Spoilers below.
“It’s almost over.”
On the surface, West Wilson’s lunch-break message to Amanda Batula at the end of last week’s Summer House reunion episode sounded like a soothing reassurance. After two tense, awkward, and emotional hours, West had good reason to believe that maybe everything would be OK—that the pair would survive ridicule and pursue an untenable courtship without having fully embarrassed themselves on TV. After all, he’d absorbed his friends’ criticism, agreed with their accusations, and kept his mouth mostly shut when pressed to explain himself. Everything had mostly gone according to plan.
But tonight’s final reunion episode proved that West and Amanda weren’t ready for the third act. Looking to quell the constant interruptions and provide a sense of direction, Bravo producers stepped in with a nice stack of cue cards that host Andy Cohen (along with Mia and Lindsay) obliged with a series of direct, pointed questions for West and Amanda, interrogating their decision-making and rationale with the kind of blunt edge this reunion had been waiting for. How could Amanda so easily betray such a seemingly strong friendship? When did their relationship really start? Was it worth it?
Inevitably, the answers weren’t as good as the questions. But they still spoke volumes. Instead of reflective, considered explanations and a strong, unified front, the pair retaliated with more ill-considered, half-hearted apologies, emotionless expressions, and sweaty foreheads. In a confrontational environment, surrounded by the people they’ve hurt, on a show that won’t ever be the same, Amanda continued to look unbothered while West looked like a hollow man. This is the way the Summer House season 10 reunion ends. Not with a bang, but with beta-blocked whimpers.
Here’s more of what we learned from the Summer House Reunion—Part 3.
Amanda and West Never Got Physical Last Summer
After West and Amanda put out their statement at the end of March, watching the final episodes of Summer House became an Easter egg hunt for fans. They were suddenly on the lookout for clues: glances and moments that suggested the couple might have started a relationship long before they publicly claimed. This prompted Andy to ask the question out loud during part 3 of the reunion: Were they having an affair this summer?
“Absolutely not,” the pair exclaimed in unison. They did, however, claim to get a lot closer in the final month of shooting: They developed an “emotional connection” that would eventually crystallize into romance months later.
Whether or not you believe them, it was at least refreshing to see some of the cast prepared to cite specifics from last season and interrogate West’s aggressively intimate behavior with Amanda, like when he embraced and kissed her on the head in the aftermath of Kyle’s manic eruption. “I thought that was strange,” Mia told West during the reunion taping. “I don’t think you would ever grab me like that.” The accusation eventually encouraged Kyle to further dissect the pair’s timeline. “Was there any physical activity in 2025?” he asked. “On my fucking life—on my dogs’ life—no,” Amanda replied.
As the group cited more moments from the show that caused them to discredit their story, Amanda went back into attack mode. “It’s so easy to watch this through a different lens and see what you guys want to see,” she said. “That’s what’s so frustrating. I’m not a fucking cheater.” But her response entirely missed the point. As Mia noted, “we looked at Amanda like a victim [at the time], and we thought you two would never do something like that.” Months later, the cast could now see the connection that West eventually admitted had been taking shape. It only took that long because, as Lindsay argued to Amanda, “it was under the guise that this was your best friend.”
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Meija Thought She Was in an Exclusive Relationship with West
Part 2 of the reunion ended on a mini-cliffhanger when Ciara FaceTimed West’s ex-girlfriend, Meija, to hear her side of the story. The conversation paid dividends in part 3, in which Ciara and Kyle pressed West about the timeline of his relationship with Meija. According to Meija herself, she believed the two of them had been exclusive, a conclusion seemingly reinforced by West flying her to Montana for a football game in January and sending her flowers on Valentine’s Day. West, meanwhile, maintained that they had ended their exclusivity the previous November. “I obviously wasn’t the clearest,” he admitted, stumbling through his explanation. “I’ve been not clear with a zillion women I’ve been with.”
Andy then jumped in to clarify with West. “She thought you were exclusive, but you were seeing a lot of women?” he asked.
“Correct,” he said.
When pressed about West’s dating life, Amanda clarified she had “some of this information,” but not all of it, and that anything he’d done with Meija (including those Valentine’s Day flowers) predated their romantic connection—a statement that didn’t exactly add up, given rumors of their relationship starting at this year’s Super Bowl. The segment only further exposed West’s playboy nature and inability to speak clearly and remorsefully about his unwillingness to commit.
Watching This Season Was a ‘Major Mindfuck’ for Ciara
Surprisingly, in the reunion’s first two episodes, Amanda was never specifically asked why she betrayed Ciara the way she did. That was rectified halfway through part 3, when Andy reflected on the pair’s friendship—specifically with a highlight reel showcasing all of the times Ciara had encouraged Amanda to believe in (and make space for) herself as her marriage collapsed. As Ciara said afterward, “It was really emotional to see a scene of me and Amanda saying goodbye to each other, saying how special and how much I love her, and she deserves the best. It fucked me up a little bit.”
Amanda, in response, didn’t defend her actions—though she never really explained herself either. “I’ve been extremely appreciative of everything Ciara has done for me throughout the years,” she said. “I know I’ve fucked up an incredible friendship, and that is something I will live with for the rest of my life no matter what happens in this situation….Truly, you do not deserve a friend like me.”
Lindsay was not interested in another blank apology, especially not after watching West and Amanda scheme their way around the entire friend group with sly Instagram posts insinuating the nature of their relationship. So she followed up with some incisive questions. “What did you think was going to happen?” she yelled. “How did you not know what this was going to do to this friendship?”
Amanda could only offer her pitiful chorus: “I wasn’t thinking it fully through.”
The Summer House Friend Group Is Splintered
Let’s be real: Jesse is kind of a goober with a big smile and a big heart, so it’s not too surprising that he began shedding tears as the episode wore on. Still, it was hard not to feel for someone clocking the end of a friendship after developing such a strong bond with West over the last three seasons of the show. As the episode’s discourse progressed, Jesse couldn’t hold back his anger and confusion. “I feel for Ciara and Kyle, and it hurts,” he said. “I feel really lied to, and the sanctity of this friend group feels broken…I would have never expected this out of you,” he told West.
Then he unsheathed a sharper dagger: “I feel like I’m losing a brother,” he said. “I hope that you can somehow improve and prove us wrong, but it doesn’t look good.”
West could have gained some sympathy in that moment if he reciprocated even a modicum of Jesse’s heart and emotion. Instead, he remained stone-faced, apologizing in a blanked-out, vacant tone. Andy had to ask: Was West using a beta-blocker? In a rare moment of truth, West admitted he’d taken the drug for the reunion, further explaining how checked-out and unfeeling he’d been throughout the earlier episodes of the reunion. Moments later, West somehow made things more awkward. “If I was sitting where Carl was, I would wrap my arms around him,” he told Andy. “I don’t know if that’s wanted.” Apparently, in West’s world, you can only show affection if you’re assigned the right seat on the couch.
The Future Is (Mostly) Uncertain
So, has Amanda and West’s relationship ultimately been worth it? After scanning the room and seeing the pain the two had inflicted, Andy wanted to know. The pair had blown up their social circle; they’d stifled their reality TV careers; and they hadn’t even shared that they love each other yet. But Amanda couldn’t commit to a response. “That’s an impossible question to answer at this moment,” she said.
Andy had other questions: What is the plan between the two of them moving forward? Is there pressure to see this relationship through? West admitted that “this needs to be serious and have legs,” though it’s hard not to speculate that such a noncommittal person might not be ready to settle down. In many ways, Kyle felt the most unsure about everyone’s future—especially because he still cares for and loves Amanda. “I’ve had to make a big effort to be at peace,” he said. “We’ve seen what it does to our friends. I don’t know where we go from here. This was not something I ever thought would be possible.”
Ultimately, Ciara thought the reunion was a cathartic experience, and it’s clear (based on her many television appearances throughout May) that she’s already moving on with her life. But some things will never be forgotten, even if they never make sense.
As she dropped her mic halfway through the episode: “All of this to go to West Village bars?”
Read Last Episode’s Recap
