COMEBACK QUEEN

Did Reality TV’s Biggest Villain Just Vindicate Herself?

A much-maligned Bravo star may have just pulled off a miracle in her latest episode of TV.

The In the City reunion episodes might have been more entertaining than In the City’s first season itself

Bravo’s master of messy ceremonies, Andy Cohen, has always said that a freshman Real Housewife who makes only a mediocre impression can save themselves with a stellar reunion performance. By that measure, In the City, a spin-off experiment from the skyrocketing-in-popularity Summer House, made a strong case for renewal with its highly entertaining, just-wrapped reunion.

Play Video

The cast came armed and activated, to use the show’s central figure Lindsay Hubbard’s favorite word, but also brought a sense of humor and self-awareness that starkly contrasted against the self-serious, stubborn delusion of most reality stars at reunions.

But the episodes’ greatest assets and juiciest moments are no surprise, given that they’re also the reason Summer House exploded into a headline-making, mainstream hit this season, even earning its first Emmy nomination.

That would be the unpacking of the cesspool-toxic marriage between stars Amanda Batula and Kyle Cooke that has now unfolded across two different reality shows across the span of a decade, now against the backdrop of the watercooler-boiling scandal of Amanda outrageously moving on to date Summer House co-star West Wilson, the ex of her supposed best friend, Ciara Miller, and one of Kyle’s best “boys.”

If you’ve yet to be tangled in the spider-web saga, you can get up to speed here and here.

Of course, there needs to be some shock to keep viewers hooked, and that’s what shook me about these reunion episodes. Has Amanda Batula, who has spent the last months reigning as pop culture’s most despised villain, been vindicated?

To read the rest of this story, subscribe to the Obsessed by Kevin Fallon Substack here.

Obsessed with pop culture and entertainment? Follow us on Substack and YouTube for even more coverage.

Kevin FallonEditor-at-Large, Obsessed

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.