On "The Real Housewives of D.C.," The Claws Come Out Early

Well, we are definitely not in New Jersey anymore. "The Real Housewives of D.C." strike a curious hybrid between the social whirl of "The Real Housewives of New York City" (there's even a Simon, red pants and all) and the cattiness of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," (a requisite gay Black stylist is on hand.) Throw in a heavy dose of political name dropping and that pretty much sums up the D.C. gals.

We get to individually meet the Housewives and learn that Mary has a long D.C. pedigree, stretching back to her grandfather, broadcaster Arthur Godfrey, to her father, a lobbyist who was chummy with the Kennedys. Stacie is a real estate mogul with two kids and she seems like she might be a bit on the uptight side, but stay tuned. Lynda runs a modeling agency and we learn early on she's got no love for fellow Housewife, Michaele, who she's known for 15 years. Michaele is being set up as a polarizing figure and we haven't even gotten to the whole White-House-party-crashing-thing. Finally, British export Cat is a straight shooter and you can already tell she's going to rub everyone the wrong way.

The first "event" of the night is the America's Polo Cup, hosted by Michaele, who flits around hugging everyone she can get her hands on. Her husband calls the event the kickoff to the social season in D.C., but Cat, who's used to polo across the pond, isn't impressed with this particular shindig. Lynda isn't all that hot on it either, calling it a "goat rodeo" she went to in the past, but will never attend again in life. Her gay husband, Paul (because you're not a Real Housewife unless you've got a gay husband), is also buddy-buddy with Michaele. Look for him to get caught between the two ladies.

The second get-together revolves around Mary's birthday party. Michaele wasn't on the list initially, but Mary feels guilty and throws a last-minute invite her way. This irks Lynda, who considers Michaele and her husband to be "second tier." Michaele makes a point of telling Stacie, the only African American in the cast, that she'll be attending the Congressional Black Caucus Gala (Stacie will not be there). In recounting the night to her husband, Cat makes it clear the jury is still out on whether she likes Michaele. Mary makes sure to seat Stacie next to celebrity hair stylist, Ted Gibson, who also happens to be Black. In a drunken moment, Mary informs Ted and Stacie it's time to integrate hair salons, because after all, we've got a Black president. Stacie and Ted look at Mary as though she's sprouted a few heads and basically ignore her.

At the third event of the night, honoring D.C.'s Style Setters, Lynda and Mary's husband, Rich (who parades around in paisley pants. A man after Simon van Kempen's heart) are among the honorees. We also learned that Mary has a "biometric lock" on her closet (you can only get in with a fingerprint). She should consider putting some of her husband's pants in there where he can't get to them. Paul is at the party and takes the opportunity to grill Lynda about why she wasn't at the Polo Cup event. Paul mentions he'll be fitting Michaele for some gala outfits and Lynda intimates he should tell her to gain some weight (the opposite of what most stylists tell you.) Paul looks uncomfortable with this task, but when he meets with Michaele later on, he asks her point-blank if she eats. Guess he got over it. She denies having an eating disorder and is peeved that Lynda put Paul on the case instead of asking her directly.

We finish up the night with a disastrous cooking party at Stacie's house. She's got Janet Jackson's personal chef doing an intimate cooking class for some of the ladies and the minute Cat steps through the door, the insults start flying. The chef wants to start everyone off with Sake. Cat doesn't like Sake. The chef counts Tyra Banks as one of his clients. Cat doesn't like Tyra Banks. Cat's husband, a photographer for the White House, was honored for his work, but Obama doesn't come to the ceremony. Bush did. Obama didn't RSVP to Cat's wedding. Bush RSVP'd. The more Cat talked, the more uncomfortable it got. The final nail in the coffin came when Cat declared Bush a class act. Stacie was ready to leap across the room and slap the Sake out of Cat's mouth. Cat chalks up her frankness to expressing her opinion, but Stacie wonders if her comments are racially motivated. Uh oh.

This season on "The Real Housewives of D.C." Michaele and her husband might not be paying their bills, Cat just can't fake it and Stacie goes on a personal journey.