Welcome to the Summer House Season 8 Reunion Recap, Part 2! In this week’s episode, Andy asks West if he has any regrets about the way he treated Ciara. Next, he checks in with Kyle and Amanda, who had something of a rocky season. Finally, Andy gets all the dirt on Carl and Lindsay’s relationship and their subsequent messy breakup. Can we just be done with these two soon? Please? Here are the highlights from the Summer House Season 8 Reunion Recap, Part 2.
No regrets for West
Continuing last week’s discussion of West and Ciara, Andy asks West what his biggest regret is about his relationship with the model/RN.
“Ciara might regret our relationship,” he answers, “but I don’t … My feelings are genuine. I think I maybe just expressed myself too late … I’m sorry overall for hurting you, and obviously, it’s still painful. It was painful for me, too. It’s my fault.”
Ciara has no response, but Kyle says, “I’d still ship ‘em if they got back together. I’m just saying.”
“Would you ever give him another shot?” Andy asks Ciara.
“It would have to be a world of change,” she responds. “I just don’t know what people are capable of.”
When Ciara admits to still having feelings for West, Andy asks for West’s reaction. “I mean, same,” he says. “I didn’t expect to hear that, to be honest.”
During the commercial break, Lindsay tells Ciara, “He’s most scared about the public not liking him. He does not give a sh*t about you.” What a totally Lindsay thing to say.
I don’t agree. West seems genuinely repentant that he f*cked up so badly. I hope he and Ciara can at least get back to a place of being friends.
Kyle and Amanda: still strong
Next, Andy turns his attention to Kyle and Amanda’s relationship. They had a rocky time this season. Where do they stand now?
A viewer wrote, “Amanda, you’ve stayed with Kyle despite his cheating, outbursts, and his mullet. How do you reconcile that with the things he’s said to you about being lonely in your marriage and being wary of starting a family?”
“I love him, unfortunately, so very much, and this guy is my best friend,” she answers. “In Kyle’s defense, though, that past year I was on the road to becoming very depressed. I was checked out … So when he would come home, I was quiet.” She admits that it’s something that runs in her family.
“So I can see how he felt lonely,” Amanda continues, “cause I felt lonely, too.”
“Antidepressants are amazing!” she adds. “If you’re sad, drugs are great!” But only the prescription ones, she was quick to clarify.
When Kyle had his tantrum after Amanda said she needed something besides LoverBoy, he mentioned that he wanted to be a DJ. And now he is one. He DJs in New Jersey every Thursday night. Wouldn’t it be cool if he lived there?
“DJ James Kennedy, watch out!” Andy laughs.
Another viewer wrote, “What do you love about each other, and what keeps you together?”
“I love how social he is, I love how friendly he is,” Amanda says. “I love how outgoing he is.”
“Honestly, when I met her,” Kyle adds, “I just could not believe how mature and emotionally intelligent she was [despite a nine-year age difference]. She’s also just the most genuine, down-to-earth person I’ve ever met … She really does make me a better person.” Aww!
Lindsay “weaponized” Carl’s Sobriety
At the beginning of the summer, Carl felt like they had things to work on, like most couples leading up to a wedding. “But the first night I was even in the house with her, we had a big rupture,” he adds. “I just couldn’t believe that would happen.” That was the night we first saw Lindsay question Carl’s sobriety.
Lindsay explains that she was anxious coming into the house about how she’d get along with the girls. She and Danielle had just started talking again after their blowout the previous summer. “I started drinking a little bit more ’cause I [was] anxious,” she says. When she felt ignored by Carl, it escalated into a fight.
“It was all in your head,” Kyle says. “I’m not privy to all of your fights, but … I now know why they spiral … It’s delusion.”
Andy asks Carl how he felt hearing Lindsay call him “Cocaine Carl.”
“I didn’t know that she called me ‘Cocaine Carl’ until the show aired,” he responds. “Accusing me of being on a substance that I’m in recovery from that I haven’t touched in over three plus years … [that] almost killed me. Accusing someone of being on a substance they’re in recovery from can cause relapse.”
Lindsay admits it was wrong of her and apologizes to Carl; however, she doesn’t think she was wrong for confronting him about his “aggressive and dismissive” behavior.
Kyle interrupts and says, “That’s the problem. It wasn’t … I would have loved for you to end the sentence with, ‘I’m sorry.’”
“Why did you come at his sobriety in the way that you did?” Kyle continues. “There’s not a world in which I can [make sense of] that.”
“You were weaponizing his sobriety,” Amanda adds.
A dream come true
After Andy suggests that Lindsay shot down Carl’s idea of opening a non-alcoholic sports bar, Carl announces that he’s doing just that. He’s opening a café/bar that serves only non-alcoholic drinks. I’m sure there are thousands of people in NYC who are in recovery and would appreciate a place like that. I wish him well.
Moving on, Andy revisits the weekend Carl went to visit his mom and stepdad, who didn’t think he was ready for marriage. Andy asks why, after having that serious conversation with his parents, would Carl show up at Lindsay’s bridal shower a few days later with flowers, acting like everything was fine.
“I didn’t know how to navigate that information,” Carl responds. He wasn’t sure whether he should tell her about the private (filmed for TV) conversation he had with his parents when he thought they were fine. Carl, did you not realize she was going to see it on television in a few months? You can’t keep that a secret.
“I f*cked that up, and I’m sorry,” he says.
Andy mentions Carl telling Lindsay on their final weekend in the house, “I am having second thoughts … We should not be married if this is the way that we’re communicating.” By that time, “everyone” in the house agreed with him, except Lindsay, of course.
“How, then, were you blindsided?” Andy asks. Thank you!!! Did she not see the signs? It was all but written on the wall in giant block letters with a black felt pen. How did she not see this coming?
Andy doesn’t buy the “blindside”
Andy asked Carl about the breakup. They hadn’t spoken in three days. “What did you think was going to happen?”
Carl says he just wanted to be “real and honest” and talk things over.
“Did the cameras … empower you?” Andy wonders. I think production was there to protect him.
“If the engagement happened on camera,” Andy tells Lindsay, “then doesn’t it track that it could end on camera?”
As Lindsay insists she was blindsided, Andy says, “You guys don’t decide what is shot on this show. Production [does] … You guys had this horrible weekend. Production wanted to follow up.”
He continues, “I asked production, … ‘Did you know that was gonna happen?’” They didn’t.”
Moving on to the narrative that Carl “blindsided” Lindsay, Andy asks, “Do you want to talk about that?”
“Watching back, it literally looked like he had been planning it,” she says. “I think [he was] laying the groundwork to villainize me.”
“You could have left him,” Andy adds. “In that last scene, [you could have said], ‘Carl, you’ve been sending me mixed messages … I’m done. I am out!’”
Lindsay never expected him to call off the wedding. Kyle adds, “No one’s stood up to you before.”
Lindsay accuses Kyle of being “so nasty.” And she’s not?
Kyle wonders if Lindsay has any sense of self-awareness, as she continues to insist that she was blindsided. “I didn’t even know he was having these issues cause he wasn’t communicating with me,” she says. And yet, didn’t she think all the fights over the summer were a bad sign? No self-awareness whatsoever.
When the breakup happened, Kyle says at first he was sympathetic to both of them. “[But] the way it was handled in the press,” he adds, “it really rubbed me the wrong way.”
Sayonara to the mullet
As we all know, Lindsay’s already seeing someone. “He’s incredible,” she says. “He’s so sweet.” In other words, she can push him around. Early days, Lindsay. They’ve been dating since January, and she claims it’s serious. If she’s so happy, why is she still so angry at Carl?
Andy asks if he’s seen the show, and when Linds says no, he sighs, “Oh boy.” Carl just wants her to be happy.
Carl admits he hasn’t even kissed a girl since he and Lindsay broke up. It’s probably good for him to take some time and work on himself. Hopefully, he’ll find a true partner when he starts dating again.
At last, it’s time for the end of the mullet. “Kyle … with your blessing and your acknowledgment that I have [no professional training],” Andy says, “may I cut your mullet?” And with that, Andy does a very messy job of it. Kyle’s gonna need a professional to straighten out that mess. Worst haircut ever! Actually, I did the same thing in high school, trying to give myself “layers.” Not the best idea I ever had.
Jesse suggests, “Don’t ever give your daughter a haircut, Andy.” Or your son either.
All episodes of Summer House are now streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE SUMMER HOUSE SEASON 8 REUNION, PART 2? WAS LINDSAY BLINDSIDED? WILL CIARA AND WEST EVER BE FRIENDS?
