The Kardashians Episode 2 Recap (FINAL version)
The Meaning of a Kim K x SNL Collab, Kris and Khloe as Calabasas' Big and Lil Edie, Malika Takes on Plutarch, and the Ouroboros that is Kim's "Underdog" Narrative
I’ve always said Keeping Up with the Kardashians began as a reality show about a Los Angeles family, and eventually became a reality show about a reality show.
The Kardashians leans into an even more inherent — but apparent — truth: it’s a reality show about a reality show about billionaires. The scale of all that the family does is massive, a fact illuminated by Kim’s primary storyline: the Kim K x SNL collab we’ve been watching unfold since the series began.
In general, this episode seems to establish the individuation of all the sisters, which I cover in my Vogue recap. It also emphasizes how done they are with our shit, even though they relied on our shit to get themselves to where they are today. Let’s jump in!
1. We’re back in Kim’s closet, where she’s doing an “iron fist” performance on the phone with her lawyer about the would-be sex tape leak.
I was proud of my Elon Musk/Peter Thiel analysis of this situation, and it also feels possible — even probable — that this leak is staged. But the fact is, revenge porn is abhorrent. If that’s the main takeaway for face-value viewers, then the show has done its job in cultivating some relevant social discourse.
2. The way Kris, Khloe, and Kourt left Kim sitting in the middle of the closet, surrounded by her clothes, which all look like shriveled people. Lol.
They’ve long possessed talent at delivering visual comedy. But the weird genius of it has always been that it’s always a little hard to name what exactly is so funny.
3. I also discuss this in the Vogue column: whenever they go furniture or real-estate shopping, they’re essentially taking us on a field trip to other reality show genres.
Today, we’re house-hunting with Kravis.
4. Kravis’s real legacy might be the way they self-mythologized. Are “old Hollywood, Frank Sinatra vibes” really so you guys? The fact is, Kourtney and Travis find grounding in their references. They’re True Romance, they’re Sid and Nancy, they’re a snazzy Frank Sinatra-loving duo.
The Kardashians have always utilized media references to expand their aesthetic repertoire and feed us recycled novelty (people sometimes think I evaluate this with contempt; I actually think it’s a super savvy and effective publicity method; publicity itself is what kinda scares me), but the truth is, most Honeymoon Phase duos are as Oxytocin-drunk as Kravis acts, and often fancy their Love Stories as something out of a movie.
Kourt and Travis merely take that starry-eyed impulse a few steps further by repeatedly referencing the visual flourishes of cinema to further revel in their love. Because they can. They can run to Vegas wedding chapels to fake elope in a simulation of what Clarence and Alabama did; they can dress up exactly like Sid and Nancy (especially Sid and Nancy as depicted by the biopic); they can buy a cool vintage home to feel Sinatra-esque if they want to. Privilege can buy the most fanciful of performances.
5. Lol this moment, rendering a luxury realtor named Tomer unsure of what to do with himself. I knew social media would like it - and, probably, so did they.