiting. I have seen a lot of controversy on the web over this dinner, but I just don't see it. The grandparents want to spend every possible moment they can with their only grandchild - makes sense, I get it. Bethenny is trying to get used to being a new mom and a new wife and doesn't want to feel pressured to pack up and travel 2 hours every weekend with a new born - makes sense, I get it.
The grandparents probably always imagined that their grandchildren would grow up down the street from them, but they lost one son and the other one moved away, so they are a little anxious about how often they will get to see their only grandchild. Bethenny wants to create memories and traditions with her family. As welcoming as the Hoppy's have been, when she's with them it's their family and she is an outsider. No one is wrong here. Everyone is right and it's a complicated situation. But at least they're communicating and being honest with each other about how they feel, that's the most important part.

Bethenny and Jason leave Bryn with the grandparents go to hang out at the towns (only?) bar where Bethenny says she feels like Jodi Foster in The Accused. I kept waiting for the moment when Jason would tell her to shut the F up, but he has the patience of a saint. She met all of Jason's friends, seemingly for the first time, and again I'm wondering why they weren't they at the wedding, or why didn't she meet them on one of her previous visits? Maybe they aren't really that close anymore and just got together for a little reunion so that Bethenny and Jason had people to film with.

I like Bethenny, but she was acting like a real snobby bitch. Her digs at the bar itself were one thing, but her comments about the people were rude and unnecessary. Wasn't she poor and struggling when she joined Housewives? A bar with vinyl chairs and cheap liquor can't really be all that shocking. Although I did share her amazement at only paying $5 for two drinks. I can't even get two bottles of water for $5.

There was a nice moment when Jason's friend was talking about roots, and Bethenny explained that she doesn't have any, so he tells her that she can share their roots with them. It was really sweet. But I wonder if they still want to share their roots with her now that they've seen the show and all the things she had to say about them and their town.

The next day they pack up and get ready to head back to the city. They almost forgot Cookie who came tearing out of the house and into the car like she couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Jason's dad (sorry, still don't know the parents name's yet) shed a tear. They seem like nice people and I hope they find a way to work out the visitation issue so that everyone can be Hoppy. That was lame. Sorry.

Back in the city Bethenny goes to a therapy session. I don't like that shrink. He gives her these "wtf?" looks in reaction to some of the things she says and I don't like that. When she explains that she doesn't have roots he tries to talk her out of her feelings and convince her that she does have roots because she has parents. Uh... no. I understand what Bethenny is saying. Just because she has parents doesn't mean she has roots. It's not the same thing and I think the doctor was not validating the feelings that she was totally justified in having.

Well, that's all for this week. The previews for the rest of the season show the wedding planner refusing to eat oysters, Max getting yelled at, Skinny Girl production, trespassing and possibly breaking and entering, Bethenny crying in the bathroom about something, and behind the scenes of Skating With The Stars. Looks like we get to see Alex and Ramona too.
What did you think, was Bethenny being her snarky self or going overboard? And what does everyone think about the grandparent situation?