The Bravo and Bravo-adjacent cinematic universe has been in full swing in recent weeks, and I needed to talk to an expert. So this week, Gibson Johns (entertainment writer and host of Gabbing With Gib) joined me to discuss ex-"Vanderpump Rules" star Stassi Schroeder's return to reality TV with her Hulu series "House of Stassi," the back half of "In the City," and the finale of "The Valley."
First, we got all the way into Stassi's comeback show. Gibson came to the show with years of prior knowledge of her as a reality TV character, whereas I had never seen Stassi in her element. The long-time "VPR" star was fired in 2020, along with Kristen Doute, after a racist incident in which they reported a Black castmate to the police for crimes she had nothing to do with. Like Kristen, she has now made a full comeback from what Stassi terms "cancellation." This time, she is the undisputed center of the show – and clearly sees herself as The Big Boss. The creators of "House of Stassi" are certainly trying to do something different with this show; the visual language of the series, with lush cinematography and ornate title cards, draws more from prestige scripted TV than it does from the Bravo-verse, and the tone (played up by winking on-screen annotations) is darkly comic. Though we rarely see cameras, Stassi and her crew are very forthright about their awareness that they're making a reality show; the fourth wall is discussed so often it's practically a character in its own right. But has Stassi herself changed? The show frames her as an almost monstrous antiheroine – controlling, narcissistic, hypocritical – though the hangers-on who surround her are nearly as unlikable. We discuss all this, plus the flipped gender-role conflict between Stassi and her reluctant stay-at-home husband Beau that anchors the season.
Next, we caught up on the end of "In the City," a first season that gathered momentum and ended with an explosive fight about Friendsgiving room assignments and Whitney's claim that Lindsay always pulls the "single mom card." We got into our takes on the standout moments of drama, as well as overall assessments of the show's freshman season and its rookie castmembers.
Last, we dipped into "The Valley" for a brief chat about the finale, Luke's comments about putting pregnant Kristen in a "coffin," the Solo cup bonk heard round the world, and Danny and Nia's future on the franchise. Where can the show go from here, after yet another season relitigating drama that the cast shows no interest in resolving and moving forward from? This is a TV genre about conflict resolution! Let's see some, people.
Hope you enjoy! xo
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