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I thought birthdays were supposed to be fun? In this episode of The Valley, Schwartzapalooza is going on and so are the fights. When Lala to ask Dannyall hell breaks loose and rips open old wounds and old problems that have never been healed within the group. But when Janet refuses to apologize for her choice of words last summer, Nia refuses to back down.
While the gang hangs out for Schwartz’s birthday, Lucas comes in and says that Kristen isn’t better. Lala also joins the chat and she comes in warmly and asks Danny the tough questions that no one would ever dare to ask.
She wonders why Danny would want or say anything about Janet Jason on socials claiming he liked a post about “cucking” – translation: cuckolding.
Danny admits that he liked certain things about Janet and her relationship, but Lala persists and demands clarification. Danny feels triggered. Lala bringing this up now is, she says, “perfect timing.” Yes (do you sense the sarcasm?). Janet shows receipts of Danny liking a ridiculous post bashing her and Jason. And she claims that if SHE liked something like that, everyone would come after her. However, Nia claims she doesn’t care: she’s in her IDGAF era.
Danny becomes stressed while Lala keeps going Jasmine reminds Danny that he always jumps warm that way. Bag starts to get messy and loud. Jasmine doesn’t understand why Zack doesn’t check on Danny, but he checks on everyone else. This seems a bit hypocritical considering she literally asked him to defend her…so I guess her problem is when Zack goes off on his own?
According to Zack, people have problems with Danny and instead of wanting to say it, they stay silent. Zack leaves and yells FU at everyone and Jasmine tries to get in his face. Zack shouts that nothing ever gets resolved because no one ever listens to anyone. Then he storms off, with Benji and Schwartz on the back.
No one knows what just happened, but Jasmine is angry about Zack’s blind loyalty to Danny. Zack feels like he’s in the middle of all the drama, but Schwartz seems more upset about not getting a birthday cake at his party.
Lala wants Danny to realize that he needs to stop liking annoying posts. Brittany reminds Danny that he even liked things about her. If you like something, you know what you are doing. Danny claims he doesn’t know, and meanwhile Janet tells anyone who will listen that he’s a stupid loser. The situation is getting out of hand.
Brittany can’t believe Danny would think she was behind some sort of mastermind scheme Jax made up on their old podcast. Apparently Jax claimed he was going to take Danny and Nia down and because Brittany didn’t stand up and stop Jax, she was guilty by association… 2 years ago. Danny finally apologizes to Brittany and Nia calls for a breather after the fight. The couple leaves to go back to their room.
No one seems to be able to have a conversation with Danny, including Nia. Nia claims she was trying to convey his perspective in a calm manner, but Danny disagrees.
Lala believes Danny was sent to bed because he “can’t show true colors”, and Zack and co. re-enter after you have calmed down. Lala wonders why Zack has blind loyalty towards Danny and Jasmine calls Zack a good friend who gets walked all over. Interesting that Brittany and Michelle remain “blindly loyal” to Janet, but they have problems when Zack apparently does the same. Nobody calls them! But Janet thinks we can’t move on because everyone is still mad at her for talking about *that thing*.
The next morning, Zack feels refreshed and vindicated, a great way to start his birthday. But in Luke and Kristen’s suite, things are different. Kristen explains that she’s feeling a lot better and Luke talks about how angry he is that she basically thinks he’s a bad father. Kristen says Luke gets confused and then won’t sleep in bed, but Luke thinks her perception of him is much worse than what is real.
Holiday Michelle has entered the chat. She jumps ropes bright and early and Brittany promises she won’t drink. Right. Meanwhile, Danny meets Luke to go fishing. Luke points out that he heard Lala say that liking a nasty post about Jason and Janet is endorsing negativity. When Lala joins them, she reminds Danny that there was no resolution because he left. Lala wonders that Danny and Nia’s perception may be great, but the reality may not always be. Danny admits that they fight as a couple, just not for the group.
Danny reminds Lala that she doesn’t know the whole story. His name was connected to words spoken by Janet in-universe and he has PTSD and trauma from last summer. The character defamation affected Danny so much that he worked with his therapist weekly to get past what Janet said. He admits he shouldn’t have liked the comments and still struggles with them.
Jasmine tries to approach the day with some grace since it’s Zack’s birthday, but she feels very disrespected after last night. Zack admits that emotions got the better of him and when Brittany arrives, she calls him out for being fresh. Zack claims he was mean because he “felt that way,” but admits he shouldn’t have been so exaggerated. He points out that hiding and lying about drinking is his problem with Danny and says he would tell him his feelings.
Nia doesn’t want to be around Janet’s energy, but of course she can shop all afternoon. During the bus ride, Kristen explains her fear of the baby and admits that she is an HSP highly sensitive person. Kristen also can’t believe the group is arguing about Danny liking mean posts about Danny and Nia, since they all do things like that.
When it comes to Janet’s word choices to describe Danny’s actions (sexual assault), she refuses to apologize for telling the truth. Nia believes that Janet only apologized to Nia earlier to save herself, and it seems that Janet is trying to put on a mask to be a new version of herself… but her true nature continues to emerge.
Janet runs off to call Jason and can’t believe everyone is gathering to comfort Nia. She is annoyed, but they continue shopping. As they do, Danny and Luke join the pool staff. Zack says that the problem the night before was that there were so many conversations, but he focuses on Danny. He calls Danny out for his lies when it comes to drinking, and for Zack, trust is everything.
Danny apologizes and claims he only had one drink in the apartment. Danny explains that last summer was hell and wonders who has his back. After a very productive conversation, it seems they are all good, although Danny refuses to lay claim to the mysterious White Claw found in Brittany’s apartment.
The grocery group can sit at the same table and if Jesse and Michelle can coexist, can Nia and Janet too? Nia doesn’t like that her words were twisted into something that wasn’t. Michelle explains that almost everyone in the group feels uncomfortable when Danny drinks. This group wants to make a big deal out of it and Kristen points out that Brittany, Zack and Jasmine are hot messes and could cut back on the drinking too.
Naturally, Janet immediately texts Brittany to find out about Kristen. “Nia and Kristen are willing to make Britt, Jasmine and Zack look bad to protect Danny.” It seems there is no solution and Janet calls Jesse a “stupid prick” when he tries to add a few jabs. Janet would rather leave than deal with this.
As she tries to clear the dining room table, Janet apologizes for her lighthearted words, but her choices and words say otherwise. According to Janet, this situation wouldn’t have happened if Danny hadn’t done some “weird sh*t” and he is. still do it. Janet runs away again to call her husband and wonders why there isn’t “an ounce of responsibility” for Danny and his behavior. She feels triggered because Danny isn’t perfect, but hasn’t Danny already at least apologized for last season??
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE VALLEY PISODE?
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