Jearnest Corchado, Kyle Richards, Kyle Selig and Betsy Brandt inThe Housewives of the North Pole.Photo: Natalie Cass/Peacock
There are plenty of nods to Bravo’s most popular franchise in the Peacock original movie (they are sister networks, after all). Naturally, quite a few gags will resonate with fans ofThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, where Richards and her costars have been known to get into shouting matches in limos and even smash glasses mid-fight — though never has anRHOBHfeud taken down a row of Christmas trees. That’s pureNorth Pole.
Read on for the highlights (including spoilers) ofThe Housewives of the North Pole…
In the film, Richards plays Trish Rivera, “self-proclaimed Queen of the North Pole, mother of all cheesecakes and breaker of game night records.” Trish is the kind of person who snarks to her best friend Diana Forester (Breaking BadalumBetsy Brandt) immediately after meeting someone that the newbie is sporting a fake Fendi. How does Trish know? “I have a real one,” she says.
The North Pole Trish mentions is the small town of North Pole, Vermont, and the woman she threw shade at is young journalist Kendall Curry (Boomerang’s Tetona Jackson), who hopes to write a story about a seasonal reindeer migration.
Before we can say"Puppygate,“Kendall gets caught up in the unraveling dynamic between Trish and Diana. She’s reluctant to burn the women, but her clickbait-obsessed boss Xander (The Rich and the Ruthless’s Alec Mapa) knows tabloid fodder when he hears it and instantly dubs the pair “The Real Housewives of the North Pole.”
As Trish and Diana prepare for the competition, we also meet their 20something children, who have been rivals since their days at the kids' table. But with the handsomeKyle Selig(Aaron Samuels from Broadway’sMean Girls) playing Diana’s son Jake and winsome Jearnest Corchado (Sneakerheads) as Trish’s daughter Skye, it’s clear pretty much immediately they’re destined for a mistletoe moment — or a smooch on a park bench as they drink wine straight from the bottle, as it were. Again, this isHousewives-inspired.
AndHousewiveswe get, quite literally in the form ofNew York’sSonja Morgan,Potomac’sKaren Huger,Atlanta’sCynthia Bailey,Salt Lake City’sLisa Barlow.
These four fan favorites make appropriately juicy cameos as the straws that stir the drink (to borrow a tagline from Morgan) when Diana finally lets her frustration with Trish boil over and publicly calls out her frenemy for cheating at Charades. And asHousewivesfans know,game nights can go horribly awrywhen a Richards sister is involved. Not to mention when covert texting is involved, which is not only how Diana says Trish cheats, but it’s also a trade secret forHousewiveswhen producers need one of the wives to ramp up drama when filming gets dull.
Trish responds like a true queen bee and throws a Frappuccino in her friend’s face. Between that, the cruel words they exchange and the piping hot peppermint tea about Trish spreading across North Pole thanks to Diana, the friendship is as lumped as coal. With Christmas fast approaching, each of the ladies decides her only move is to destroy her former bestie through festive decorating. (Warning: Wire reindeer will be harmed in the making of this film.)
Kyle Richards and Jearnest Corchado inThe Housewives of the North Pole.Fred Hayes/Peacock
Trish and Diana’s desperation to win the Holiday House competition gets uglier — and Skye and Jake’s secret romance heats up — as their displays get gaudier.
In that spirit, the catfights are appropriately wintery, with the previously mentioned Christmas tree debacle taking place as the women try to one-up each other’s decor. Diana snarks that “Trish’s favorite tree is a Douglas fir because it’s big and flashy.”
Trish shoots back, “Well I think bigger is better.”
“Big like the bill from your nose job?” zings Diana.
Trish hits below the belt: “Big like the boobs on your ex-husband’s new wife?”
Cue the hair pulling.
A little later judgment day comes for the competition, and Xander has flown in with a camera crew to ensure Kendall gets the next big bust-up on camera.
A massive snowball fight follows — thinkScary Islandbut with permafrost instead of gummy bears and satchels of gold. Xander’s open delight at their misery, not to mention a lonely Christmas Eve without each other, eventually forces Trish and Diana to realize how petty their rivalry has become and what they are losing without each other as a friend.
Perhaps this is where Peacock has the edge onHousewives: If this were set in Beverly Hills, Trish and Diana’s conflict would take another 20 hours of screen time (plus a four-part reunion) to resolve.
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” says Diana.
Indeed — one wrapped up in a bow so tidy it would fit right in atBluestone Manor.
The Housewives of the North Poleis streaming now on Peacock.
source: people.com
