Gutter Balls & Breakup Calls
Season 1
Episode 8
Editor’s Rating
3 stars
***
The group’s various alliances are shaken up in the finale and continue to evolve after the cameras are turned off.
Photo: Bravo
Well, yes. Speaking freely among your friends isn’t a free pass to say anything you want, in any way you want, without accountability. If you say something mean or out of pocket, as Riley did, there are going to be repercussions. But as they all try to find a resolution on the topic while eating breakfast outside, they’re suddenly swarmed by seagulls. Quick! Somebody protect little Shai before a seagull swoops down and carries him away into the skies.
En route back to the safety of New York City, they make a pit stop so Brooks can get gas-station nachos for the ride, which tests Georgia and Charlie’s patience so much that she has Omar call them their own Uber so they don’t have to wait. Ultimately, on this show, life is what happens between expensive Uber rides from New Jersey to Manhattan. Kudos to Brooks’s nachos for repairing their “irreparable” rift.
As they flee from one car to another, Emira questions whether or not Omar will really be shelling out millions for this bowling-alley club, saying he’s an “alleged scammer” and that we should Google him. Finally, we’re getting into something good … but why did this take until the final episode? Naturally, I took Emira’s advice, and apparently Omar was accused of running a scam while he was an undergrad at Yale and was charged with fraud by the SEC. This explains why he was onboard with Georgia naming her club Club Club.
But let’s move on to less shady business ventures. It’s well established at this point that one of the shows-within-a-show that Next Gen NYC likes to give us is focused solely on the Marks family and its various business endeavors. This week, we find out that Brooks has been struggling to juggle his roles with his own brand (Brooks Marks) and his mother’s (Meredith Marks). Where do they come up with these company names? It’s incredible getting to see this kind of creative genius at work.
He makes his pitch to his parents, asking them to invest in Brooks Marks as if it’s an episode of Shark Tank — or Marks Tank, rather. And sure enough, they’re in. That being said, Meredith is slightly confused given that Brooks had previously floated the idea of his mother’s brand acquiring his own, but now he has decided it’s time to spread his wings and fly. Even so, that’s not an easy decision, and they both get emotional at the thought. “I don’t know what my relationship with my mom looks like when I’m not working with her,” he says. This is like Succession — if it were very nice and sweet.
Outside the world of Marks HQ, Omar and Charlie decide to meet up to clear the air in a scene that feels like a blind date set up by production. Any time two straight men on this show have a conversation, my brain turns to fuzz and they just sound like the adults from Peanuts. Womp-womp-womp. The same was true during Charlie’s conversation with Hudson: Words were spoken, but nothing was actually said.
The only thing that resembled human dialogue was when Omar said that Charlie reminds him of everyone else he knows who works in crypto. “Like, hyperpassionate?” Charlie asks. But I don’t think that’s what Omar meant at all. Douchebag is probably more like it. But then again: Pot, meet kettle.
As loose ends from the cast’s New Jersey adventure continue to be tied up, Brooks meets up with Ava, whose absence from the trip (and show writ large, to be honest) is under investigation. As she tries to explain why this pop-up event in the Hamptons kept her from attending any part of his multiday birthday trip, she struggles to get her story straight. Emira, who you may recall was also invited to this event, scoffs at Ava’s claim that it was important to go for her career, dismissing it as simply being a pop-up. Based on the way she’s saying it, it sounds as though pop-ups are pretty inconsequential, and I have no reason not to believe her. Ava might not be showing up for this show, but Emira is.
Despite a lukewarm (at best) response from her friends, Georgia is going full speed ahead with her bowling-alley-club idea, hosting a little trial run at a preexisting bowling alley. The location perplexes her privileged peers, who contemplate getting $100 worth of quarters for the vending machine and try to order a white wine at the bar.
It’s there that the conversation turns to Ava’s absence at Brooks’s birthday trip, and he says that while this (and her weak excuses) bothers him, it’s not worth bringing up because he doesn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize their friendship. Luckily for us, Ariana is loudly asking about the situation as Ava walks in. “Is this drama circle about me?” she asks as she walks up to the drama circle about her. As a result, Brooks is forced to address it! Thank God!
Even so, it’s such a tame airing of his grievance that the main focus is actually on Gia, Ariana, and Riley, all deliberately staying silent throughout it, refusing to once again play mouthpiece, and forcing Brooks to fly the nest and handle a confrontation on his own. It’s a big episode for Brooks leaving his various nests.
On the other side of the party, Georgia pitches her idea to Omar and the investor he brought along, who resembles a fake investor from a Zoolander movie. Her pitch? “Merriment. Joy. People are engaged,” she says. And that’s enough to pique his interest. I mean, what more could you want? But is Riley sold? Nope. Oh well, you can’t please everyone.
While Georgia’s bowling party seemed as if it would mark the end of the season, we then get an odd epilogue following up with this motley crew of characters through late summer, fall, and winter. But why? Normally, picking cameras back up means something more substantial than hearing about Brooks leaving his mom’s company or Ariana getting used to New York. Sure enough, it’s revealed that Omar and Georgia have broken up. Conveniently, the cast members all find this out while filming their confessionals together, which is where they watch the TikTok she posted about it.
In true Georgia fashion, this development is insane. She was in Singapore at the time; they apparently got into a fight, and he cut her off and had someone pack up all of her stuff and leave it at Charlie’s door. So, in a twist for the ages, she’s now living with Charlie — a situation that warrants Big Brother–style live feeds. Or at least a second season. And most important, she now has bangs … to show that time has passed.
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