On Thursday night’s finale of Summer House, viewers finally saw Lindsay Hubbard and Carl Radke’s highly anticipated breakup talk. While it was obvious all season long that the former friends turned lovers were not in a good place — and news of their split originally broke nearly a year ago in August 2023, obliterating any element of surprise — this final on-camera conversation made it official.
After Radke did the deed, the female cast members gathered in Danielle Olivera’s apartment, with Olivera embracing a sobbing Hubbard and saying, “Girls are here.” Paige DeSorbo, Amanda Batula, Ciara Miller, and Gabby Prescod — seemingly surprised to see Hubbard, normally so tough, break down in tears — joined in a group hug.
Hubbard hasn’t always had the strongest relationships with her Summer House girlfriends, but this finale delivered the powerful moment of women supporting women that Bravo fans want and deserve. It also showed Hubbard letting her guard down and allowing these women to see her real emotions — ironically, the main thing Radke spent the whole season complaining that his relationship with Hubbard lacked.
Most of the women comforting Hubbard on the couch in this episode had their fair share of tumultuous moments with her over the course of filming Summer House — especially in Season Seven, when the group was divided over their concerns about Hubbard and Radke’s relationship. But not one of them took the opportunity to say, “I told you so.” Not even Olivera, who had been the most critical of the pair’s engagement. Instead, these women created a safe space for Hubbard to open up about her relationship, gently probing her with questions about her own happiness and concerns.
This sense of camaraderie amongst the women is in stark contrast to what we saw in the Vanderpump Rules Season 11 reunion, which aired on Tuesday. Hubbard and VPR star Ariana Maddix both dealt with public, heartbreaking breakups last year with partners who were also cast members on their respective shows. How the Summer House cast members support or don’t support Hubbard and Radke in the aftermath of their split remains to be seen, but it was clear throughout Season Eight and especially in this season finale that they were prioritizing their friends’ feelings more than the state of the show. They didn’t talk about how the couple’s demise could impact their individual jobs and paychecks because of a possible shift in dynamic. The cast supported their friends about their real-life problems, despite what it might mean for any future Summer House seasons.
On the flip side, the women of Vanderpump Rules are currently divided after filming their three-part reunion. In an interview on one of the after-shows, Maddix said she thought all of the women were united like the Spice Girls while they were filming last summer. But when she walked away from an on-camera conversation with Tom Sandoval in the Season 11 finale, Lala Kent broke the fourth wall and went off about her frustrations, saying Maddix thinks she’s Beyoncé and is treated like God because she got cheated on. At the reunion, Kent doubled down and complained that Maddix not wanting to film with Sandoval jeopardized Kent’s place on the show. Scheana Shay supported Kent while Katie Maloney stood by Maddix’s side, hugging her as she sobbed.
This being reality television, there’s a chance the kumbaya vibes among the women of Summer House won’t last forever. While the Season Eight finale ends with all the girls in one big group hug, a trailer for the show’s reunion makes it seem like they might not be on the best of terms today. DeSorbo appears to take up an issue with Olivera and possibly even Hubbard, and generally it’s hard to keep up with this group as the weeks and months go on; a lot has happened in their lives, both individually and collectively, since filming this finale last August. But, let’s pause to appreciate that for this brief and important moment in time, we see women supporting women when they need it most. Call it a mini reality revolution.
Michaela Coel in ‘The Christophers.’Claudette Barius/NEON