Hockey Wives: Season 1, Episode 8

[rsadelle]

This is the last episode of the season. Nicole Brown doesn't appear in it at all. The show spends some time with Noureen DeWulf at home. The other six women converge on Toronto for an event for Tiffany and George Parros's clothing lines. What made this episode stand out from the others is how much it really is focused on the women, with only a few appearances from their partners.

Noureen

Noureen and Ryan take a private class with Kathleen, a childbirth educator. The National Post reviewers found this hilarious; I could barely get through these scenes without fast forwarding, although, like Noureen, I appreciated Kathleen's dedication to acting out the part of a woman in labor. Ryan's whole family also comes to visit this episode, and they give Ryan and Noureen Ryan's first skates for their son.

Later we rejoin Noureen after the birth of her son, Bodhi. Her mother is staying with her, and from what we saw, they seemed to be having a restful time together. Noureen talks about having to give up an acting job - "a lead role in a very big pilot for a major network" - because she couldn't get Bodhi's passport in time, and she wasn't going to go without him. She also talks about how Puck, the dog, misses being the center of attention now that Bodhi's around. Note that Bodhi is a tiny, tiny baby, and spends all of his time on camera wrapped up like a burrito with an adorable face.

Kodette

Before traveling to Toronto, Kodette LaBarbera gets a tattoo. She wants an autism-related tattoo, so she gets a puzzle piece with a rainbow feather, to represent the autism spectrum, dangling off of it. She explains, "I've wanted to get an autism tattoo for a while. I want to have an autism puzzle piece. People with autism process things differently, so they're fitting the pieces together." I know there is concern with the puzzle piece as the symbol for autism - I've heard "I am not a puzzle" as the counter phrase from people with autism - so I thought her framing, that everything else is the puzzle for Ryder, was interesting. Kodette is hardcore enough to talk about this while she's getting a tattoo on the inside of her forearm.

Tiffany

Before heading to Toronto, Tiffany helps Barbie Blank, a former WWE diva who is engaged to hockey player Sheldon Souray, organize her closet. I would not want Tiffany anywhere near my stuff. She says, "I'm just going to throw away the stuff I don't think you should wear anymore. ... You should only have classic pieces in your closet now. You're a grownup!" Um, no, you don't get to decide what someone else keeps based on what you approve of. I don't get the appeal of Tiffany. Reviewers seem to love her, but not only do I not want to spend time with people who are as consistently angry and unkind as she comes across, I don't even want to watch them on TV.

Emilie

Emilie and Jonathan Blum get to spend some time together in Toronto. He's there because he just played a game in Toronto; she's there for the pop-up event. They go to some sort of presumably swanky hipster bowling alley. The place is divided up into bits of two lanes with luxurious couches to sit on. Emilie and Jon sit on these couches to talk about their future. Jon once again talks about the possibility of playing in Europe. Emilie does not want that. She tells the camera, "To me, going to Europe means that you're giving up on your dreams of playing in the NHL. Every door would close and his chances of playing in the United States again would be gone. I feel like having to give up my dreams of being in the military, I know what it's like to have those feelings of regret and if he quit his dream, my sacrifice is for nothing. I would just feel uncomfortable as an American living in Europe. I honestly hate the idea of playing in Europe." To Jon she says, "I gave up on my dream for your career, so if you give up on your dream. ... How am I supposed to be a photographer when I can't even speak the language of the people I want as my clients? What, am I going to hire a translator? I want to have a career and I can't have a career in Europe." He says, "My career supports the family and our future, so you'd have to make another sacrifice if that was the case." In the end, nothing is resolved. I don't know why this ongoing conversation rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's the way Emilie doesn't seem open to even listening to the possibility of moving to Europe, and the way Jon doesn't seem to care much about her concerns either.

Maripier

While in Toronto, Maripier Morin does a radio interview. Her agent tells her that radio is the way to break into the English market. That sounded completely off-base to me, but maybe radio is bigger in Canada. This interview is terrible, not as much because of her but mostly because all the interviewer wants to talk about is Brandon. He asks, "What is it like dating a pro athlete? Because, I mean, we're talking about a handsome guy, he's rich, he's also on the road, you got puck bunnies everywhere." Maripier tells the interviewer, "Our relationship is based on honesty and respect, and, like, I can't just think about that and focus on bad things because I feel like you're attracting it." Honesty and respect are great underpinnings for a relationship! Too bad we haven't seen that play out in Brandon and Maripier's interactions. Then Maripier undermines the whole thing by telling the camera, "Am I jealous? Yeah. I could rip heads off sometimes." Then she again tells the camera, "Attention's always on Brandon. It's very frustrating." This is one of the recurring themes of her relationship, and she doesn't seem to like it. I'm not sure exactly what Maripier's agent was thinking with scheduling this interview, and nothing about it did anything to reassure me about the state of her relationship.

Axe-Throwing

Before the big party, Brijet Whitney, Kodette, Tiffany, and Maripier get together at a place where you can drink and throw axes at a target. This seems like a terrible idea. Kodette says, "I grew up going to bush parties, so thrown a few axes, so I'm looking forward to it," but it turns out to be Maripier who is really good at it, to the point that she wins. Tiffany is very sour about this, to which Maripier says, "Why are you being so mean? You should be happy with me." All four of the women take pictures of themselves in front of the axes they've thrown into the target, and they take a group photo of all of them with axes in front of the target. For the most part, they seem to have a lot of fun, which is the best part of the axe-throwing segment.

One of the interesting things about this adventure is the contrast between Maripier and the other women. Maripier arrives after everyone else is already there and settling in - I assume, from the way she shows up half an hour late for dinner in the ep of 24CH that focused on the women, that she's always late - and I thought that gave us a chance to see her fashionable TV star with bright red lipstick look in contrast to the slightly older, more settled women in muted tones.

Tiffany and Maripier take a moment to talk about - what else? - whether or not Maripier and Brandon got engaged over Christmas. We had an interesting conversation in the comments on last week's post about how marriage is not that big a thing in Québec. I felt like I was seeing that play out in Tiffany and Maripier's conversation, without the acknowledgement that it's a cultural difference. Maripier says, "But having a ring around my finger, it doesn't change anything. ... What does it change? The fact that I can take half his money?" Tiffany tells Maripier, "You are so backwards right now. ... It sounds like you've been brainwashed. That's what it sounds like to me. ... You're missing the whole entire point." Maripier tells the camera, "I think that Tiffany sees not being engaged as Brandon not wanting to commit to me, but deep down inside of me, I know he's the one." Um, does she not remember the rest of the show where she wants Brandon to commit to her and thinks he isn't committed?

After axe-throwing, the women stop in a bar to drink and watch George on TV. Maripier does her bubbly, impulsive thing, either for the cameras or because that's how she is. Tiffany tells the camera, "MP says stupid shit all the time. I don't think she ever means any harm. I just think she's young and pretty and, you know, she doesn't have kids yet, so she is a little selfish, and I don't hold that against her, like, I was an asshole when I was her age." Maripier tells the camera, "Tiff is definitely like my bigger sister. Sometimes she says things that hurts my feelings. I get mad at her for like five minutes and then I'm like, she's saying it because deep down she loves me and she has my best interests at heart." The sense I get is that every feeling in Maripier's life is "deep down." The relevant Captain Awkward phrase here is: "People who like you will act like they like you." I really hope Maripier has or gets to have some experience in her life with people who not only say they love her, but actually treat her in a loving way.

Pop-Up

To begin with, the pop-up event consists of a lot of people being captioned as they arrive - former hockey players, hockey player partners, miscellaneous Canadian celebrities. Martine Forget arrives for the event wearing a midriff-baring outfit - the decor for the event includes large prints of the photoshoot Martine and Maripier did - and promptly gets exclaimed over by Maripier for how great she looks after recently having had a baby. Then Maripier continues that conversation in a catty way with Tiffany.

Tiffany says during the planning stages that she is not a public speaker, so George does the speaking. He gives a lovely speech about Violent Gentlemen and about Tiffany's work, and Tiffany tells the camera, "It was a great night, and, you know, George is great. You know, I'm kind of pissed at him because he me get, like, teary-eyed, and I hate that shit." Again, not a person I would want to spend any time with.

George Stroumboulopoulos attends the party. Maripier says of him, "This guy's my idol. I'm like a fourteen-year-old in front of Justin Bieber." She gets to chat with him for a moment. The National Post reviewers liked this: "But I prefer this conclusion far more than I would a romantic proposal because it’s signalling MP doesn’t need a husband to complete her or fulfill her dreams. She is going to be the author of her own success and happiness." I'm not so sure that's what it shows. Maripier might say she would never compromise her career for Brandon, but she isn't trying to move into the English market as a way to further her career in general; she's trying to move into the English market so she can still have a career when she moves with Brandon if/when he leaves Montreal. That's better than not planning for that possibility, but I'm not so sure this is all about her career.

The episode ends with a handful of the women speaking to the camera about their friendships with the other women, and how important it was for them to come support Tiffany. Writing that out makes it sound more satisfying an ending than it was. I know that these women's lives go on after the show, but it didn't seem like the producers were making any effort to draw the show to a close in some way. I'm not sure what I wanted out of the end of this episode, but a cut from the party to a few of the women's faces wasn't it.

The Show

This was the last episode of this season, although the show has now been picked up for a second season which promises to have a mix of returning and new women. This last episode was one that I found boring, and didn't make me excited for more, which is a problem for a season finale.

The show on the whole had some great bits. I think it ultimately did a good job of showing us a range of women's roles from stay at home wife and mother to career girl with boyfriend and no children. I liked how much the women consistently support each other. There were fantastic pieces, like Noureen's baby shower, Brijet's conversation with Wendy Tippett about her husband's retirement, and the conversation about cheating Jenny Scrivens, Nicole, and Kodette had.

The show failed most when it showed the women's relationships with their partners, not because of the structure of the show but because the relationships themselves seem so dysfunctional. Part of my commentary on the first episode was centered on how much the couples don't seem to talk to each other, and that didn't get any better over the other seven episodes. It was a really depressing look into the state of (at least some) opposite-sex relationships where women give up their dreams to support male partners who then don't talk to them.

The thing I most want from a second season is to see someone - ideally multiple someones, but I'll settle for one someone - who actually communicates with their partner in a kind, respectful, loving way. The thing I second most want from a second season is more of a focus on existing women's relationships with each other. The best conversations between women on this show, with the exception of Tiffany and Maripier whose relationship reads as pretty dysfunctional, are the ones between women who are already friends, and not the ones between women who are just meeting in front of the cameras.

By far my favorite thing about the show was writing these posts. I'd forgotten how much I love doing feminist critique of pop culture. As much as the show sometimes made me cringe, I enjoyed writing about it. I especially loved that so many of you read these posts, had conversations with me, and told me you enjoyed seeing what I had to say about the show. ♥