Reality TV Is Self-Help: Summer House Recap

A somewhat lacklustre finale...but Whitney finally steps into her own and challenges Lindsay for playing the Mom card...AND she tells Gavin to shut up! That was my fave moment of the whole finale. Amanda slithers away to bed early from Friendsgiving...to call West? Even though the finale didn't blow my mind, I still want to see a season 2...sans Mandy.

Whitney grows some balls and shows that she isn't scared to tackle the moms-are-better-than-childless-women attitude that Lindsay and Georgina are showcasing! Lindsay is an ass and takes way too long to apologize to Yvonne. Amanda continues to be the biggest hypocrite ever and Kenny and Gavin actually call her on it. Kenny and Gavin make some interesting fashion choices and...Kyle's got excruciatingly painful anal fissures! Fun episode all around!

Kenny and Lindsay are cut from the same cloth and have a heart-to-heart. Yvonne has her moment stolen away from her and Lindsay fails to be a good friend. Amanda is the same old whiny baby she usually. Katie Deluca appears on screen 4 times, but only speaks once (and it's to defend Amanda). Carl seems to know something about Amanda's character.

Amanda continues to gaslight Kyle and lie to her Dad about who initiated living apart. Kenny and Gavin are hilarious together!!! Kenny shows that he's got a lil' Lindsay in him too when Gavin comes for his relationship. Kenny meets his Dad and it is touching. Next week's episode looks like everybody is popping off and I can't wait for it!

Kenny's Dad isn't long-lost anymore. Amanda loses her shit on Danielle. I didn't think I could hate Amanda even more than I already do, but I was wrong. Can't wait to see Amanda try to defend this one at the reunion. Amanda moves out and it's deja vu from their 10 years together: Kyle partied too late the night before and Amanda is whining about it. I am loving this show!

Lindsay continues to shine as she drops some caring but straight-up advice to Amanda. Meija and Ciara bond over their shared hatred of West...as Meija reveals she recently had a 6 hour convo with West! West thinks he should get credit for doing the right thing "a handle of times". Let's put this season and all the trauma to bed! In The City here we come...

KENNY!!! He is the star of the show since everyone can't stand him. Gavin is fascinating and hilarious and I love how well he knows Kenny...and how much he's pushed down in their friendship that I think is about to bubble-up! Andrea getting pissed was hilarious...the drama follows Kenny wherever he goes (in spite of what he says).

Amanda is still very Westford Wives style. Sedated? Beta blockers are in the building. Lindsay doesn't get it. The math isn't mathing and she's not gonna stay quiet about it! And the bonus episode...THE RECKONING!!!!!!!!!!

LOVE TRIANGLE...not! Ciara, West and Amanda have lunch and a hand-hold together. Kenny grew up in the old days when kids sniffed glue. He calls Lindsay out, wonders if she's been dipping into the glue, and Lindsay gets highly activated. Sparks fly (and not the good kind of sparks)! Lindsay and Kenny seem to hate each other. Whitney, Kenny's gf, is starting to come across as more human, less mannequin. I hope Kenny is nice to Whitney! Also I can't wait to see Andrea yelling at Kenny next week.

REUNION PART DEUX...Amanda and West don't know how to apologize yet. Amanda and Kyle haven't gotten it on for the whole 4 years of their marriage!!! Dara, Meija, Ciara, and Kyle (plus other cast) band together to try to dismantle West's house of cards.

Amanda proclaims her innocence to Kyle and can't stop focusing on the irrelevent (in terms of level of betrayal) timeline. Kenny is coming across as a real ass who hates women. Lindsay is starting to hate him. Gavin is a wild card! Yvonne is a girl's girl. This is already off to a very entertaining start!

Ciara OWNS Amanda...West twiddles his fingers...the cast is a united front against 2 of the most deceitful people EVERRRR!!!! KJ continues to inspire with his honesty about his own MH struggles.

West kisses Amanda's head with an open mouth. West makes out with Ciara. Mia is a good friend yet again. Amanda is a sketchbag yet again. Kyle is realizing his mistreatment of Amanda has finally caught up with him. A bit of the IN THE CITY premiere will be discussed too.

Vagisil gets name-dropped as does the L-word. Kyle and Carl go at it. West and Amanda are on some Stephen King type of shit. Bailey and Carl sitting in a tree (forever hopefully).

Ben hasn't dropped an L-bomb in 15 years! KJ opens up about a tragic loss. Kyle loses his shit in a genuinely scary way and West is there to back Amanda up...wish I could say he did the same for Ciara.

Amanda and West are weird. Sketch vibes for sure. Carl's Mom is also weirdly obsessed with West and rude AF to Lindsay. Kyle is catching on.

West is Hannibal Lecter in my books. Ciara lets her guard down as the monster (West) inches closer.

It's all about Amanda. How could she???? I'm perplexed.

Amanda is a deer in headlights when confronted by Ben. Kyle lets down Carl big time and West's getting handsy with a random woman next week.

WEST AND AMANDA CONFIRM THEIR COUPLEDOM! BARF. TEAM CIARA. Ep 9 discussed also.

Kyle sinks to new lows on the eve of his bday (his last one with Amanda?).

West makes a bold move much to Jesse's chagrin. Mia, KJ, and Ciara have a frank discussion about race with the housemates.

West and Ciara inch closer...as Jesse's on a timeout. Amanda gets a dig in at Kyle about her bday gift and Ben doesn't wanna eff Amanda, k?

Jesse, Jesse, Jesse...ick. West gives Lindsay the go ahead to rat Jesse out (bravo!) and Ciara is understandably pissed. Kyle and Amanda fade into the background (for now).

Wasn't it so weird when Boz's bf asks her if she'd still keep him around if he lost his job? Also, Rachel Zoe got proposed to the day after she told her ex Roger she cheated on him. Thoughts?

Jesse is scum. He's sickening really. West, why'd you invite an ex to the same party as Ciara? Amanda hates Kyle (shocker).

West might be growing up a bit. KJ is deep and lovable. Kyle loses his s#$% again. Amanda is close to her breaking point.

I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT KYLE SAYS ABOUT AMANDA IN THIS EPISODE!!!! Hear me talk all about that--as well as discussing an important convo between KJ and Ciara. There'll also be a few more juicy deets from the episode sprinkled throughout!

Kyle and Amanda...discussing all of the dysfunction associated with their relationship...and I'll talk about a few of the other cast members as well.