Stream It Or Skip It: ‘House Of Ho’ Season 2 On HBO Max, Where The Ho Family Deals With Sobriety, New Love And Another Family’s Tragedy

We binged House Of Ho Season 1 because the family dynamics of the Ho family were so fascinating. Binh and Hue Ho migrated to Houston from Vietnam and built a massively successful empire; their kids have known nothing but wealth and excess, but there’s also traditional Vietnamese family roles that butt up against the ambition — or lack of same — by Binh’s adult kids. It made for a fascinating watch. Can it continue that dynamic in Season 2?

HOUSE OF HO SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The Ho family comes together to make homemade pizzas at Judy’s house, where she’s living with her boyfriend, Dr. Nathan Nguyen.

The Gist: When we last left the Hos of Houston at the end of 2020, Nate had just very publicly proposed to Judy Ho, oldest child of Binh and Hue Ho, who created a family empire after migrating to Houston from Vietnam in the 1970s. Since then, a lot has happened, and not all of it has been good.

Judy and Nate decided to step back from their engagement in order for them to get to know each other’s families better; it was especially important for Nate to make sure Binh and Hue get to know him and see what Judy sees in him. But Nate’s smiling countenance belies some massive pain he’s suffering: In February 2021, all three of his children died in a tragic house fire. But he’s been living with Judy, enjoying her 3 kids, and the two of them have decided to try to have a child via IVF.

Nate asks Binh for his blessing to get married to Judy, which is when the tragedy is brought up; Binh wants to make sure that Nate is good to his grandkids. He gives his effusive (for Binh, anyway) approval. though he wants them to have a traditional engagement ceremony where both families are invited.

Meanwhile, Judy’s younger brother Washington, heir to the family fortune due to the fact that he’s the oldest son, is trying his mightiest to stay sober. His ever-patient wife Lesley, though, is still pissed that he spent $25,000 of his father’s money at a 40th birthday bash he threw for himself in Tulum, where he had one of his relapses. As much as Lesley appreciates how much Wash is trying, it still comes down to her to make a house that Hue would approve of, keep Wash on the straight and narrow with his new job as a luxury car salesman (what he claims is preparation for buying a dealership), as well as be a mom to her kids and continue her career as a pharmacist.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As we said in December of 2020 when the first season of House Of Ho debuted, the show is very reminiscent of multigenerational “docusoaps” like Shahs Of Sunset or Family Karma. Most people would likely compare House Of Ho to Bling Empire, but the latter show plays out more like a Real Housewives show with lots of petty arguments, while House Of Ho is more about family and tradition.

Our Take: It’s been over a year and a half since the first season of House Of Ho debuted, and, while the family dynamics of the first season are still present, it does seem like, at least in Judy’s case, she’s a bit more looking forward to life with Nate than worrying about gaining approval from Binh for what she does in her life.

Much of that dynamic, where it seems the men do the work and the women support them, is still in play, especially when it comes to Lesley and Washington. Wash, despite really trying to make things right with Lesley, is still prone to bad mistakes and bouts of irresponsibility, and it seems via the season’s coming attractions that she’s going to have an issue with Wash’s cousin Sammy being a bad influence on him. While this may seem like it’s starting to float towards the petty stuff we didn’t see in Season 1, it’s still an issue that’s within the Ho family, and one that has serious implications towards wither Lesley and Washington stay married.

The cast expands a bit in Season 2, with Andy, brother to Binh and party-hearty Aunt Tina, showing up more often. His daughter Bella and niece Kim have moved to Houston from California. We actually see Judy and Wash’s reclusive younger brother Reagan on camera. And Nate’s family is also in the mix, with his sister Vanessa bonding with Lesley over the fact that they’re both huggers. It seems like Bella and Kim are going to have intra-family drama of their own, which is unfortunate for them personally but helps the viewer see aspects of the Ho family that aren’t the same old stuff we’ve watched before.

Given what Judy and especially Nate have gone through since the first season debuted, it’s good to see the show basically running through their perspective, where they’re staying calm and doing their thing — Judy is actually pregnant during their engagement ceremony — while the family chaos swirls around them.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Washington gets two “baller” chairs covered in butterflies delivered to the house. Total cost: Over $17,000. Lesley struggles to close the window in disgust, lamenting that she’ll never get a couch nice enough to get Hue’s approval.

Sleeper Star: Aunt Tina is a human party who is also one of the more direct people in the Ho family. While she plays cards with Binh, Hue and Andy, she asks her brother point blank what his reaction will be if Judy gets pregnant and has the baby before she and Nate get married.

Most Pilot-y Line: Apparently Washington wrote and recorded a rap song called “King of the Hos,” which he and his kids belt out every morning, much to Lesley’s annoyance. That certainly is a bit of reality series fakery, since that scene is likely to promote the song. But the song is so ridiculous it’s funny.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Season 2 of House Of Ho continues the intra-family drama of Season 1, but adds enough new elements to keep things fresh.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.