Traitors' stunning end • RuPaul's shop of horrors • Survivor mess • more
Dear newsletter friends,
Two nights ago, my husband and I and our cats woke up to the fire alarm blaring. It quickly turned off, and once we confirmed everything was okay, we found the faulty alarm. Inside it: dozens of carpenter ants.
So now I have a new weekend project, in addition to my previous plans, which were starting The Traitors UK and prepping for an online workshop I'm teaching in a few weeks (there are spaces left if you'd like to join us!)
Thankfully, a night of sleep deprivation came after I already did some Really Important Investigative Reporting earlier in the week:
And in more serious news, I followed up on a TikTok video to confirm that:
Of course, that's not all. Keep reading for recaps, reviews, news, and so much more!
🏰 Recaps
The Traitors
Who won The Traitors US 2, and who made ‘a colossal mistake’?
Plus: my interview with Kate Chastain 🎉
Survivor
Big Brother Canada
I'm so thrilled to welcome back our friend Dingo, aka Hamsterwatch, who's recapping all the Big Brother drama up north for us:
🎶 Reviews
Netflix's The Program: a captivating story of teen resilience
Paramount+'s As We Speak: Rap Music On Trial, which makes a compelling case
🔪 True crime
Sarah and Eve of Best Evidence have resumed their true-crime podcast, The Docket, which you can listen to right on reality blurred, or in your own podcast app!
Listen: The Docket 03.07.24: Recent headlines we’d like to see adapted
Add this URL to any podcast app:
https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/feed/podcast/docket
Also in true crime:
- The Edgar Awards nominees (they're from the Mystery Writers of America)
🗓️ Reality TV premieres
Reality TV premieres included the return of So You Think You Can Dance, which I'll review, Spring Baking Championship, and Masterchef Junior, plus new seasons of competitions Blown Away, Rock the Block, The Masked Singer, and The Traitors UK. Also: the new nature series Queens.
This week's specials include Bravo following Erika Jayne before her Las Vegas residency and HBO's "political thriller and verité portrait documentary."
💬 Comments of the week
On this post, Margaret wrote,
The scream I scrumpt when you brought up Australia as a the Florida of the Southern hemisphere! Of course such a comparison would only feed into reductive stereotypes of the country as a sunbaked, unsettled, overly extravagant cascade of id-driven violence and general irrationality which as a New Zealander I can only endorse.
On this story, Wanda wrote,
I am so happy that SYTYCD is back. Finally I get to watch a real dance reality show and they aren't dressed as some weird creature. They are being given a chance to show their passion for dance with hope they can have a career doing something they LOVE! Please keep this show going.
🗞️ Reality TV and true crime news
There was tension and toxicity behind the scenes of Queer Eye, including Jonathan Van Ness being a “monster,” a “nightmare,” “demeaning,” and “abusive,” with “rage issues.”
The New Yorker profiled RuPaul, and it's full of wild anecdotes and reactions, like RuPaul's defensiveness about his oil wells.
Big Brother’s Memphis Garrett and Christmas Abbott have filed for divorce
Meredith Blake writes about how Love is Blind "has offered a stark reminder about the dismal state of sexual education and reproductive health awareness in this country."
Debra Byrd, the longtime vocal coach on American Idol and The Voice, plus a singer herself, died Tuesday at age 72.
Wicked Tuna captain Charlie Griffin and his dog died March 4 after their boat capsized
Warner Bros. Discovery will program its nearly-abandoned network truTV with sports; Impractical Jokers looks like it'll move to TBS. Deck chairs, Titanic, etc.
Two Drag Race Belgique queens were caught cheating.
···
In true-crime news from Sarah D. Bunting:
Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter yesterday in the on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. More at the NYT gift link above; Alec Baldwin is scheduled for trial on the same charge in July of this year.
One of the talking heads from Get Gotti, Andrea Giovino, headed to the Allison Interviews podcast to talk about hanging out with the Dapper Don, a "feud" with Michael Franzese, and Mob wives; you can listen here.
Law & Order creator Dick Wolf's unscripted series, Homicide: New York, hits Netflix March 20. The Los Angeles iteration will bow on the streamer later this year; in the meantime, here's the official trailer for H:NY.
🤩 I recommend
This show, which returns for a fourth/fifth season on Netflix today
This now-completed season, which was uneven but still wonderful
This Rolling Stone story about the Queer Eye drama
Who TF Did I Marry?!?, a story told in TikTok videos that, if you haven't seen, is amazing
Coming this weekend: My interview with Blown Away judge Katherine Gray, and a recap of The Traitors reunion drama—well, unless there isn't any!
Have a wonderful rest of your day and end to your week.
best,
Andy
🌄 This is issue 373 of reality blurred’s weekly newsletter, first sent on 8 March 2024, and it remains faithful to The Traitors.