RW Homecoming: New Orleans (2022)

[Bastet]

Help someone without an Instagram account out again, please -- what does Kelley say?  (I can only see one thing on the left, the introduction to the story, her "Continued from slides" post on the right, and several replies to that.)

[choclatechip45]

39 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

It's kind of confusing. There's a series of slides, and then she finishes with a long comment. At first I thought there was only one slide. You have to click through, and the white-on-white makes it hard to see the arrow to the right.   

Edit:  But the part about Paul is in the long comment. "For those of you who are new here and have discovered the misleading timeline, you are correct. I had already left for the visit from Paul, the swamp tour and much more."

Thanks! Someone on reddit put together a timeline and they mentioned Kelley left for those two events. 

[funnygirl]

Julie is the worst. The Homecoming reunions are about bringing these adults back together for reflection and seeing growth after decades apart. Of the three Homecomings, I feel like even with their own respective issues and early departures, the cast of NY and LA came with at least a bit more maturity than Julie. 

Julie approached this experience like she was going on The Challenge All Stars (which is what she really wants, and I hope to spite her they never invite her) or their original show. She came with an agenda to make "good tv". She's been inauthentic and very unpleasant. 

I'm annoyed that the producers didn't boot her or at least course-correct, but not surprised as they will rather have drama than real connection and an authentic experience. Who's to say that would be boring? Up until the Becky blowup during Homecoming NY, I thought it was delightful how everyone was getting along and moving through things (desperately missing Eric in the house with them). It wasn't boring, it was fascinating. 

Julie is too immature for such an experience. She sucked all the air out of the room. I'm sad that Kelley left early, though I don't blame her. And while I'm not clear of the exact timeline and how long filming was, from her post it almost seems like she left halfway through? It explains why we didn't see much of her leading up to the finale. And here I thought she checked out of the experience and wasn't being present even while she was there. Damn you, Julie!

I'm glad Kelley will be at the Critics Choices event with the rest of the cast. If I never see Julie in any MTV-related content again, it will be too soon. 

[Asp Burger]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

(I can only see one thing on the left, the introduction to the story, her "Continued from slides" post on the right, and several replies to that.)

There's a hard-to-spot arrow (light gray on white) to the right of that first slide you see. I don't think you need an IG account to click through to the others. But in case I'm wrong, someone on another forum captured her whole story in streaming form. It's good.    

https://streamable.com/sbs4wc

Now I'll be back after the last episode. I hope it's somewhat redeeming. I was loving this season so much (even with Julie) until it went toxic at about episode 6. 

[Bastet]

20 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

There's a hard-to-spot arrow (light gray on white) to the right of that first slide you see. I don't think you need an IG account to click through to the others.

Nope, no arrow.  I can view very little on Instagram without an account, generally running into log-in screens during the rare - thus my not creating an account - times I try to follow a link farther.  Thanks for a link to something I can view in its entirety. 

Julie is despicable, which has been well established, but hearing again she's nonetheless being given a generous edit and the timeline presentation is some deep-fried bullshit is illuminating.

I love how castmates post without naming this twit, since her goal in life is search result hits on her name.  It's a shame she ruined, sometimes to great extent, several of their homecoming experience.

"If I stop, will you stay?"  "Make sure you take that in" indeed.  Shame on BMP for indulging Julie's make good TV lunacy at the expense of the others; it's hardly surprising, but it is still infuriating.

[Hiyo]

Ugh. Julie is just so...ugh.

[Glade]

Wow. Just reading Kelly's post after watching the finale...it's mind blowingly disgusting what kind of behavior Julie was able to get away with. It sickens me to think that she may have used Kelly's really powerful, vulnerable share about being severely bullied in high school as 'inspiration' to target her in the house, and may have been planning some version of what she did to Veronica. 

I'm really sorry Kelly was forced to leave and placate Julie in the process, who was all over her in that moment, looking for a confrontation.  Kelly is a really good, down to earth, balanced person and I wish she was in this more instead of having the attention-seeking swamp thing shoved in our faces non-stop. 

Still, the mural was really cool, it was nice seeing Lionel and that Matt especially had such a good time through those last two events.  I'm glad that we were able to hear from Melissa, Danny, and Kelly again.

I'm sorry that it sounds like Tokyo wasn't actually able to move out of that room with Julie ever (since she still implies they're rooming together) it really sucks that he and others were intentionally made uncomfortable by her because she wanted to make drama. 

I respect what was apparently (?) Danny's decision not to share about his HIV diagnosis, even though I thought it would come up. I definitely preferred this to LA.

[Zizzlezazzle]

Wow wow WOW.….we got our “more to the story” context! And now I feel completely terrible and relieved that Kelley and the rest of the cast mates were only emotionally scarred and not physically hurt by this f**king loon. Cornering someone and verbally abusing them over a busted coffee maker?! And I don’t know if there’s ever been a more chilling sentence uttered than “If I stop, will you stay?”

Coincidentally I also just learned about the term “fawning” yesterday as a method of placating and flattering your abuser to calm them down and hopefully appeal to their ego to help you escape from them. This was in a podcast about people sharing their stories about their relationships with toxic, harmful abusers (it’s called “Something Was Wrong”-highly recommend).  

The particular episode mentioning fawning was also referencing a serial killer, so you know, great company, Julie. Congrats?

[Hiyo]

Quote

also referencing a serial killer, so you know, great company, Julie. Congrats?

"I make good TV!!!!"

[snarts]

Wow. It was actually worse than I expected and now I'm saddened to feel as if I supported the show the way it was presented. I'm mad that production minimized the issues with Julie and edited her in a way that hid some of how truly awful she is. 

I'm glad Kelley left. I get that chose to protect herself. But I'm angry that production chose not to reveal the real story, "the true story" if you will...

Finally, fuck Julie.

Edited June 8, 2022 by snarts

[BelleBrit]

The finale was fine. I enjoyed seeing Lionel and hearing David's song from the original season. But it was very difficult to watch in the context of Kelley's Instagram post and the show presenting as the castmates not knowing why Kelley was leaving and all being on seemingly good terms with Julie.

Do we really buy that production did not know what was going on, even if the confrontation about the coffee maker happened on their "day off"?"[after Kelley keyed in production] From that point forward, they moved me to a separate hotel and had all of my activities done without asking me to interact with anyone I felt unsafe around. They will do the same this weekend at the awards show." So does that mean Julie is attending the awards show as well? I feel like the audience and castmates were really robbed of seeing what the show would be like without Julie's nonsense. There was really no need to let them indulge in that fake ass arc about Julie trying to force a love triangle with Jamie. And Julie has some balls by saying in the Mike Lewis interview that Homecoming was a bit of a "Means Girls" situation.

Granted I usually watch the episodes in the background while getting ready for work, but did they leave out some of the things that they showed in the previews? I don't remember hearing Tokyo say in the episodes to Julie "stop looking for reasons" and Julie crying and saying "I went through so much pain with religion in general" (I'm fine with us not seeing that scene, unless it's just something I missed).

[Hiyo]

Quote

And Julie has some balls by saying in the Mike Lewis interview that Homecoming was a bit of a "Means Girls" situation.

I'd say Julie was being rather accurate with that statement.

She was the "Mean Girl".

[Asp Burger]

Here's the post from the Redditor who tried to put together the real timeline using outfits, hairstyles, and other context clues. It's eye-opening and probably very close to accurate. The events presented in a more honest sequence would have made for a better season.  

https://www.reddit.com/r/therealworld/comments/v69vhn/organized_timeline/

I knew I was seeing creativity with the chronology, because it's Bunim/Murray and it's what they do, and some things caused my buzzer to go off. Like Julie in her hot-tub call (the one Melissa and Kelley overhear) saying she had tried to flirt with the guys there and she just didn't have the stomach for it. The only thing we'd seen from her that might qualify as flirtation at that point was her asking Tokyo to shower with her. Her statement makes more sense when you know the hot-tub call with Spencer followed her conversation with Matt (the "Why didn't you like me in 2000?" one) and her numerous attempts to do whatever she was doing with Jamie. She "flirted" with all three straight guys within the first three days.  

Edited June 8, 2022 by Asp Burger

[Zizzlezazzle]

19 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

Here's the post from the Redditor who tried to put together the real timeline using outfits, hairstyles, and other context clues. It's eye-opening and probably very close to accurate. The events presented in a more honest sequence would have made for a better season.  

https://www.reddit.com/r/therealworld/comments/v69vhn/organized_timeline/

Thank you so much for linking to that timeline! That Redditor is doing the lord’s work and deserves a trophy of their own this week.

Feel like such an ass for going so hard on Kelley-but also, shame on BMP for that total hatchet job of editing, and more importantly for not removing Julie from the house. Or further shame on me for expecting better of them, I suppose.

Clearly we are already some super invested fans of this show—I don’t know why they thought showing the actual chronology of events would make us stop watching it. Honor your audience!

[Asp Burger]

Daniel D'Addario calls the season "genius reality TV." Although I soured on this Homecoming in the back half, I did enjoy his piece. A quote: "If Danny, Melissa, Kelley, and Tokyo were portraits of how lonely and isolating it can be to grow up, Julie — as the self she presented on-camera — is a portrait of how much one loses when one tries to fight the process. [...] Julie presents as someone trying to reclaim something she once had; while, for others, the conversation has moved forward, Julie continually reasserts that she belongs at the center for the noise she can make, the havoc she can cause." 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/why-real-world-homecoming-orleans-140036698.html

Variety has the same piece, so pick your link.  

https://variety.com/2022/tv/columns/real-world-homecoming-new-orleans-1235286804/

Edited June 8, 2022 by Asp Burger

[Zizzlezazzle]

Great line from that Variety article:

 “Julie is doing “The Comeback” — the fictional reality show about a faded star who will try any gambit to get back onto magazine covers — while her castmates are doing “42 Up.”

[mandymax]

The only response I can come up with is: WTF???

In reading Kelley's side of the story - that's not just disgusting, or concerning, it's ALARMING.  I took it to mean that she was made to feel physically unsafe, and that the others also saw and agreed that she was physically unsafe.  And that's just wrong.  I can't even comprehend that this was allowed to continue.  What on earth happened in that house?  What was the "plan"?  What was done to specifically create an environment that was literally physically dangerous to Kelley?  How did that even happen?  And what was the end goal of the whole thing?? Why on earth was Julie so focused on Kelley, and what did she hope to accomplish???

Clearly my inquiring mind wants to know.

Otherwise, Melissa's "This person has a memory of me.  I want to honor that" immediately became my new mantra.  What amazing integrity, self-awareness, and class she has.  :-)  Melissa is awesome.

And my inquiring mind also can't help wondering about Tokyo and his reluctance to say whether or not he had kids.  My gut instinct is that it's an extremely painful topic for him, for whatever reason. I feel bad for him.

All in all, though, Julie aside, I absolutely loved this season and may even rewatch it.  This was a good one.

[Bastet]

One thing that Reddit timeline really makes me think about is how quiet Kelley was in the meeting Tokyo called to discuss Julie's false narrative about what happened drag show night -- if Kelley's situation then was actually that she'd already had a dick pic shoved in her face, already heard the "Why wouldn't you date me?" thing with Julie and Matt, and experienced who knows how many of the aggressions from Julie, I can understand why - on top of the fact she wasn't with them that night - she didn't engage at all.

It was nearly impossible for me to just sit back and take in the finale, knowing Julie was allowed to stay after going full psycho abuser, and given a generous edit on top of that.

I did enjoy the mural.  It was nice to see Tokyo able to relax and get lost in it a bit. 

[Bastet]

Melissa's final thoughts:

[MicheleinPhilly]

All of these "confessionals" today have really soured me on the gleeful nostalgia I've been feeling for this season. 

And the season ending is perfect timing as my Paramount subscription was set to renew tomorrow. Adios, Paramount+, MTV, and Bunim/Murray. You did Kelley dirty. 

Fuck you, Julie. 

[Asp Burger]

The last two parts of Melissa's story make me sad for what the season might have been. The Homecoming was a demonstration of that old saying about one bad apple.

[lyric]

Like many of you, I liked this season because of the players but hated that it became the Julie show with her big bag of bullshit. I don’t know why, but I expected the B/M machine to give us a more real edit. These people aren’t 20, nor is the audience, and we’re reality tv savvy. Cut the shit.

You’ve got the silly incoming messages and games to prompt discussion / debate. The  drunken drag night, love triangle and Julie’s PAY ATTENTION TO ME “sex positivity” were contrived and BORING, and it’s disappointing B/M put that nonsense front and center.  Totally agree with @Zizzlezazzle, honor your audience, and I’d respectfully add honor your cast - on screen and off. I imagine neither Jamie nor his wife appreciated the edit monkey shit either - transparent though it was. These people are in their 40s with families ffs.  

The best parts by far were the candid discussions about their lives then and now. I would’ve much rather had Kelley and Tokyo fully engaged and Julie on the early plane ride. 🤷‍♀️

Julie managed to burn every single bridge with her antics - nice job sis. I also love how she straight up lies to the camera with such ease “….with his shirt off.”  Uh huh.

I think she came off really bad, ultimately, so I don’t think the generous edit did much to save face for her, but I may nope out of another homecoming season after NOLA’s machinations. Production can’t seem to control themselves from screwing up a good thing.

Overall good season - made way more fun reading all of your posts.

[PositiveBean]

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s more. It’s new to me yet I’m not surprised.

Julie had a domestic abuse restraining order issued against her in the early 2000s. The plaintiff was named Gabriel and the OP on Reddit matched the Huntington Beach and Wisconsin addresses to her. He was 21 at the time and she was 24. She physically assaulted him and hacked his personal accounts.

Kelley had every right to feel uncomfortable and threatened by Julie’s aggressive behavior. I’ve pointed this out before— if this was one of the men, how much of the bullshit would they have allowed?

Edited June 9, 2022 by PositiveBean

[Miss Slay]

On a lighter note -- I hope someone makes a gif of Matt dancing. The world needs it.

[CeeBeeGee]

18 hours ago, Asp Burger said:

There's a hard-to-spot arrow (light gray on white) to the right of that first slide you see. I don't think you need an IG account to click through to the others. But in case I'm wrong, someone on another forum captured her whole story in streaming form. It's good.    

https://streamable.com/sbs4wc

Now I'll be back after the last episode. I hope it's somewhat redeeming. I was loving this season so much (even with Julie) until it went toxic at about episode 6. 

W.O.W. What the hell is wrong with Julie? She sounds mentally ill.

16 hours ago, Glade said:

I'm sorry that it sounds like Tokyo wasn't actually able to move out of that room with Julie ever (since she still implies they're rooming together) it really sucks that he and others were intentionally made uncomfortable by her because she wanted to make drama. 

I was so confused about that, seeing him in Julie's bedroom again.

14 hours ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

Wow wow WOW.….we got our “more to the story” context! And now I feel completely terrible and relieved that Kelley and the rest of the cast mates were only emotionally scarred and not physically hurt by this f**king loon. Cornering someone and verbally abusing them over a busted coffee maker?! And I don’t know if there’s ever been a more chilling sentence uttered than “If I stop, will you stay?”

W.T.A.F.??????!! A bloody coffee maker? Seriously?

I'm disgusted that production gave Julie such a pass--a hall pass, you might say--instead of revealing her shitty toxic behavior for the audience to see. Poor Kelley. She did the right thing.

9 hours ago, Zizzlezazzle said:

Great line from that Variety article:

 “Julie is doing “The Comeback” — the fictional reality show about a faded star who will try any gambit to get back onto magazine covers — while her castmates are doing “42 Up.”

That was my favorite line as well.

1 hour ago, Miss Slay said:

On a lighter note -- I hope someone makes a gif of Matt dancing. The world needs it.

He's not bad!

[Black Knight]

6 hours ago, mandymax said:

Why on earth was Julie so focused on Kelley, and what did she hope to accomplish???

Well, after we found out after the original season how Julie worked to keep Melissa and Kelley from being close, my theory then was that she didn't like that there were three women in the house (there are people who feel very insecure about that number because they feel it's going to be two plus one), and because Kelley was a white blonde woman like herself, and also the most conventionally attractive woman, she wanted Kelley to be the outlier.

Fast forward to 2022. Not only is Kelley still the other white blonde woman and most conventionally attractive (though I prefer Melissa), she's since married an actor who, while not A-list, is well-known by their generation for being on one of the iconic teen TV shows back then. (And Scott Wolf has aged very well, to boot.) She has a business and a book deal and a public profile.

Julie was insecure and jealous back then and even more insecure and jealous now. Hence her targeting of Kelley.

I know B/M think they need draaaaaaama, but they really should look at this and re-consider Homecomings that are on hold because the person most likely to cause drama won't do the Homecoming (Boston, I'm looking at you). The Homecoming franchise is pure nostalgia. I think most viewers just want to see the casts they watched 20 years ago hanging out now, see what they're like as older adults. If some drama happens organically, fine, but we don't need it. These are short seasons.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Miss Slay said:

On a lighter note -- I hope someone makes a gif of Matt dancing. The world needs it.

I laughed when he said something like "God told me to get out there and dance.  Unfortunately, he didn't give me the tools".

[choclatechip45]

2 hours ago, PositiveBean said:

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there’s more. It’s new to me yet I’m not surprised.

Julie had a domestic abuse restraining order issued against her in the early 2000s. The plaintiff was named Gabriel and the OP on Reddit matched the Huntington Beach and Wisconsin addresses to her. He was 21 at the time and she was 24. She physically assaulted him and hacked his personal accounts.

Kelley had every right to feel uncomfortable and threatened by Julie’s aggressive behavior. I’ve pointed this out before— if this was one of the men, how much of the bullshit would they have allowed?

I remember that. It came out while The Inferno was airing I think it happened either right before she left or came home from filming. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by choclatechip45

[CeeBeeGee]

More on Julie's restraining order:

https://www.realitytvworld.com/realitytvdb/wiki/Julie_Stoffer

http://realworldroadrules.blogspot.com/2004_04_04_archive.html

[choclatechip45]

New Orleans is my favorite Real World season as soon as the homecoming format was announced this was the season I wanted most. I'm happy they did it. I think this cast has amazing chemistry. I think Melissa changed the most for the better. Danny became more confident. Tokyo, Jamie, Kelley and Matt have all matured in different ways.  Julie has changed for the worst. 

Melissa's facial expression when reading The Challenge question cracked me up. 

I hope some of them keep in touch, but I understand if they don't. It was nice seeing the cast minus Julie bond. 

[Asp Burger]

3 hours ago, Black Knight said:

Well, after we found out after the original season how Julie worked to keep Melissa and Kelley from being close, my theory then was that she didn't like that there were three women in the house (there are people who feel very insecure about that number because they feel it's going to be two plus one), and because Kelley was a white blonde woman like herself, and also the most conventionally attractive woman, she wanted Kelley to be the outlier.

Fast forward to 2022. Not only is Kelley still the other white blonde woman and most conventionally attractive (though I prefer Melissa), she's since married an actor who, while not A-list, is well-known by their generation for being on one of the iconic teen TV shows back then. (And Scott Wolf has aged very well, to boot.) She has a business and a book deal and a public profile.Julie was insecure and jealous back then and even more insecure and jealous now. Hence her targeting of Kelley.

Kelley was also the most obviously anxious, the least at ease...certainly of the three women, probably of all seven. She didn't lightly decide to participate.  Maintaining her poise and not doing anything that would embarrass Scott or herself was important to her. Julie, being a kind of bully, radared in on that as bullies do. Of course she'd be peppering with Kelley with masturbation questions (and the like). And seeing that it made Kelley uncomfortable would make her do it more.  

Also, if Kelley's quote of "How does it feel to be the dumb one? How does it feel to be the idiot?" is accurate, it's very revealing of things Julie has held onto about her Real World experience as the house ingenue.

Reading that part made me think of how when she was on the Extreme Challenge, she worked herself up into a rage to combat the fear of crossing a tightrope. She was shouting "No one thinks I can do anything! But I can! I'm a big girl!" It was pretty embarrassing. (And it didn't work; she fell off.) But I think it was a glimpse of some real anger we've seen come out in other ways.

Edited June 9, 2022 by Asp Burger

[Faceplant]

This article has a good summary of the finale and I love this quote in particular about Julie:

This season of "Homecoming" shows how time can advance a person up a ladder of growth, with each passing day leaving them better equipped to handle what they'll come up against in the next. Or it can bury them deeper and deeper under a heap of their own demons and insecurities in such a way that they later reemerge as the main character in a "Babadook"-esque horror story of their own creation that should have been, could have been, a happy little look into the life of someone many of us entered into adulthood with.

There's a fine line between part of good television in a way that leads to more opportunities, and forcing television spectacle in a way that will likely land you in divorce court, or jail.

[Hiyo]

Is it wrong for me to wish that someone tracked down Squirral, invited her to the house, and locked her in a room with Julie? Cause if it is, I don’t want to be right.

[Asp Burger]

Podcaster Jess Rothschild asked Danny if the Spencer visit was as producer-contrived as the Paul visit. Per Danny, Spencer really was traveling for some conference, but he didn't want to participate in the show and didn't want to be on camera. Julie insisted. 

I wish I would hear something that made me dislike her less. 

[CeeBeeGee]

7 minutes ago, Asp Burger said:

Podcaster Jess Rothschild asked Danny if the Spencer visit was as producer-contrived as the Paul visit. Per Danny, Spencer really was traveling for some conference, but he didn't want to participate in the show and didn't want to be on camera. Julie insisted. 

I wish I would hear something that made me dislike her less. 

He went from not wanting to participate to actually having noisy sex on camera? Wow.

[1011101010001]

11 minutes ago, CeeBeeGee said:

He went from not wanting to participate to actually having noisy sex on camera? Wow.

And sent her an erect dick pic knowing that she has no boundaries and was likely to share it?

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Faceplant said:

This article has a good summary of the finale and I love this quote in particular about Julie:

I also like:

Quote

Something like this, being feral enough to force a cast member to flee, could lead Julie to believe that she "won" the game of reality television here but what was there to win, exactly, aside from an award for being the most bats**t? And factor in that she "won" at the expense of everyone else in the house and that price just ends up being too high for a flash of fame that will fade in a few weeks once Julie gets sucked back into obscurity.

[Cherry Cola]

WOW! After reading Kelley's explanation, it makes sense.  How awful. I am glad she removed herself from the situation, but too bad it had to happen in the first place.  Disgusting. 

I love Matt's dance! 😄

[Yogisbooboo64]

I will say that I was a bit verklempt with the last episode.  I really hope that Melissa and Tokyo can forge as deep a friendship as she already has with Danny and Kelley. 

Maybe because I’ve been emotional today (between reading an Alzheimer’s story and listening to sad songs), I got teary at Melissa and Julie’s goodbye.  Melissa’s ‘It was so nice seeing you again’ politely closed the door and as someone who was once tight with a friend of 17 years and realizes that we likely won’t ever reconnect despite the changes in our lives, that scene stung.  Of course now we know what an asshole Julie has been since, but….

Regarding the broken coffee machine, was no one else around when this happened?  Because I think someone would have told Julie to knock it off if they had witnessed her screaming at Kelley.

Extreme Catholicism aside, I really liked Matt this time around.

Does anyone know which Homecoming will be next?

Edited June 9, 2022 by Yogisbooboo64

[1011101010001]

52 minutes ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Regarding the broken coffee machine, was no one else around when this happened?  Because I think someone would have told Julie to knock it off it they had witnessed her screaming at Kelley.

They could have dispatched a production assistant to Target and had a new one in an hour.  Or get Amazon next day.

[Bastet]

56 minutes ago, Yogisbooboo64 said:

Regarding the broken coffee machine, was no one else around when this happened?  Because I think someone would have told Julie to knock it off it they had witnessed her screaming at Kelley.

I'm sure no one else was around.  It's no coincidence this happened on a non-filming day; Julie knows to let her abuser flag fly when there are no witnesses.

[snarts]

So telling that as soon as Kelley announces to the group that she's leaving, Julie asks "is it because of me?"  

While a part of me wishes that Julie would've been called on her behavior out in front of everyone, including the cameras, I understand why Kelley instead chose to just quietly leave.

I'm also happy that by doing that, Julie didn't get the huge chaotic scene she wanted.  The best way to handle a narcissist is to ignore them. Julie was likely seething inside that she wasn't the focus of everyone's attention, which is why she tried to prolong Kelley's departure & kept trying to touch her.  She then went into that whole diatribe about quitting. 

Good to see Lionel and I echo others who've said I wish they'd have brought back the squirrel :)

[DearEvette]

I think part of the issue with why Kelley just chose to leave -- and we saw Melissa speak on this quite a bit early on -- is they are much more aware now of how, despite their intent, the public can interpret and editing can manipulate how thing things look.  So no matter how innocent or innocuous something is, it can be perceived very differently. 

Kelley was clear that she felt she was being baited into inappropriate conversations.  And of course she has no control of how those conversations are being broadcast until she sees the final product.  Melissa made several points about not wanting to appear as 'that angry black lady.'  So I think there is a level of hyper-awareness with them now that was not there 22 years ago.

And frankly Kelley was 100% correct in her fears.  Look at Julie's edit.  If she was worse than she was portrayed then Kelley was right to be nervous about she was gonna come out looking.  She has a lot more at stake now as a wife, mother and businesswoman than she did as a young twenty-something.  As it is, I am seeing a lot of 'Kelley and Tokyo are sticks in the mud' posts from people who don;t know the BTS tea.  Luckily they are being schooled by others. 

[mandymax]

15 hours ago, snarts said:

So telling that as soon as Kelley announces to the group that she's leaving, Julie asks "is it because of me?"  

While a part of me wishes that Julie would've been called on her behavior out in front of everyone, including the cameras, I understand why Kelley instead chose to just quietly leave.

I'm also happy that by doing that, Julie didn't get the huge chaotic scene she wanted.  The best way to handle a narcissist is to ignore them. Julie was likely seething inside that she wasn't the focus of everyone's attention, which is why she tried to prolong Kelley's departure & kept trying to touch her.  She then went into that whole diatribe about quitting. 

I read it differently: Pride that she'd succeeded in driving Kelley out of the house, deflection in trying to apologize and keep her around to make it look like she felt bad, not to mention a bonus thought of "well, if she stays, I get to keep coming at her."

Didn't Julie say she was a foster parent?  Is all of this something that the foster system might request to see footage of to potentially re-evaluate her status?

[ljenkins782]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:47 AM, Glade said:

Wow. Just reading Kelly's post after watching the finale...it's mind blowingly disgusting what kind of behavior Julie was able to get away with. It sickens me to think that she may have used Kelly's really powerful, vulnerable share about being severely bullied in high school as 'inspiration' to target her in the house, and may have been planning some version of what she did to Veronica. 

I'm really sorry Kelly was forced to leave and placate Julie in the process, who was all over her in that moment, looking for a confrontation.  Kelly is a really good, down to earth, balanced person and I wish she was in this more instead of having the attention-seeking swamp thing shoved in our faces non-stop. 

Yeah, Kelley's previous experiences must have made her a prime target for Julie. It's very disappointing that the show was edited the way it was if this is the environment that really existed. And it makes me look sideways at Danny for seeming so indulgent of Julie in so many moments. Which could also have been editing, but Julie herself named Danny and Jamie as her only "friends" in the house. Danny's been vocal about disliking Julie after the fact, but in the house, he seemed more than just cordial to her.

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Podcaster Jess Rothschild asked Danny if the Spencer visit was as producer-contrived as the Paul visit. Per Danny, Spencer really was traveling for some conference, but he didn't want to participate in the show and didn't want to be on camera. Julie insisted. 

I wish I would hear something that made me dislike her less. 

He went from not wanting to participate to actually having noisy sex on camera? Wow.

Again, this man has been voluntarily married to Julie for 17 years, he's got to have some kind of issues. That being said, he didn't appear super eager to be there, Julie was definitely dragging him around. 

I do wonder what the fallout was in their personal lives, not that Julie would mind being the center of gossip. The drunkenness, the Jamie stuff, the outdoor sex, etc, just curious if it's affected them.

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You’ve got the silly incoming messages and games to prompt discussion / debate. The  drunken drag night, love triangle and Julie’s PAY ATTENTION TO ME “sex positivity” were contrived and BORING, and it’s disappointing B/M put that nonsense front and center.  Totally agree with @ZIZZLEZAZZLE, honor your audience, and I’d respectfully add honor your cast - on screen and off. I imagine neither Jamie nor his wife appreciated the edit monkey shit either - transparent though it was. These people are in their 40s with families ffs.  

Yes, that whole Julie/Jamie thing was a giant nothingburger but they devoted so much airtime to those cobbled together scenes making it seem like they were going to get together. It was disrespectful to the families and frankly, just a waste of time. Such a small number of episodes, there was no reason to waste one on that nonsense.

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On a lighter note -- I hope someone makes a gif of Matt dancing. The world needs it.

Speaking of dancing, I'm not sure if it was on this episode or if it was on the episode that autoplayed for me after this, which was an episode of Gauntlet 2, which Jamie appeared on.

Anyway, it's a brief clip or an end tag that shows Jamie from behind doing the electric slide with the wildest abandon and it made me laugh out loud. He looked like Snoopy dancing. Jamie does seem like a fun guy on a surface level. For all his Buddhism and spirituality talk, he seems deep as a puddle, but fun and energetic.

Even with all the editing shenanigans, I'm sad to see this one end, I really enjoyed revisiting this group and remembering the time when the original show was airing.

[Faceplant]

Nevermind, not relevant

Edited June 11, 2022 by Faceplant
Not relevant to topic

[For Cereals]

On 6/8/2022 at 4:24 PM, lyric said:

These people aren’t 20, nor is the audience, and we’re reality tv savvy. Cut the shit.

This is EVERYTHING! 

[ljenkins782]

Forgot to mention that the music in this episode was perfect, Michelle Branch Goodbye to you, Eve 6 Here’s to the night, and Vitamin C Graduation, those songs are like a time capsule for that year.

[BodhiGurl]

On 6/8/2022 at 1:47 AM, Asp Burger said:

There's a hard-to-spot arrow (light gray on white) to the right of that first slide you see. I don't think you need an IG account to click through to the others. But in case I'm wrong, someone on another forum captured her whole story in streaming form. It's good.    

https://streamable.com/sbs4wc

Now I'll be back after the last episode. I hope it's somewhat redeeming. I was loving this season so much (even with Julie) until it went toxic at about episode 6. 

Thanks for the link - with that backstory, I 100% understand why Kelly left. Honestly, she hung in pretty long with Julie. I couldn't hang with Julie myself. I'd have disengaged with her from the jump. And the fact that she showed cast members a photo of her husband's erection? Sweet baby jeebuz what is wrong with her? I wouldn't have accepted that at. all. Mad respect for Kelly.

[1011101010001]

42 minutes ago, BodhiGurl said:

Thanks for the link - with that backstory, I 100% understand why Kelly left. Honestly, she hung in pretty long with Julie. I couldn't hang with Julie myself. I'd have disengaged with her from the jump. And the fact that she showed cast members a photo of her husband's erection? Sweet baby jeebuz what is wrong with her? I wouldn't have accepted that at. all. Mad respect for Kelly.

If it’s indecent exposure in person maybe it should be in this scenario as well.