The Lineup: A RHOBH Reckoning & The Kids are Not Alright
Here's what's lined up for March 20, 2024:
Happy Wednesday! We’ve got a new show on Peacock, a (spoiler: boring) Women Tell All, and questioning the future of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Let’s get into it…
What We’re Watching:
Apples Never Fall (Peacock)
I binged Apples Never Fall over the weekend and am excited to chat about it! Based on the book by Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies), the show takes place in south Florida and opens to the four Delaney children trying to figure out where their mom has been after a few days of no communication. This turns into a full-blown missing persons case intertwined with flashbacks of a mysterious visitor that shows up at the Delaney’s door.
This show is very binge-worthy - I think I took down the whole season in about two days. The writing and acting isn’t the best, but it’s good enough to keep you invested and entertained. The casting was pretty impressive - tt was a little wild seeing Annette Bening, fresh off her Oscar nom for Best Actress, in a Peacock thriller. I love Alison Brie and think she does an amazing job as the slightly neurotic (which is her specialty in different roles) and spiritual older sister, Amy. Also, Jake Lacy! Although he’ll forever be Pete from The Office to me, he has carved out a nice niche playing an insufferable finance bro with either mommy or daddy issues (dependent on the show).
The final episode fell off a little for me, but I was very entertained by this series and was engaged enough to keep pressing “next”. Shoutout to Peacock for joining the conversation and going for it on original content!
Coming Soon..
So much newness coming! Here’s what you can look forward to in TV coming up:
I am psyched to start Palm Royale on Apple TV Plus. This dropped today and is set in 1960s Palm Beach society. An awesome cast and setting - sign me UP
Shogun on FX/Hulu is still chugging along - will look at episodes 5&6 next week
Curb Your Enthusiasm’s final season is currently airing - will do a full season in review once it’s wrapped up but I highly encourage you to hop on the train if you have been living under a rock for the past few years
I just found out today that one of my favorite books, A Gentleman in Moscow, is being adapted into a series on Paramount+ with Ewan McGregor in the starring role and premieres on March 31st. Guess I’m adding another streaming service to my roster!
What We’re Reading:
As always, full reviews can be found on Instagram at RineyReads.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
I just started this one and I am loving it so far! Again, another time period and culture that I know so little about and am very excited to learn more.
What We’re Listening To:
Honestly with Bari Weiss: Why the Kids Aren’t Alright
This was a fascinating conversion about the state of America’s children & mental health. There are many statistics shared in this episode that are, frankly, frightening. For example - 1/3 of teen girls in America have struggled with suicidal thoughts/ideation. Like I said, frightening.
The discussion continues to talk about why kids and teens in America may be experiencing depression and anxiety in record numbers, the explanation behind those numbers and some differing opinions to the idea of medicating our youth. One idea that particularly resonated with me was the concept that we aren’t meant, as humans, to feel absolutely no anxiety ever, and that sometimes the anxiety is a catalyst to making necessary changes in your life. As someone who has both experienced anxiety and has had it trigger the need to make big shifts in life, the notion struck me in relation to young children who may not get experience with these feelings if they are unnecessarily medicated.
Overall, a very thought-provoking conversation that I enjoyed! I don’t always agree with everything Bari Weiss covers, but I love that she isn’t afraid to have tough conversations or interview controversial figures. We need more of that in our traditional media these days.
How We’re Escaping Reality:
The Bachelor Women Tell All
Talk about a nothing-burger of an episode! BOOOOORING. My small commentary below:
The “Bachelorette” carrot has definitely been dangled over Maria based on her WTA behavior IMO. Don’t get me wrong, I think she did the right thing by taking the high road and leading with forgiveness toward the mean girls of the season, but it feels like there would have been more drama if that wasn’t a very real possibility for her.
Medina scored her ticket to Paradise (if they’re even having it again? Honestly, bring back Bachelor Pad!!!)
Justice for Rachel! It was devastating to hear her speak on her experience in the past two weeks based on the absolutely abhorrent messages she was getting on social media. I truly cannot fathom sending a hateful message to someone because you don’t think they have a connection with the lead on the dating show, but I’m also not a psychopath. I hate the internet sometimes.
We’ve got our top two! And a preview that has Joey in tears and what appears to be riding away in an SUV by himself? I’ll believe it when I see it in full, but we’ve hopefully got a very entertaining finale on our hands!
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 13
I finished up all three parts of the RHOBH Season 13 Reunion recently and wanted to get my thoughts on paper (aka, on screen).
It’s hard for me to say where RHOBH goes from here. After a particularly lackluster season, despite the implosion of the series’ formerly strongest couple, it feels like RHOBH has lost its edge? We’ve reached the point where Kyle has decided she is not going to share 100% of her life in terms of her relationship. Which, absolutely, I understand. The dissolution of a family is not something that you necessarily want to talk about on national television. However, I think this is a line drawn in the sand that might lead to a RHONY-style reboot. I could absolutely be off - but my friends and I discussed the last ten minutes of Reunion: Part Three at length. The consensus is that Kyle is in love (or, at least, in a relationship) with Morgan Wade but is not going to talk about it or her separation in more detail on TV for the sake of her children.
Again, I do not blame her at all for this, but as a mainstay and OG Housewife, when that line is drawn, viewers will naturally say “you signed up to show us everything”. Heck, Erika filmed while her entire life turned upside-down and she faced the possibility of being federally charged for being complicit in her husband’s crimes. Jen Shah got arrested by the FBI on camera!
I like this group of women individually but you can just tell they don’t all mesh in real life. Even Dorit and Kyle are supposed to be best friends but you have Dorit releasing text messages the day before the reunion airs. All that being said, I think this all might lead to big changes coming and I’m not exactly sure how to feel about it. Rumors have swirled that Atlanta might also be getting a reboot off of the success of New York’s new crew and I wouldn’t be shocked if Beverly Hills gets the same treatment, or at least a major cast shakeup, for next season.
Who We’re Rooting For:
OU Women’s Basketball and Softball!
Just kidding. Although I am not entirely kidding about OU Softball because, as we all know, we’re a softball school and led by QUEEN Patty Gasso. In reality, I am still bitter about OU’s Men’s Basketball being left out of the tournament this year. As I type this, Virginia, who got in over Oklahoma is getting absolutely stomped by Colorado State - so good riddance.
The Madness!
March Madness has BEGUN! Honestly, I don’t follow NCAA basketball closely until the big dance besides watching OU here and there, but there’s nothing like sitting back and watching hours of games back to back when it gets good. First few games have already started and tomorrow the full slate begins!
That’s this week’s Lineup! Happy watching & have a great rest of your week. xo