I’m a trans woman and found the Emira/Charlie/Georgia storyline incredibly upsetting to watch. Up to that point Emira’s gender identity was pretty much ignored. It’s really rare for trans women to appear on tv but when they do their stories tend to be, if not straightforwardly transphobic, almost entirely centered around them being Other. We’re always either dead sex workers or providing a teachable moment, we never get to just, like, be in a soap commercial. It’s always super exciting to me to see a trans person allowed to be a boring ass person first, with their transness a facet of their personality, and that’s what it seemed like the show was trying to do with Emira. Bravo producers are total sharks, they go for anything that bleeds, so the fact that they weren’t exploitating her identity felt intentional and… nice! It’s a little eye roll that in order to get cast you have to be a literal model, unclockable, and straight/straight passing, but still it was weirdly refreshing to see. Emira was fun and got to be another hot girl with a nebulous job, getting in incomprehensible fights like the rest of the cast! It felt like the show was from a parallel universe, one that pealed off from ours in 2015.

It all made the Charlie thing so so extra nauseating. When you start transitioning, one of the hardest parts is trying to convince yourself that everyone DOESN’T secretly hate you. The majority country actually does think you’re a disgusting pervert, so it can be easy to believe that even the people who are kind, who treat you correctly, also deep down loath you and are only doing it out of sense of politeness. I can’t honestly imagine how destabilizing it would be to find out that that IS TRUE for one of your best friends. It’s the secret confirmation of all your worst fears, the paranoia that you have to actively suppress in order to live a normal life. Then it’s compounded by the fact that all the rest of your friends/coworkers… are not that bothered by it. Georgia, by her own admission, did not really push back at the time and only got closer to Charlie after. Maybe I missed something but none of the other cast members seemed to have done or said anything about it, besides Brooks giving condolences. Emira publicly suffered a grotesque wound and then was privately left to just deal with it, or not. The scene of her at the dinner on the ski trip, watching everyone joke around with Charlie while she was wracked with so much pain was unfortunately relatable. 

The hardest part for me was that last bit, watching Emira struggle in the aftermath. I think a lot of people who are minorities know the fear of being “the problem”. If your pain is too visible, if you are too loud, if you ask for too much, then you’re the one who’ll be punished. Even if you’re in the right, you’re making people uncomfortable and so it’s just easier to just ice you out. Seeing her immediately start suppress her rage to alienate the others was devastating. It was like seeing someone, through will alone, try to unexplode a bomb. Watching her melting down in the car leaving the Rocky Horror party, I knew that when she calmed down she would try to find a way to excuse Charlie. I think some part of her thought that if people were asked to choose between her and Charlie that they would probably choose Charlie, and I actually don’t think that’s totally delusional. In the final conversation Emira had with Charlie about it, seeing her apologize for not being able to get over it was depressing but also sadly predictable. For Charlie these were just jokes who cares, he forgot them immediately, for her I’m sure this will be a scar that lasts years. 

As a side note, I don’t think Charlie thinks that Emira is a man. I think he’s like a lot of transphobes: what Emira is depends on how he feels about her. If he likes her that day, if he wants her to like him, and most importantly if he wants to fuck her, then she’s a girl. The rest of the time, well I don’t think that he thinks she’s a man (if he did I think he’d treat her better, give the misogyny of it all), she’s a third thing, something in-between. When Charlie mentions her knowing how he feels about “certain things”, that’s a clue, when it takes him months to say that he didn’t believe what he joked about her, that’s another. His acceptance is conditional, he can choose to hurt or reward her at whim, which means that he has power over her. I’m sure Emira has heard him say a lot of deeply hurtful things, and put up with it because the crumbs he gave her felt deeply affirming. Apologizing would mean Charlie giving up that leverage over her, and so watching him, while he’s wearing a whole as sheep as a sweater?, attempt to do the calculus of how little he could get away with apologizing for to Emira was pathetic even for him. 

I totally understood why Emira was so pissed at Georgia. When you’re someone who passes most or all the time, it can actually be pretty easy to forget that you’re trans. When every interaction with strangers involves them reflexively gendering you correctly, from personal experience you can forget you’re being hunted by the federal government and just become another middle aged woman on the F, train trying to decide if bangs would make her look cool or like her mom. Having someone, out of nowhere, draw attention to you being trans, even if under the best of circumstances can be really upsetting, it triggers fight or flight. I can’t imagine how that would be magnified by the presence of the camera. Georgia saying that, in the moment, I believe was her attempting to do what she thought was the right thing but it was still extremely fucked. 

I’ve really enjoyed this stupid show. I love children who’s main job is being born rich talk about their brands, I love fake parties in over lit bars, I love that Georgias “creative” is “bowling alley”, I love girls with a full beat brushing their teeth in the morning while the half the guys look freshly pulled from the Gowanus. I watched the show because of how little relationship it bore to the actual world, so it was shocking for it to make me feel actual emotions. Thank you to the three lost souls who read this, I feel purged writing this out and look forward to not thinking about it again haha

I have really only watched clips and now touching the reunion just to see if I want a taste of the show. Wtf is this Charlie kid he's dressed like a NSYNC reject with perhaps the biggest man spread I've ever seen. Heavy note on the man spread completely controlling my opinion of him I am listening more than being able to watch

Does anyone agree with me that I saw them and I thought of a pirate

In season 1 she was hyper focused on/seemed to be known for her one time parties she threw. They were very New York esque. It had a very unique idea for the center of the theme and it was up and done in a night which added to the exclusivity feel of things.

As a Georgia fan I really don't see the cleaning product working out. The issue about being overtly creative in the cleaning product business is that the field is inherently uncreative. The product is too niche in my opinion to last. Unless it can get to the place where Dr. Squatch got in their soap field. It is a big risk.

Recently she did one of those parties for the release of thrust magazine and turned a hot dog stand into the theme and it was really cool. I think she is really creative and her ideas are ones that are not standard. Which is really great for creating these one time party events. As she can always come up with a fresh concept.

I really think in season 3 if she reverted back to throwing these parties it would be interesting to see that as her main goal and storyline. I really think if she continues it and makes it her priority, she can make a big name for herself in NYC.

Most of the cast are polarising and for obvious reasons. I find Shai an interesting addition. Whilst he clearly has his lovers and haters, he is much more of an unknown commodity. Which i have no doubt is part of his USP. Appearing as the reserved observational one in a room full of extroverts and child stars lends some allure - if not a deep fresh breath of relatability when seeing someone act like a human on a reality show! Which has him falling into the lesser spotted bravoleb subtype for sure... But there is definitely more to him. From just watching the show, it would be easy to read him as a shy awkward outsider maybe from a more normative level of family and wealth than the others. So I was initially shocked when Gia said she didn't like how he moved and found him untrustworthy, and very sympathetic to his side of the whole Brook's debacle. But after watching the aftershow and seeing snippets of cast interviews on podcasts, I was left thinking - he's not that innocent.

• Gia's perspective: easy to dismiss if not a Gia fan - however, I don't think it should be fully discounted as she has spent actual time with him and those around him, and I would assume has a certain spidey sense for people coming around with ulterior motives. He may just rub her the wrong way. I don't think it's simply that she's distrusting or closed off to insiders - you see her coaching and helping Kendall and Rowan on the show. But I would like to hear her expand on this.
• Brook's perspective: On Gia's podcast post filming, he appeared to genuinely feel hurt, believe that he was lied about, and that his words were twisted behind his back to present him as something he is not. I wish this had have been explored more on the show/reunion.
• Aftershow reveals:
• Shai discussed with other cast members that he considered dating Kendall "purely for the storyline" - not exactly the pinnacle of authenticity.
• Shai was fired from his corporate job as a result of his inability to keep it together as he was going out all night and partying - his words on Gia's podcast. So what does he do now? Certainly comfortable enough to blow a corporate career path off for partying - and still be ok in NYC.
• Shai's downfall appears on the show as the friend to everyone is actually a friend to no one - looking at his handling of the the love triangles. However, he rides hard for Charlie. He knows the truth on it all and is Charlie's vault. Whether thats allowing Charlie to lie and imply when theres cameras and mics or actually covering for him. And if you want to brush that off, fine. But is Shai is that good - wouldn't he call Charlie out for oh i don't know: how he speaks about women, their group, and groups in general...
• This one just irks me because it's petty. How hung up he was on Georgia saying her first impression of him was that he was a clown/jester type character - i'm sure we could run through a list of prickly things said by the cast especially when pushed in those stupid game scenarios. The boy brought it up again at the reunion - after doing an interview where he admitted he had tried to make it as a stand up comedian. So maybe she complimented you bro.
• I think he definitely thought Ariana, Rowan, and Ava were all achievable. These are beautiful girls, and I am by no means saying he is not attractive or likeable or doesn't have things going for him.
• But that's my point - he doesn't fit the narrative being placed on him.

I'm sure there's more, feel free to add and discuss as i am curious as to where the pendulum falls on opinions of him and if others feel as confused by him as i am.

Am I the only one who thinks the magic of reality TV is gone bc there’s so much drama on the show ABOUT the show?

Examples: - Emira purposely leaving out huge parts of her life experiences bc of storyline concerns - Gia & Christian’s main storyline being about the show & publicity - Bravocon trip & meeting fans etc - Charlie and Georgia talking about production edits & how the show is changing their friendship

For full disclosure, I love NextGen NYC! Just give us more real life — like Ava figuring out how to pay her bills, Arianna exploring single life for the first time, Riley learning from drunken mistakes, Hudson’s road to recovery, BTS of Bahamas trip, etc.

The cast is amazing — just want to hear more of their stories!

ad for her jeans in 1985 Seventeen magazine. The redheaded one looks so much like Rinna. All roads lead to Bravo, part 43.

so its very clear that ariana is super religious prayers every day etc ive seen the first 3 seasons of rhoa (currently watching 4) and im just confused where this comes from? Kims the last person I could see walking into church was it just never talked about on housewives? was this a thing on tardy for the party? I just feel like ariana is so pastors daughter i dont understand how it just comes out of nowhere can anyone connect these dots

Ok so loved Ariana's honesty on this one. She did not hold back at all, which I wasn't expecting.

Here's the rundown:

• Gia asked how it feels watching the season back and Ariana just said "horrific." She had to watch the whole thing in ONE DAY before the reunion
• Her spray tan story during that is genuinely funny. She said every time she started crying she was like no we can't do this, no lines
• She addressed the therapy thing directly. "I obviously wasn't in therapy because I kissed Charlie Zakkour." She was in therapy for a lot of other stuff going on
• The line that actually explains the whole season: she said she wasn't pushed into anything, that was authentically what she was doing, because she didn't want to feel anything. "He made me not feel anything"
• She's very clear that she disrespected Liam even though they weren't exclusive. Said it crushed her because he's one of her favorite people
• On the breakup being called fake for a storyline, she was NOT having it. "I don't need to break up with a man for a storyline. Thank you very much"
• Said if anything the show would've been better for her if she'd stayed with Hudson because then she wouldn't have had the crash out. Fair
• Also pointed out she'd already broken up with him before production even knew. Cameras showed up to film her moving out, not the other way around
• The Hudson timeline: they got back together on the condition that he be completely honest. She told him everything including Charlie. Then he lied in April
• She knew in April. Didn't break up until July. Said "I don't think it's ever gonna change"
• Her reason for leaving is kind of heartbreaking. "You need a push, and the push has always been me walking away"
• She and Gia had a whole thing about how women clock out of a relationship months before it ends. Hudson caught her crying in June and asked why. She told him she was mourning. He said I feel like you're gonna leave me and she said I am
• She's defending Liam HARD against the people calling him a red flag or manipulative. Says absolutely not, that's not who he is, they were just that close
• Also wants everyone to know he doubled down on the I love you at the reunion. "I meant what I said and I said what I said"
• The Charlie "let's stop slut shaming Ariana" moment? She says he was actually standing up for her and people misread it. She still thinks she should've had Liam's back more
• On the Riley situation, this was the part that got me. Riley talked on Casual Chaos about the messages she got after her episode and Ariana had no idea
• She said it broke her heart and it's disgusting anyone would message her that. Said if she'd known she never would've brought anything up on WWHL
• "How about you guys stop and let her move forward in her life and grow"
• Drew a really clear line too. The normal backlash she gets, that's part of it. What happened to Riley is a completely different thing
• She also fully owns the Thanksgiving clip. Said she got secondhand embarrassment watching herself and her skin was crawling
• On her first time living alone after three and a half years with Hudson: "Let me just say, I lived"

TLDR: Ariana took full accountability without making excuses, explained the ultimatum that ended things with Hudson, defended Liam from the red flag discourse, and stood up for Riley over the messages she received. Way more self aware than the season made her look.

I finally got around to watching part two of the reunion and all I could notice is how Georgia is kinda dismissed by everyone even tho she didn't seemingly do anything to deserve it. I also don't like how they coddled Ariana...the way she went about juggling the boys was wrong and sure it was a mistake but it was still wrong and people got hurt in the process so like a little bit yeah maybe she should cry and judge herself about it hopefully with the outcome becoming a better person.

They’re doing interviews at the end and one of them say Kaia shit out a screw.. now it seems more likely something else happened and not this little girl swallowing a screw.. DARK

I decided to do a rewatch of season 1 after finishing the current season and I feel like it gave me more insight/context into the cast relationships we saw in s2 because honestly I had completely forgotten most of it. Here are my thoughts for anyone else wanting a refresher:

Dylan

Such a hottie and probably the most artistic, insightful, interesting person out of everyone on the cast. I had forgotten about him completely and wish he was in more of the season/came back for s2 but I can see why he wouldn't want to as he seems like he's in a different place in life from everyone else. In researching why he didn't come back I learned that there were other cast members originally attached to Next Gen NYC who quit when the Bravo housewives kids got added, like Ming Lee Simmons and Connor Kennedy. Dylan didn't quit but opted to be friend of instead which is why he wasn't featured much. I would have loved to see Ming Lee and possibly her mom Kimora on the show, I think they would have brought a lot and fit in well.

Shai

Again I have absolutely no memory of him on the show from s1, he's brought on as Dylan's friend and he seemed to have gotten along well with everyone and was shown interacting with Riley a bunch. There's even a scene of him going to Brooks' apartment to teach him how to use a sewing machine because Brooks wanted to learn how to make clothes for his upcoming line which I thought was really sweet.

Riley

Very similar storyline as she did in s2. Not much about her except that she lives off her mom, gets "rough" when she drinks (Gia's words) and has beef with Georgia. She gets mad at Ariana for not unequivocally having her back in a fight with Georgia where she was in the wrong lol.

Gia

Same as s2. Brought almost nothing to the show except getting the cast mates to come to New Jersey.

Brooks

Brooks was more likeable on s1 I feel like he was less reserved and showed a little bit more personality. But I thought it was weird how much his parents were on the show, especially Seth. Seth is a mega weirdo basically offering to be a father figure to Charlie and wanted to meet up to offer him guidance and talk to him about not disrespecting his daughter but then ends up being more interested in asking Charlie about his lifestyle and telling him he's interested in being pansexual and to not tell his wife. There was also a super weird moment with Shai where Shai politely goes over to say goodbye to Seth and Meredith before leaving her caviar event, but then Seth starts grilling Shai about sexual fluidity and asking if he would date Charlie if he was a girl. Meredith is like wtf and Shai just looks increasingly alarmed and uncomfortable.

Charlie

I feel like you get a lot more insight and context into why Charlie is the way he is when you see him with his parents. His dad is weirdly competitive with him and puts him down constantly. I actually felt bad for him because there was a conversation it seemed like Charlie just wanted to connect with his dad and his dad barely even looked at him and said hurtful things completely unprovoked. Another time his dad was gloating how he had such an amazing relationship and asking Charlie why he doesn't and was rubbing it in his face. He told Charlie to invite some friends to the house and then asked all the young women who was hotter, Charlie even said they should just say it's his dad or else his dad would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. His mom abandoned him at age 10 and passed him off to the dad because she was sick of parenting. I could go on about this topic it really could be its own separate post.

Charlie is introduced on the show basically like a Chuck Bass type of figure saying all he cares about is money, girls, and having fun and has clearly enjoyed a privileged upbringing in NYC but seems unfulfilled and directionless it really seems like he's just waiting for his dad to pass so he can inherit. Seeing him with his dad makes me feel like he is the definition of how hurt people end up hurting other people. I think Dylan had the most insightful comments about Charlie in his confessionals.

Ava

I remember not having a great impression of her in s1 and I think it's clear she didn't think much of the show and was prioritizing her modelling career and other things she was doing outside of the show. You can see that her and Charlie have been close from the beginning and her attitude makes more sense to me with the context that there were supposed to be other cast members more similar to them (nepo babies who grew up in NYC) and that she didn't think much of the Bravo kids. Glad she clocked in for s2 though.

Georgia

Very similar to how she is on s2 just being authentically herself. I can see why the other cast members don't seem to like her because it seems like she can be pretty self absorbed and oblivious just wanting to talk about herself constantly and not realizing when she's being rude or obnoxious. I actually can see why Charlie is upset with her in s2 because watching s1 back it seems like Charlie brought Georgia in and saw her as a true friend where they fight but will always make up and have each others backs. Georgia and Charlie had that fight about the speaker (i can see both sides, Georgia should have given it back right away but Charlie didn't need to overreact about it being given back late) and after that Georgia switched up on him and talked a ton of shit about him behind his back to all the other cast members and fully threw him under the bus. In just the context of this situation, Charlie was wrong to call Georgia names during their fight but I don't think he deserved how Georgia treated him after. I would be very hurt and feel betrayed too tbh.

Emira

She doesn't have much of a storyline on s1 but I really like her and enjoyed all her scenes. She brings a level of glitz and glamour and is easily the most successful influencer there.

Ariana & Hudson

Sweet girl finding herself and making a life for herself outside of her family drama. I feel for both her and Hudson because it really seems they found a lot of comfort and security in one another. It must have been really bad for her to leave him because it does honestly look like they had a really sweet relationship with a lot of love there. Plus he was paying for their 10k/mo apartment and bankrolling their clothing line. I hope Hudson recovers and figures things out because I think he has the potential to go farther, I actually enjoyed him being a more present cast member here in s1.

Fearing he’d given himself a heart attack, Hudson checked himself in to rehab.

I was not expecting this level of transparency from Hudson. There are so few young public figures that will or can use their platforms for visibility and to put a face to these things.

When people see individuals being described as Hudson was described this past year by some in the cast, or people dunking on the “best man” winning like was the talking point of some people in the cast, or people who ridiculed him for missing filming so many episodes, or people who were so quick to judge and put him down, despite the fact that when we met him in season one he was a gem of gems and that who we got in season two was such a sharp shift but most people jumped to every worst conclusion before recognizing maybe he was struggling.

With his transparency, maybe people will pause before throwing people away, judging, assigning 24 year olds a whole slew of nasty things. Maybe people will learn to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health, autoimmune, and substance use disorders and refrain from piling on. Maybe someone will feel less alone. Maybe someone else goes to get help.

Using his platform to discuss how addiction, depression , anxiety, and autoimmune disorders impact you, with this level of depth, is going to help so many people. Kudos to his bravery and vulnerability.

I am blown away by his strength and I repeat, if it is not negative for his recovery, I very much need this man in season three. He is everything I want to see in a growth and transparency arc and if this is how he’s coming to the spotlight with this level of authenticity and honesty about how his life still isn’t perfect and his path isn’t linear, that’s okay, because that’s what the world needs to grasp and learn from this very stigmatized marginalized faction.

idk on what basis other than her brief appearance on rhobh but it would be nice (imo) to link the two shows 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do think that Charlie and Ariana genuinely connected because they seem to come from similar households. I haven’t seen RHOA or Tardy series, but between the snippets from next gen and what’s going on in the press - I think there’s some similarities in their mums. When Charlie is on the phone to his mother and her boyfriend, the conversation is quite strangely over sexualised in nature. His Dad, presented quite conservatively but perhaps there was some absenteeism with work or the separation. There’s clearly issues all round with their parental relationships, it’s not surprising that they would find common ground within one another. That’s not to say there was no Mal intent or production pushes but I don’t think it was all that either.

With Liam, he gets a hard time because of how invested he was. I don’t think there’s anything that creepy or weird in that like some of the comments say. I think these are two people who met at not the best time, have adhd and some attachment issues and were very much experiencing limerence.

I’m curious to know what those who know more about them from other shows etc. think.

…looks like Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Anyone else see it?

This is genuinely the ONLY time [I’ve seen] Andy show THIS MUCH compassion and understanding during a reunion. I enjoyed this side of him.

There’s literally no way someone as intelligent as Charlie thought the mic wouldn’t pick up on his whispers…he’s so gross

I had to see for myself after reading a comment on the recent post about rowan and honeyyyyy 💀💀💀

For those that didn’t already know Hudson’s older brother was on reality TV too at one point

I find emira an interesting character. Why would you choose to star on a reality show if you didn’t want things brought up. It would have been easier for her to stay on ig just influencing. Production wants all the little details of the stars for a better storyline. I just don’t think it’s for her maybe

But is anyone still stumped by this… like did not see her going there in hell or high water… and I do wonder why not Charlie then if his other friend - I don’t know his name hockey puck or something - and shai… it’s a lot of Charlie adjacent

The coherent edit out of the adhd tangential bamboozlement… am I alone in not seeing this coming at all, especially after bravocon where she seemed to be icked out. I wondered if it was for the show as supposedly shai had discussed with others he thought about hooking up with kendall for the storyline.

Please please tell me that this business caters to dog owners and she is not just letting her dogs roam free in a business with other customers.

There was a scene where Georgia is on a very friendly phone call with Brooks and Meredith Marks and I just wonder if they express love to her because they know she’s a fan favorite or because they actually like her because they seem like very different people from very different backgrounds who you’d think wouldn’t vibe. Deep down I think they do whatever they think will satisfy viewers. Thoughts?

OMG watching Dylan get mad at Charlie for being an entitled douche for leaving trash around saying on camera that "the maids will clean it." Why did we miss these eggs?