The Summer House Mega-Reunion

We’re two-thirds of the way into what has been an explosive three-part reunion for the cast of Summer House. As you’ve probably heard by now, a bombshell scandal was confirmed as the season neared its end. Much like we saw with Scandoval and Vanderpump Rules, two cast mates had a secret love affair. In both that scandal and this one, the man was completely undesirable and the woman had fallen for her best friend’s man – a Shakespearean reality TV drama, if you ask me. I first wrote about the Summer House scandal here, in the unlikely event you need to be caught up.

This is the first time Summer House has had a three-part reunion, so that’s saying something. Historically, three-part reunions have been exclusively reserved for the heavy hitting shows on the network – think Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Vanderpump Rules during the season of Scandoval. And it makes sense, it’s an entire day of filming, there are production crews, makeup artists, catering, you name it. You have to spend an entire day rehashing the season. And some shows just don’t have enough to justify a three-parter.

But finally, in its 10^th season, Summer House had that. The show went from being one of the network’s underdogs, despite spinoffs like Winter House and Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard, to establishing itself as a main character in pop culture. But as always, it came with a cost – namely for Ciara Miller, who bared it all on screen only to face the ultimate betrayal at the hands of the man she loved and her best friend.

So far during the reunion, people have been very satisfied with the level of gusto in which Ciara and others have come at Amanda and West for their secret affair. In past reunions where Ciara had every right to come for West over his f-ck boy tendencies, I think I speak for a majority of her fans when I say she should’ve gone at him even harder. But I don’t think I need to say that this year. The soft, sad Ciara is gone. And the angry Ciara is here.

I’m using the word ‘angry’ here intentionally. As I’ve written before, it’s certainly not a description to be carelessly thrown around when referencing Black women. But in this case, it’s completely appropriate because she has every right to be angry. And because obviously being soft and sad wasn’t working for her.

Overall, race has played an interesting role this season. There was that deep and eye-opening conversation between the cast in which KJ opened up about his experiences as the first Black male housemate. And Ciara opened up about the criticism she faces for dating white men. And this week, that conversation evolved when Candiace Dillard, former Real Housewives of Potomac star, revealed that she got a cold reception from Ciara recently at a Las Culturistas event. This was most likely over the fact that Candiace spoke out about the scandal in April, criticizing Ciara’s inability to realize Amanda was not a true friend to her. Candiace also insinuated that their friendship wasn’t real and was instead one of convenience for the show.

I think it’s interesting that even in a case that seems so cut and dry about how morally and ethically bankrupt the two perpetrators are, there is still blame being put on Ciara. When West first displayed his inability to be a reliable romantic interest for her in previous seasons, people pointed fingers at her for falling for him in the first place, myself included. But now she was supposed to be on the lookout for her best friend who is literally still legally married engaging in an affair with her love interest?

That’s an unreal expectation to have of anybody. And I think that completely contradicts Candiace’s point. If Ciara had any inkling Amanda wasn’t a true friend, she would’ve been on high alert. Particularly with all the clips coming out of moments Amanda and West were seconds away from having their affair be outed on national TV. Ciara trusted West. And she trusted Amanda. That’s what friends do. They trust each other.

All of the talk about race begs a question that has come up in the discourse about this scandal – which is whether Amanda would have done this to Paige DeSorbo, her and Ciara’s other best friend, who, despite remaining tight-lipped about the scandal on her podcast, Giggly Squad, has made it clear that she is #TeamCiara. I don’t think any of us have the answer to that for a number of reasons – the timing of it all, the taste in men each of these women have, and of course, Amanda and Kyle’s relationship being in the state that it was over the summer, which made her susceptible to falling for someone as opportunistic as West in the first place.

And none of this is to say Amanda’s a victim, despite her certainly playing the part in the first two parts of the reunion. I was shocked at the lack of accountability. And the walking off stage to go and take breaks while Kyle and West had to strategize on who was best suited to go get their girlfriend/wife…? Come on!

It's these nuances that made this season so ripe with scandal. I mean, the stars truly aligned for producers, especially considering a new spinoff called In The City, based mostly off of the cast of Summer House with a few new key players, being in the works. It gave the new show such a bigger launching pad and such a visibility advantage. The season premiere literally picked up right where Summer House ended, which was Amanda revealing to Kyle that she would not be going back to New York with him and would instead be taking some time for her (and also West, most likely, now that we’ve pieced the puzzle together).

But beyond the timing of it all, it’s also the history, the cast of characters whose lives we’ve all followed – including former castmates Paige and Hannah who are now off doing their own thing. Even though they’ve moved on from reality TV, people were still aching for their takes on the situation. And good on them for not turning it into a content opportunity.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – reality TV, particularly in times like these, gives people an opportunity to come together. It also gives them the opportunity to do the exact opposite – be completely separated by their views on any given situation that unfolds on these shows. And when you think about it, it functions in the same way that sports and politics do. It gives everyone an opportunity to choose a side, state their case, follow the developments, and yes, attend events and conventions to be in community with people just like you, or not like you at all.

And all three of these things, sports, politics and your takes on reality TV, do, in fact, reveal a lot about who you are as a person. Where do you fall? Who do you align yourselves with? Are you on the right side of history? Do you change your mind when you’re presented with new information? Or do you remain loyal to your team, your candidate, your cast mate, simply because that’s what you’ve done historically?

When people struggle to understand the obsession and fascination with reality TV, I try to explain it like this. And for the most part, it goes over people’s heads, and that’s okay. But I know for myself and for so many others, that it is entirely possible to get to know yourself on a deeper level by being a fly on the wall as others navigate life – and all of its scandals.