Bling Empire - General Discussion

[MCMLXXVII]

I just started this on Netflix, it’s supposed to be “real life Crazy Rich Asians” of L.A. Entertaining so far.

Edited January 16, 2021 by MCMLXXVII

[scorp01]

I'm enjoying this as well.

Love Anna, and Kevin is kind of a dumb himbo, but he seems sweet.  

[MCMLXXVII]

51 minutes ago, scorp01 said:

I'm enjoying this as well.

Love Anna, and Kevin is kind of a dumb himbo, but he seems sweet.  

I just started ep. 5. Kevin’s hot and seems nice, so I wonder about his “I was the only Asian kid in Philadelphia”- really? , “I had so many lonely birthdays” lines.

Christine seems just as phony as the one on “Selling Sunset”. 

Anna’s cool. Andrew yelling at Kelly on the phone sounded unhinged, can’t believe she wanted to talk that through- run far away!
    

[JocelynCavanaugh]

They’re all so nasty to Anna. I don’t know why she even associates with them!

The woman who is having her second baby with the guy who will never marry her needs to order some of whatever Kelly’s been drinking. If you want to be married before you had kids, you should’ve gotten married before you had kids! This is within your control! Sort of like how you could’ve named your daughter any name. It didn’t have to be Jadore. That was a choice.

Christine is a shrew. If I were putting money on it, I’d bet her fertility issues are because of her raging eating disorder. Cool of her to shame her husband publicly about it, but if it were just him and she’s fine, why not have IUI instead of IVF? I guess because she’s not interested in spending less money or being less of a martyr. Christine won’t be happy until everyone around her hates themselves.

That twink whose face is 70% Restalyne is useless. He makes everything about being Asian, even things that are completely irrelevant. Like Kevin’s mom’s comment about Kelly’s hips — sweetie, that’s not an Asian thing. It’s a tacky, inappropriate thing. Every culture has a few. I wonder if he’s really that obsessed with race or just playing it up for the show. 

Kevin’s harping on being “the only Asian in Pennsylvania” is a bit much, but I will say... I went to HS in Pennsylvania and there were two Asians in my school, and they were both adopted.  😬

[scorp01]

Quote

Christine is a shrew. If I were putting money on it, I’d bet her fertility issues are because of her raging eating disorder. Cool of her to shame her husband publicly about it, but if it were just him and she’s fine, why not have IUI instead of IVF? I guess because she’s not interested in spending less money or being less of a martyr. Christine won’t be happy until everyone around her hates themselves.

I agree, I don't care for Christine at all.  The things she's said/done to Anna, what she said to Cherie about women in Cherie's situation being thought of as sluts in Asian culture.  Yikes, maybe don't say that directly to Cherie?  Christine has just shown herself to be such an over the top bitch that it's hard to feel any sympathy towards her.  When she was crying about the treatment by her in-laws and the fact that she kept her husband's medical issues secret and took the blame herself...yeah, no.  I don't really care.

And re: the bolded area, I thought that as well.  If she had no issues why did she have to do IVF?

[Arynm]

Christine is just too much. She is such a name dropper. The husbands family must have some money, because a Dr and his wife would not be able to keep up with the likes of Anna and Kane. That is some real money. Anna's money being from an arms dealer will never run out, someone is always at war with someone else. Even Jaime's family looks super wealthy, I would have liked to see more from her. I would watch an entire show about Anna to be truthful, Anyone who puts diamonds on their dogs for no reason is someone I want to know more about.

As far as Christine goes, did you know she sat to the left of Prince Charles? She is new money and it shows. She can dress though, I liked her outfits.  I think that she got IVF because his family decided the infertility was her fault so they never tested the husband? Why no one would do a sperm motility test is beyond me.

I hope there is a second season I need to know how all the crazy people are doing. Kelly needs to get rid of Power Ranger, he is super scary.

[kendi]

1 hour ago, Arynm said:

O hope there is a second season I need to know how all the crazy people are doing. Kelly needs to get rid of Power Ranger, he is super scary.

As Kevin said, he definitely has that douchey side to him. And Kane poking at Drew, saying Kelly wanted more @#alal, that was pretty idiotic. Kane likes to instigate...he encouraged Christine to wear that necklace to Anna's party. 

Really like Anna. I have no idea what she trying to do with that sledgehammer in her closet. There's so much more to her than meets the eye. With as much money as she has, i think she never thinks about it and has a generous heart but don't cross her. 

[charliesan]

I've only seen the first two episodes and I don't want to go too dark and/or dirty but I think Kevin either lent a few "services" to Kane -or at least he lets him "peek" whenever he's changing his borrowed underwear (BTW that was disgusting)- in exchange for clothing and access to this circle. I don't know, I don't think Kevin's as dumb as he's portraying himself to be, especially when they were talking about Anna's possible "test" and Kevin was like "OMG really?!", as if Kane doesn't do that with him to begin with. 

I'm legit scared for Kelly's life, I couldn't believe the boyfriend was as unhinged as he was and I think he had to know they were filming when that phone call took place, I'm sure he could tell he was on speaker phone. 

I don't like Christine but I do emphatize with her regarding her family situation, I think that part of her life is actually real (or as real as reality television can be).

Edited January 18, 2021 by charliesan

[MCMLXXVII]

20 hours ago, JocelynCavanaugh said:

Kevin’s harping on being “the only Asian in Pennsylvania” is a bit much, but I will say... I went to HS in Pennsylvania and there were two Asians in my school, and they were both adopted.  😬

Fair enough, I figured Philly is a big east coast city with lots of universities, so it must be as diverse as NY.

I knew I recognized Kevin and it was from this video discussed on FB awhile back! My friend group determined that he was likely only  trying to date white women- thus the disappointment- and side-eyed the heck out of him.

[shoetingstar]

4 hours ago, kendi said:

As Kevin said, he definitely has that douchey side to him. And Kane poking at Drew, saying Kelly wanted more @#alal, that was pretty idiotic. Kane likes to instigate...he encouraged Christine to wear that necklace to Anna's party. 

Really like Anna. I have no idea what she trying to do with that sledgehammer in her closet. There's so much more to her than meets the eye. With as much money as she has, i think she never thinks about it and has a generous heart but don't cross her. 

All the "K" names were throwing me for a second: Kevin, "C"hristine, Kelly, Kim, Kane. Then you had two As Anna and Andrew.

I found Kevin attractively immediately, but being that I'm a Reality Show veteran, I already decided he would do something problematic to make me dislike him. It's hilarious he called Andrew dumb, when Kane called him the same in the next episode! lol

Kane - What does he do again, what are his connections? He actually made me feel bad for Andrew, which I greatly resent. Andrew had a point about why does Kane know his sex life details. Plush I like that he didn't throw Kelly under the bus and talk about their sex life. If Mr. Save-A-Kelly really respected her he wouldn't have entertained that either. I did like him doing the prayer with the Pregnant friend that just lost her Mom. 

Kelly - form experience - get away from Andrew before you have an oops, and get pregnant or worse. This will only lead to heartache. Though I hope he takes the counseling serious, for himself not to keep you. That doesn't end well. 

I was cooking while most listening, so I somehow got the idea that Andrew was Anna's son she mentioned earlier. So when he was going off on Kelly. I kept waiting for her to say "I didn't raise him like that, or something." I love that she apologized to Kelly for what she did say, but maintained that Andrew did was not cool.

Christine - yeah, she needs to calm down about this who Queen of society thing. I had the biggest laugh -when she was SHOCKED that Anna had her sitting so far away! Mess with the Bull you get the Horns! She started it, but Anna knew how to finish it. I don't like her per say, but I'm outraged by her husband. Didn't she nearly die or something trying to have the first child? And he just wants a daughter? I thought he was going to want another boy as insurance. Pretty common in these times societies. I get Surrogacy is an option but he seemed totally flippant about her concerns.

I LOVE Anna - like Kim said she does things other people could not get away with. But she doesn't seem mean-spirited or arrogant. like Christine That scene when Kevin tried to return the clothing and shoes (he's another source of comedy)- I think she was genuine. I've been wanting to see this type of Rich on reality. Unapologetic about their wealth but not a complete asshole.

Edited January 18, 2021 by shoetingstar

[JocelynCavanaugh]

1 hour ago, MCMLXXVII said:

Fair enough, I figured Philly is a big east coast city with lots of universities, so it must be as diverse as NY.

The city itself is definitely more diverse than my tiny high school, but I don’t think it’s anywhere close to NYC or Houston or LA. Mostly white (lots of Italian, PA Dutch, and Polish) or black. My thought process was actually more like “oh calm down, Kevin. You’re not that special. At my school, there were... oh wait.” LOL 

Kreider is a fairly common PA Dutch (German) last name, but it is Kate Gosselin’s maiden name. I wonder if they’re cousins or something. Info so, Kevin would’ve had at least nine Korean relatives nearby!

[shoetingstar]

omg WHY is Kim and this Celebrity Hairstylist dude in Anna's shower and throwing her Sexy toy out the window? Wow, Grow the fuck up. This was not acceptable or funny in any way.

But Kevin sticking up for Anna, was a nice surprise.

Edited January 18, 2021 by shoetingstar

[Vanderboom]

4 hours ago, shoetingstar said:

omg WHY is Kim and this Celebrity Hairstylist dude in Anna's shower and throwing her Sexy toy out the window? Wow, Grow the fuck up. This was not acceptable or funny in any way.

I know, right? I was as disgusted as Kevin was. I really hate the Needlessly Bitchy Gay Man trope on these types of reality shows. Kim might not have instigated the Bathroom Exploration, but she did take it upon herself to ghostbust Anna's home, and throw the sex toy out of the window. Yet, she's acting like Anna did something to her by getting angry over this invasion of her house and privacy? Please. That made me like her even less than I like Christine, who obviously acts out her insecurities with her One-Upper nonsense.

[shoetingstar]

8 hours ago, Vanderboom said:

I know, right? I was as disgusted as Kevin was. I really hate the Needlessly Bitchy Gay Man trope on these types of reality shows. Kim might not have instigated the Bathroom Exploration, but she did take it upon herself to ghostbust Anna's home, and throw the sex toy out of the window. Yet, she's acting like Anna did something to her by getting angry over this invasion of her house and privacy? Please. That made me like her even less than I like Christine, who obviously acts out her insecurities with her One-Upper nonsense.

Agreed! And he came out of nowhere - like this is your first episode? lol I really don't get Kim's thinking at all. It's interesting that she was able to apologize to Kevin for throwing the drink on him. Does Anny need to throw a drink because calm reasoning went over her head. So my conclusion, she is just super judge-y toward Anna and feels she deserved it??! Which makes me like her even less.

[scorp01]

Finally finished watching all the episodes and I really enjoyed it.  I have to say, Christine semi-redeemed herself in the final episode.  Maybe it's because she had minimal interaction with Anna and I was able to see her as a less bitchy, more supportive friend.  Of course, she had to take a step backwards in her last talking head when she said, "This year I'm going to do my best to be as loving and forgiving as possible.  Except when it comes to Anna".  Maybe it's just drama for the show, but...sigh...

Cherie's proposal to Jessey was cute, although I wish he had some balls and didn't force her to propose to him.

I hope there's a second season!

[Megan]

Anna holds her head in the oddest positions. Like it's too heavy for her neck or shes hunched over? And she does have terrible hair. Apart from those two weird superficial judgey things shes really likeable.

For rich people these guys talk constantly about how much everything costs. 

 

[TV Diva Queen]

I'm liking this show.  Random thoughts:

Red Power Ranger needs to Power Up and go away.  

Kim (the DJ)  looks like she can be a Jenner sister

I want to go to a party that has a Gucci claw machine

I like Anna - alot

Can the Dr just hire his own surrogate and have another child?  

Kevin is way too thirsty to be a reality sensation.  

 

 

[Megan]

3 hours ago, TV Diva Queen said:

Kevin is way too thirsty to be a reality sensation.  

 

 

Kevin is definitely the one most playing a "scripted" part for sure to facilitate storylines. Dude is incredibly wealthy by most standards.

 

[TrixieTrue]

I'm really liking Anna so far (only seen four episodes) and I also love her house. The living room with the piano looks comfortable and lived in. I'm sure it's all expensive, but it's not a museum. I'd love to see a tour. She does seem very secure in herself, which is probably because she has been surrounded by extreme wealth her whole life. 

Agree with everyone that Kim and her friend were beyond rude and I don't understand why Kim just wouldn't apologize.  

Christine is beautiful but does seem insecure. 

 

[Sheenieb]

Just finished the series. While I'm not opposed to a second season, I'm OK with it being a one and done as well. The only person I found interesting was Anna Shay. Now THAT is a lady who has lived and has stories. Everyone else seemed kinda dim.

Kim looked like Jersey Shore's JWoww. Her dress was too short at the 100 Days party.

I doubt Cherie and Jessey will get married. I hope I'm wrong, but he was clearly not beaming when she proposed to him. I know it isn't for me to understand, but I will never wrap my head around how you can be gung-ho about having children, yet be put off by marriage. Children are a bigger commitment. If the marriage doesn't work out, and you don't have children, you can divorce and never see each other again. With kids, you're never done with each other. You'll always be connected through the children. Jessey also came across like a vapid asshole to me.

Episode 7 was weird. I know it was all contrived, but Kevin and Kane go to South Carolina to find Kim's father, they roll up on this guy who already told them on the phone that he was not Kim's dad. He doesn't even know her, and they're like, "I think that was really her dad." 🤔

I viewed Kevin as the Pip/Nick Carraway character of the bunch. However, I must say that he was making me a wee bit uncomfortable with his interactions with Kelly. Kane said that Kevin and Kelly would flirt with each other, but I didn't see that. I saw Kevin flirting, but Kelly would fake laugh when Kevin would try it. She never gave off one iota of interest in him, so when he tried to kiss her, she turned away, and he said that she was probably "playing hard to get," I was like, dude, no, she's showing disinterest.

Here's hoping that we'll all be back to having large gatherings again in the future. It was nostalgic watching everyone hug and kiss.

[TrixieTrue]

I was kind of impressed by the private investigator Kim visited about her father. He actually seemed professional and caring. But it's unclear to me, does Kim's mother know who her father is? And regarding Kevin and Kane's visit to South Carolina, how did the private investigator not find out the information that Kevin and Kane did?  

 

Kelly and Andrew are a good looking couple, but wow, that is not a healthy relationship. He needs serious therapy. 

 

Kane is a lot, but also seems like a good friend. His perspective on religion is also very open-minded. I laughed at his reaction to Cherie's son needing a diaper change. "I don't want to see your mom's penis!"  

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 1/17/2021 at 10:16 PM, JocelynCavanaugh said:

The city itself is definitely more diverse than my tiny high school, but I don’t think it’s anywhere close to NYC or Houston or LA. Mostly white (lots of Italian, PA Dutch, and Polish) or black. My thought process was actually more like “oh calm down, Kevin. You’re not that special. At my school, there were... oh wait.” LOL 

Why do so many people approach Kevin's story with doubt?  I come from one of the most multicultural cities in the world and I STILL know several Asian people who grew up in high schools like that.  Even with cities around here that are 50% Asian, you turn a corner and you can go into a neighbourhood where the school would be mostly white and minorities would be rare.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[JocelynCavanaugh]

23 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Why do so many people approach Kevin's story with doubt? 

Probably because so much of this show seems like it might be staged or even scripted, and/or because he speaks about it in such dramatic absolutes. It would be foolhardy to take a show like this at face value. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

It's extremely realistic and common to be the only Asian person or one of the few Asian people at a high school in North America no matter what city.  I  can understand wondering if a party was scripted, not Asian people soberly discussing what it's like to be Asian in North America, especially when so many others have shared experiences.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[JocelynCavanaugh]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

It's extremely realistic and common to be the only Asian person or one of the few Asian people at a high school in North America no matter what city.  I  can understand wondering if a party was scripted, not Asian people soberly discussing what it's like to be Asian in North America, especially when so many others have shared experiences.

Are you Asian-American?

[Ms Blue Jay]

deleted

Edited January 23, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[biakbiak]

16 hours ago, JocelynCavanaugh said:

Probably because so much of this show seems like it might be staged or even scripted, and/or because he speaks about it in such dramatic absolutes. It would be foolhardy to take a show like this at face value. 

 He went to Penn Charter which in 2013 the year he graduated had a total pk-12 th grade enrollment of 940 there don’t appear to be older demographics but for 2020-2021 the entire school is only 4% Asian*. It wouldn’t be shocking that the numbers were even smaller percentage when he started/graduated. 

*It also notably doesn’t break up this number by more specific ethnicities as many schools do. Though go into great detail about their zip code/geographic diversity.

Edited January 24, 2021 by biakbiak

[retired watcher]

On 1/17/2021 at 12:04 AM, JocelynCavanaugh said:

They’re all so nasty to Anna. I don’t know why she even associates with them!

The woman who is having her second baby with the guy who will never marry her needs to order some of whatever Kelly’s been drinking. If you want to be married before you had kids, you should’ve gotten married before you had kids! This is within your control! Sort of like how you could’ve named your daughter any name. It didn’t have to be Jadore. That was a choice.

Christine is a shrew. If I were putting money on it, I’d bet her fertility issues are because of her raging eating disorder. Cool of her to shame her husband publicly about it, but if it were just him and she’s fine, why not have IUI instead of IVF? I guess because she’s not interested in spending less money or being less of a martyr. Christine won’t be happy until everyone around her hates themselves.

That twink whose face is 70% Restalyne is useless. He makes everything about being Asian, even things that are completely irrelevant. Like Kevin’s mom’s comment about Kelly’s hips — sweetie, that’s not an Asian thing. It’s a tacky, inappropriate thing. Every culture has a few. I wonder if he’s really that obsessed with race or just playing it up for the show. 

Kevin’s harping on being “the only Asian in Pennsylvania” is a bit much, but I will say... I went to HS in Pennsylvania and there were two Asians in my school, and they were both adopted.  😬

Kevin said the only Asian in Philadelphia. There are over 35,000 Chinese not to mention people from many other asian countries. If he's talking about the suburbs there are still plenty of asians, some adopted like him and some rom asian families.

[retired watcher]

On 1/17/2021 at 10:16 PM, JocelynCavanaugh said:

The city itself is definitely more diverse than my tiny high school, but I don’t think it’s anywhere close to NYC or Houston or LA. Mostly white (lots of Italian, PA Dutch, and Polish) or black. My thought process was actually more like “oh calm down, Kevin. You’re not that special. At my school, there were... oh wait.” LOL 

Kreider is a fairly common PA Dutch (German) last name, but it is Kate Gosselin’s maiden name. I wonder if they’re cousins or something. Info so, Kevin would’ve had at least nine Korean relatives nearby!

Philadelphia is an extremely diverse city. The school I taught at had about 30 different cultures represented. There are very few PA Dutch/Amish in Philadelphia. They live in the Lancaster/Reading area about an 90 outside of Philly. There is a large Asian community made up of many countries. There are also many, many Asians who were adopted by white parents.

According to Wikipedia: The 2010 Census redistricting data indicated that the racial makeup of the city was 644,287 (42.2%) Black(non-Hispanic), 562,585 (36.9%) White (non-Hispanic), 96,405 (6.3%) Asian (2.0% Chinese, 1.2% Indian, 0.9% Vietnamese, 0.4% Korean, 0.3% Filipino, 0.1% Japanese, and 1.4% other), 6,996 (0.5%) Native Americans, 744 (0.05%) Pacific Islanders, and 43,070 (2.8%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 187,611 persons (12.3%); 8.0% Puerto Rican, 1.0% Mexican, 0.3% Cuban, and 3.0% other. The racial breakdown of Philadelphia's Hispanic/Latino population was 63,636 (33.9%) White, 17,552 (9.4%) Black, 3,498 (1.9%) Native American, 884 (0.47%) Asian, 287 (0.15%) Pacific Islander, 86,626 (46.2%) from other races, and 15,128 (8.1%) from two or more races.[102] The five largest European ancestries reported in the 2010 Census included Irish (13.0%), Italian (8.3%), German (8.2%), Polish (3.9%), and English (3.1%).

The white population is made up of people whose backgrounds are from every European country.

[TeapotWakeen]

re: "the only Asian in Philadelphia" -- it's also true that people will name the largest city near where they lived, so they don't have to explain they live in Bedroom Community #35, which is 35 miles outside the city but no one has ever heard of it.  My hometown is 50+ miles from Chicago, but saying "I'm from Chicago" serves its purpose most of the time. If someone says "where in Chicago?" I'll say "4th cornfield south" and that's a lot simpler that leading with that.

I like Anna, but her posture is horrible. I want to pull her shoulders down, lift her head up to expose her neck. And don't get me started on the cheeks on this show!

[biakbiak]

14 hours ago, TeapotWakeen said:

e: "the only Asian in Philadelphia" -

He was also describing his experience a transracial adoptee he didn’t experience any other Korean children (or other Asians) in his life. It’s not like as a child he could get out and socialize on his own without his family, being Korean I don’t know who’s the number of Chinese total people in Philadelphia would mean to him. He went to a Quaker private school in Philadelphia that was overwhelmingly white. He said what his childhood felt like and that is completely common for many. Everyone is prone to hyperbole and his other interviews share more nuanced takes on why he felt that way.

Edited January 24, 2021 by biakbiak

[midge]

Just started watching, 4 eps in.  Totally fake.  Fakey faskerson with a side order of fake, but I am still enjoying it. 

I do like Anna (and just saying, her father is/was a Russian arms dealer?  Um, maybe everyone should be a LOT nicer to her.  Heh.)  

I hope we get a few more slightly less useless people as this goes on though. Either that or let just have it be a fashion/excess parade, the "drama" is going to get old. 

 

 

[TV Diva Queen]

this whole series I was trying to figure out who Anna reminded me of....then it hit me.  She's Lily Tomlin, they even resemble each other.  She's earthy, warm and probably has a million jaw dropping stories of her life.  

[tabloidlover]

https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/bling-empires-kelly-mi-li-andrew-gray-are-back-together/

[Irlandesa]

On 1/24/2021 at 4:47 PM, midge said:

Just started watching, 4 eps in.  Totally fake.  Fakey faskerson with a side order of fake, but I am still enjoying it. 

Yep.  So fake but well done fake.  Nicely created storylines fake but still fake.

If I were Kelly, I'd run from Andrew (unless he does a lot of work on himself and stops blaming her for his anger issues) but "Kim doesn't know what's good for her" Kevin isn't necessarily a good alternative.  How invasive for Kane and Kevin to fly to S.C. without Kim's permission.  And might she not want to talk to her dad's wife?

I'm shocked Christine never made it onto Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I read somewhere she had been considered.  The sly bitchiness, the costume changes, the wigs, the name dropping...etc.  She would have fit right in.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Irlandesa

[Bunnyette]

On 1/25/2021 at 12:40 PM, Irlandesa said:

Yep.  So fake but well done fake.  Nicely created storylines fake but still fake.

If I were Kelly, I'd run from Andrew (unless he does a lot of work on himself and stops blaming her for his anger issues) but "Kim doesn't know what's good for her" Kevin isn't necessarily a good alternative.  How invasive for Kane and Kevin to fly to S.C. without Kim's permission.  And might she not want to talk to her dad's wife?

I'm shocked Christine never made it onto Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I read somewhere she had been considered.  The sly bitchiness, the costume changes, the wigs, the name dropping...etc.  She would have fit right in.

Christine would fit perfectly on RHOBH...perhaps this is her audition.  Love Anna’s assessment of Baby Gs birthday party - contrived.

[Ciarrai]

Jamie has quite the resting bitch face. She looks sour all the time.

I'm  pretty sure Kim is  a lost Kardashian/Jenner.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Ciarrai

[TV Diva Queen]

On 1/25/2021 at 11:40 AM, Irlandesa said:

Yep.  So fake but well done fake.  Nicely created storylines fake but still fake.

If I were Kelly, I'd run from Andrew (unless he does a lot of work on himself and stops blaming her for his anger issues) but "Kim doesn't know what's good for her" Kevin isn't necessarily a good alternative.  How invasive for Kane and Kevin to fly to S.C. without Kim's permission.  And might she not want to talk to her dad's wife?

I'm shocked Christine never made it onto Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I read somewhere she had been considered.  The sly bitchiness, the costume changes, the wigs, the name dropping...etc.  She would have fit right in.

I would LOVE her on RHoBH.  

[LibertarianSlut]

On 1/21/2021 at 10:20 AM, TV Diva Queen said:

Can the Dr just hire his own surrogate and have another child?  

That is what I was thinking.  Christine would probably have to sign off on a million documents, but she seems like she would ultimately do what her husband wants her to do if he flashes enough cash.  I’m not sure why she’s so vehement about not having another baby if she doesn’t have to carry it.  If it’s a time commitment, don’t they have a zillion dollars, and can’t she just hire round-the-clock nannies?  

I’m only through episode six, so maybe more will be revealed to me, but I love Anna.  Love her.  She can do no wrong in my eyes (though I don’t love her home as much as some; I like a much more modern aesthetic).  I want to see more of her kid and her kid’s girlfriend.  Anna is just so cool.  Nothing gets to her.  She shows up at bowling and gets a strike.  She doesn’t wear a bra to yoga, when Christine shows up in a belt that looks like it cost $50k.  Nothing ruffles her feathers, none of her reactions are disproportionate.  She could really do her own show.  

I think Christine is a necessary foil to create a little drama with Anna.  I loved the Anna/Christine disagreement about the oldest jeweler in Paris, because both women clearly had a serious opinion on this matter.  I also loved when Christine noticed Anna’s Dior and asked if it was this season.  Toto, we’re not in Real Housewives of New York City anymore, where two women are arguing about whether one knows where the social register is located—this is real wealth!

A lot of this show seems staged, but it also seems like the cast is in on it, so it doesn’t bother me.  Christine is good for her wealth and fashions, though I think her husband Dr. Chiu is one of the oddest/least attractive people currently on TV...and Baby G is his spitting image!  I don’t know why men think everything has to be pulled so tight and why they think it looks so good for their eyebrows to be Botoxed to high heaven all of the time.  I also gave him major side-eye when he told Kelly to sit on the vibrating seat at his medical party, as it will make her “va-jay-jay tighter.”  Um, no it won’t.  I can’t believe he made this as a medical claim.  I’d never visit his practice now.  

Kane seemed great at first, like he was so rich that he DGAF, and was just happy to be a side player in everyone else’s drama, however, as of late, he has gotten too squealy and he is too “oh my God” about everything, and it’s getting annoying.  Like, “oh my God, Kevin, you’re wearing underwear to pray?”  He seems to do that at least twice an episode.  I did like his joke that it appeared that Jaimie’s stylist had died on the day they went to the beach.  

I’m not sure what the point of Jaime is.  She’s much younger than the rest of them, and rarely gets any lines, but I find myself wanting her to show up, because I also think she is legit rich, but she seems a bit like a nonstarter.  

Speaking of nonstarters, can we talk about Guy for a second?  He came on the show to find a penis pump (and I don’t even know what that is, other than what I saw on Austin Powers; why don’t they explain) and throw it out the bathroom window to ridicule Anna?  I certainly could have done without that...

Kim, I have found, is a big disappointment, and very dull.  She never expresses an original thought, and seems to have a hard time keeping up with the storyline, of which there is little.  All she does is say she wants to meet her biological father.  Nothing to see there.  It surprises me that she’s a famous DJ.  She seems like someone who doesn’t have a creative bone in her body, and just listens to Basic Bitch music 24/7.

I liked Cherie a lot, and I thought it was so interesting that she was willing to give birth on camera, and I was here for her story, and I think Jadore is adorable, and kill me, but I actually love the name, but...she really lost me when she began to sincerely believe that her mom had been reincarnated through her baby.  I can’t even begin to speculate how much that could fuck a little kid up, if he hears it sincerely and repeatedly.  I was so disappointed in Kane for advancing that idea and pretending to give it serious thought, and I gained a lot of respect for Jessie when she called him and he was basically just like, “are you dreaming or something?”  At least the kids will have one sane parent.  

Kevin is probably the worst character for me.  He is constantly reassured that his birth parents would be so proud of him and how he turned out, and his mom says they missed out, etc.  Why?  Because he is an arguably good looking, extremely insecure man in his thirties who moved to LA to go on a self-esteem journey and doesn’t have an original thought and doesn’t seem to do anything?  Why is he so obsessed with his abs?  He’s not that ripped.  Walking along the beach with Kelly, he didn’t even have a six-pack.  But of course he had to jump into the ocean naked, in a desperate bid to show us how hot he is, because that’s all he has.  

I think Kevin thinks that his looks entitle him to things, and access to people like Kelly.  When he said that Kelly needed some Asian dick (the implication that he was going to be the one to give it to her), I thought that was such a creepy statement.  The subtext to me read, “we’re both Asian, we’re both hot, and I’m a few years younger than her, so she will obviously be into me and I can find self-worth in rescuing her from the evil Andrew.”  It’s like...Kelly doesn’t need rescuing, bra, you do, because you have no idea who you are, you seem to be in love with your mom, and you seem to be unaware of your sexual orientation.  He totally got played by Anna, when she wasn’t even trying to play him, with the clothes.  If Kevin didn’t want to accept gifts because he didn’t want to be indebted to someone, then the answer is easy—don’t accept a gift.  Don’t pretend to skateboard all the way into Beverly Hills to pretend you are uncomfortable with the gift, because you don’t know what kind of quid pro quo you’re getting into, only to wind up (spoiler alert) keeping the gifts (because he is completely materialistic) and doing Anna’s bidding against Kim because she was fighting with Anna.  My husband was watching this with me and he asked me if Kevin knew Tom Sandoval from VanderPump Rules, and I said he either does, or if he doesn’t, they will meet and become best friends and mutually gush over each other.  Newsflash Kevin:  being comparatively poor is not a character virtue.  You can get your earnest expression off my TV at any time. 

Kelly is cool.  I really like her, although once I started paying attention to her, she doesn’t sound interesting when she speaks, unlike Anna and Christine.  She has no insight into her or Andrew’s behavior—just basic views about the human race.  I think she’s pretty and I think the fact that her white dog is named Kilo is funny and I think she’s good for the show, but she’s not a lead.  I don’t care if she winds up with Andrew, because while he is absolutely horrible, Kelly had every chance to get rid of him.  She had Anna’s support.  She had the therapist basically break them up, she had the opportunity to use Kevin as a rebound, and she did none of that, she just took Andrew back, and she is entitled to bad treatment, if that is where her comfort zone is.  She is obviously attracted to Andrew in a way that she’s not attracted to Kevin and she’s fully grown—she’s 35—so she’s acting on her emotions and she’s allowed that.  He’s not hitting her, he’s just scum, and no one can ‘make’ her realize that, and to the extent they keep trying, they look like meddlers.  Kevin on the beach, demanding details about whether Kelly had hugged and kissed Andrew, well after Kelly had friend-zoned Kevin, was just as creepy to me as Andrew.  

Well, I still have two episodes to go.  I really like this show.  They seem to avoid so many of the reality TV cliches.  The fights don’t run the show, the money does.  I like that it’s only eight episodes, and I’m not sure I’m hoping for a second season.  Maybe they can go elsewhere if they want to do this again, like, find wealthy New Yorkers.  I wouldn’t want to see any crossover with any Housewives franchise though; those Housewives are too poor and stupid for these people, especially Anna.  I think the job is complete:  the people of Bling Empire’s stories have essentially been told, and it is very good.  I can only imagine a second season would drag down its legacy, though I wouldn’t mind an update in the blogs here and there!

[Atlanta]

I'm only one episode down and so far I like Anna (but what is up with her mouth?), Kevin, and Kim. As someone else said, this Christine would get along well with the one from Selling Sunset. LOL Kelly, run away from Andrew!!!

Blurb on Christine and her husband

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9205395/Christine-Chiu-millions-boob-jobs-Prince-Charless-new-Wellbeing-Centre.html

Edited January 30, 2021 by Atlanta

[Ms Blue Jay]

I think that Jamie is adorable.

[LibertarianSlut]

WOW, the episode where they went to Charleston jumped the shark.  It was so contrived, such bad performance art.  They could have ended the show after six episodes, rather than have Kane and Kevin travel across the country and pretend to try to learn Vietnamese and pantomime knocking on doors in order to harass some guy who they think is Kim’s biodad...the hell?  The guy is entitled to privacy; did that ever occur to these busybodies??  If it was a woman who had given her baby up, I don’t think she’d be treated so insensitively.  Double standard much?  We’re really supposed to believe the detective found only biodad’s new wife’s number and no more?  So stupid and I just don’t care. I am horrified over this development, as well as plenty more badgering, chiefly by Anna, of Kelly about Andrew.  Epic fail. 

The only bright spot in the episode was Kim’s stepfather.  I am now completely convinced she has special needs (no snark) and it’s nice to see that she has people supporting her.

Kane is putting on that Kermit the Frog voice, right?

That episode was supposed to end on a cliffhanger?!?  Joke’s on them, because I do not care.  This isn’t the find your bio parents hour, this is Bling Empire...but with no bling.  Very disappointing.  I’ll halfheartedly tune into the finale, but I don’t know if the show can recover from this. That scene with the Confederate Battle Flag was like something out of Borat.  Just insanely stupid and based on a completely different premise from the show’s original trajectory.  Two thumbs down.

[LakeGal]

We binged the series yesterday.  I loved Anna.  But I found most of the cast interesting.  I watched the After Show too.

I really wondered why they never asked if Kim had any half-siblings.  Maybe they did and I missed it.  But she could look into that and maybe meet some cousins on her dad's side.  

[peachmangosteen]

I just binged this the past 2 days. It was fine. Anna seems unhinged to me but in a really fun and cool way lol. I would love to be her friend. I basically liked/enjoyed/was interested in all the women and none of the men. 

This update is basically worthless but I watched it anyway.

 

[sandwoman]

Kelly and Drew's relationship is deeply upsetting to watch. Even in that "update" video, he's terrifying! It's a good example of a seemingly smart woman who is somehow can't pull herself out of a terrible situation. She needs a new therapist - someone who is treating only her and Not Andrew as well. And she needs to cut off contact with him. Something is deeply wrong and off about him. It also reminds me of friends who have been in toxic relationships... it's exhausting to watch and I can totally see why someone like Kane is just tired of her going back and forth with Andrew.

And while I'm sure Kevin was playing up his Kelly crush for the show, the way he kept flirting with her and talking about her when she truly showed NO interest in him was very creepy. 

Kim seems like such a dim bulb. She's 32, (I guess 30 at the time of filming?) but she acts like an 11 year old. 

I enjoyed Anna (and Florent!) and Christina the most. Love seeing real insane wealth. Love seeing Christina try sooo hard to "win" over Anna and Anna effortlessly flick her back. 

[Cheezwiz]

I just finished all of the episodes, and was totally entertained.

It's definitely staged and scripted, and it reminded me a lot of Selling Sunset in its watchability. These people are ridiculously over-the-top, but most of them, even if they're a bit dim and obsessed with material goods seemed surprisingly not awful.

I think I enjoyed watching Kane the most - the world is his playground, and he loves to have fun, but he's not arrogant or mean-spirited, and is very supportive of friends when they need it. He seems more observant and intelligent than he's given credit for. He totally cracked me up when he was jumping up and down and waving at the Confederate flag paraders in Charleston.

Kevin is great looking, and I guess supposed to be the audience surrogate as the token "poor", but he's... not very bright. I wanted to like him, but I found his badgering of Kelly when it was clear she wasn't interested in him really off-putting.

Kelly seemed nice enough, but not terribly intriguing apart from the on/off again romance with the Power Ranger guy. She needs to kick him to the curb pronto, but probably never will. They'll be locked in a continual cycle of breaking and making up. It has to be incredibly frustrating for her friend group to witness. That guy is seriously unhinged - not only was the Paris footage upsetting to watch, but he was so scary when he started interrogating her about her dating after they'd "broken up". I hope she leaves him before he starts abusing her physically (if he's not already doing that), or before she gets pregnant and is tied to him forever. Agree with the poster above that she needs to go to therapy on her own. t seems like she's only with him because she's physically attracted to him, and he just keeps reeling her back in after his rages. Just the little glimpses we saw on a scripted show were really disturbing.

Kim - definitely looks like a lost Kardashian/Jenner. She seemed okay, but it was frustrating watching her refuse to grasp that her behavior at Anna's was rude and inappropriate. I was curious as to what happened with her family - how her parents split up. Did the Dad just abandon the family, or did the Mom choose to leave? I wondered if "Michael" was just an assumed name that Tony took, and  the Dad's second wife calling Kevin & Kane  with the news about him was just a cover story so he could go on with with his life and not have to see KIm. Wouldn't the PI have uncovered the real info if it were true?

Cherie/Jessy - Cherie looks just like an anime character to me. Sweet and clueless. Man, Jessy did NOT look happy when she proposed to him publicly. Good for her for drawing a line in the sand. Dude, you have two kids with this woman, what are you waiting for?

Christine - got the villain edit, but her many outfits were fun to watch. It was more fun to watch Anna shrug her off like the try-hard annoyance she is. Ugh, her kid is going to grow up to be an insufferable little emperor.

Anna intrigued me the most. To me, she looked like a hot mess when she first appeared. I think it may have been her odd posture and overdone plastic surgery, (also the sledgehammering of her closet) but she seemed impaired/stoned at first. Instead, she wound up having some very sane observations about the people around her, and decent advice. For the daughter of an arms-dealing oligarch, she was surprisingly impressive in her attitudes - eccentric but very warm and generous. Ultra-secure and confident, because she literally does not have a care in the world, yet not lording her status over others. I think she would be fascinating to talk to regardless of her wealth - I wish the other cast members were more respectful around her. I'd like to know more about her background. Her son appeared briefly in a couple of scenes and looked totally normal. On a shallow note, I was mystified as to how someone that epically wealthy can have such terrible hair?!

Jamie - I didn't understand the point of her at all. She barely spoke, and when she did, she wasn't interesting. She probably comes from lots of money, but to me, looked like she should be clerking in an insurance office.

I would definitely watch if there were a second season.

[tennisgurl]

Well, I have certainly heard the phrase "penis pump" now more than I ever had before I binged this show, so...thanks for that.

I am not usually a big follower of "rich people drama" style reality shows, but this one actually managed to suck me in. Its so obviously staged that it actually felt like a full on scripted show frequently, but that actually helped to make it fun. Everyone seemed to be "in" on how scripted it all was, and were playing to the camera as much as possible, so you could just enjoy the craziness and the needless personal drama and the ridiculous displays of wealth. There is definitely something to be said about seeing the ridiculously Extra ways in which rich people spend their time and money, especially the parties and the outfits. Everything was constantly at an eleven. Like, Christine is mostly a major Regina George mean girl (probably not helped by her obvious insecurities over motherhood and her in-laws) but I could watch her forever just to see those outfits. 

Anna was definitely my favorite, she absolutely fascinates me, I would love to just sit and talk with her. While everyone else is obsessing about how people perceive them and think about them and are dealing with varying degrees of insecurities, Anna has just hit a state of Zen where she gives zero fucks about what people think about her, makes no apologies for quirks, and just has fun and lives her life. She has so much confidence (probably helped by having all the money in the world) and just seems like she is always having so much fun, I would love to do diamond braless yoga with her. At first I thought she would be the Hot Mess of the show, but she is actually pretty insightful and has some serious game when it comes to social chess. Like her comment about how ridiculous Christina and her husband were being throwing this giant party for a baby, while Christine was telling her baby "Its all for you" over and over. Yeah, the kid is one, he doesn't care about having a Champaign fountain or whatever. The Gucci Claw Machine though? Ridiculousness that I can get behind. 

What the hell is wrong with Kim and random floppy hair guy? Why do they think that's its appropriate to go through a persons bathroom, and then throw their stuff out of a window into a crowd of people, especially when its something really personal? Who does that? Then Kim acts like its so ridiculous that Anna wanted an apology and that Kevin yelled at her, what did she think was going to happen? Even by ridiculous reality TV stunts, that was really shitty. I never liked Kevin more than when he told her off. 

Kane is a lot but he seems like he would be fun to hang out with. He more than anyone I think was playing for the camera, especially that screaming voice thing he does all of the time. 

The best parts were always just the cast getting into hijinks or the battle for Queen Bee status between Christine and Anna or things like that. When they tried to get weirdly "high concept" like the possibly reincarnated mom/baby and the whole "investigation” in South Carolina, it just makes its scripted nature too obvious. It was nice to see Charleston at least, its a beautiful city I haven't seen in awhile. 

Kelly seems nice, but Andrew is legit scary, I hope that she can finally leave him soon. Andrew isn't fun drama, he's scary restraining order drama, watching him scream at Kelly and act all creepy and controlling, even after they broke up, is just so uncomfortable. I also thought that Kevin's crush on her became a bad look on him, it felt very entitled on his part, like he thought he deserved to get with Kelly because he was nicer to her than her horrible boyfriend. Really, even if her recently broken up with boyfriend wasn't a verbally abusive creep, it seems kind of sleazy that he was hitting on her so hard so soon after she got out of a long distance relationship, and got all mad when she said she wanted to be friends for now. 

So while this isn't my usual thing, I had a lot of fun with this show, and I am totally ready for season two. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by tennisgurl

[RealReality]

On 1/17/2021 at 1:26 PM, Arynm said:

Christine is just too much. She is such a name dropper. The husbands family must have some money, because a Dr and his wife would not be able to keep up with the likes of Anna and Kane. That is some real money. Anna's money being from an arms dealer will never run out, someone is always at war with someone else. Even Jaime's family looks super wealthy, I would have liked to see more from her. I would watch an entire show about Anna to be truthful, Anyone who puts diamonds on their dogs for no reason is someone I want to know more about.

As far as Christine goes, did you know she sat to the left of Prince Charles? She is new money and it shows. She can dress though, I liked her outfits.  I think that she got IVF because his family decided the infertility was her fault so they never tested the husband? Why no one would do a sperm motility test is beyond me.

I hope there is a second season I need to know how all the crazy people are doing. Kelly needs to get rid of Power Ranger, he is super scary.

I'm on the second episode, and yeah, Anna is the real deal.....she also seems drunk most of the time....varying degrees of drunk, I imagine there is a diamond encrusted cartier tiffany, parisian flask somewhere on her person at all times.  

But, I know Anna is the real deal, because she doesn't care in a way truly rich people don't care.  Her hair looks terrible, its some kind of extension situation gone wild.  But I don't think she particularly cares, because she has so much money that she doesn't have to.  

It looks like its going to be fluffy fun.  I don't mind Christine, I think every reality show has to have a villain.  I do think her drama with Anna seems a little manufactured and one sided, because for at least two episodes Anna doesn't really seem to appreciate that she is supposed to be in competition with Christine.  

I hope Red Power Ranger is acting.  He drank too much rageahol (tm - The Simpsons)

[retired watcher]

These women treat their kids as playthings. Christine wanted a child to please her in laws but uses Baby G to show off. Now Cheri is doing the same with her kids. That photo shot was ridiculous. They don't seem to really want to be around them, especially Christine. 

[Cheezwiz]

On 2/14/2021 at 12:54 PM, retired watcher said:

These women treat their kids as playthings. Christine wanted a child to please her in laws but uses Baby G to show off. Now Cheri is doing the same with her kids. That photo shot was ridiculous. They don't seem to really want to be around them, especially Christine. 

The children definitely do seem like little props to show off designer wear. They may grow up alternately spoiled with material things and neglected emotionally.