Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 Recap: The Beginning of the End

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 recap
Photo: Noam Galai/Bravo via Getty Images

Welcome back for our Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 recap! In this week’s episode, titled “House of Cards,” Kyle and Amanda are still fighting. Jesse shares some startling news about his health history, and Carl and Lindsay have a huge blowout on their first night in the house. Plus the cuteness of West and Ciara’s flirtation continues. Here are some of the highlights from Summer House Season 8, Episode 2.

I hate when Mom and Dad fight

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2
Photo: Felix Kunze/Bravo

The morning after the Fourth, Amanda wakes and tells Kyle, “I just wanna go home.”

When she suggests he should shower now, rather than waiting till later, he says, “I just feel like you’re very…”

“Annoyed with you? Yeah,” she answers.

“You just feel very cold,” he says. “We have to figure out how to sync up.”

“I’m not doing this,” Amanda says, and gets out of bed. Wow. This marriage is circling the drain.

Downstairs, Paige asks, “Where’s Amanda and Kyle? They never sleep this late.”

Amanda and Kyle are still up in their room arguing.

“I just wanna go home,” Amanda says. “If you are not ready to leave when everyone else is, then I will go in another car. I just wanna go.”

“Okay, find your way home,” Kyle says as he leaves the room. “F*cking asshole.” Wow.

In the kitchen, he mumbles, “Morning,” but he doesn’t look happy.

Ciara asks, “Are you okay?” He says he’s fine, but he’s clearly not.

“Where’s Amanda?” Paige asks.

“She’s upstairs,” he says. “Amanda’s clearly wicked pissed at me.”

Paige heads upstairs to see what’s up with Amanda, who says, “He’s just, like, talking sh*t about me. I’m so over it.”

“He wasn’t talking sh*t about you,” Paige says, “but I get that.”

“He just loves complaining about me,” Amanda continues. “Trying to make me look bad, and I’m just, like, so done with it. I hear the same thing from him all f*cking day. You don’t do this. You don’t do that … I’m so over it with him. I can’t do it anymore.”

Something wicked this way comes…

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 recap
Photo: Clifton Prescod/Bravo

Kyle asks if everyone is coming back out next weekend. “Carl and Lindsay will be [here],” he adds.

“I’ve done a ton of work to find my inner peace,” Danielle interviews. “Last year sucked, and now the people that made last year suck [are] in the house again.” No, I think you did that all by yourself, Danielle.

Gabby observes, “I feel like this weekend solidified my relationships with the other girls, which I maybe didn’t have last summer because things were so divisive … We’re all getting along really well. If we add Lindsay and Carl to the mix, what’s gonna happen?”

Back in New York, Lindsay meets Carl at the basketball court where he’s been shooting hoops. After Carl calls Lindsay “Babe” twice in close succession, he tells her, “I’m not gonna say ‘Babe’ this summer. I’m gonna say ‘Dude.’”

He meant it as a joke, but she isn’t amused.

“I’m excited to go to the Hamptons,” she tells him. “Wedding planning is in a good place right now … It’s the last summer before we get married. Who knows what’s gonna happen next summer? I might be pregnant, fingers crossed. I feel like it’s the perfect summer to just enjoy ourselves.”

“At the end of the summer, we’ll look at our calendars and think, ‘We’re getting married in two months.’ Isn’t that crazy?” She’s hoping they’ll have a “lighter summer.” Poor Lindsay. She has no idea.

Kyle and Amanda make peace

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2
Photo: Eugene Gologursky/Bravo

It’s Thursday in NYC. Kyle and Amanda are going to dinner. After they order their meal, Kyle says, “I wanna just start by saying I’m sorry.” Yikes. It’s Thursday. I hate to think what Sunday night through Wednesday were like at Kyle and Amanda’s.

“Listing off all the things about me that bother you,” Amanda says, “makes me really sad.”

“A lot of my frustration stems from … [feeling] overwhelmed,” Kyle says. “A lot of the day-to-day things fall on me … and it’s only gonna get worse. You’re gonna feel overwhelmed with kids.”

“Taking care of a living thing, whether it’s the dogs or our future children,” Amanda says, “is not something I’m gonna procrastinate.”

“I know you’re gonna nurture our kids,” he responds. “What I’m stressing out about is the logistics.”

“Kyle’s a workaholic,” Amanda interviews. “I will never work that much, and then he feels like … I’m not pulling my weight just because I’m not up until 3 a.m. sending emails.”

“I am overwhelmed and it doesn’t feel like a partnership,” says Kyle. “I’m begging for you to take on more stuff, so I can not go crazy.”

“I just feel like what we need to focus on,” she replies, “is how we communicate. If I’m not super sad and beaten down after an argument … I’m productive. But when we fight, I go back to square one where I’m … paralyzed in my thoughts and whatever.”

“The thing that has freaked me out is just, like, why are we not … evolving as a couple?” Kyle says. “I wanna … get back to loving each other … I wanna feel ready for kids [and] to move to the ‘burbs … with you. And I want you happy.”

“Me, too,” she agrees.

The trouble begins

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 recap
Photo: Felix Kunze/Bravo

Must be Friday afternoon again, ’cause Amanda’s sitting in the backseat of the car with the dogs while Kyle’s driving. “Careful, Kyle Cooke,” she admonishes. “Got precious cargo back here.” Apparently, one of the dogs has an eye infection, so Amanda just wants to keep an eye on her. See? Amanda’s a good mom.

When Lindsay and Carl arrive, Linds is feeling “awkward and a little anxious.” So, she jumps right into the rosé to help calm her nerves.

“The last time I saw the girls, it was not great,” she says. “I felt extremely attacked. So I’m hoping for not a lot of conflict, ’cause Carl does not like conflict.” Hold that thought.

When they go upstairs, Carl asks, “What’s wrong?” Here we go.

“Nothing,” she responds. “Good vibes.”

“I’m fully understanding that Lindsay coming into this first night in the house is gonna be a little anxious,” Carl interviews. “It’s okay to be nervous about walking into a house with a bunch of girls who didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about you last year, but we have each other’s backs … I’m hopeful that it’s gonna be different this year.”

Jesse shares his health history

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2
Photo: Noam Galai/Bravo

During a game of “tell us something we don’t know about you,” Jesse confesses that he’s a two-time cancer survivor. He had testicular cancer, but in August he hopes to be five years cancer free. Wow. That stuns everyone.

The first time he had cancer, he had a quick surgery and felt fine. But then he found out it had spread to his stomach, and he had to go through chemo. Wow. That’s huge. Now I feel bad that I said he looked like the Joker.

West is suddenly glad he went first in this game. “Can you imagine if [Jesse] went first, and then I said, ‘I’ve been to all 50 states.’” That wouldn’t have been cool. But he and Ciara giggle over it anyway.

Lindsay leaves Carl at the club

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2 recap
Photo: Noam Galai/BRAVO

After dinner they go out. But not long later, Gabby and Lindsay return. “This is why I do as much as I can to, like, not be around him,” Lindsay says. Who are they talking about?

“We’re on the way to the club,” Lindsay explains. “And I wind up in a Lyft with the boys … I’m worried it’s gonna get somehow used against me, and I express my concerns to Carl.”

“Calm as can be … I say, ‘Babe, you’re fine … it’s not that deep,’” Carl interviews. “She looked at me, and she’s like, ‘What are you on?’”

“Lindsay’s visibly upset,” Amanda shares. “She was saying … he’s on something. He’s so mean to me. I can’t do this.”

“The way that he spoke to me tonight was very reminiscent of, like, Carl on cocaine,” Lindsay says. “He was not sober tonight … I hate him. He’s such a f*cking piece of sh*t.” Wow. Nice way to talk about your fiancé.

Lindsay gets a text from Carl. “Happy to have [a] conversation … tomorrow morning. Perhaps a good night’s sleep will allow us to listen to each other.” He sounds very calm and rational.

Lindsay texts back, “Let me know when you’re sober.”

“I’m sober right now, Lindsay. You’re not, period.”

“Now, sure. Before, no. You were awful to me. You were so mean to me.”

Carl interviews, “My heart’s racing as I say this … That’s the person I’m supposed to marry … The insinuation that I’m on something kills me.”

“Making this accusation to someone who is sober,” adds Amanda, “is hurtful. But if that sober person is the person you are supposed to be marrying in a few months, that is the most f*cked up accusation you can make.”

The crush continues

Summer House Season 8, Episode 2
Photo: Felix Kunze/Bravo

Meanwhile, as they say goodnight, West is telling Ciara, “You smell like apples and honey.” Oh boy, is he smitten! I hope she doesn’t break his heart, ’cause it’s so cute.

“Go to bed,” she says. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“I’ll dream of you,” she adds.

Lindsay’s irritation escalates

The next morning, Carl is sleeping peacefully, when Lindsay tiptoes back into their room. “Here’s some water,” she says, dropping a water bottle on her sleeping fiancé.

“I’d rather not have any water right now,” he says. “But thank you. I appreciate it.”

“You’re not having water right now?” she responds. “Why can’t you just say, ‘Thank you?’” Um, I’m pretty sure he just did.

“You were treating me like sh*t last night,” she starts.

“I didn’t treat you like sh*t, Lindsay,” he responds. “I’m sorry that you felt like that. I was trying to talk to you.”

“Stop saying, ‘I’m sorry that you felt like that.’ That’s not an apology.”

“I’m sorry that you felt that way,” he continues, “But I think there was something else going on last night that wasn’t about me.”

As the argument escalates, Lindsay says, “This is why it’s impossible. We’re gonna have the worst weekend ever … We should just pack up and leave.”

“Okay,” he says. “Let’s do it. If that’s what makes you happy, let’s do it.”

“You’re incapable of understanding my experience,” Lindsay tells him.

“Yup, I am,” he says, “’cause I’m a terrible person.”

“Let me ask you another question,” Lindsay says, pulling out her phone. “Why did you say, ‘I’m sober, right now?’”

“Lindsay, I am f*cking sober. You drank all day long and were rude and aggressive to me, when I’m trying to be supportive … This is so f*cked up.”

Then the dreaded, TO BE CONTINUED…

Summer House continues Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.

TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF SUMMER HOUSE SEASON 8, EPISODE 2? DO YOU THINK LINDSAY’S SABOTAGING THEIR RELATIONSHIP ON PURPOSE?

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