Tonight on Total Bellas we’ll be seeing the twins release their very own wine brand! But the journey to release isn’t quite perfect, as family – as always – gets in the way. Let’s take a look back at what happened!
Brie & Nikki Bella
The entire family are headed to Sonoma, California as the twins are about to launch their wine company, Belle Radici (which means Beautiful Roots). Nikki states that the inspiration for the name comes from the fact that the twins have farming roots, whilst the other two members of the team have wine roots. Sweet! A quick flashback to an old episode of the two discussing starting the business crops up. I’m guessing it’s supposed to feel as though it’s been a long time coming?
In one car we have Daniel Bryan, John Laurinaitis and Nikki (all coming from TV), whilst J.J., Brie and Kathy Colace are in the other.
As a successful businesswoman, Kathy feels it as her due to give Brie advice about her new endeavour. But despite this, Brie isn’t keen on it – and J.J. sticks up for her. I see where this episode is headed…
The group then arrive at the place – with Nikki’s group getting there first – and they all take in the “heaven on Earth” that they’ll be living in.
Before the business dinner, Kathy decides to give the girls some more advice – and they really aren’t interested. Despite her persistent questioning and statements, Brie and Nikki excuse her from the conversation. On the confessional, the Bellas explain how “insulting” it is that their mother doesn’t think that the two are prepped enough for their business dinner.
Tim Tusk, Ryan Hill and Mark Wiegard, the men working with the twins, arrive for dinner to discuss the launch of Belle Radici. Kathy almost immediately takes one of the guys aside to discuss the business, and Brie notices. Bella quickly tells her mother to go get Johnny some wine, and she does, but she tells Mark to “hold that thought” before she returns. Oh, Kathy. Time for some dinner?
We see an image of the wine as a drawing of Nikki and Brie, but in a very fancy way. Kathy describes says that it gives her “chills” – must be a lovely moment for a mother to see her daughters doing so well.
One topic on the table is whether a pregnant Brie should taste the wine so close to her due date. Bryan explains that their “business” (the baby) is more important than the business that Brie and Nikki have put together. He has a point, but Brie decides to sleep on it.
She does contemplate sipping the wine and then spitting it out, but Bryan isn’t too pleased. He just wants to make sure that they don’t screw up their child’s life at the last minute, so I completely understand.
The next morning the family hang out outside, and the topic of retirement is brought up. Brie suggests that they all move out to Sonoma, and Nikki contemplates it also. The focus is then shifted on their social media. As the girls have had troubles with former social media employees, Kathy chimes in and volunteers herself as their social media manager. Okay, moving on…
At lunch, the gang discuss pregnancy – as Brie’s is getting in the way of her wine tasting. Nikki decides that she’d like to know what it feels like to be in public whilst pregnant. So, J.J. finds her a fake tummy online and they order it. This should go down nicely!
The fake stomach arrives the next day, so when it’s time for some wine-tasting, Bella puts it on to give everybody at the vineyard a story to tell when they get home! Once they arrive, Nikki notices that a group of women keep looking over at them. So, in true Bella fashion, she confronts them. Uh… is this the best decision? Turns out, yes, it is! When the conversation begins, the twins realize that the women have also been through the whole pregnant woman drinking in public scenario, and they were really just admiring them. Well, that was quick. Or maybe they really were bugged out and are just saving face? Hmm…
Moving on.
At one point of the episode, Brie and Bryan discuss the health of Biride. The pair express how drinking is a genetic/upbringing issue, and they don’t want to trigger a problem with their child. So, as responsible parents, they’re going to control their drinking and ensure that Birdie isn’t as influenced as Brie is.
Things move forward and we’re soon witnessing Kathy being reduced to tears. She explains how she feels stressed about taking care of her children, and it seems only Bryan is by her side. The girls then state how they didn’t mean to overstep and that they’re actually really grateful for all of Kathy’s sacrifice and hard work. And, without her, they wouldn’t be such strong businesswomen.
At the end of the episode, the family and the three businessmen from before have a dinner to celebrate the launch of Belle Radici. Hip-hip-hooray!
Kathy Colace & Daniel Bryan
As the group are sat outside, Bryan brings up the potential of starting a new seed company with buddy named Jake. The duo are planning on creating a monthly seed subscription service, and it’s already caught Kathy’s attention! As he can no longer wrestle, he needs to find another love. And as he loves to garden, he’s thinking of getting into that.
Kathy then spends dinner trying to talk about the business, giving the girls advice. And unfortunately for her, they don’t want it. Poor Kathy! Good thing Bryan’s here, though. He’ll appreciate her!
On a bike ride the next day, Bryan asks Kathy for some business advise on his new endeavour. Kathy suggests understanding his own goals and what he wants to achieve with the business plan. Colace is extremely flattered, and insists on showing her business plan to her son-in-law. Yay! Somebody finally appreciates her!
That same night, Kathy gets a bit drunk and decides to start rapping in front of her family. Whilst she’s probably the worst rapper I’ve ever seen, she does entertain the crowd, so is she really that ba- actually, yes. She is.
Following the awful rapping, Kathy gives Bryan a book about business to help with his next endeavour. Colace explains that every time she advises the twins on something, they reject it, so she’s really happy to see that somebody cares. Bryan explains that he finds it absurd that the girls don’t tag advantage of somebody that is so good at what they do. Brie explains that they have other sources, with Nikki citing John Cena as one of them. But, little does Nikki know, Cena goes to Kathy for business. So, take that, Nicole!
J.J. sticks up for the girls and cites a moment in which they did go to Kathy for advice and it didn’t work out. And this enrages their mother so much that she storms out.
Once she’s gone – and the room is silent – Bryan speaks up for her and says that they need to have sympathy for her. Johnny then reminds them that she was “basically a single mom, starting up a business, supporting all three of [them]”, giving them the best they could have. Kathy rejoins the conversation and reiterates the difficulty of being 21, a business owner and raising three children. She is quickly reduced to tears.
Bryan then explains that sometimes they take things too far, even with jokes. He reminisces on a moment that happened earlier in the kitchen when everybody mocked Kathy’s food. He goes through it, and even almost reduces himself to tears sticking up for his mother-in-law. Daniel then explains that his father didn’t go to some of his shows in the past because he didn’t want to embarrass him for not being enough – and it seems that Kathy can relate, which is why she stresses so much. It’s definitely an emotional moment. But thankfully they all understand and come together in the end. To finish it off, the group give Kathy a “hip-hip-hooray” chant and send everyone to bed. Aw!
J.J. Garcia
J.J. doesn’t have Lola Garcia around so the two quickly FaceTime. And because he’s missing his other half, he decides to dedicate this trip to pranks! Oh, boy…
Side note: are these two completely okay now? ‘Cos we don’t get any mention of the distance, and they seem pretty fine. Weird.
For his first prank, J.J. recruits Johnny Ace to help him out. The pair grab a chair from the dining room and stick a farting machine under it – just in time for dinner. This should be great.
During the very formal business dinner, Kathy seems to be farting, but everyone ignores it. Until it gets too much and she has to admit that it isn’t her. 1-0 to J.J.!
Later on, J.J. tries to liven up a lunch by interacting with a random guy at the bar. He goes to the man and tells him to tell the twins that he’s a “big fan”, and ask for a photo. And once they accept the photo op, he goes over to Kathy to pose for one… Oh boy. The guy does exactly this, and although they laugh it off, J.J. doesn’t take credit for it. Come on, J! I guess that’s 2-0 now.
Towards the end of the episode, the group heads out to dinner. As Nikki walks down the stairs, J.J. jumps out at her and scares her so much that she falls to the ground and hurts her hand. Uh oh… Nikki is wondering if whether she broke her hand or not. She’s on the SmackDown Live roster and needs her hand to function, so this is not ideal for her.
Now it’s made official that this is his last prank. He may be 2-0, but he still lost in the end.
Deleted scene:
As inspired by Nikki’s yoga work earlier in the day, it seems that Bryan wanted to get in the action! The Bella family are seen watching Daniel enjoy some lonesome yoga in the garden – and he’s adorable! And with J.J. working on his pranks, decides to tickle his foot. Brie is then bewildered at her brother not saying “rah!” – but J.J. insists that he can’t scare a man that’s so peaceful. I guess he does have a good bone in his pranking body.
Next on Total Bellas:
- Nikki and John come to the final steps of their feud with The Miz and Maryse.
- Kathy and J.J. make a bet revolving around Garcia growing his social media following. He goes as far as stripping and getting waxed. Nice.
- The Bellas see their line of WWE dolls for the first time.
- Nikki contemplates retirement.
- An in-ring problem causes a potential injury for Nikki.
Thoughts: See what happens when those that are comfortable on camera are the only ones shown?
Not to turn this into an anti-Cena post (because he’s great) but it’s nice to see a lighthearted yet serious episode that feels natural. The pranks, the arguments, the awkwardness, the laughs, it all feels so real – and that’s what makes the best reality TV. Why else would Big Brother be so successful? Total Bellas needs to focus its energy on those that are comfortable being themselves on camera, and John is unfortunately not that. And when we take him out of the equation, we get a great episode. Hip-hip-hooray!
The best episodes are the ones where the family problems are intertwined. And, with how this episode is laid out, it’s pretty clear that the family are definitely intertwining throughout. They’re all in one location, with separate stories, yet it all links in one. I love when the shows does this! It makes you feel the love that they all have for one another, and it makes the show so easy to watch. We don’t have to keep remembering why each person is mad at another, because there are constant reminders and the characters are all together. It’s perfect.
In this episode we get given the chance to know J.J. in a better light. We see him a nice guy, except somewhat annoying. Tonight’s episode proves that J.J. and the Bellas have a cute family bond, and he isn’t a mean guy altogether. Which is nice. It’s good to see that he isn’t just an aggravating person that moans a lot and is super controlling. So this alternative side to him is enjoyable.
But saying that, he is somewhat annoying tonight. When he hurts Nikki he mostly blames her for the injury, and almost doesn’t put the fault on himself. When she falls he tells her to “get up” as though she’s being dramatic. And when it comes to apologies, he defends himself the entire time by saying that she’s used to “rolling” – whatever that means. So, although the show gives him an opportunity to be a lighthearted prankster, we don’t go all the way with it. I guess we aren’t supposed to love him after all.
Whilst Kathy may not be everyone’s cup of tea, this episode is definitely a great way to fall in love with her. She shows raw emotion as a woman and a mother as she details the struggler of being a parent at 21. It’s not often we see her give her two cents on anything in the show, let alone her own emotions. And that makes it’s a pretty great treat to see her express this raw side to her. Colace is a great addition to Total Bellas; she’s able to be neutral in situations whilst offering comedic tones and support with the narrative. So when it comes to her own stories, it’s nice to see that there’s more to her than just the supporting character with no feelings. She’s a human, a fun human, and she has emotions. And we want to see them! Kathy isn’t the poster-child for the show, but her portions are great. Sometimes, like last week, they fall flat, but times like tonight prove why we need her. Go Kathy!
The times we appreciate the Bellas the most are when they’re doing their thing as hardworking business women. And tonight is the apt example for it. They’re working hard, they’re handling their business, and we see them as the go-getters they constantly talk about being. So many times we see them having fun and doing a lot of simple work, whereas tonight we see their creation come to life. From what was once just a pipe dream, to the launch of the business. The Bellas are great women, and that’s just one of the many reasons why we love this programme!
Overall, this is one of the best episodes all series. It’s raw, it’s fun, it’s humorous, and it’s easy to watch. We see the family laugh together, fight each other and grow as a unit. The way we love them!
What did you think of the episode? Are you a fan of these kinds of stories? Did you like Kathy in this episode? Has your opinion on J.J. changed? Let us know your views in the comments below!
