One of Bravo’s new summer shows the Knot> has finally premiered. The premise of the show is to follow New Jersey mediator Vikki Ziegler as she help to navigate couples through sticky divorce settlements. The set up of the show seems to follow this pattern: The divorcing couple is shown in talking head interviews where they quickly review their courtship, marriage, and then their demise.
Afterwards, Vicki pops into the screen revealing her three-step process to mediation. The first step is consultation, where she goes to visit her clients to figure out their story and what the key points in the divorce are. She tries to get in deep to figure out the emotional side of things so she can understand why each party would want certain items. The second step is appraisal in which Vikki learns exactly what these sticking items are worth, so she can make a balanced decision. Lastly, she meets with the couple again to mediate an agreement between the two.
In this first episode, we meet Jacques and Mira. They have been married for 6 years, split about a year ago, and now need help dividing three remaining items from their marriage. This is where Vikki enters the picture and begins her consultation.
The first item that Vikki brings into the conversation is the Parisian apartment. Jacques believes that he should take control of the apartment because it was his idea to purchase it, he went to Paris to look for it, and ultimately he’s the one paying for it. Mira doesn’t want the apartment at all, but believes she’s entitled to ½ of what it is worth.
Next up, they discuss Mira’s engagement ring, a yellow canary diamond purchased for $100,000.00. They reveal that she was given the ring about a year after they met, however it was after they had already legally wed. They designed it together, but Jacques paid for it.
The last item in the divorce dispute is a Buddha statue that they bought on their honeymoon to Thailand at a cost of $5000.
Once all of the items have been discussed, Vikki moves on to the second step in her mediation process, appraisal. She invites The Millea Brothers over to look at the items. They take a close look at each of the items and give their opinions. After the inspection, the brothers meet up with Vikki to discuss the results. They appraise the wedding ring at approximately $60,000. More shocking is the revelation that the Buddha statue is more decorative than it is expensive. It is appraised at maybe $800, when Jacques had valued it anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000. Vikki is shocked by this news.
The last step in the process is the actual mediation. Vikki meets with the couple again to give them her decisions on the items and then work towards an agreement for all. In this case, she begins with the Paris apartment. She states that it’s worth $400,000 but there is a $200,000 mortgage still outstanding. Vikki’s suggestion is that Jacques gets to keep the apartment, however he should pay Mira $100,000, which is 50% of the net equity. Mira is not happy about that decision and vows to fight it. Vikki assures her she will not win because of the debt on the mortgage.
Moving on to the wedding ring, Vikki breaks the news that it was only valued at $60,000. Both Jacques and Mira are surprised and disappointed with this number. The suggestion is that Mira keeps the ring, but Jacques gets a credit for purchasing it. The credit is 20% or about $12,000. Jacques is insulted with that number but there’s nothing he can do.
The biggest elephant in the room is the Buddha statue that the two are both vying for. Vikki stuns both Jacques and Mira with the news that there’s no resale value on the statue and it was valued at maybe $800. However, they do both agree that the piece is more sentimental than monetary and they still both want it badly. In the end, Vikki recommends that it go to Jacques on the condition that he buys Mira a first class ticket to Thailand so that she can get her own Buddha statue. They both agree to that condition and in fact to all of the conditions and with that, the divorce is settled.
This completes episode one, and I have to wonder if all of the divorce cases will be settled this easily throughout the season? I guess we will have to stay tuned.