As entertaining as the season 2 premiere of UnREAL was, it felt more like a prologue to season 2 than an actual episode. In episode two, “Insurgent” that definitely changes. The new season of Everlasting is officially underway and the war between Chet and Quinn is in full swing. Everyone scrambles to find their footing in Quinn and Chet’s hostile takeover of the show within a show on UnREAL. The person who is especially in danger is Rachel. Rachel started season 2 in a great place, but in one episode things have quickly turned and she just might be at her lowest point since season 1.
This is not even mentioning the standard craziness that is the suitor and his prospective brides. UnREAL is delivering on the crazy front when comes to the fictional contestants on this fictional reality show. Last season’s most memorable girls — Faith, Mary and Anna — are part of a very distant and foggy past.
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Rachel, Interrupted
Rachel is not dealing with the Quinn takeover too well. So that means a lot of sullen glances, quick insults and a very short temper. Rachel’s fragile mind gets pushed even closer to that dangerous edge when she gets a “care package” from her horrible mother. Rachel’s mother has helpfully sent a bunch of medication she thinks Rachel needs to guzzle immediately. Rachel, thankfully, quickly throws it into the trash.
It’s not like Rachel doesn’t have pressures, however. The first night of her first season as executive producer has been completely overtaken by the battle between Chet and Quinn. Chet and Quinn decide that they are going to film their own first episode of Everlasting and turn them both in to the network. This way, the network can decide what episode (and show) it wants to put on air.
This is so not how TV works, but it is a nice creative way to set up Chet’s misogyny and pigheadedness against Quinn and, to a lesser extent, Rachel’s general awfulness. I’m definitely siding with Quinn and Rachel, but that could just be because Jeremy joins Team Chet.
Ruby vs. Beth-Ann Part 1
Quinn really is running her version of Everlasting too. It basically puts Rachel into her old role. This means that Rachel does what she does best and that is manipulate people out the wazoo. Mainly, Rachel has to facilitate the fight between Ruby and Confederate flag-wearing Beth-Ann. It doesn’t take much because Beth-Ann wearing that Confederate bikini sends everyone, but especially Ruby, into a blind rage.
Beth-Ann might be racist, but she is not that terrible of a person, or at the very least she doesn’t want to be seen as a terrible person. She begins crying and loses it when she realizes that the suitor is Darius. This is because she and her family love Darius. Beth-Ann doesn’t say that Darius is one of the “good ones,” but she gets pretty dang close.
With Rachel’s “help,” Beth-Ann decides that the best to deal with the situation of wearing a racially insensitive bikini is to take it off in front of Darius. In their first real meeting, Beth-Ann goes full topless. This slutty move causes Ruby to get even more angry and disappointed in her life decisions. Ruby decides to confront Darius while wearing an “I Can’t Breathe” shirt and Quinn has her big reality TV moment.
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The Battle for a Wifey
Just when things start going all right for Quinn and Rachel, Chet strikes. He takes one of Quinn’s hopeful wifeys, Tiffany. Chet convinces Tiffany that the only reason she is there is because of her famous football owner dad. Tiffany, upset that her family is ruling her life again, decides she wants off the show, so Chet tells her to go full-on crazy. This means that Chet manipulates Tiffany into “servicing” Romeo, the only UnREAL character more useless than Jeremy.
When Quinn and Rachel discover this, because the mansion is literally plastered with cameras, Rachel manages to put a stop to it. Rachel gets Tiffany to calm down and convinces her of the truth. Tiffany’s dad had nothing to do with Tiffany being on the show. Rachel also convinces Tiffany that Darius is just another guy and that she might actually fall in love with him. Darius and Tiffany have a conversation and sparks genuinely fly. So score another one for the Rachel and Quinn team again. Team Chet still has a big ol’ goose egg of a douche.
A New Challenger Approaches
Quinn, though, can’t just let the happy ending slide. Actually, it’s more accurate to say she can’t let Rachel take the credit for the happy ending. While Rachel and Quinn are in the control booth marveling over their creation, Quinn turns her ire onto Rachel. She blames Rachel for this whole Chet debacle. Quinn says that Rachel should have been able to keep him off set. Quinn then lands the lowest of low blows onto Rachel by telling Rachel that her mother might be right about her mental health.
This is probably in very large part why Rachel goes to the head of the network and decides to take matters into her own hands. Rachel tattles on Chet and Quinn to Gary, the president of the network. Rachel tells Gary that Chet and Quinn are ruining the show and she, Rachel, needs to be put in total charge.
It looks like the move is going to work out too because when Gary sees Chet and Quinn’s cuts of the first episode, he freaks out. Gary tells Chet and Quinn that someone else needs to be put in charge. Rachel assumes it is her, but Gary reveals Coleman, a new hotshot documentary filmmaker who the network has wanted to work with for ages. It is Coleman, not Rachel, who will be running Everlasting this season.
Rachel should be furious, but she is more resigned, though that could have something to do with the fact that Coleman is attractive, charming and basically everything Rachel wants to be in her own career. Rachel is about to forget all about Adam, Jeremy and whoever else she has slept with in her screwed-up romantic history.
UnREAL airs Mondays at 10pm on Lifetime.
(Image courtesy of Lifetime)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Derek is a Philadelphia based writer and unabashed TV and comic book junkie. The time he doesn’t spend over analyzing all things nerdy he is working on his resume to be the liaison to the Justice League.
