On the first episode of VH1's newest member of the "Wives" franchise, Baseball Wives, the battle lines have already been pretty clearly drawn. We've bore witness to the first altercation, pitting Chantel against Erika, with the other members of the cast scuttling around to position themselves accordingly. Interestingly enough, though, there's one wife that's already showing her cards and it may not be the one you're thinking.
In the seven minute sneak peek of Baseball Wives episode two, the aftermath of the lunch from last week is shown, featuring a storm out, some tears, and a whole lot of strategy. Erika kinda sorta apologizes, though most of it occurs via text message and with caveats, but it's the Anna/Chantel dynamic that sticks out. Last week, Anna was the loudest voice urging Chantel to confront Erika over her "bottom of the barrel" comment, but one had to wonder how much of that was genuine and how much of it was manipulation. We got a clearer answer this week, as the puppet master wasn't too subtle as to her intentions. Anna's now encouraging Chantel to forgive Erika, thereby pulling a Jackie Christie, i.e. "I'm the most tenured wife who will create problems and solve them so you'll love me".
Apparently, Chantel's not the one, as she brings in cavalry in the form of Cheri Knoblauch, someone who can't stand Anna and is ready to hit her with both barrels. This may not be how it went, but to me, it looks like Anna "chose" Chantel as a friend because she assumed that she was weak and easy to play with. Chantel has a history of abuse and was very recently divorced, so she was arguably the most vulnerable cast member and any respectable reality puppet master tends to strike the most vulnerable first. It'll be interesting to see if this is THE rivalry for the season or if it's a blip on the radar, but it looks like, for now, the cast members of Baseball Wives have a choice.
Anna or Chantel?
Baseball Wives airs tonight at 9:00 on VH1. If you want to know a little about what happened between Cheri and Anna, here ya go. Don't say I didn't warn you.
