Everyone get up, The Valley: Persian Style has officially begun. With a two-episode premiere, fans are finally getting the Shahs of Sunset continuance that they deserve. And with some returning icons and fresh faces, it’s going to be interesting to see how this cast handles themselves. If you want to know exactly how The Valley: Persian Style Season 1, Episodes 1 and 2 went down, we’ve got you covered.
What happened in The Valley: Persian Style: Season 1, Episode 1?
This squad of close-knit, witty people is a mix of memorable faces and newbies to television. Let’s do a quick rundown of who we have.
First is Mercedes “MJ” Javid and her estranged husband Tommy Feight. Of course we know now that their marriage was in turmoil during filming, evident by their current divorce. Viewers will get a close-up of what led up to their separation. Joining them is MJ’s no-nonsense mom, Vida.
The other Shah alums are Golnesa ‘GG” Gharachedaghi, who is happily in her mom era, and Reza Farhan, who is celebrating ten years of marriage with his partner Adam Neely. Speaking of marriage, there’s quite a few couples who’ve joined their friend group.
We have Sky Asakari and Bamshad Akbar, who is 19 years her senior, making their ages when they first met 27 and 46. Oop. Anyways, Sky admits that they currently sleep in separate beds, an arrangement that Bamshad is not happy with. She says his excessive snoring is the reason, but there may be more to it.
Maybe couples sleeping in separate rooms is normal, though. After all, her best friend Tanin Nikpey and her husband Greg Haroutunian do the same thing. However, their marriage is strange all the way around. Tanin refers to her husband as her “adopted child”. Yep, not weird at all.
We also meet Natasha and Amir, a couple who clearly have their hands full with three kids under five. And, last but not least, there’s Reza “RJ” Jackson, who gave himself the title of a “retiring party boy”. All caught up on who we’re working with? Okay, let’s dive into the drama.
Golnesa is having a housing crisis
This single socialite is not relishing on her past divorces. Right now, all of Golnesa’s attention is focused on finding a new place to call home. Since her current landlord wants to move back into their house, she needs to vacate the property … like, yesterday. The only problem is that she has horrible credit and her bank statements are scaring all potential new landlords away.
GG has been relying on her father’s financial support for years and is now trying to find a way to get their own ways of making ends meet. So far, the only thing that she has come up with is Onlyfans.
She meets up with Reza F. and Adam and as a real estate agent, Reza gives her good advice. He suggests that the only way to get a new landlord is to simply cut back on her spending habits so that she can afford a place. Golnessa maintains that she doesn’t spend much, just a few thousand dollars a month on weed. No biggie. Frustrated with him telling her what to do, she storms out.
Ringgate puts Tanin in the middle
GG can’t be upset for long, because her son Elijah is turning five. She decides to throw him a big pool party and rents a nearby Airbnb. After all, turning five is a big deal. As she eloquently put it: “Five is like a whole hand”.
Everyone is invited and cheerfully makes their way over, but MJ and Tommy are at odds in the car. She wants him to attend but he maintains that he is not a birthday party kind of guy. MJ then whips out a razor to shave her legs, which gives Tommy the idea to call her a “Persian werewolf”. He continues his bit by beginning to howl at her. Yikes.
There’s no time to dwell on this, though, because we are introduced to the first real drama of the season. The situation began almost a year ago, when GG had a diamond ring that was losing some of its jewels. She took it to Sky, a professional jeweler, to repair the piece. After nine months of waiting, the ring has still not been returned.
While Tanin is Sky’s best friend, she’s also very close with GG. This prompts her to pull Sky aside at the party and ask about the ring. Eventually, the ring materializes and Sky puts it on GG’s finger. Crisis avoided right? GG instantly realizes that something is off with the ring. She accuses Sky in the confessional of swapping out her real diamonds with cheap fakes. Fuming, she decides to let it go in order to enjoy her son’s birthday.
Golnesa compares Sky to “a crackhead”
Now that the kids party is through, it’s time for an adults only night! Greg hosts the men at his and Tanin’s house while the ladies go out to go out to dinner. Immediately, the riff between Golnessa and Sky continues. It’s clear that their beef with each other isn’t just about a diamond ring; they simply can’t stand each other.
GG says that she thinks Sky is insecure. She also considers her to be stuck-up, saying, “she needs that zip code like a crackhead needs a pipe.” We are not mincing words tonight.
Meanwhile, as GG drinks from not only her glass but grabs someone else’s from the table, Sky calls her “low-class”. Of course, neither girl says this in their confessionals and not to each other’s faces. But based on all of the heat, it’s bound to reach the surface soon.
Meanwhile, during the guys night under the stars, we get to hear a little bit more about Amir’s backstory. His first wife passed away in 2016 from cancer. During their relationship they’d also been trying to have children through IVF with no avail. After losing his first love, he believes that she is his guardian angel, giving him Natasha and a happy family.
The night of culture and chaos
Natasha and Amir decide to host a Persian Night, prompting everyone to come in their best all-black looks. The event is also an excuse for them to attempt to hook RJ up with their neighbor Sofia. And as luck would have it, they end up with their arms wrapped around each other by the end of the night.
Everyone arrives, minus Tommy, who wouldn’t even help MJ into the house after she walked out of the car with her arms full. Before Golnessa arrives, the group decides to talk about her housing situation behind her back. MJ offers up the idea of a group intervention to help get to the bottom of it, and Reza F. immediately shuts her down as GG had already stormed out on him earlier.
Right on cue, Golnessa walks in and the conversation disperses. Which makes it even more awkward when MJ approaches her and informs her that everyone was talking about her. Really MJ?
Golnessa asks why and who brought it up, both questions that MJ dodges. They ultimately try to bring it up in front of her instead, which causes her second storm out of the episode. MJ chances outside as Reza calls her “so f*cking annoying” from inside the house. The cracks of their long-time friendship are starting to show.
What happened in The Valley: Persian Style: Season 1, Episode 2?
The next episode rolls in and it’s date night for MJ and Tommy. They go out for a nice dinner, during which he continues his round of questionable jokes, which included comparing MJ’s snoring to sleeping next to a dump truck. How romantic.
Speaking of romance, it’s also date night for Sofia and RJ and his charm is clearly wearing off. Amidst the entire conversation, Sofia has a straight face on, while RJ is nervously laughing through it. She reveals that she dodged his multiple advances at Persian Night (because she literally had just met him).
He unsurprisingly admits that it’s rare for him to take women on a date, which prompts her to ask him if he’s a f*ckboy. He doesn’t deny it, which gives her the answer she needs to end things.
RJ later jokes that he “dodged a bullet” with Sofia, but in reality it just seems like he’s never met a woman who wouldn’t sleep with him instantly. Nevertheless, he admits that he feels pressure to give his parents grandkids, so his love life is bound to be an interesting b-plot of this season.
A romance made through trauma-bonding
Later on, some of the guys get together and Greg tells a story of the worst day of his life. While he and Tanin were in the earlier stages of their relationship, she got in a harrowing car accident.
She had to have surgery, and the procedure had only a 10% chance of her not having to re-learn her motor skills. This scary night only made them closer, but now the cracks of their relationship are falling apart.
Greg and Tanin have an intimate dinner at home and he quickly shares his disapproval for her social habits. He feels like a married woman shouldn’t be out all day when guys could be hitting on her. Okay Greg, just say that you are insecure.
Instead of agreeing, Tannin calls him a hypocrite and begins airing out his dirty laundry. Apparently, two months ago Greg gave his phone number to a girl, prompting text messages from the mystery woman at 2 a.m. He claims that he was just being nice and that there was nothing going on. They eventually make a pact to prioritize each other’s needs and get back on track.
Tommy gives MJ an ultimatum
Vida has a conversation with MJ and is shocked by what she hears. Basically, MJ is starting to feel like their relationship is falling apart after 10 years together.
In full momma bear mode, Vida decides to ask Tommy out to brunch to let him know how MJ is feeling. She explains that she is not happy in their marriage and doesn’t feel safe.
In his confessional, Tommy tears up and considers the conversation to be triggering. He shares that he used to be homeless before meeting and falling in love with MJ. Tommy continued by saying that he doesn’t go to a strip club or anyone inappropriate and has remained loyal to their marriage since the beginning. When Vita pushes him to change, he says that if MJ is not happy, then she should get a divorce. That didn’t age well…
Needless to say, this is shaping up to be a great season. Messy friendships, marriages hitting the rocky mountains, and a retiring playboy with a lot to move.
The Valley: Persian Style airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream on Peacock the next day.
TELL US – WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CAST OF THE VALLEY: PERSIAN STYLE?
