We’re back with another chat about “The Valley,” one of the darkest and most compelling reality shows on TV. And our main takeaway from episodes 2-4? Ban the boys chat.

A whole lot happens during this stretch of episodes, all of which we get into on this week’s subscriber podcast.

• Jax, still playing the victim even as he verbally assaults his soon-to-be ex-wife Brittany, heads off to a mental health treatment center. And once he’s there, does he put his head down and focus on getting the help he needs? Of course not! Instead he focuses on rage-texting Brittany around the clock.

• Janet and and Zack seem to reach a detente, as do Janet and Kristen. And we learn one of the most endearing facts about Janet to date: She absolutely fucking loves Dave & Busters.

• Jesse starts a rumor on an extremely rancid “boys chat” thread — truly anyone who would participate in a group chat started by Jax Taylor, straight to jail — that his soon-to-be ex-wife Michelle is a sex worker who is sleeping with a billionaire for $1500 a night. This is relayed to camera by Danny to Luke, and obviously it gets back to Michelle in the middle of Janet’s Dave & Busters birthday bash. No one in the group seems to give the rumor any credence, but it (understandably) deeply hurts Michelle.

• We learn that a few months before filming Danny got blacked out and got deeply inappropriately handsy with Melissa, Jasmine’s girlfriend. (Yikes!)

• The gang heads off to a weird vibes trip to Santa Barbara, spearheaded by Jesse and co-planned by Kristen. (A truly dark-sided alliance, these two.) It’s filled with races, New Age spiritual ceremonies, and, of course, man-baby meltdowns.

Let us know how you’re liking our coverage of “The Valley”! Are there other Bravo shows you’d like us to dip our toes into?

If you liked reading this, click the ❤️ button on this post so more people can discover it on Patreon!

Give us feedback or suggest a topic for the pod • Subscribe • Request a free subscription