createchaos

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ much-talked-about second season premiered on Bravo Monday night in the wake of cast member Taylor Armstrong’s estranged husband’s suicide.

The “special” that the network had promised turned out to be a few-minutes-long taped gathering of the wives (all except Taylor) to discuss the suicide several days after it happened. They reflected on Russell’s death, a few of them teared up and things concluded fairly quickly with Kyle Richards’ remark, “I think a lot of us feel some guilt about not seeing this coming. … Life goes on. It has to.”

And, as they say, so must the show.

In the episode, Taylor’s marriage was discussed, with Lisa’s husband, Ken, saying that couples who need therapy are “weak.” But a scene involving Taylor shopping for lingerie to spice things up was edited out.

Bravo had already announced it was re-editing the season. Executive producer Douglas Ross tells Us Weekly:

“We’ve completed editing on the first few episodes, but are still reviewing the rest of the season. Russell does not appear in the first several episodes. At this point, I can’t say if Russell will appear at all.”

It’s hard not to wonder what will be left out — Taylor and Russell’s marriage was allegedly emotionally and physically abusive.