Could RHOBH Eileen Have Done More For Kyle & Kim?

I don't know why, but during every season of any incarnation of The Real Housewives, a cast member attempts to mediate some drama between her fellow Housewives. To be fair, the credo, "Mind your own business" really doesn't exist when you're on reality TV, but still, butting in is never a good move. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' Eileen Davidson found that out the hard way when she failed to resolve this season's sister drama between Kim and Kyle Richards during last Tuesday night's episode. But could Eileen have done anything differently?

As you may recall, the episode began with a continuation of the major brawl between Kim, Kyle, and Brandi Glanville at Kyle's Gay Mixer, which just happened to be a continuation of the fight they had at Eileen's poker party a couple of episodes back. That very fact probably should have tipped off Eileen that nothing ever gets resolved on reality TV. People more or less just move on to the next camera-grabbing conflict.

But no. She still decided to sit Kim and Kyle down over lunch, which was basically the worst meal ever because A: the sisters basically just rehashed the argument they had about Kim's friendship with Brandi at Kyle's Gay Mixer, and B: because it doesn't look like they actually ended up eating anything. In the end, there were a lot of tears, and Kim and Kyle reiterated that they each felt like the other didn't have her back. No, Kim and Kyle did not suddenly embrace, vow to put the past behind them, and promise to be better sisters from then on. (Remember: nothing ever gets resolved on reality TV.)

So clearly, Eileen had failed in her mission to patch things up between Kim and Kyle. However, the only thing Eileen should regret is organizing this mediation in the first place because she really did as much as someone who is only qualified to start fictional conflict should do, and that's not solve the fictional conflict.

First of all, Eileen came to this meeting with noble intentions. As she explained in the episode, she lost two sisters to breast cancer and a heart attack within the last five years. After seeing Kim and Kyle argue at her poker night and Kyle's Gay Mixer, she felt it was time to step in and share her tragic loss so that these sisters would realize life is short, and they need to make the most out of the time they have left together, not waste it away by squabbling.

Eileen even took on the role of counselor to try and guide and mediate the conversation during lunch. The idea was that an outside, objective perspective could help shed some light on the situation and make sure both sides understand how the other feels. Unfortunately, this backfired miserably on Eileen, with Kim getting pissed off that she was getting involved in her business.

We've seen this time and time again throughout The Real Housewives franchise. If you butt in to drama that's not your own, you will unnecessarily create drama for yourself. This happened when Ramona Singer "ambushed" Jill Zarin by inviting Bethenny Frankel over so the two of them could make up during Season 3 of The Real Housewives of New York City. Adrienne Maloof started a long feud with Brandi when she commented on Kim's crying when the ladies were having a moment in Ojai during Season 3. And we all saw what happened to Andy Cohen when he tried to hold back Teresa Giudice as she charged at Danielle Staub during The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 2 reunion. Not cute.

But then of course, if Eileen just sat back and didn't say anything during the whole argument, things probably would have gotten so heated between Kim and Kyle that someone's implant would have popped. See? Nothing good ever comes from meddling in other people's business.

However, it doesn't seem like any damage came as a result of the meeting, so that's kind of a win. In their blogs on BravoTV.com, Kim and Kyle both wrote about how they appreciated Eileen's efforts in bringing them together, but they admitted that their drama has roots that are too deep for any RHOBH newbie to disentangle and rebuild, which Eileen acknowledged in her blog post as well, summing it up best with, "Where's Oprah when you need her?"

But even though Eileen recognizes her limitations now in resolving conflict, it doesn't look like she realized it when RHOBH was still filming. In Tuesday night's upcoming episode, Eileen will bring Kim and Kyle together once again, inviting them to a table read for her husband Vince Van Patten's new script. Yeah, let's have these two former child stars try to one-up each other in the acting department. That seems wise. Apparently, like most Real Housewives outings, everything will seem fine between the sisters at first but will likely have a disastrous ending.

Well, Eileen, you've tried talking it out and now roleplaying. None of your counseling techniques seem to be working. How about you just let the Richards sisters go at it on their own from now on?

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