No hate to Andy but he seems too biased to be hosting due to his connections with some of the cast, general disinterest in following up on key moments and understating audience reactions/discussions.
Who do we think could be a great replacement? At first I thought maybe Garcelle, or Lindsay Hubbard, or even Ciara Miller but IDK maybe a fresh face would be better? Maybe Lisa Rinna LOL
Nope nope nope- we are NOT going to pretend like Janet throwing the drink at Danny and Jason accidentally getting close to another woman he mistook for his wife are the same level of “mistake” as Danny’s.
The discourse around this should be centered on the level of pain around real victims and severity of actions. This is such a joke that I can’t believe it has to be disclaimed LOL
considering HOW easy Danny got away with his behaviour last season and how only NOW he’s in the dog house for how he treated his wife is a joke; like we can take a beat and not pretend like him getting a drink thrown at him was as vile and despicable.
Kristen throwing someone out of a party she isn’t hosting was the icing on the cake; where’s that energy when Danny was yelling at Nia during the pageant?
KRISTEN DO NOT MARRY LUKE o m g how many therapists do these people need just to get a long? Having your couple’s therapist compare notes with your individual therapist is WILD. He clearly wants someone like Nia who won’t hold him accountable to being a hands on parent.
LACY FAKE!!! I have always said this; this is such a performance. Lacy tries to pretend she’s the voice of reason among these people without actually being real. Kristen mentioning Lacy was dreading coming to chilis to hang with Janet seconds before entering the restaurant and then preaching about accountability TO Janet is WILD
Zack shitting his pants was unfunny and disgusting to keep harping on- we got it you had a moment fine just please why are we still discussing this on the after show?
Jason is the best husband yet again; cleaning up his girlfriend’s poop. Wow. True gentleman
Nia is very mean girl her comments about Zack’s sharting telling him to get out of there; like how are you going to pretend you don’t give fake energy and then turn around and say these people aren’t nice and your friends LOL
Maybe it’s overexposure but as a Lindsay fan I’m finding her sooo annoying? ITC is just her screaming half the time or talking over people?
The Amanda west drama has died down but there seems to be nothing especially scandalous or dramatic about this show… there’s no witty villainesses or engaging characters.
They should have picked a more diverse cast that actually works in the city and maybe younger? They’re all gonna be pregnant next season if there is one…
As someone who has watched their loved ones drink themselves silly and then had to constantly live in a state of anxiety and worry about getting them safe home and sobered up. As someone who has witnessed how someone who feeds you when you’re ill also humiliates you infront of your friends and calls you derogatory things because they’re plastered. I worry about all this new found hype Kyle is getting. I understand the loneliness in Amanda’s marriage and wanting to get out of it without getting out of it the right way. she’s dead wrong and should be held accountable for her choices and impact on Ciara. I just don’t think Kyle getting out of this unscathed is productive. If Amanda cheated on Kyle with anyone else emotional to physical I wouldn’t gaf and still not hype Kyle.
I absolutely hate that Kyle is now being seen as someone who’s living his best life all while knowing he clearly has alcoholic tendencies and addiction hurts those around them the most. It’s beyond triggering.
Lacy Definitely calculated and ingrained herself into the Kristen Nia alliance group along with Jesse.
How can she say the girls not liking her and yelling at her during the first season is more problematic than a Danny’s behaviour drinking?
It’s giving she’s trying to keep to one side of things because she doesn’t actually like Michelle/lala/janet.
This is where her image becomes a facade; she came in actually looking cool and collected with her “your daughter doesn’t have to perform she’s not a circus” but THIS showed her overproduced self-centeredness.
Janet’s example was perfect: just because someone did something cruel and no one but the victims saw it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
How did Luke even THINK to use her not being there as an excuse for what Danny did (admitted to).
Luke and KRisten and the Nia Alliance team will for sure blow this up to mean Janet is saying Danny is a serial killer ( inflammatory behaviour that they think the audience will eat up). We aren’t this stupid and all saw the context in which Janet said it.
I’d really like to have Andy actually PUT the men on the hot seat for not defending anyone against Danny and in fact siding with him.
I know he won’t but will focus on Kristen and Nia what a joke.
Do we think the men (Tom Jesse Luke and Danny) will have ANY hard questions regarding their actions and complicity this reunion?
Also Jason gets better with each season in comparison to these mega manosphere turds.
All she heard was Jesse saying West told him he loves her. That was enough for her to ignore the levity of Ciara’s “he’s with you to spite me” comment
-she didn’t care to be monogamous as long as she was the only one he loved
-The ruse of hiding behind his single debauchery with multiple women was a cover that helped hide their secret affair; and now that it’s exposed he’s still supposedly doing it which sobers her up.
-she will forever wonder if he’s with her because it’s the right thing to do after what it’s cost them both. And not because of the “real love” they have.
- she thinks losing her SH cast friendships was worth it b/c this is a real best friendship (yikes)
Jasmine is completely justified in feeling robbed of her feelings around Kristen and Nia. When she brought up her situation both Kristen and Nia shared a look and then Kristen tried to downplay and act like jasmine was drunk to quiet her down playfully. If you go back and rewatch tonight’s episode there’s a clear beat of it where Kristen and Nia clock jasmine about to “pipe up” which would give credit to Lala’s opinion.
This is proof of an alliance and intentional need to keep jasmine at bay and have her be complacement with Danny because it would otherwise make it difficult for Danny and Nia.
Can you imagine if jasmine and Melissa chose not to forgive Danny? I really wonder what Kristen’s friendship with jasmine would be like then.
Yes Janet and Jason weaponized jasmine and Melissa’s situation with Danny in order to further their own agendas, but on paper they were atleast fighting for jasmine and Melissa’s situation to not be swept under the rug- it’s still wrong because it went against their wishes to STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. But both parties (Nia/kristen and Janet/jason) weaponized jasmine and Melissa incident. the poor couple ended up being collateral damage. One party sped up a timeframe for getting over it with group therapy and apologetic rhetoric (I say rhetoric because no one really believes Danny’s apology to jasmine and Melissa as genuine) and the other used it to show how Nia and Danny are a facade of a perfect couple. I understand why jasmine and Melissa felt uncomfortable and also misunderstood by both.
Now that jasmine WANTS to talk about it in a conversation where it would be relevant in context to Danny’s drinking (which she has every right to do) Nia and Kristen both froze and were mindful to look at each other instead of hear jasmine out.
The internalized misogny runs deep in them. I’m glad jasmine clocked it herself and zach did NOTHING to hold space for his friend to be heard.
I like zach but that was weak behaviour. Nia comparing what Danny did drunk to jasmine being drunk clearly showed both her and Danny don’t perceive what he did as something jasmine can bring up at anytime which is appalling. Her downplaying jasmines feelings is disgusting and Kristen is not watchable anymore.
I’ve been in a similar situation as jasmine and Melissa and ended up having to walk away from people who kept bringing it up to make a “point” in conversational settings just because they didn’t like said person. But also those who made me feel suffocated with their “not the right time” or “move on because it makes my life complicated” implications.
The body language and tone with which Danny told Nia to take off her mic and that dark stare he gave her. Wow. How she felt comfortable going inside to a room ALONE with him unmiced has my alarm bells going off. This is a woman who has probably felt unsafe with him before and now is just tired and used to it.
I really am worried that once Nia reaches a breaking point she will feel out of options and defeated. Lala was right Kristen needs to step up- Nia will NEVER LISTEN TO LALA OR JANET that’s why this needs to come from Kristen and Zack. It’s harder to refute hard truths when they come from people who you know care about you. He is borderline abusive with the emotional way he tried to dominate her out of her own feelings, and definitely verbally abusive.
Janet wrong time to apologize and make it about yourself but I also think Nia had to double down and refuse her olive branch because she couldn’t make Danny upset once more. She is definitely a little male centered and again this man is dangerous idc what yall say. He is openly touching and getting in women’s personal space drunk he’s performative for everyone else and hates his wife for doing the same.
If none of the men speak up for it the rest of the season or aftershow then I truly hope this show gets canned and they can stop protecting their image and let their relationship fall to pieces away from the limelight.
And as anyone who’s dearly loved their sister or treated their best friend like one I completely understand. You live in a share house with other people who will constantly see your relationship, but beside that I really do feel that Ciara would step in regardless of if the show were filming or not. Yes it’s involved, but in her eyes and with the information she was told and the verbal abuse she witnessed/heard of I actually think it’s completely fine. What did she say other than have you thought about a separation?
Which is a completely valid question in a close friendship where you are worried about the situation of a dear friend who you have seen been screamed at. People saying she overstepped can scream about boundaries all they want but at the end of the day she didn’t villainize Kyle she simply spoke out of care and concern for a friend she saw hurt and broken (in her eyes) for years and tried to motivate. This whole discourse around her getting too involved actually reminds of why men villainize gossiping when it has actually and factually helped more women see men for who they really are. Sometimes something that seems “inappropriate socially” is actually the right thing to do.
The aftershow is definitely not needed this season. The only purpose where it could have been impactful is watching the producers ask the men and women why they stayed silent on Danny’s yelling at Nia last episode. Instead we have questions like “would Jesse want to be pegged”. Even last week’s aftershow episode with them picking which animal each cast mate is, like what? Why even shoot it anymore? Why not take controversial viewer questions and put those in the after show and save us a boring reunion?
In a season full of nothing but post partum and verbal abuse it is so off putting that the whole season is a flop so far and then followed by a casual nothing burger aftershow. If the whole point is to see how the cast feel about topics shown on TV after time has passed, then the aftershow is clearly an epic fail. I think the valley is worth one more episode of my time but after that I’m out; especially after seeing Nia’s gaslighty IG comments supporting Danny’s behaviour. Clearly even with time there’s no acceptance of what’s abusive whether verbally or otherwise and continuing to ignore it from a producer level is just not the type of drama we should enjoy.
This isn’t a comparison of who’s in the better relationship but Kristen wearing her heart on her sleeve and being verbal and acknowledging the issues her and Luke deal with post pregnancy is so refreshing when you see Nia try and fail to keep her and Danny’s issues in the dark on camera . Kristen isn’t afraid for Luke to face the wraith of the public /fanbase for his awful takes because there’s lessons to be learned. Both relationships suck ass but Kristen doesn’t try to portray an air of everything is fine just becomes she wants to protect Luke’s image. Nia tries to stop anything from bubbling to the surface between her and Danny when it comes to his obvious disregard for her. Due to Danny’s abhorrent behaviour to women last season becoming public she wants to mitigate fallout/backlash for her partner. But in doing so she’s taking his lash outs way too calmly to present as if it’s fine or temporary. That IS performative because we have seen her stand up for herself so many times last season. She’s trying to clean up a mess that’s going to keep leaking.
Even with ZACK and Janet becoming cordial Kristen calls BS out in the open in the train with Zack head on, all while Nia comes to bicker with Kristen about being confused by Zack. The fact both of them can’t understand he’s being polite and can’t move on from it seems immature. If yall can forgive Danny’s creeping behaviour because he therapized himself and apologized y’all can let Zack accept a cordial apology from Janet where she also owned her wrongs even if performative.
I understand both women are different in nature and just have a few commonalities but I think the biggest take away from this latest episode seems to be that whether you cover your partner’s tracks or let them tell on themselves please have the freedom to speak your mind instead of keeping it in. To be honest Jason and JANET have a better relationship as husband/wife than either of those two couples and I say that as a Janet despiser.
With Michelle Brittany and even to a certain level Jesse feeling more free and light hearted it’s hard to watch Nia stay focused on holding everything inside.
What hobbies other than reading give you enjoy?
Amanda knows that West will not be exclusive to her and isn’t willing to go through the emotional turmoil she went through with Kyle to make him so. Making them into a committed monogamous relationship is what NEITHER of them wants right now. To be clear the moral fiber of them is worn thin but I feel like Amanda herself doesn’t see West as “the one” and understands he is fully single even when they’re together.
She wants to have all the fun and ease that comes from separating after a tumultuous relationship but also craves male affection and attention.
When WeSTD defended her against Kyle this season he became the white knight she sought comfort in because it meant she was worthy of 1) being protected by a man 2) “seen” by someone other than just a woman. She brought up how good a friend he was last episode because it made her feel special.
Amanda can’t operate with the logic that it was actually Ciara who was her real knight in shining armour for her through these tough times because she’s too male centered to have it be anyone other than a man who’s arms she can run into. Amanda also knows she can’t rationalize her actions and so separates the closeness of friendship she had with Ciara in comparison to childhood friendKatie (audio leak 3) as if that mattered.
Mandy can’t admit that Ciara was the real hero of her story and fell on so many swords for her while West did the bare minimum because Amanda can’t fathom being the bad guy and only operates as a damsel in distress framework. The internalized misogyny from Mandy refuses to “SEE” Ciara as anything other than a “lady in waiting” and paints West as the one who actually took a stand for her.
She’s willing to dispose of Ciara’s friendship for a phase in her life she knows is casual to the very core. All for a few moments of “feeling special” because a man sought to be in her corner. This leads to the diabolical IG posting through out the last few months.
Amanda’s chasing a feeling of “I got picked” but it’s become too fleeting too fast and the reality of who West is and how silent he was during the reunion is showing that he really wasn’t the hero she eternalized him to be.
Her attachment to West despite his actions towards Ciara showed that she’s completely fine with her girlfriends being casualties as long as she gets to retain male friendships and validation in some form.
We all know a lot of women who are like this; burning their best female supporters who advocate for them all to run back to the same mid man or any other man who shows the slightest hint of affection. Their actions become cyclical and hurt the stronger women in their lives.
Heroic loyalty from women mixed in with the racial dynamics Ciara discussed fall on deaf ears to people like Mandy.
Women who blow up the image of a man inside their head and cookie cutter it onto someone undeserving. Those women do more harm to other women in the long run and will never break out of the “helpless little me” mentality until every and any apathetic male finally leaves them.
TLDR: Ciara was the knight in shining armour Mandy wished West could be one day because she only ever wants to be saved if it’s by a man