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Season 2 of The Valley is one of the hottest shows on Bravo right now, with these degenerate elder millenials sullying the fabled “happy ending” that marriage and children are supposed to be. Jesse Lally and Michelle Sanei are in the throes of a vitrolic divorce while Zack Wickham is finding happiness with Benji Quach. Kristen Doute and Jasmine Goode are both settling into domestic bliss with their significant others, but still finding ways to get into the mix of toxicity and depravity. Jason and Janet Caperna still manage to be both excruciatingly boring and aggressively the worst. Nia Sanchez is coaxing husband Danny Booko into having baby number four while Danny is plying her to move to *gulp* Santa Clarita. Do these people meet the standards of basic human decency? Barely, but at least they’re consistently delivering on drama.
Rounding out the group is Brittany Cartwright’s inevitable divorce from resident sociopath Jax Taylor. While Brittany was begging Jax throughout Season 1 for a *Kentucky muffin accent* “DAYTE NOIGHT,” it was “AHB-VEE-US-LEIGH” clear that their marriage was unsalvagable. After they got unceremoniously let go from Vanderpump Rules during 2020, Brittany picked up the pieces and became the breadwinner for their family, all while being a mother to Cruz Cauchi. While they were on ice for another shot at reality television stardom, Brittany stepped into adulthood while Jax still has learned nothing. Jax insists that he is a “work in progress,” but it’s become abundantly clear that he doesn’t deserve the platform he has, and The Valley would thrive without him.
Reality TV Stardom Enables Jax’s Toxicity
By the time Brittany, Jax, Kristen, and Stassi Schroeder were fired from Vanderpump Rules, fans were kind of fatigued by the show trying to sell us on the idea that Brittany somehow changed Jax. Their entire wedding was shaped around the idea that Brittany was the “beauty” who tamed this “beast,” but did she really? Jax’s best friend Tom Sandoval was the only voice of reason that perhaps Jax was worse than ever. Imagine how toxic of a couple you have to be when the cameras aren’t rolling for Tom f*cking Sandoval to defend a woman.
Years later, The Valley was conceptualized by Alex Baskin with the help of Jax. Bravo fans that were initially reticent about the show immediately fell in love with it because they were no longer trying to sell us on this fairytale ending for Jax and Brittany. While Kristen and Brittany seemed to have evolved after being humbled back in 2020, Jax was worse than ever. He looked nauseated at Brittany trying to fix their marriage with DAYTE NOIGHTS, constantly picked fights with her, and turned to substance abuse to escape from his harrowing reality.
When Jax and Brittany’s separation was announced, fans initially assumed that it was a publicity stunt to get people to watch the show. They scoffed at the idea that Brittany would ever leave the man that got her a spot on television, but as the season unfolded, it was abundantly clear that Brittany couldn’t do anything to save their marriage. Jax was worse than ever, and reality television had enabled him and rewarded him for his bad behavior. It was revealed this season that Jax threw a coffeetable at Brittany’s knee in response to finding out she was casually dating an acquaintance of his after they separated. Viewers also witnessed Jax harrass and emotionally abuse Brittany with a barrage of texts between therapy sessions at rehab.
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“Makes me sick to my stomach.”
Alex Baskin Should Right His Wrongs
Jax isn’t the only monster that was emboldened and enabled by Vanderpump Rules. James Kennedy was arrested this past December during a domestic dispute with then-girlfriend Ally Lewber. James’ exes Rachel Leviss and Kristen both took to Instagram to confirm that James was abusive, and that people around them knew about it. They had talked about his abuse before, only to be ignored until James had finally been arrested and Ally corroborated their claims. Fans finally opened their eyes to the fact that Vanderpump Rules didn’t just ignore James’ abuse, they empowered him to do it and helped him get away with it through savvy editing and revisionist history.
Alex Baskin has an opportunity here to right his past wrongs and take a stance on abuse. This kind of behavior isn’t classic VPR toxicity — it’s unwatchable and disgusting. As much as Jax insists he’s a “work in progress,” he will never, ever change. While Vanderpump Rules floundered after the mass firing in 2020, it was already running on fumes and mostly unsalvagable. Scandoval briefly reignited some interest in the show, but they still couldn’t make it work.
Jax is just as much at the center of The Valley as he was on Vanderpump Rules. The Valley is just starting to thrive and has so much potential, and we’ve seen during these episodes without Jax that he really isn’t needed, that these people can definitely hold their own when making a reality show without him. Acting like Jax is indispensable to the show is giving him far too much credit, and while Vanderpump Rules got exponentially worse after he left, it was already on life support anyways. The Valley has so much potential, but it’s being tainted by the stench of Jax’s abuse.
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