Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
There’s a B-plot from the most recent episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians where the entire family — I’m kidding, just Kourtney and Khloé— are concerned about the fact that Kylie isn’t taking her stalker situation seriously. (For a recap: some guy is stalking Kylie. Now you’re caught up.) Khloé calls a completely uninterested Kim to ask her opinion on the whole thing, which leads to a ridiculous conversation where Khloé suggest they “get [Kylie] held up at gunpoint.” When Kourtney obviously rebuffs this plan, Khloé gives her an incredulous look and says, “I mean us, not a real person.” The Kylie/Khloé/Kourtney subplot didn’t get a lot of attention because of something you may remember as Swiftgate taking up everyone’s attention, but the balance between the two stories is an example of what makes the show so interesting. Hear me out: Keeping Up with the Kardashians might be beating every other TV show at their own game right now.
I’m not going to talk about the feud and I’m not going to analyze every moment of an episode that aired over a week ago because that would interest absolutely no one but myself. I am going to plead my case by saying that KUWTK is a really, really fun show, which anyone who regularly watches can tell you. As much as people complain about not being able to understand the appeal of the Kardashians, the answer becomes clearer with every passing episode. It gets easily written off by People With Good Taste for being “trashy,” which has turned a show watched by millions every week into a piece of underrated television.
Here’s my thing. Shows that take themselves too seriously are frustrating; shows that don’t take themselves seriously enough are cringe-worthy. Dramas that lack any semblance of lightheartedness are draining; comedies that rely on cheap laughs are disappointing. KUWTK falls somewhere in between all of that. Now in its twelfth season, the show has perfected being able to solidify itself as something that doesn’t care at all while simultaneously really, really caring a lot. It’s genuinely riveting to watch.
This was put on display in last week’s episode when you compare the A and B plots. On one hand, Kim is keeping a handle on her own narrative by showing her side of The Swift Wars. On the other, Kylie has a stalker so Khloé and Kourtney play an ill-fated prank on her to teach her a lesson about privacy. The show knows no one really cares about the Kylie plot. Kylie doesn’t even seem to care about the Kylie plot. And that’s fine! Kim’s presence throughout the episode is a serious one; she spends most of her screen time worrying about things, from her husband to her body image. Compared to Khloé, who has so little going on that one of her most exciting moments of the episode is when she tries out Snapchat filters, it’s such a perfect balance between something being of utmost importance to the characters (because that’s what the Kardashians are) and something being played as such a non-issue that it’s just hilarious.
As a resolution, Kris comes over to half-heartedly scold Kourtney for the prank, Kourtney apologies to Kylie, they take a selfie together, all is well. In a scene at the end of the episode, Kim and Kris discuss The Taylor Issue and the only time you laugh is when Kris just happens to have a copy of Kim’s GQ issue on her desk. (Which is amazing scene work.) We all know very well that nearly every currently airing show is using this particular moment to make their mark in the cultural conversation. KUWTK is doing that too – they’re just constructing their own cultural conversation that’s as funny as it is dramatic. For the record, it also always keeps things consistent. I really can’t think of the last time a plot went unresolved on the show.
It doesn’t necessarily come down to great acting or beautifully crafted character arcs to make TV good anymore, but I don’t think that’s the worst thing! In a perfect world, of course, every show would employ those rules flawlessly, but ours is a rich TV landscape and sometimes all it takes for a great hour of television is some solid celebrity drama and a bizarre, off-kilter scene where a mom calls her daughter out for eating a Pop-Tart. (That really happened between Kris and Kourtney. I love this show.)
