LuAnn de LessepsIt was out with the old and in with the new on the season five premiere of The Real Housewives of New York tonight. New girls Heather Thomson, Carole Radziwill, and Aviva Drescher made their debut, and it was a baptism by pinot-grigio-fueled fire as they met the ladies.

LuAnn de Lesseps and Ramona Singer picked right back up where we last saw them -- feuding -- and the holier-than-thou countess wasn't about to let Ramona forget that she'd insulted her highness. She wanted an apology, dammit, and she was determined to do what she had to in order to get it, including pouncing on Ramona the minute she saw her at Sonja Morgan's "Sonja fresh" party.

In the absence of the NY Housewives, I guess I'd forgotten just how irritating and ridiculous LuAnn is, but boy did she remind us tonight. She was on a mission to recruit the new ladies to her side -- especially because Ramona has Sonja securely in her corner still (for now), which burns the countess right up.

LuAnn can have Heather Thomson as far as Ramona is concerned. While it seemed they may have something in common since they're both business owners, they couldn't have irritated each other more. Heather is a bit awkward and annoying (how many times did she say, "O.M.G."?), but it's got to be intimidating walking into this group of women. When Ramona and Mario called her out for interrupting people at their dinner party, I couldn't believe that was happening. It was one of the most awkward and ridiculous conversations I've heard in a long time, but the bottom line was clear: Ramona clearly has no use for Heather. Next.

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As clueless as Ramona can be, however, LuAnn is just loathsome. In the final scene, she sat down (or at least genuflected) for a brief drink with the ladies and did this bizarre drive-by assault on Ramona. It was hard to even piece the whole thing together, but I think the bottom line message she was trying to convey was that Ramona is a horror. She said Ramona has spies in the Hamptons and had threatened her and her children with blackmail. "Have you ever heard anything that disgusting in your lifetime?" she asked them oh so dramatically.

Then she was up and out of there, leaving the three new ladies stunned and not knowing what to believe. If Ramona did threaten to reveal things about LuAnn's children, then clearly that was wrong. Regardless, however, for LuAnn to run and tattle to these new women was childish and classless. What's that song she sings?

It will be interesting to see how the sides settle this season. It's not going to be as easy as the blondes verses brunettes this time. Maybe LuAnn will recruit some of the new ladies to her side for awhile, but eventually they'll see through her phony ways.

The three new ladies ended the episode by vowing not to become mean girls. Somehow, based on past experience and the previews for the rest of the season, I'm pretty sure that's a promise none of them will be able to keep.

Oh, and did anyone miss Jill Zarin? Yeah, me neither.

Which side are you on -- Team Ramona or Team LuAnn? Which sides do you think the new ladies will take?

 

Image via Bravo