#3437 The Valley S3E14 Part One: Loose Lips Sink Hips

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1:35Ben Mandelker: Watch What Crappens

1:58Ben Mandelker: love to talk about. I'm Ben Mandelker. Normally, Ronnie Karam would be here, but he is out today. So we have just an exquisite fill-in today. The one and only comedian extraordinaire, writer, comedian, very funny person, Ray Sani is back. Hi, Ray. How are you? Hi, Ben. Thank you for having me. It's been such a while. How have you been? I know it's it has been a while I have been I've been really great how's everything going in New York City it's hot so for your Patreon members if I am I am glistening this is this is New York City all on me okay it's like there were few years like 99 degrees Taylor Swift is like clogging up Madison Square Garden it's a weird time in New York people are on top of the Empire State Building I love that.

2:53I was like, was that an attempt to upstage Taylor? Because her ass shut down. She pulled a Donald Trump from the Knicks game, basically. But she was even more crazy because she's holding up that area around Madison Square Garden for two days, from today until Saturday or Sunday, which is absurd. So I'm glad everyone's talking about the Empire State Building and not her right now.

3:18Ben Mandelker: it's like i think i almost would rather talk about the great american state fair at this point which by the way i think is actually what's happening at mass square garden um so speaking of basics uh today we're talking about the valley everyone should go by the way before we do anything else everyone must follow ray on social media um ray tell everyone where they can find you because i want to say that you will never get funnier more incisive more truth telling takes than ray when when she's on social media or even when you're not on social media but like you are so i love reading your hot takes even when i don't even like align with them i just love that you're like this is how i feel so tell everyone where they can find you nice man that's so nice because i'm feeling lonely summer house had me lonely okay um you can find me on at ray sonny 87 on threads that's mostly where i talk i don't go on twitter anymore um and uh yeah i'm on instagram at ray sonny 87 as well yeah you are really one of the funniest people and i have to say i think it was because of you that i started to change my mind on Portia all those years ago you came onto this show and you were like I am not a fan of Portia and I was like what are you talking about Portia is great and I mean I like love Portia but I feel like I'm much more critical of her because of you because I feel like you kind of like opened my eyes to some of like the Portia bullshit you know on Atlanta I like her more all of a sudden than I have in a while because I think I think like with Portia she's like Like, she's starting to, like, she can't hide it.

5:08That, this is so irrelevant to what we're talking about, but that scene with her and Dennis at the end of the episode a couple weeks back, I was like, look at Portia. She can't control the narrative. And Dennis came in and just, like, obliterated, like, what she wanted to do in that scene. And as long as I get to see that part of her, then I'll take the bullshit, too, you know?

5:28Ben Mandelker: Yeah, yeah. Well, I was, I'm not even gonna go down that path because we're gonna get derailed because today our mission is to talk about the valley um ray you've been following you've been watching this season so far i had watched the first um like three episodes and i don't know i think i just got swept up and somewhere i just like didn't care about the valley and then you hit me up and i like binged maybe like 10 episodes and i was like i am enjoying this i'm actually enjoying this i know the word around town is that this shows box and like i can understand the complaints but i'm not as like upset with the show that we're getting as everyone else but i had a great time yeah i i'm actually i totally agree with you i think this season's actually really good it's not you know you don't have a big bad in the same way as jack's although danny has emerged as one but um i think it's kind of just showing like the the warts of suburban decay you know and like just like living and like just you're past your prime now you've got your kids and like the happily ever after that you're hoping for is just like not there you don't have the same body that you used to have you're not as happy as you used to be the party days are over but you're clinging on and like that the sign when you need to sit down it all sounds like kind of depressing but i find it like fascinating because it's kind of real you know actually find it i also find it very fascinating and uh for me this like contrast within the city like is really like enhancing my experience of both shows because um i feel like uh i lived in los angeles for only like three years and a year and a half of that was the pandemic.

7:18So I didn't really live in Los Angeles. I never got to know the city, but I also know that New York is such a unique, specific place to live and a specific place to age. I think both New York and LA have this Peter Pan thing going on where you can be perma-adolescent just because of the lifestyle the city affords you or just the entertainment business in general. But the way they do Peter Pan syndrome is so different. Like Kyle is very immature, but his immaturity looks so different from Jesse Lally's, you know? And I think that that's like a product of the cities that they're in.

7:54Ben Mandelker: I a hundred percent agree. And I feel that way so much like, because the people on in the city are having like, they're there, like you said, what did you say? Like permanent adolescence or something, but it's has like a different vibe. It's like a professional. They're still like professionals and they're, they're in this city where they're going to like a kind of kind of chic Indian restaurant for this like wedding thing. And they're all dressed in these like really nice tuxes and things like that. But they are all kind of still locked in a certain place in their life. But then like on the Valley, they're just kind of in this malaise of, you know, I don't even know what half the people do on the, on the, they just sort of are there.

8:34So crazy because like I like ADHD meds. So apologies if I get like too literary. but like there's an element of like they're literally over the hill in the valley like that is crazy and like you're seeing that and like it's like the epitome of such a thing you know what I mean and it's like fascinating to watch and like what's so interesting and I'm still trying to figure out Danny and Nia because I can't finger them but like no finger you know what I mean like um so the the appeal to me about in the city is that new york city is a character on and ostensibly everybody else is doing something other than just being a reality star i mean like lindsey and cut this reality stars but they still you know sell me the idea that they're doing something other than tv being themselves professionally and so like there is an enthusiasm about the next chapter that I feel like they all are having you know these guys want to get Andrea wants a baby like they're thrilled like Lindsay wants to be a mom on the go even as she still wants the home life whereas like it feels like everybody on the valley is like doing what they're doing because like what they wanted to do is a far gone like conclusion or It's like a possibility that doesn't exist anymore.

10:05Kristen Doty is not going to be a model. So here she is being a very distraught postpartum mom, you know?

10:11Ben Mandelker: I often feel that way as well. I often feel like the cast on the Valley, like their dreams have kind of escaped them in some weird way. Like maybe Zach's dreams are still alive. Although I don't know really what Zach's dreams are.

10:26Ben Mandelker: I'm not sure. Maybe it's to get back that monster fridge. but um yeah it's i do think the valley is really good and so let's like dive right back into it so we're um this is going to be um uh what is it it's episode 14 hips don't lie season three so i know it's like an affront to shakira but um and white cleft too let's let's just say it i'm offended too danny's hips do lie he'd be lying he'd just be lying all the time hips his hips literally lie he's acting like let's not act like this is channing tatum incarnate here all he did was like sort of get down low on his knees mike is crazy like what are we talking about here okay hi everyone we had some audio issues in case you couldn't tell and so we've adjusted the setup and now hopefully there won't be any more clipping or anything if you hear like the echo of my voice uh by accident i apologize ahead of time but you know this is just it's a hot new york city day and taylor swift has taken over manhattan so there's you know this is like mercury mercury and retrograde yeah it's five you know um so i don't even remember where we were we were just about to start the recap um i do of course why start a recap when i can ask more questions before we start the recap because we're starting in the scene with everyone at this restaurant i have to ask you where do you stand on like the lightning rod of the season like or of the valley in general where do you stand on janet you know it's so interesting because i've been thinking about this a lot um i see that the internet hates her and i don't i mean i don't think she's interesting enough to hate as much as everyone does you know um um i think so i remember seeing that like ariana said she's like a wonderful person lala seems to really like her and this is gonna shock you but my favorite character on this show is michelle and michelle is really like close with um janet too so i'm assuming that there are good qualities in her i love her husband he is fine as fuck did you It's fine, right?

12:39Ben Mandelker: I didn't know until midway through last season, but I honestly think he's one of the hottest guys on Bravo, if not the hottest guy, right? And the thing is, you don't notice it because he's so classy and dorky and nerdy and stuff. But I was like, oh, he broke his body doing basketball. I'm in love with this man. Let me just say something. I noticed it from this first episode of the entire series. I noticed that he was cute, but I didn't know that I wanted to suck his dick as much as Janet talks about doing it. So like I, so I was like, well, so if Jason loves her like he does and he doesn't, he's not like a hen packed husband.

13:13He like rides for his wife. I'm like, there must be some good quality about her. I think what I've concluded is that she's just terrible television and she's too emotional to move strategically on a show that requires strategy when you're in a group of veterans. So it's like, like, I remember when she, in the first couple of episodes, like she was having these one-on-one chats and she like had no idea how to approach these conversations. I'm like, this is your third season on the show. You mean to tell me you didn't anticipate production or production by way of Lala getting you to talk to these people?

13:54By way of Lala. By the way, blah, blah. And getting you to talk to these people and you didn't plan out what you were going to say, you just showed up to Nia and was like, if you got something to say, say it to me. I'm like, girl, even if I think that you're not entirely wrong, you should have just had strategy. And she's so bad at the strategy part. So she doesn't know how to have an on-camera fight. And then she either shuts down or she says some really expensive shit that just shuts down conversation or makes her too loathsome to talk to. And she's not charming enough otherwise to make me go, this is worth it.

14:32So she was missing for three episodes at the beginning of the season. And I didn't give a fuck. And that's a bad look for her. and like this show is very weird I noticed I think maybe with the benefit of like binging so many episodes together I saw it but like there it's like uh I can't tell the group dynamics and I don't know if that's like a problem with the storytelling on the part of production or these people are like hiding their real relationships and stuff because like it wasn't until like two episodes ago where I figured out when I figured out where the friendships actually are because I'm like, why does Jasmine keep saying Zach is her best friend?

15:10That ain't true. And then here we have Brittany and Jasmine saying that Nia and Kristen ain't actually that close. And I'm sitting here like, who's friends with whom? Because you would not be able to tell that Janet had good friends in the group if you were just watching the show. But it's clear that she's real tight with Michelle. She's real tight with Lala. And she has some decent, like Zach keeps trying to play the TV game with her, but he likes her too. So I'm just sitting here being like, what is, like, I can't tell whose fault that is. Is it them for not knowing how to assist production in telling their stories?

15:46Or is it just like production's not finding the proper through line?

15:49Ben Mandelker: I think that's production. That's such an interesting thing. I never even thought about that with this show because it was sort of surprising when all of a sudden they started saying like, well, Brittany, you've never really liked Nia. And I was like, really? I never realized. I didn't notice. I didn't notice. And I'm sure if you go back, there's like breadcrumbs like oh yeah like it's you know there was an issue in santa barbara where she was mad at nia for covering for danny when danny was napping but like you're right like you don't really know where you stand with these people necessarily there's not like necessarily like lines in the sand but like this trip has kind of highlighted that there have been kind of like two factions there is the pro janet faction and we're getting more and more the side that's more like the danny and nia side where you've got kristin and you've got jesse lolly and you've got um luke you know but that is a that's a really interesting point and yeah i i really liked what you have to say about janet i think you're i think you're totally spot on i never understood really last year why people seem to hate janet as much as like jacks if not more i was like i get misogyny come on you know the answer to that of course of course but like i i like i did feel like she was indelicate about you know the sexual assault the perfect word indelicate is the perfect word for that because it doesn't like it doesn't um it doesn't castigate her right it doesn't make her the bad guy she's just indelicate like she didn't handle it properly but she wasn't wrong for wanting to handle it right yeah yeah and i remember feeling like when she was saying when she when they're on that boat and she was like well sexual assault i remember thinking to myself like the reason why it's like she's not winning this argument is a because she sort of inserted it was a different discussion that was happening on that boat and then she brought it in and that felt like she was pulling that out as almost like a card um but also like janet just sort of has inherent like karen energy and when she when she like comes at you with like here's my issue with you her tone and her presentation always has like a vibe of karenism yes that makes everything she says almost seemed discredited in a weird way like she's gonna call the manager on you but like if you get past that it's like you know she wasn't i actually was like last season i mean i i i i like to think that i that i articulated that i was like i i kind of saw her pov last season i don't remember like i'm sure people listening to like pen you never said that you were bandwagoning but i always thought like when she was like yeah being in the pantry with danny uh that's weird and even when danny danny then was like no i went in there because i wanted to get a drink and it's behind the door so i had to close the door i remember like being like okay well maybe he has a point but no he does not have a point he does not weird it's not weird he's fucking weird and here's the thing and i'm not gonna victim blame jasmine but she let the story get away from her as well.

18:50See, my, actually, I find Jasmine to be one of the more frustrating people on this cast. Like maybe because unfortunately, because I don't know her from prior to this show, I have expectations for her. Like I know Kristen Doody's terrible. I know everybody else is terrible. So, but Jasmine seems like, I won't say level-headed because she's certainly not that, but she seems like a decently put together, well-raised person, right? So I keep like expecting her to be emotionally intelligent enough to like handle some of these things. And she's clearly not, she's very stunted emotionally. I'm fine.

19:25She argues very childishly, but so for me, to me, it sounds like Danny groped her fiance when she was, when he was drunk and she's not finished being mad about it, but she wants to be cool with the group. So she's pretending she's done being mad about it. And she's not. So it seeps out. And then it got out last time. And Janet hijacked it inadvertently, maybe. I don't know. Hijacked Jasmine's story. So Jasmine, to fit in with the group, had to back off of Janet a little bit. And so now, a year later, foolishly, she's realizing that everybody dismissed her Black gay feelings about that. And now we're all fixated on Janet and Danny when me and my fiance's feelings are still hurt.

20:15And I'm salty doubly because y 'all are all baby in this motherfucker. And you obsessed with Janet. And now I got to back off with Janet because y 'all making it weird for me. It's like, what the fuck is going on here? So like Janet was indelicate. And she also usurped the victim story because the preview next week looks like she's going to cry about her own sexual assault. And I'm like, girl, that didn't this. Danny didn't happen to you. It happened to Jasmine and I think Melissa is her fiance's name.

20:43Ben Mandelker: Melissa, yeah. So like, it's just, it's all weird. Janet is, Janet, the Karen energy, I hear you totally. Cause like, I'm like, is this bitch allergic to an apology? Like, what is she doing? Like she, there's just a tone and like, I'm a tone person. Like, um, you, you can't talk to me like that. Like, who are you talking to? So even when Nia's wrong, the way Janet be talking, it's like, girl, like, I think at At one point at the table, she's like, and that's why you're in debt. $500 ,000 in debt to Jesse. I'm like, who was fucking talking about that? Why are you doing that? Like, usually on a show on, like, reality TV, I have a character that's like, they got a point, but they be arguing wrong, and I still ride for them.

21:26But Janet has a point. She's arguing wrong, but she's not even likable enough for me to be like, damn, girl, I feel you. But she's not. You're right. Indelicate is, like, the perfect word for her. The thing is, like, because she's so, and it shouldn't matter, right? Because, like, morals are morals. But because we're making a TV show, you got to factor in likability as well. It's time for a commercial. It's time for a Crappens commercial.

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23:09Sorry, I just went on a rant.

23:10Ben Mandelker: No, I'm enjoying your insight on this. I think it's great. Thank you. So I noticed, and I think this is the benefit of a binge as opposed to you watching week to week. I noticed that like around episode six or five, right? All of a sudden, then they're pretending that Danny's drinking is not the problem, but how he acts when he drinks is a problem. Did you notice that shift? And it's like a big one. And it makes for a hard argument to have with Danny. Because now Danny doesn't have to admit he has a drinking problem. Now he gets to point out how everybody acts funny when they're drunk. But the problem isn't that people act up when they're drunk.

23:52The problem is that you're an alcoholic and you turn into a monster. You specifically cannot handle alcohol. You specifically. They might have bad, shitty, drunk nights, but you are sneaking white claws in gyms of houses that you don't live in, my dude. Like, you got an issue. You know what I mean? Yes.

24:13Ben Mandelker: That is the issue. It's like Jesse Lawley has never lied about being drunk on camera, as far as we know. The fact that you have to lie about drinking on camera, and it doesn't even occur to you to just not drink, right? It's not that. It does occur to him, and when it does occur to him, he gets really grumpy about it. He gets really surly. And then he'll remind everyone, look at me. I'm not drinking anything. But I agree. We're going to start this recap now. But what I will say is it's an interesting nuance because Ron and I have had a lot of conversations about like it's not so much that he drinks.

24:58Ben Mandelker: It's like his behavior when he drinks is awful. So we have been a little bit more on the side of like it's the behavior more than the act. But the truth is it's really not as black and white. it's not as black and white as that like he doesn't like his relationship with alcohol is like messy yeah so like it's not as clean as like oh drink as much as you want but i think everyone's saying like don't hide your booze if you're gonna drink drink but like also but that's the wrong that's the wrong argument though because their issue isn't whether or not he drinks or whether or not he's like that that's that's a that felt like to me production danny and nia went to production and said these people are calling me an alcoholic on tv and i'm not with it and then lala being the production microphone she started to alter her argument and then all of a sudden you get britney and jasmine all being like oh my god like i don't care drink all you want drink all you want two episodes ago you didn't want him to drink like so what are we doing here Well, I think it's a way to insulate themselves from having the finger pointed back.

26:06Ben Mandelker: Be like, what about you? Because everyone on this show gets shit-faced. And everyone sort of pops off and gets crazy. So they know that the first thing that Danny would say is, well, you get drunk and you get drunk and Zach gets drunk. And it happened last week with Kristen saying it. That's actually literally how we enter this episode. But by sort of saying, okay, that point is off the table. We're not going to discuss that point. We're just going to discuss your behavior. but I've always said Danny you're like 48 years old an aging character actor who appeared on the OC once and now you like still don't know how to drink like you're the person showing up at wine tasting you showed up like late so you have to like catch up like are we 21 when do we why do we have to catch up we're not doing that anymore okay you've got 10 million children you live in Santa Clarita there's nothing to catch up to at this point so like him even doing that last season, I was like, oh, you don't know how to drink.

27:02Ben Mandelker: So he doesn't know how to drink. He drinks too fast, too much too fast, and he outpaces everyone else. And when people outpace people when you're drinking, that's like an uncomfortable feeling for everyone else. Every single time, anyone here who's listening, who has been in a social setting where someone is drinking faster than the rest of the table, we all know, we all give each other looks, we all are watching them because you're like, are we going to have to take care of this person? What are they going to do? How are they going to act? And then no one can have fun in the same way. And that's what Danny does, in my opinion.

27:34And it's not just that he's outpacing them. It's also like, and this is just generally what happens with people who are problematic drinkers. There are people who, when they get drunk, they become heightened versions of themselves. There are people who get mean when they're drunk. And when you're the kind of person who instantly slips into rage once you've hit a certain point of like booze intake you're a problematic drinker and danny doesn't i've never watched an episode of this show and seen danny drunk and be like ah he looks like he'd be fun to be around like he's always and it's not just like loud rage it's often like quiet seething rage and that to me is the sign of a problematic drinker And like Jesse Lolly, like when Nia makes the comparison between Jesse Lolly, like pretending to give Jason head on a, on a party bus, that's not the same kind of too drunk as like rage Danny shitting on his wife, refusing to move his feet on the, you know what I mean?

28:36And like, everybody's like eliding and conflating things that are just like, they're not the same. And I know y 'all know what problematic drinking looks like.

28:46Ben Mandelker: I mean, we all know, we all know. by the way, I love your use of alighting. I mean, come on. But, yeah, and I, you know what, don't you also feel like if Danny had a track record of being a really, really fun drunk, this may sound kind of problematic, but don't you feel like if he had a track record of being like a super fun drunk that like, if he put his hand on like Melissa's thigh and said, bring daddy a drink, don't you think it would have landed differently? I know that sounds really bad because it's like personal space violation personal space whatever but like when someone's a problematic drinker and they invade your personal space like that it feels ickier than when you have and if you have a relationship where you're saying that kind of stuff to each other all the time and you get drunk and you say those things right yeah absolutely and like i don't get the sense that any of anybody besides jesse and mia like danny sober so if i don't even like you sober and you know fun when you drunk like you you don't get to touch my girl's ass like what are we doing here you know what i mean yeah exactly okay so let's dive it up the listeners are like are you guys gonna start the recap but you know like this stuff has to be discussed at all times this is why i think the valley is good because it's like we are like every episode we are debating this stuff because it makes you like it gives you a reaction i think the worst reality shows are the ones where you have no reaction to them whatsoever you just watch it and then you move on with your life and this one we you're all fired up and we might be angry.

30:10Ben Mandelker: We might say it's dark, but at least we're like, we're feeling something. So where we're picking up is we're still at that lunch where basically, you know, Janet and Nia are, and, and Kristen are having an, and Jesse and Michelle are all there. And Kristen's like, well, why don't you like, like, what about like Brittany and Zach and Jasmine? What about their drinking? And then of course, Janet right away just starts texting them. And it's like, you guys have no idea. Kristen just said, you guys are like murdering people. and you're problematic and you should be canceled by America. See, this is why I'm like, this bitch needs to be better TV because how amazing would it be if she was like, and I just told them what you said at the table instead of like quietly storm and then like telling them later, like if she, if she sat there like a boss bitch and was like, see how you talking about your friends?

31:01See, that's why I don't fuck with y 'all at this table. Something like that. She don't have to say like me, she's not from Brooklyn, but I mean,

31:06Ben Mandelker: like if she sounded like you that would be very funny it'd be very lala of her she said it like yeah it would be but um but like but she's like in like she's whatsapping people in in mexico like because he is still trying to be on best behavior i think she's afraid to pop off on people and actually like my favorite moment of hers all of the whole season was when luke was like lecturing her at that awful james bond party and then finally janet just said i don't have to no fucking charles manson to know that he's a psychopath and i was like that i like laughed so hard i was like this is the persona i want janet to lean into to be like you know what fuck all of you people okay i'm sick of it and also i'm i guess but you know like you know me i love a villainess so i'm just kind of like why the audience already hates you girl just do you like she's still trying to like hedge and like trying to see if she can get people on her side Like, girl, they don't like you.

32:07You two seasons in. It took people. I was team Katie Maloney from season one. Nobody liked my girl until season 14 or some shit like this. So just be yourself. You know what I mean? Like, you can't convince people that you're likable. You just got to be likable. And part of being likable is being yourself, you know?

32:27Ben Mandelker: Well, maybe she's, like, afraid of people not wanting to film with her, you know? Yeah, I mean. But she's got Britney. She's got Michelle. she's got people yeah so so she's sitting there crying and he's like oh she's crying for himself and these things like she put herself in this position and jesse's like well you can hear the heart truth and be like i fucked up i'm sorry which is very rich coming from jesse who i feel like does not like has never apologized authentically in his life has he no no no so janet's outside she's speaking to jason on the phone hot jason and she's just saying how this has brought up so many like feelings she doesn't want to talk about and she's like crying and uh you know she's obviously obviously she has stuff in her past that she's triggered by but then of course who do you want to hear who do you want to come console you in these moments none other than tom schwartz who i still don't understand why he is on the show this season and he comes over just like oh oh hey janet oh god um do you have anxiety i mean she's sitting here crying crying on a cobblestone street in the middle of mexico and he's like do you have anxiety like get the fuck out of here i i i like i like the attempt i like the attempt i like that he didn't let her back herself because you know what i love michelle but what's disappointing me about her is that she also is not brave enough to just be like i fuck with janet so leave her alone and so she's like she's not you know she's not taking the best friend step forward that she needs to so i appreciate that somebody tom went out there and was tom knows how to make a tv show he'd been around for long enough you know what i mean he's like okay guys we can't leave the girl outside crying by herself she's the source of conflict let's just make her comfortable enough to be in the room you know he's like we can pour a drink on her head but we can't leave her alone yeah we can cheat on her but yeah do all those things i mean i do think that michelle has become more and more strident in her defense of janet she started to actually say more specifically like she's become more full voice over the course of even just this episode about like what janet is like bothered by and how she's feeling and her feelings towards danny i mean she literally says in like not to in just a few moments she's like everyone has an issue with danny you know and like she's kind of like yeah danny sucks yeah Yeah.

34:53So that's another thing I didn't notice. Weren't they positioning Michelle and Nia as best friends the first season? At the very least, the first season, right? So I'm like, are Michelle and Nia not friends anymore? Has Michelle always hated Danny? Where are these friendships?

35:10Ben Mandelker: you know yeah i'm not sure i don't even remember like where nia fit in with the group in season one in terms of in terms of all those things but i think um like it's it's clear that i'm sure that as jesse has gravitated towards dania and nia that has probably made michelle feel a certain sort of way about about those two as well like wow you're you're befriending my asshole ex-husband that's true i mean she's she's low-key refriending her asshole less ex-husband too she's all flirting with him all episode complaining about affection i'm like girl why see look she got attachment issues just like i do how come when you finally get divorced that's when you start liking the motherfucker what's going on here i know i am i like i do love that like the strange twist of this whole thing is that michelle lally winds up dating dr dre like i like that's like the twist that I know that Dr.

36:05Dre has not been very good to the women in his life,

36:09Ben Mandelker: so I don't approve of that. But I approve of the concept of Michelle Lally winding up with a superstar. What's so crazy about it is it's like, okay, so already a reality TV realtor is dating a billionaire, a famous billionaire, and he's also a rap billionaire? there like what the fuck like what about michelle says i'm a i'm a data rap legend that is so crazy it doesn't make any sense whatsoever smile can you imagine her bopping her head to a dr draby like that's crazy walking down the street with her staccato ass voice she's crazy i know she's my favorite about michelle i don't know why I just love her.

36:56I think she's just like, so I'm a very emotional person. And I'm also like not like, I have poise sometimes depending on the situation, but I'm not cool at all. I'm not cool, girl. I'm not cool. And there's just something like aloof about Michelle that I wish I could just like take that quality of hers. Like she obviously gives a fuck, but she looks like she never gives a fuck. And then it's like, it feels more precious when you see some vulnerability with her. Like she's strategically being open with Tom Schwartz. She's discussing her mom more. She's talking about her feelings about her divorce.

37:30And I'm like, this is great. You hypocrite ass bitch. You had your man all around Jesse, but you and your feelings and let's keep going. Keep going. I like this.

37:39Ben Mandelker: Yeah. I just love how it's going to make Jesse. I just love the Dr. Dre of it all for how it's going to make Jesse feel like it's just I love how small it's going to make Jesse feel. especially since you you can tell like the minute see i don't understand why michelle gave him that much but maybe she knows she's making good tv when she was like you know you never gave me physical touch and you never showed me affection it hurts my feelings to see you do that with lacy and jesse's in the confessional like well she's just gonna have to deal with it the way i like he felt so empowered so i love that there's a tmz press release where it's like oh yeah i'm dating a a billionaire you broke bitch so um uh so michelle is uh so it happens right here where kristen's like listen i understand feeling anxious and you need to walk away but why does she keep doubling down because now they're angry at janet for walking away i do wish janet would not walk away i hate actually when reality stars in general walk away because that's like what the real life person would do.

38:45Ben Mandelker: In real life, you walk away from bullshit. But on RialtoTV, I want you to sit there, especially because I do feel almost like what you were saying. I do feel like Janet has the raw tools to actually shut everyone down, but she's too afraid to use them. And I think she's too afraid of looking like a huge bitch. She's too afraid of people not wanting to film with her. Or maybe she just knows she's not good at certain things, and she will say something really bad that's going to haunt her, like bringing up sexual assault on that boat. so she does just sort of walk away maybe her therapist told her to do that who knows but uh now they're like well why does she just keep on doubling down and michelle's like but what about everyone else everybody has a problem with danny everybody does and he's like well that's a big statement it's not true and there's literally a whole villa of people talking shit about danny right now let me tell you something i said it last year on the podcast i said that production was protecting danny and then last year the first year the very first episode i famously was like nia is evil i don't know if nia is evil to be honest i feel like i'm still waiting for her to be actually evil i think but i do think that she is covering for evil and i always knew that because the very first episode when she referred to danny as daniel i was like there's some bullshit going on here why everyone calls him danny but you call him daniel it's like you have to say that to him because you know like he gets crazy right yeah you have to almost have like this maternal like yeah when your mom uses your full name to get you to sit down you know what i mean and but also you know like uh like this is like an extreme example but like fascists have wives too you know what i mean like ava braun right like you know like in some circles melania is beautiful she don't say shit but she's pretty and i mean that's what mia is like for danny you know what i mean but she actually is evil because she doesn't just like she doesn't let lala fight for her right she takes it up as her duty to protect her man against people who call out his abusive language you know what i mean so it's like um you're participating in your your own abuse and then you're helping him do too much with other people so she is evil in that she abets him what she's a she's an accomplice after the fact this is what she is yeah so so then a nia's nia's saying like there's nothing wrong with daniel standing up for himself but that makes everybody quote unquote uncomfortable and this general word is uncomfortable.

41:25Ben Mandelker: It's just like ridiculous. The fact that Nia and, I almost said Daniel, the fact that Nia and Danny still don't understand what everyone means by uncomfortable. In fact, every time someone's, the cast, they keep on saying uncomfortable because they're being polite. They're being like, he's fucking annoying. We think he's shitty to you. We think he's an alcoholic. He doesn't know how to drink like the rest of us. And he's handsy. That's like what they're really saying with the word uncomfortable. but Nia is only all I think all that Nia hears with uncomfortable is like me is probably just like like a sexual pervert I think that's what she's hearing and it's actually much more than that well it but but it also is that and that also should matter too right and so like the way that she's dismissive of uncomfortable makes me you know like when um like it'll be it's very church of them where like you say that like the pastor is inappropriate with the, the, um, congregate, the women in the congregation.

42:25You're just like, Oh, come on. He's just like, she's, she's, she's, she knows exactly what the accusation is. That's why Danny's still so mad. They know exactly what the accusation is. They don't like it. And so now they're trying to make you wrong for noticing that he's sexually inappropriate, but she knows what the accusation is because when she brought up the comparison to Jesse at Lally, she specifically chose a moment where he was simulating oral sex on someone, right? Or later in the episode when she tells him not to move his hips. That's not why people are uncomfortable. But they, as churchgoing faith-based people, they are obsessed with the sex of it all.

43:05And they're thinking of it in terms of lasciviousness, perversion, like you said, when it's just about boundaries altogether. and that's the thing

43:13Ben Mandelker: is that like I don't think everyone necessarily thinks oh Danny is gonna come up and put his hands on me but what the the thing is that when no one really knows what he's gonna do right like is Danny about to become really grumpy are we gonna have to like mollify him are we gonna have to sit there and watch him speak badly to Nia and then like what do we do in those situations are we supposed to intervene are we not supposed to intervene and then you're like again you're just like not having fun and it's like right now all your attention is like how do I like interact with the situation what will happen to me what will i have to take care of him will we have to take care of him am i gonna have to lie on behalf of him if i see something it's every it's like every every angle of like patriarchal misogyny it's like he takes it on every part of it it's the condescension towards women it's the um it's the uh sorry an ambulance sounds of new York.

44:04I apologize.

44:05Ben Mandelker: It's okay. But it's like, it's like the, it's the condescension towards women. It's the like demanding your wife behave according to her religious wifely duties in public, but you can talk to her anyhow. You can disrespect the women in the friend group. And also maybe you might grope too. Cause that's also part of it. Like it's not just sexual, but it also is sexual. And then it's all the other parts of misogyny as well. He's just a misogynist. He just, and it's I'm sure the other guys on the cast are too, but he doesn't even dare to hide it. It's just this performance of old school patriarchy encased in religiosity.

44:45It's like a specific brand of obnoxious male, and then you add alcohol on top of that, and it just explodes it from every angle. That's crazy. I couldn't imagine being around. And I'm like, and the show has yet to show me like a good quality about him. He's not a good father. That's another part of the patriarchal shit. He's not a good hands-on father. He doesn't, he's not funny. Like what am I meant to be?

45:11Ben Mandelker: That's the biggest offense to me. What? He's definitely not funny. That's the biggest offense. He's not funny. He's not funny. End of the list right there. I'm like, oh my God, these childish vasectomy jokes are terrible. You always talking about fucking when your wife's trying to have a serious conversation with you. It's like he's the worst trope of a 90s or an 80s sitcom husband. He's just like, it's so immaculate. It's so true. Yeah, I think his first season, he got a really great edit. He was just seen as this really nice guy. He doted on Nia, taking care of the kids. And I wonder if he just sort of assumed he would still keep getting that edit and was not expecting probably all.

45:54Ben Mandelker: He got comfortable maybe with the edit. And so he probably just assumed all this behavior that's happening now maybe wasn't going to make it to the final show. And here's another thing about not knowing how to do the TV. And it was so bullshit when he said last week, well, this is my first rodeo trying to present he don't know what he's doing. But he also don't know what he's doing. I don't understand for the life of me why Danny and Nia have not figured out that they need to be maneuvering differently to protect their image. They insist on doubling down on protecting an image that we already know don't work.

46:22So why not like move around it? I'm starting to be like, what is the benefit of y 'all being on the show unless you need the money? Because there's nothing that the last two seasons have done to improve his image with the public, even as he's trying to have a front facing job or a voiceover job. I have never cared any I don't care about her pageant life they don't seem happily married they aren't showcasing their face well they're not showcasing their parenting well what is the benefit for either of them on the show I don't get it and Nia seems to be trying to control the image but I just don't understand why they are unable to pivot they just seem to be doubling down on you guys are terrible for not buying our bullshit as opposed to trying to finesse around it you know Commercials, here comes one right now.

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48:16Ben Mandelker: So now we go over to the other group, and Zach and Benji are in the pool with others, and Lacey makes her arrival, so Zach comes out of the pool. I'm just always amused by Zach because when he's really happy, he starts, like, his body language turns into a toddler. like he has his hands out like this sort of like one is to like his left hand is sort of like pointing to like sort of like to 10 o 'clock the other one's like one o 'clock or something like that and he just comes forward to her like mommy um and so he he loves lacy and so she has arrived and what do you think about lacy because lacy um lacy surprised me i thought she'd be like awful awful but i don't i don't i don't dislike her as much as i thought i would i thought i kind of think that like i do kind of like that she shits on jesse all the time yeah so i'm i'm curious about that dynamic though because um so if you if you think these things about him why are you with him see i don't get it that's what i don't get you know what i mean um but michelle was married to him for a long time too so maybe he just be getting bad bitches who he termed maybe he's good and bad is that what it is I don't believe that I feel like maybe I feel like Lacey likes him but she knows that the audience generally does not like him so I think she's savvy and she's like I'm going to shit on him too because I know the audience will like that and that's almost like the difference between her and Nia of what you were just talking about if my theory is true Lacey has an awareness of this is how I would manage my appearance on reality TV you know like she had the savviness in a way that like yeah do not have but but jesse is more willing to concede points maybe because he's the broke one in the relationship but he's willing to concede points that danny is never willing to concede danny if if you said if nia said no my name is nia and he's like your name's not nia and she's like she'll have to say at some point okay fine my name's not nia because danny does not bend at all it's crazy well that have some sort like therapized like like quasi therapy quasi pastor talk where it's like daniel i'd like to talk to you about how you are acting out right now and i feel like when you said my name is not nia that was a feeling that made me not like it and he'd be like well do we have to talk about this right now um but then now we go over to luke and britney and um they are uh and lala too they are releasing baby turtles into the ocean which is so cute it is really cute but also think about imagine you're a baby turtle and like one of the very first things you have to see in life are like these three like lala britney and luke like this is the searing image you take with you as you go into the pacific britney's voice as the first noise you hear is crazy the turtles just think it's her mom the turtles are just going back to following britney mama um so they they go out they're they're they survive um and then we go back to now the other group like the janet group and now they're shopping and they go into this like little clothing shop and uh they've got like lots of cute things in there and jesse and michelle are having this like really nice scene they're like sort of shopping for isabella trying to pick things out and they're they're actually like not at each other's necks so then they get to the cash register and michelle is like this is very nice i like that we're not fighting he's like yeah so she's like like now i'm going to ruin it like that's my favorite thing is i'm happy we're getting along because these were the ways that we usually don't get along and then now it's like it turns into a fight again so i the thing I noticed was when she asked him, I was like, oh my god, this man really is as broke as she's saying he is.

52:06Because when she's like, what are you going to get Isabella? He was like, oh, I thought I was going to get her something cheesy from the airport. I was like, oh, this man don't want to spend no money.

52:16Ben Mandelker: Nothing. And you know he's going to, now that Dr. Dre is in the picture, he is going to be totally abdicating any sort of funding for any responsibilities. Like, Dr. Dre can buy it. That's what his mind is going to be. He doesn't have it bad. His baby mom is dating a billionaire, and his current girlfriend is, like, wealthy off a divorce. I mean, for a hobosexual, that's, like, the best-case scenario. It actually is really good. And he's also going to be—he's also— you know he's going to be so much nicer to Michelle now, so that way he can, like, get in with Dr. Drew. Yeah, absolutely. He wants to be at qualities.

52:50He wants to use his connections for his Realty Rolodex. Absolutely.

52:55Ben Mandelker: Yeah, and he'll start talking about, like, dre he'll be like dre and i yeah we're cool you know he will because i know i would be i like yeah of course our fucker um so uh so that they're so then michelle's basically like you know it's not easy on me it's a little awkward for me to see you so affectionate and kissing her right in front of me because i have feelings and it feels weird and he's like you have to remember i had to watch you and aaron kiss in front of me and i mean he has i feel like some point which is like you know like you guys were making it in front of me too that you know like at some point you have to just like get over this yeah i do think it's a little bit of a different situation because last year she was with aaron but jesse was with lacy so they both had booze even if lacy wasn't physically there and lacy was then in cease and desist too yeah that's right yeah and i don't know like i also feel like as for all the crying that jesse did and all the ayahuasca journeys and like men's mental health groups who went in.

53:56Ben Mandelker: I feel like Michelle, even though she was the one who left, I feel like Michelle is the one who feels like her dreams were shattered more. She had to give up on her dream of this marriage and leave because she was so miserable. So I can sort of see She had to pay $15 ,000 to get this man to sign a paper. And I didn't, you know, because she's so guarded a lot of the times, like, I did forget that her mom had died while she was going through the divorce and being on TV. Like, that's really hard. But, you know, when people are guarded, you sort of don't give them the grace that they might need, you know?

54:38Ben Mandelker: I also think that, like, yeah, it may have been hard for him to watch her with the guy Aaron, but, like, if she's putting in the requests, I think it's, like, okay. Like, she's saying, look, it's hard for me. Like, it doesn't have to be, like, equal. She says, it's hard for me to watch you guys. Can you at least like, like respect that? Especially since she has beef with the, with the woman too. Like, you know, because for me, like whatever, I've, I've never been married or whatever. But like, if, if my man is beefing with his child's mother, don't show me the text messages where she's talking about me.

55:14You know, if you're not going to facilitate a sit down when we come together, do not show me that she's calling me ugly. You did that for what? You want me to be on your side and against her. That's why you did that. You didn't do that for any good reason. You know what I mean? So I think that Lacey's like seeing that Jesse is not helping the situation. So she's giving Michelle grace.

55:37Ben Mandelker: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So now they go over to the beach and Tom goes up to Janet. It's like, are you crying again? She's like, no, no, I'm good. I'm enjoying the ocean. As if Janet's going to just like, yes, I am crying. and let me like tell you all my issues tom schwartz evolved person who could like give me some insight so they now um now it's sort of like a silly scene because it's like they decide that they're gonna go skinny dipping whatever and kristen tells us when our group of friends goes and travels especially when there's like a beach and an ocean present we would do like what any other fun adult would do and take our tops off i forgot all about my postpartum body because there's nothing better than shaking your ta-tas in fresh water i mean i i want to shake my titties in fresh water too to be honest i i don't want to because my titties are way too big for for my liking right now i don't i mean christian feels the same way too you know her titties are her titties are are luscious at the moment and unfortunately mine are about the same size so oh come on man i've got little man boobies it's so disappointing but i'm like i've got like i'm like skinny but with man boobies it's like the worst combination you know i feel like if i were like husky yeah i mean if if i were husky with man boobies then it's like okay it matches the general like sort of like shape and proportions but when you're like skinny but with man boobs it's like literally the worst combination this shirt is never coming off again okay tell you that much um so uh yeah nia by the way while this is all happening while like because michelle takes off her top and she's running around she's frolicking and nia has gone and bought like some coconuts to drink out of and she's like wow i thought i was being adventurous by getting coconuts and like part of me feels like she really believed that she was like guys look at how wacky i am i bought a coconut off of a vendor isn't this crazy i'm fun nia exactly so i can imagine how sexy that magic mic should you think coconuts are exotic ain't she mexican isn't she said she's partially mexican i think she's thrilled about a coconut girl i mean i got thrilled about very pedestrian things myself but i i feel like this is truly like a beacon for her right now like a beacon from santa clarita by the way i'm going to santa clarita tomorrow which is crazy it's a much cooler town than they make it seem i've been there for vacation before too so wait i'm a little surprised you went to santa clarita for vacation yeah it's not like a it was just a weekend when i lived in um la my college friend who's from la she was just like oh let's just go to a bar let's go to a beach town or something like that was it santa is it santa clarita or santa barbara maybe santa barbara i think you got it wrong there's no beach in santa clarita santa is north and inland it is like bounded by mountains and like why are you going to the mountain range uh i'm i'm going to uh i'm going to a petting zoo don't ask it's don't ask have fun thank you um naturally i'm just going to dania's house uh so now we're back at the hotel everyone's getting ready and the party tonight is this is for zach's birthday party because it's going to be a trio birthday party so tonight's birthday party is for zach's and it is uh the theme is slutty whore era um and jesse says for him that was the late 90s and early 2000s and lacy's like i was gonna say early 70s pause for laughter uh so then she she's asking about like janet and everything and jesse's saying like well she went and ran away as usual because did she play track and field because the girls got some sprint pause for laughter so anyway janet sent a text that was something along the lines of kristin is throwing jasmine zach and britney under the bus with danny to defend danny but this is how far she's like taking it so then we cut over to the other suite where britney's like in the mirror she's like i'll put my mic up on and uh this now now where they are all about to learn about this this text message or whatever so um so just janet is like saying how she didn't have a good time with everyone and michelle's like well jesse janet nia and christian and tom we all went to lunch and so we were all talking and it was very heated and they put all the blame on her onto janet and janet's like yeah because like if we're gonna start talking about people's drinking she was like we should probably start with britney jasmine and zach and now of course they're like what what are you saying and britney just gets this look because she's like sitting on the floor doing her makeup and like britney's facial expressions are so extreme she's like an emoji and so she's like big smile on for no reason those eyebrows do a lot of work they do and then all of a sudden it just like totally goes upside down and she's like well but why but like christine i might she just like literally said i was her number one and we see a clip like a flashback of last week or two weeks ago when kristin did actually say you're my number one yeah she did but um i am kind of enjoying i'm actually enjoying britney a lot this season and i'm enjoying her after her breakup from this guy because i feel like she just seems something broke in her a little bit and it's almost like her optimism broke a little bit and she's just a little saltier in the past few episodes and i'm kind of digging how she's been talking about danny and nia just because not because i'm like oh let's have another person pile on to danny and nia i'm just enjoying that she's it seems like it's coming from like a little bit of like an authentic place for her Whereas Brittany can sometimes be so bubbly, you know?

1:01:33Well, so also too, I think Brittany in a relationship, whether it's happy or not, is like really infantilizes herself or ages herself down a little bit. And like, without Jax and without, what's his name? Brandon. We see her have like grown up opinions and grown up feelings as opposed to like staying giddy when she's around Brandon or like helpless when she's with Jax. It's like, okay, now we see her as a woman. She's by herself and she's having adult feelings and she's articulating them adultly. Even like the way she's handling Jesse. I don't think she would be talking this way if Jax were still around, you know?

1:02:14Ben Mandelker: Mm-hmm. Exactly. So meanwhile, the other suite, Danny and Nia are sitting around, and they're sharing stories from their respective days. And Nia's basically like, Yeah, so Michelle said that you make everyone uncomfortable when you drink. And I was like, can you be specific? And they couldn't give me specifics. And Danny's like, I am laughing because everybody was like, nobody cares that you drink. Nobody cares. I'm like, yeah, but you're getting the wrong takeaway here. What they're trying to say is, you act crazy, you act weird, you act annoying, you say demeaning things. And the thing is this, I was trying to like, in my mind, I was like, I was building a case of like, why is Danny, as they say like on Passover, why is this night different from all other nights?

1:03:01Ben Mandelker: It's like, why is Danny different from all the other drunkards on this show? It's because when they pop off, they are almost always reacting to something. Whereas with him, he's initiating belligerent behavior. like he is the one getting the ball rolling on negativity but also like like i hate this because danny and me are playing dumb they know exactly what the issue is they're playing like they don't know what the issue is or they're trying to shift it so that no one can have an argument with them about the issue the issue is danny is a problem drinker okay maybe everybody else is a problem drinker but the issue is that you are a problem drinker we can talk about the other stuff later but you are a problem drinker we don't like your behavior today and every other day but you keep deflecting you keep trying to have a different conversation but you gotta have the come and it's also it's almost like watching love island and you see the girls hear the part of the conversation that they want to hear when the boy said i was going to explore but you heard the part where you have nothing to worry about you know what i mean and so i haven't even talked about love island I don't even know.

1:04:06Ben Mandelker: It's a lot happening right now. It's crazy. But it's like, so like, Danny keeps hearing, you can explore. You can explore. You can drink. You can drink. But no, like, you don't, you're not supposed to, don't go explore. They're not saying to Danny, we want you to drink. They're saying, don't hide that you're drinking. Right. Like, you're going to do what you're going to do. We're not going to control you drinking. but you have to know that when you drink you're deeply unpleasant to be around and we all don't like it and you're the only one who acts this way so maybe you should consider your relationship with alcohol like that should be his takeaway but instead his takeaway is like wow i can't believe they all sat around and said we don't care about your drinking but then you got then michelle says that they actually all do care about my drinking and his takeaway is actually they're all very fake people.

1:04:56Ben Mandelker: And like the fact that that is your takeaway from this conversation. It's crazy. And the same, and like, you've got to, you've got to like, I, he's not, um, self-reflective because if, first of all, the fact that anyone is having conversations about how you drink is already a problem. That means you already are problematic drinker. But the fact that you are comfortable with lying on camera about the fact that you're drinking, like why, If you're drunk and it's okay, why are you lying about it? Why are you lying about it? You can't hold off for one night. Yeah, that's exactly my point. I don't want to shame someone.

1:05:37Ben Mandelker: This sounds very PC. I don't want to shame someone if they are grappling with alcoholism. If they're grappling with an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, I don't want to shame them for it because they're dealing with it. They have to come to terms. They have to get there on their own time. What I don't like is how it's affecting other people. and when it's being sort of gently to mid-gently being brought to the attention, and increasingly less gently, maybe it's not gentle anymore, but at one point it may have been, but if it's being brought to the attention and it's still being kind of deflected, denied, and pushed back on the other people, that's where I get frustrated.

1:06:11Ben Mandelker: It's like, now we have to sign on to your denial right now. I'm like, that's such an annoying place to be. Exactly. Exactly. And my thing is, okay, I'm going to be vulnerable. I have, like, I have, you know, I have a dicey relationship with alcohol, too, which is why I recognize all this shit in Danny. Like, he's doing shit I used to do. You know what I mean? If you got to go into a room and hide a white claw, first of all, I think he chooses white claw on camera because it's a lower alcohol percentage point. Like, we know you're a whiskey drinker at home. Like, ain't nothing about Danny no white claw person.

1:06:49You know what I mean? But also, like, if you can't go to work for five hours and not drink on camera, you've got an issue there, buddy. Like, do you know how insane it is to, like, you're visiting Britney because she just had surgery and you going into her gym to sneak a white claw? I don't care what version of the story you tell. That is not a good look at all.

1:07:18Ben Mandelker: and and and then to be fair she had people over and then he left the white claw in the gym and it was there for two weeks because no one went into the gym and it was discovered while she oh okay gotcha um but it's still why are you in my gym drinking you know what i mean and then there's that but then also to like um like what i used to do a lot is because i know that my drinking used to bother some people. I would get drunk before I went to the event. So, because if the anxiety of being around these people socially is what I need to drink for, I would just have some sips before I went, um, before I went to the event and just not drink there.

1:07:59So I was already tipsy enough. He can't even do that. He still needs to like on camera. It's just like, why you can't hold off for five hours? Like this is a thing. And if you're lying about your alcohol consumption, is already problematic drinking. That is just true. It is just true. And if this many people around you are telling you that the way you consume alcohol is a problem, it is a problem. Maybe you don't want to accept that. Like you said, he's making everyone participate in his denial. But I love the cherry picking of what you heard. The fact that he heard everyone saying you can drink, but, and he doesn't acknowledge that thing after the but, or the fact that everyone around him has to give him permission to drink doesn't doesn't set him off doesn't like set off something in his head is like is is enough for me to be like all right this dude is weird he's a

1:08:49Ben Mandelker: little off yeah i think also the drinking for him like it ties him to like 2006 los angeles being a young actor going out on the sunset strip going to cabal cantina two for one four to eight p.m every single day not saying i live that lifestyle but like i know the hours of a happy hour and like It was a fun time. You party, you go out with your bros, you go to like Geisha house afterwards. It was like a time. It like takes, I feel like it's like, like, why do we have to grow up? Just because I've got kids, doesn't we have to like make this part die? Does he have kids or does Nia have kids? And he watches Nia have kids.

1:09:24He don't have kids.

1:09:25Ben Mandelker: Something like that. Just because you live in a house where there are children. And I think it's like, I do think this is something that people grapple with, which is like, oh, like, I don't have to give this up. Like who said, you can have it all. and like I think he's not ready to sunset that part of his life and and someone someone wrote a comment last night on on either Instagram or threads or whatever but they said it was such a fun observation maybe it's a message I apologize I'm not giving you credit because I don't I didn't write down your name they said I feel like Danny was the guy in his friend group who was on TV and like that was his thing he was like the he was like the actor who's on tv and he was like cool and fun and like the life of the party but now it's like that's not translating in the same way and they're all on tv and so it's just hit like all the let's go it was like it was cool when he was like the famous guy who had like bit parts on the cw or nickelodeon or wherever he was but now that he's on the show it's just sort of like cringy and like awkward and annoying you know so So I thought that was such a great observation for whoever said that.

1:10:32That's so true. And it makes me think of Kyle Cook because Kyle Cook, as obnoxious as he must have been in his marriage, being that guy, it doesn't seem to bother the people around his friend group as much as it bothers Danny's friend group. There's just a way to finesse it. Unfortunately for Danny, he's not as likable as Kyle. So he doesn't get away with it the way that Kyle might.

1:10:54Ben Mandelker: Yeah, Kyle is someone who everyone acknowledges has a drinking problem. But he's almost high-functioning, and he invites you into his fun, in a weird way, unless you're Amanda, in which case he invites you into his rage. Exactly. But like, it is sort of funny. People express their drinking in different ways. And Danny just expresses this in a shitty way. And let's also not forget that when they went to that amusement park in San Diego, they get there and he was so surly and so annoying because he wasn't able to drink yet. Right. That was another big red flag, which is that he was angry that everyone was there earlier and had already gotten to start drinking and that he wasn't able to start drinking yet.

1:11:39Ben Mandelker: Exactly. really wanted to start drinking and doesn't that feel like a dependence to you you know yeah yeah i mean you could make you could say it's a fomo you could say it's fomo it's like oh my god why are we dealing why are we why are we like saying back with the baby we've helped for the baby let's get to the party let's get to the fun times i get that feeling too i understand that where you're like oh i just want like everyone's there already can we get there but he was but i think he was he was itching he was fiending you know what i mean yeah so anyway back to the back to party night everyone's getting ready for ho era and for some reason tom schwartz has like put his it's put like white stuff all over his face does he think that kiss is like like the band is that what his whole era is is he just gene simmons does he not understand how he has like this weird kind of goth look like i don't know what is he could have just gone out dressed the way he is because he is still in his whole era let's be honest yeah okay i mean god forgive me but i still find him to be as as obnoxious and like you know like weaponized incompetence and all that i do find him handsome and i do think he'd be fun to be around on a casual basis like He is hot.

1:12:53I don't know why he's... I mean, like, it's... I don't know. It's weird to watch Tom Schwartz lean into dad bod Tom Schwartz because he's still a very objectively attractive man. Like, Michelle...

1:13:06Ben Mandelker: That's cute. Yeah, he's very cute. He's 100 % cute. He's tall, by the way. He's 100 % cute and he's tall. And he's tall. And doesn't he seem like, oh, if you're at a party, he's a good time. You know what I mean? Not the best time, but a good time. I met him at BravoCon. he's like really sweet he's very lovely he is a good time but i think his shtick is just getting it's his shtick needs to like evolve to like it's not it just doesn't play well at his age anymore you know he also doesn't have a foil right he doesn't have tom sandoval here you know yeah to like give him something to work off of and so like when he makes certain jokes with this group it's like they're not feeling it brother when you're hot but then you start going down like that sad path at the same time you're hot and sad at the same time it's like it's it's rough I feel like his styling is getting it's like moving towards smash mouth you know like he's gonna be wearing bowling shirts soon hey everyone this is the end of part one of this recap for part two keep an eye on your podcast feed it is coming up in just a moment.

1:14:16Ben Mandelker: Thanks so much for listening. Catch you on the second half. Watch what Crappens would like to thank its premium sponsors. She answered the call. It's Adia Paul. Ain't no thing like Alison King. Our way is the Amber way. It's the Foster and the Furious. It's Amanda Foster. It's Always Automatic with Ashley Otto. Put your hands together for Carly Clapp. Get on the right foot with Chrissy Offord. She's not just a Sheila. She's a Daniela. Itchles. We never miss her call. It's Diane Call. Sunday in the Park with Dylan Clark. Big yay, it's Emily Gauthier. Erin McNicholas, she don't miss no trick-a-less.

1:14:52Ben Mandelker: Hava Nagila Weber. You'll never hide from Heidi Eleanor Jones. It's no BS, we love Hugo ES. Jamie, she has no last name-y. Sips some scotch with Jessica Trotch. She's our favorite streamer, Caroline Peacock. Kristen the Piston Anderson. Que sera, sera, whatever we'll be, we'll Lauren Silsby. She gets an A from us, it's Lindsay D Let's give a kisserino to Lisa Lino Fresh as a daisy, it's Maisie McHenry Come again? We're obsessed with Margaret O 'Halloran Megan Berg, you can't have a burger without the Berg Gather round for the lore of Michelle Moore This is Livin' with Michelle Vivian I love a ya, Olivia Williamson She sure is swell, it's Raquel Yes we canna, it's Sadana Cast a spell with Shannon Spellman Let's share with Sharon Eldridge Darn Skippy, it's Tippi And our super premium sponsors She's VVIP, it's Amanda V Somebody get us 10 cc's of BetsyMD We're taking the gold with Brenda Silva Let's get real with Caitlin O 'Neill Put us on a stretcher, it's Charlotte Fletcher Hogle your horses, it's Christine Hogle Don't get salty with Christine Pepper Can't have a meal without the Emily sides Who, what, why, where, and Gwen Pentland.

1:16:13Ben Mandelker: Nobody holds a candle to Jamie Kendall. We got our wish, it's Jen Plish. Have a kebab with K-Rob. My favorite Murdo, Karen McMurdo. Let's get savage with Laura Wildman. In the study with a candlestick, it's Leslie Peacock. We're ride or die for Lisa Ryder Barron. She's a whiz, it's Liz Sarthy. Always killing it, it's Lola Alkalani. Roger that, it's Marlis Rogers. The incredible edible Matthews sisters. She eases our woes, it's Melissa St. Rose. She's the lady of the house, it's Rachel Sherouse. There's a chance of meatballs, it's Rebecca Cloud. She's our princess, it's Rebecca Prince. She's the queen bee, it's Sarah Lemke.

1:16:53Ben Mandelker: We cannot tell a lie, it's Sarah Tell of Sun. Shannon, out of a cannon, Anthony. Please don't stop, it's Soli and Pop. Let's take off with Tam La Plaine. Strike a pose, it's Tori Rose. She ain't no shrinking Violet Kuchar. We love you guys.

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