The Real Housewives of Dallas Adds a Doctor for Their Pandemic Season

In a year where time and space are immeasurable, the new trailer for The Real Housewives of Dallas’ fifth season seemed to come out of nowhere. Wait, this is still happening? But happening it is, and apparently, it happened during the pandemic. I’m not sure how I feel about reliving Dallas lockdowns through a Real Housewives lens, but nobody asked me.

Bravo trailers are always a tricky game. Even the biggest dud of a season can have electrifying previews (Beverly Hills season 9, I’m looking at you), and an absolute snoozefest of a trailer could signal that they’re just holding back the juiciest drama. But there’s still a lot to glean from this season 5 trailer. Let’s dig in.

Dallas Has a New Housewife

After a brutal season of racial slurs and a general lack of owning up to them, the piercing intensity that once made LeeAnne Locken a captivating reality TV figure had become a bit of a turn off (to say the least). Bravo actually drew the line, so out she goes. In her place: Dr. Tiffany Moon.

I try to reserve judgment for newcomers until we’re at least four episodes in, but if we have to base a review of her performance entirely on this trailer, Dr. Moon gets an A+. We see her get into fights (multiple fights!), wear her hair in that sort of high, split ponytail thing that seems to be a Housewives rite of passage, and jump for her rare Rose Sakura Birkin. (Tall queen Kameron Westcott doesn’t do much in this trailer but it’s a joy to see her lift her castmates’ items out of reach.)

Dallas’ First Chinese-American Cast Member

It’s interesting that the newbie is a doctor, particularly since season 5 seems to have been largely filmed (if not entirely filmed) during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. But Tiffany’s casting adds an extra layer of intrigue given some off-camera shenanigans from Brandi Redmond, who performed a cringey Asian accent that was (for lack of more eloquent wording) pretty racist. Brandi did not get the axe, but she does look like she’ll be reckoning with her past during the season, and held accountable by Tiffany, the first Chinese-American to be cast on the show.

What else? There’s some Who Shot J.R.-themed event, which I can’t believe took this many seasons to take place. We see very little actual mask wearing and a whole lot of face shields, which I’ll also hold judgment on. Dallas may have taken a while to get speedier Covid-19 testing but maybe Bravo pulled some strings? It is fun to watch D’Andra dramatically swing down her face shield so hard it falls right off. In fact, this whole trailer seems surprisingly fun and boozy. Only time and a January 5 premiere date will tell.