Last year when it was announced that we would finally be getting the Summer House spinoff we had been waiting for, I was moderately excited. I was looking forward to seeing Lindsay, Kyle and Amanda’s lives outside the Hamptons but at the same time, I wasn’t sure what my expectations were.
When the cast was announced, I was confused. Who the hell were all these people? Why was the cast so big? Why was everyone superimposed onto a fake brownstone stoop? It all felt weird.
Then we had gotten the announcement that Kyle and Amanda were getting divorced (I’m sure we are all well acquainted with that timeline by now) and we would most likely see the dissolution of the worst marriage ever across two shows, in quick succession.
That piqued my interest a bit more…until West Side Story happen.
It was around this time that In The City’s premiere date was announced, happening after the Summer House Season 10 finale. I think it’s safe to say most of the Bravosphere knew that the premiere would be a ‘backdoor pilot’ a la RHOBH and Vanderpump Rules, so being able to shift the date or film extra scenes post scandal wasn’t going to happen.
West Side Story overshadowed In the City in more ways that one; now, the Kyle and Amanda storyline was completely outdated, the audience was tired of watching Amanda and hearing her monotone voice on camera, and we all had Summer House fatigue.
It would’ve been different if we didn’t have the scandal; if we had just been enjoying Summer House as a normal season without the added layer of interviews, social media posts, and tracking the cast on every social media platform. For three months, we were consumed with Summer House and while I can’t speak for everyone else, by the time In The City arrived, I was exhausted.
It also did not help that Amanda came off horribly in the show, to the point where I think even if we didn’t know how horrible of a person she was, we would still be questioning her motives; signing a year long lease, being outright mean to Kyle, and the state of (both!) her apartments. They were just more reasons for the audience to turn on her.
For me, it was really hard to watch the show objectively, taking West and Amanda out of the equation. It felt like such a dark cloud hanging over the season, as if we were time traveling to a place where nothing we were watching felt like it mattered.
I was burnt out on all things Kyle, Amanda and Lindsay, and it made In The City feel like a chore.
I loved seeing Lindsay as a mom and was so excited when baby Gemma popped up on my screen; I liked seeing Kyle outside of his element and seeing how he interacted with other people and I would say that was pretty much it…
As I said before, there were too many people on this cast and none of them, aside from Kenny or Gavin popped off the screen.
Seeing Danielle again was painful, Lexi & Andrea brought nothing to the table (and if I had to hear him talk about getting his wife pregnant one more time I was going to scream) and I didn’t care for any of the other cast members.
They were boring and in turn, the show was boring. I realize we are getting to know these people but there was just something missing. I do believe that these people are friends — at least a handful of them. They all know at least one person on the cast which I think helps, but it still seemed so disconnected at times.
Perhaps it’s because this cast, aside from the big three, were new to reality shows, but when you think about The Valley’s first season, a show that mostly follows the same format, it was a slam dunk, so perhaps this cast is just not a good fit.
On a podcast I was listening to (I think… I can’t remember which one) someone described every episode as a preview for something to happen. Each episode, you felt like you were waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the crescendo and it never came.
Every episode was a filler episode.
When it comes to the reunion, I was less than impressed. I could barely get through the entire thing because it felt so pointless. If they were insistent on having one because they wanted to grill Amanda more, they could’ve done it in one part. There wasn’t enough in the season to rehash.
For season 2, they need to clean house. Let’s get rid of Andrea and Lexi, I’ve seen enough of Georgianna, and I’m not opposed to knocking Yvonne and her husband down to friends of.
Depending on who comes back, I would love if Bravo could wait to start filming again. Three of their main cast members are pregnant and the last thing I want to see is more women postpartum. The Valley made that mistake and they are paying the price.
It’s not that I don’t want to see the postpartum journey, it’s that you never know what a woman is going through and it feels unfair to put a camera in front of them in their most vulnerable, recovery moments. Give them more than three months to heal, to adjust to motherhood and get acclimated to their new lives before having them run around Manhattan and be involved in drama.
The breakout star of the season was of course, Kenny. I hated him at first but as the show went on I grew to love how much of a menace he is. He is a very likely opponent for Lindsay and I would love to see the two of them spar some more. The only bad thing about Kenny is that Whitney comes along with him.
She is painfully boring, her fight with Lindsay was out of pocket and she was caught lying in 4K. I’ll admit she brought some drama in the finale, but she doesn’t seem like someone who can hold her own.
Also, I think it goes without saying that I don’t want Amanda on season 2, and it has almost nothing to do with West. I can’t stand to watch her! She is so painfully mundane it hurts. I don’t want to watch her slow blink, I don’t want to listen to her talk in circles, and I don’t want to see her messy apartment.
The most interesting thing about Amanda has always, and will always be Kyle.
Where will we go from here? How will Bravo handle season 2? Will Carl finally become a cast member now that him and Lindsay are on better terms? I would really like that!
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