SCANDALOUS

The ‘Summer House’ Reunion Has Become Bloodsport

This is some of the juiciest TV Bravo has produced. It’s also sometimes really hard to watch.

There are trilogies that shift culture. The Godfather. The original Star Wars films. The Mighty Ducks. (Real ones know.) And now, there’s the Summer House three-part Season 10 reunion.

I’m being hyperbolic, of course. But, like, also not really.

With reality TV on an ever-exploding trajectory of popularity and fan investment at an intensity typically reserved for sports bettors, the Summer House reunion is a kismet collision of a major scandal on a hit show, a cast ready and rabid to turn it into a soap opera, and Bravo at its peak powers when it comes to editing these episodes in a dramatic and satisfying way.

What was once a little corner where reality TV fans gossiped together has now taken over most of the metaphorical house, with more and more varied swaths of people invested in the drama.

The drama: Soon after she separated from her husband, Kyle Cooke, Amanda Batula confirmed she and castmate West Wilson are dating, despite the fact that West used to date Amanda’s best friend, Ciara Miller, who counseled Amanda through her emotional breakup with Kyle—oh yeah, and West and Kyle were good friends too. It’s a baffling (though delicious to watch) amount of betrayal. Bravo has thus far been expertly parsing it out across the reunion episodes, with the second part of the trilogy now streaming on Peacock.

The episode featured a fascinating symphony of disparate energies, for once making the typically intelligible reunion cacophony of screaming into a captivating sociological study.

Lindsay Hubbard is activated in producer mode. (“West, you are a pathy. We believe nothing,” made me snort.) Ciara is sniper-like and ruthless. Carl Radke, while “a mess,” is the measured voice of reason. Kyle is conflicted and emotional. Meanwhile, Amanda is so meek and exasperated that many fans on social media have suspected she might be medicated or stoned. And then there’s West, basically just sitting there.

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Kevin FallonEditor-at-Large, Obsessed

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