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After the season and after the reunion, there is…the Aftermath of Summer House. Sometimes, the reunion does not deliver the answers that we, the people, are demanding. And so, three separate conversations must take place, highlighting various perspectives centered around the West Wilson and Amanda Batula of it all…
20 days after the reunion, Amanda comes knocking on Lindsay‘s apartment door bearing two bottles of rose. Amanda refers to the reunion as a sh*tshow and knows her actions have hurt so many people and so she wants to get to a place where she is good again with Lindsay.
Amanda reached out to Lindsay the day of the statement, but Lindsay is having a hard time processing this. Lindsay knows that right now, Amanda needs a big sister and is willing to give her the hard truth and tough love. Amanda’s text messages with Lindsay are also shown.
Amanda admits that she has not watched the episodes of Summer House (still) and claims she is trying to stay away from socials to protect her mental health. Lindsay reminds Amanda that she made a “very adult” decision with West and she can’t pretend this just didn’t happen.
Amanda admits she was in a poor relationship with Kyle and did not recognize herself anymore. Going out with West helped her feel young and fun again and she thinks maybe she confused that with feelings for West.
“I’ve made some poor decisions but it’s like I was in such a shi**y relationship. Awful. Lost myself completely. Didn’t recognize myself anymore. I was like a shell of myself. I just wasn’t me anymore. And going out, I felt just like young and in my 20s. And like fun again. And I think maybe I confused going out with West and falling in love with myself again and like remembering who I am with feelings,” said Amanda to Lindsay.
Hanging out with West and his friends brought out a side of Amanda she did not know she could feel again, claiming it was a euphoric feeling. This made it hard for her to think rationally and logically. Despite all of this, Lindsay reminds Amanda that it does not excuse her going for the ONE guy that Ciara had a past with.
“Hanging out him and his friends brought out a side of me that I never thought I would see again. Like this person that like wanted to have fun, wanted go out. I loved life again. Didn’t feel lost and alone and scared anymore. I felt such an euphoric feeling. It was hard to think rationally or logically through any of that,” she added.
Amanda then drops a bomb: “I didn’t go for him-he pursued me.” That’s interesting considering West told Ciara that Amanda was the one who was obsessed with him and had a crush on him. Amanda looks equal parts embarrassed and p*ssed by this nugget of info Lindsay shares.
Lindsay realizes that this is exactly her point about West. Amanda states that West was actively texting her to hang out all the time and she would say no. According to Amanda, West would pursue her (via group text) and then there was that one time Ciara found Amanda at West’s apartment. Amanda claims it was with a group of people, but she was still there.
Then, when the Kyle split announcement came out, Amanda realized she can’t sit in her apartment anymore, hence her party girl behavior with West. When West brought up the “is there something happening here” Amanda wondered WTF is going on. Lindsay says that West manipulated Amanda, but Amanda reminds Lindsay those were not her words. Lindsay wonders why Amanda did not shut down things with West, but Amanda admits that she was selfish and felt overwhelmed with someone caring about her (someone with a “little wee wee,” but albeit someone).
Amanda’s biggest takeaway from the reunion? She doesn’t remember much because she was yelled at and so she disassociated, something she used to do often with her marriage. Getting attention from West made her feel special because Amanda claims she felt unlovable. Lindsay wants Amanda to focus on self-love. It’s time Amanda learns how to do this on her own.
Amanda realizes that maybe she was getting her feelings confused and Lindsay reminds Amanda that West is not God’s gift to women.
Amanda Batula admitted she may have gotten her feelings confused with West during a sit-down with Lindsay Hubbard on the Summer House Aftermath
Amanda explains that she has “partly” spoken to West about the future. She has had conversations with him about wanting kids and making him aware of her wants and needs in a relationship. But Lindsay suggests that instead of causing turmoil with West, it’s time Amanda starts dating again so she can get life experience.
Lindsay warns Amanda that West is already out there embarrassing her. In fact, he was on the phone with Meija Moreno earlier today. He also f*ed Meija in March, yet somehow in this, Amanda is the other woman. Lindsay makes a great point when she says, “Imagine f*cking up so bad that we forgot about how bad of a husband Kyle was to you.”
All Amanda wants is to be loved and she claims to have felt it so much from West. Now Amanda feels “really f*cking stupid” and Lindsay tells Amanda that West has got to go.
7 days later, West heads to Kyle’s apartment…for the first time. Yet, the dog obviously knows West, which makes things awkward. Kyle is unsure what he is supposed to do with West, who admits that things are weird. Kyle has no agenda and West suggested this meet be off-camera, but alas, here we are.
The processing and slowing down didn’t happen for West until the last two weeks, post-reunion and post-adrenaline rush. The friendships imploding have been very hard for West to watch, considering he was the one who caused it. Kyle is having a hard time believing anything that West says and West admits that he would do things differently if he could go back. He understands why his word is discredited, but wants an honest conversation with Kyle.
Kyle chooses to have full honesty from West even though it could be hurtful. West says that, like Amanda, he did not watch the second half of the season. Kyle wonders about the things West did to “lure” Ciara back in and it makes everyone wonder what his intentions are. West is a very touchy guy and this is something that he needs to be aware of, especially if it’s “purely friendship.”
West Wilson faced some tough questions from Kyle Cooke on the Summer House Aftermath episode
West explains that he did kiss Ciara twice and states that he was trying to do the right thing “a handful of times” with her. Ok… West says that Meija (his girlfriend) was operating like they had an exclusive relationship, and he admits that it was, although he tried to keep it hush hush. It’s clear that West wanted to have his cake and eat it, too. Not visiting her family during Christmas was West’s way of trying to show he was not on the same level of commitment as Meija.
Kyle thinks that Amanda could have benefited from some time to herself and West agrees. West knows that this looks bad, but points out that his relationship with Amanda came from a steady, three year friendship and he does not regret his feelings for Amanda. West (hesitantly) says he is ready to settle down for a relationship. West also admits that he loves Amanda, and even said it the night he left their room during the season. The concept of being IN love is slightly different, but he states that he has loved Amanda for a very long time.
Kyle cares about West and cares about Amanda and so it has been hard to navigate. Kyle also wants West to apologize to Meija and West admits he owes a lot of people apologies.
7 days later, Ciara hosts Meija, West’s girlfriend. Meija states that she is still in shock and Ciara states that she is “surviving and thriving.” Ciara apologizes to Meija about the footage of her kissing West, but Meija says that was not Ciara’s responsibility to tell her.
Meija explains that West would go away for the weekend and she would stay at his apartment. He would come home and then clearly leave out details about what went on in the Hamptons. Meija admits that she gives her partners a “long leash,” but she should have kept West closer.
After the reunion, West texted Meija, “you win.” This is not a game and what is she winning? Flashbacks of seasons past demonstrate that West has had this going on for almost 2 years, demonstrating how secretive he has been about all of this.
Ciara Miller and Meija Moreno met up on Summer House Aftermath
West and Meija spoke for over 6 hours and now most of their conversations are over phone calls because of Amanda. Meija is having a hard time fully disconnecting from West, as she was blindsided by this new relationship. She goes on to say that West going with Amanda to Italy is a huge FU to all involved in this situation. But, why is West still calling Meija?
Ciara points out that West loved the thrill of Amanda, hiding in plain sight. Meija admits that she, too, loved the secrecy of their seriousness, until she realized that she was not really in on the secret. Meija refuses to stay silent and she toasts to moving on. Ciara and Meija decide to make this whole situation fun and as they trauma bond over this, they realize they have formed a friendship..and sometimes, ya just gotta cartwheel to show how savage you can be.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SUMMER HOUSE AFTERMATH EPISODE?
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