At the end of the last episode, Bruno’s estranged brother Briah shows up at the door. Bruno and Briah have not spoken in three years because of an epic argument over tuna. The cause of the fight keeps alternating between a missing tuna fish sandwich and a can of tuna, but now we all know not to underestimate the power of the chicken of the sea to tear families apart.
As Briah comes up the stairs to see Bruno for the first time since the Tuna Day Battle (“T Day”), the rest of the cast retreats to the patio as if it were a bomb shelter.
But nothing of the sort happens. Briah apologizes to Bruno for escalating the dispute from stealing tuna to wishing death on him, and all is forgiven. Bruno alludes to Briah’s sexuality. “I don’t exactly know what you are and what you’re into,” Bruno says, but he adds he would be happy to punch someone in the face if anyone talked shit about him.
Bruno and Briah call their mother and tell her that they have resolved their dispute. “This is like Christmas for her,” Bruno says.
Meanwhile Violetta gets on the phone with one of the producers and asks whether she can hire strippers for her birthday. The producer gives her the green light, saying everything is fine as long as the guy is ok being on camera. Violetta corrects her, saying she will be hiring women.
Then the roommates and Briah go to a bar. Bruno and Carla do their own thing, having drinks a few blocks down the street. Nicole and a drunk Briah finds them, and Briah tells Carla how he is so happy he and Bruno made up. He becomes emotional, which makes Bruno uncomfortable. Carla tells Bruno to let Briah express his feelings but Bruno isn’t having it.
“Emotions are for pussies,” he snaps at Briah.
Nicole wonders if Bruno is missing something. Perhaps he can see the Wizard of Oz and see if he has any extra hearts to give out.
Later, Bruno gets on the phone with his mother and discovers his grandfather has passed away. He tells Briah he doesn’t want to talk about it.
Nicole and Briah take a walk and discuss Bruno’s unwillingness to talk about his feelings. Briah tells Nicole that their grandfather died and Bruno doesn’t want to talk about it, so he won’t either.
It is Violetta’s birthday weekend, and it’s going to get wild. Shane, Tony’s brother, arrives. Violetta’s friends from Florida drive 19 hours to the house. There are going to be strippers. The van is going to be one crazy little drunken clown car!
But first, a booze cruise. Nicole wastes no time and starts flirting with Violetta’s friends.
Shane and Briah bond a little, perhaps over their mutual love of dyeing their hair blond. Tony tells us that Shane is gay and that he is totally cool with it. Bruno tells us that he isn’t entirely comfortable with Briah being gay, calling it “awkward.”
On the van ride back, Sylvia teases Bruno, but then he snaps and starts cursing at her, calling her a bitch multiple times. Then he starts screaming at Tony and jumps out of the still-moving vehicle. Nicole runs after him, and they go for a run to help him blow off steam.
Bruno tells the producer his anger comes from his father showing him tough love. He starts tearing up, so he tells the producer the interview is over.
Violetta and Briah find Nicole and Bruno. Violetta gives Bruno a cake pop, and everything seems fine. Then Briah decides that it is a good idea to tell Bruno that Tony talked shit about him after he left the van. Come on, now. The fire was out. Now you have to go ahead and light it again?
Bruno storms into the patio and starts yelling at Tony and lunges at him. Nicole and Briah hold him back, as Shane stands in front of Tony and swats at Bruno nonchalantly as if Bruno were a mosquito. That’s pretty impressive, considering that Bruno could probably knock him out. Bruno locks himself in the confessional and growls like a wounded coyote.
The last day of Briah’s visit, everyone except Bruno goes to a club. He stays behind sulking with Carla. At the club Briah and Shane hit it off, and Tony thinks it is cute. We think it is cute, too.
But there is one person in the house who does not think it is cute: Bruno. He sees Briah and Shane making out under the covers and his eyes get as big as saucers. He runs outside and tells Nicole how uncomfortable he is.
Bruno and Briah tell the producers that Bruno used to be homophobic. Bruno tells us that he is working through it, saying that everyone deserves to be happy. Baby steps. Baby steps. Very small teeny tiny baby steps but at least it is in the right direction.
Briah and Shane leave the house (Not together, sadly). Then Tony apologizes to Bruno, not because he thinks he is in the wrong—and he wasn’t—but just to ease tensions in the house. Sylvia tells us that there is so little time left in the house that everyone has to suck up their pride and just push through to the end.
Who will arrive at the house next? The strippers who never showed? One can hope.
