Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 10 finale of “Summer House,” available on Peacock as of May 20.
Like #Scandoval’s shout-out to Season 10 of “Vanderpump Rules,” which has turned its fan base into a pack of wild hounds sniffing out any hint of indiscretion on the part of its perpetrators, “Scamanda,” as he’s become known, has dominated the discussion surrounding Season 10 of Bravo’s “Summer House.”
For the uninitiated, “Scamanda” refers to a recent situation involving “Summer House” cast members Amanda Batula, 34, and Westling “West” Wilson, 31. Amanda is the former creative director of Loverboy. Loverboy, her (now estranged) husband’s canned cocktail company, is forever on the brink of bankruptcy. West is a content creator and podcast co-host for Complex, and mostly a professional hypebeast.
Their coupling captivated people’s imagination for various reasons.
Amanda and Kyle Cook publicly announced their separation in January after four years of marriage (and a long and difficult decade together, all of which are chronicled on Summer House). Two months later, in late March, Amanda and West released a rather tongue-in-cheek joint statement on their Instagram Stories that essentially sounded like it was written by ChatGPT, who had come out as a couple. Amanda is best friends with the angelic Ciara Miller, who dated West three years ago but was played around with and still has strong feelings for him. In Season 10 of Summer House, West visits her all summer long and pretends to be repentant, culminating in the two chatting on the couch and having drunken smoothies (more on that later). In Season 10 of Summer House, West was seen giving Amanda a shoulder to cry on as her marriage to Kyle fell apart, hugging her deeply and stomping on her feet. Meanwhile, Amanda protects Ciara and expresses concern about her and West rekindling their relationship. West also served as Kyle’s sounding board throughout the season, checking in on Kyle when he was being mean to Amanda, and at one point prompting him about their sex life, much like Raquel/Rachel and Ariana on VPR. Amanda and West’s joint statement announcing they are a couple comes after weeks of online speculation that the two were dating, the couple allegedly keeping their relationship a secret from Kyle, Ciara and other Summer House cast members, and a rumored video of Amanda and West in a compromising position. There was widespread (unsubstantiated) online speculation that Amanda and West had crossed a line before breaking up with Kyle. A series of leaked audio clips from the three-part Summer House reunion, which opens May 26, confirms Amanda and West to be defiant and unapologetic in the face of criticism.
So, about that final episode…it’s titled “Ski Ya Later” and continues the gang’s “winter in summer” party. Everyone seems to be in good spirits — except for Kyle, who is understandably still getting the cold shoulder from Amanda after he berated her at the dinner table, threw a tantrum, and almost got into a fight with her best friend Karl Radke — and Amanda, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, is seen lashing out at West during the party (yeah). As any true Summer House fan knows, the party scenes are usually the least interesting parts of the show, and the real drama happens around the edges. In this case, Lindsay Hubbard takes her ex-fiancé Carl into an igloo to discuss breaking off their engagement on national television. “It was shocking. How could my best friend of eight years do something like this to me?” Lindsay tells him.
In the season’s most touching moment, Carl accepts everything Lindsay says, treats her with grace, and sincerely apologizes for his actions: “I understand…and when you actually look at it that way, it’s fucked up. And I’m really sorry,” Carl tells Lindsay. “I told Kyle a few times this summer that I was able to have a few laughs with you and reminisce about old times… We made a lot of good memories together. I didn’t handle situations like that very well at all, and he’s the last person I should have ever done that way.”
Through tears, Karl added, “You have helped me in so many ways in my life. If you hadn’t been there for me and helped me through some really difficult times in my life, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. You’ve made me a better person, and I’m forever grateful for that.”
The look on Lindsay’s face of recognition, of being seen, is a beautiful sight. She got the closure she needed.
Here we must pay tribute to the growth of Karl Radke. Literally, can you imagine anyone else showing this much vulnerability and maturity on Bravo? Karl is the most enlightened character in the Bravoverse and the heart and soul of “Summer House.”
Joining the chat on the other side are Amanda, Ciara, and Mia Calabrese. It’s a bit of a heartbreaking foreshadowing, as Amanda tearfully confesses to her friends, “I’m afraid I’m not good enough for anyone else.” Ciara and Mia, who have always been kind and supportive friends, told Kyle, “You are responsible for your life and you should stop letting your life be yours,” and Ciara told Kyle to leave her.
This is the boost Amanda needs, as anxiety can leave her feeling lethargic and she has battled depression.
Well, we’ll talk briefly about the fiery moment between West and Ciara before they go to the doctor in “Eternal Sunshine” to have that cursed image erased from their memory.
After the party, the gang goes out, and when they get back to the house, Ben and Sabrina (who had encouraged West and Ciara to get back together and invited them on a double date, presumably to get more camera time) are lounging on a couch by the fireplace, while West and Ciara are lounging on the other couch. West begins nuzzling her and the two kiss. Moments later, West attempts to coax Ciara to bed, with Jesse Solomon still in the room. Thankfully it doesn’t go any further.
The next morning, Ciara reveals to Mia that she kissed West, and Mia tries to reason with her friend. “Ciara, I remember when you and West broke up,” she offers. “I remember you coming in and crying, and you were like an empty shell of yourself.” Could you please add Mia to the cast permanently? She’s a much-needed breath of fresh air. of reality. Ciara replies, “You rarely make the same mistake twice. That’s why I’m listening to you.”
But Ciara has made this mistake before. We’ve all seen it because it happened on three different Bravo shows: ‘Summer House,’ ‘Winter House,’ and ‘Southern Charm.’ I’m talking about his close relationship with Austin Kroll, who, like West, befriended her until she let her guard down, cast a spell on her, and then brutally dumped her (in Austin’s case, by having an affair with Lindsey right in front of her).
We all have tremendous sympathy for Ciara. She has a big heart and previously worked as an ICU nurse during the coronavirus pandemic, and she dates with intention. She wants a serious partner and wants security. So watching a clown with Peter Pan syndrome, uncontrollable levels of self-confidence, and wandering eyes play a game on her and watch her fall for it is the worst. She deserves better recognition and I hope she gets it.
The episode ends with Amanda and Kyle talking on the front steps of the house while the rest of the gang drives away. “I really felt like things were going in the right direction, and when I saw you get mad like that on Saturday night, and like when you looked at me and said ‘fuck you’ and almost fought Carl, that scared me,” Amanda says. “And I feel like that brings me back to square one. I feel like this is what eternity is like for us.”
“I feel like I let everyone down,” Kyle replies.
“Listen, we spent so much time together in the summers in the Hamptons. We’ve literally spent the last 10 years of our lives here,” Amanda continues. “We’ve had some of the best memories, but we’ve also had some of the worst. And we feel like we want to leave this weekend. We want to close that chapter in whatever way it takes for us and start over.”
Amanda says she plans to separate and spend the next few days in a hotel. It’s a little on-the-nose that this scene is set to the same ivory-shimmering score as the scene after Ariana yells at Sandoval in the Season 10 finale of Vanderpump Rules.
It’s worth noting that what Amanda did to Ciara doesn’t erase all the pain Kyle caused her: the yelling, the name-calling, the belittling, the tantrums, the numerous cheating allegations, the midlife crisis of his career as a DJ. Kyle has been treating Amanda badly, having languished in supporting roles for years before being promoted to main chick. I feel sorry for her, and you should too.
After a farewell conversation, Amanda gets in her car alone and drives to Manhattan and the Summer House spinoff, In the City, channeling Lauren Conrad in the intro to The Hills. I couldn’t help but wonder what this transition was like before “Scamanda” as Amanda drives off to a new life. Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
