{"id":938,"date":"2026-05-29T07:06:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:06:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=938"},"modified":"2026-05-29T07:06:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:06:44","slug":"netflix-reality-show-calabasas-confidential-fails-to-find-the-new-kardashians-tv-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=938","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Reality Show \u2018Calabasas Confidential\u2019 Fails to Find the New Kardashians: TV Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tThe Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas \u2014 tucked into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains on the San Fernando Valley\u2019s far western edge \u2014\u00a0is, in many ways, ground zero for reality TV as we know it. This is the home of the Kardashians, the genre\u2019s first family, whose rise to fame familiarized the world with the small city\u2019s cavernous McMansions and upscale strip malls. The producers of the new Netflix series \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d are betting there\u2019s still some ore left in this gold mine, and have assembled a small army of 20somethings in the hopes at least one of them will turn out to be the next Kylie or Kim. Based on the first season\u2019s eight episodes, such a vertiginous ascent seems unlikely. Then again, so did that of the stars\u2019 obvious role models.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=936\">Rio de Janeiro Mayor Unveils $45 Million Investment Plan in the Local Creative Industry by 2028<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe ostensible premise of \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d is that a group of young adults have returned to their hometown after dispersing for college, reigniting old flames and resentments. But the fatal flaw of this setup is its plausibility: unlike a nuclear family or a workplace, the stars in the constellation of \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d don\u2019t feel organically bound together. Perhaps the cast will, given enough time to bond on and off camera, start feeling like people who voluntarily interact and form genuine relationships. Until then, there\u2019s a forced atmosphere to every group hang and date, with an ensemble so large that famous relatives and sprawling floor plans have to substitute for a center of gravity.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe most compelling storyline in \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d is therefore the one that feels most rooted in authentic emotion. Jemma may not be an already-successful influencer, nor the child of a famous musician or NBA player, like some of her castmates \u2014 but her hurt and anger toward her high school ex Dylan, an unrepentant fuckboy nicknamed \u201cDouchebag Dylan\u201d who\u2019s taken to cowboy cosplay like Stetson hats and toothpicks in sobriety, comes off as very real. When Dylan starts casually dating one of Jemma\u2019s close friends around the season\u2019s halfway point, her betrayal is apparent (or at least well-performed) enough to provide some of the momentum that was previously missing.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut Dylan and Jemma are just two of a whopping <em>14 <\/em>cast members on \u201cCalabasas Confidential,\u201d and the rest fail to stand out against a sunny backdrop of coffee shops (the local chain La La Land gets a conspicuous bit of product placement) and photo shoots. Preston, the son of \u201890s basketball legend Scottie Pippen, likes to bake and drives a Cybertruck; Hercy, the son of one rapper (Master P) and the half brother of another (Romeo), wants to play NCAA-level ball. At the ripe old age of 25 and a rumored association with Drake in her dating history, YouTube star Suede is the designated elder stateswoman, although her insulting someone for living in the Valley on a show called \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d sort of gives the game away. Would Suede even bother driving over the hill, let alone spending time with her supposed friends, if there weren\u2019t a television crew waiting to greet her?<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThese supporting players were some of the few I remembered after binging the full season. Others feel interchangeable, like two petite, athleisure-clad women named Emma and Emilie, or abruptly introduced, like two chain-sporting guys we\u2019ve never seen before who make a dramatic entrance to a midseason party. (One of them immediately starts making out with Emilie, seemingly for the sole purpose of giving her something to argue about with a friend.) Characters constantly complain about petty fights and immature behavior being \u201cso high school,\u201d which is rich \u2014 reassembling a high-school peer group is what this whole enterprise is supposedly about!\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=934\">Lorca Documentary \u2018The Broken Voice,\u2019 Featuring Rare Footage of Poet, Acquired by Sideral for Sales, Spanish Distribution (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d is attempting to enter a rich lineage of L.A.-based reality shows. There\u2019s the Kardashian shows, of course, but also \u201cSelling Sunset\u201d (a house tour scene suggests an intra-Netflix crossover could be in the offing) and \u201cThe Hills.\u201d Uncomfortable as it can be to contemplate the latter show as its primary villain wages a terrifyingly plausible campaign for L.A. mayor, it\u2019s a useful point of comparison for portraying the cusp of adulthood in the city of angels. In following Lauren Conrad from \u201cLaguna Beach\u201d to the next county north, \u201cThe Hills\u201d had a familiarity on its side that \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d lacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhen this cast talks about their old grudges and loyalties, it\u2019s hard to care, because we weren\u2019t there to witness them. \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d is like watching someone else\u2019s high-school reunion \u2014\u00a0the same awkward hellos exchanged among now-strangers, just with more lip filler and TikTok memes than average. (The frequent discussion of social media posts is not exactly the most engaging plot from a visual point of view.) As someone who didn\u2019t attend their own milestone gathering due to the pandemic, this show didn\u2019t make me feel like I missed much.<\/p>\n<p>\n<em>All eight episodes of \u201cCalabasas Confidential\u201d are now available to stream on Netflix.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=932\">\u2018Project Hail Mary\u2019 Tops Golden Trailer Awards With 5 Prizes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Netflix reality show &#8216;Calabasas Confidential&#8217; returns to the genre&#8217;s cradle, but finds no future Kardashians there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[953],"class_list":["post-938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv","tag-calabasas-confidential"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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