['Bethenny Ever After' - 'Ice Castles and Hassles']

How convenient ... a night in a swanky hotel with her girl posse just to talk ... about planning her birthday party? It sounds better than it ended up, especially when Bethenny's got some kind of birthday psychosis going on, unsurprisingly traced back to some pretty unsavory, sad moments from her childhood. See, she was sure the therapist had something to say. He must be convinced now, too.

Can we please get some bonus footage at the end of the season with Julie performing an extended version of her "Metro card" dance? I'm sure one of the Bravo 'Housewives' would be more than happy to take on the task of singing an accompanying song or jumping on a remix.



Way for Bethenny to make a good impression on her 'Skating With the Stars' partner, Ethan Burgess, by revealing she found his story on Wikipedia (or something), divulging that she knew he fell "in, like, the Olympics or something, in one of your trials." If he only was a Jason, and so primed for a place in "her wheelhouse" like that general manager at the bar. She'd be finessing him, not insulting him. Then again, it's probably best he's not another of the Jason clan, given that she mistakenly assured Jason-the-husband that the guy would be gay.

It's six weeks and counting before Bethenny has to somehow keep up with a professional skater. At least she's got the outfit down, which was definitely a priority from the start. Plus she's been privy to the revelation that she has bone spurs, a term that seems to tickle her more than it should.

By comparison, the double-date with Jake and his lookalike Barry proved an instant success, probably because both of the guys found a common bond in crushing on Jason. They needed something to distract them from the fact that they would be matches for each other on your average Internet facial-recognition program. Why not "private" piercings? Mr. Hazleton, Penn., was game.

Speaking of Jason, does anyone think he was actually a little whiny about including his five couples in the Bethenny birthday party? Considering everything else will be all-Bethenny-all-the-time, though, he might have a point.

And who else hopes Tipsy Julie makes a return appearance before the season's out? They've got enough Skinnygirl jugs on hand to get her started. If not, there's always Bryn's birthday party, since they said that was happening next year. We know Bethenny already gave her a raise, but she could probably get a side gig with the MTA out of it, if not one of those unlimited-ride cards.

'Bethenny Ever After' airs Mondays, 10PM ET on Bravo.