Key Notes: 'Siesta Key' Season 2, Episode 8

Chloe uncovers new gossip, Kelsey lashes out at Garrett and Alex and Juliette shockingly can't seem to agree if Alex cheated or not on this week's episode.

By Niki Kottmann
| 10:50 p.m. March 5, 2019

Arts + Entertainment
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Hello, dear readers. Welcome back, and thank you for taking this wild ride with us for the past seven weeks. LOL.

This week’s episode begins with two scenes at cast members’ parents’ houses, and for some reason that made me giggle. Nothing wrong with living with parents of course, especially when you’re on summer break during college like Juliette, but I just love that MTV won’t even label the names of the bars they go to (probably because 85% of them aren’t on Siesta Key and they want my friends and family in the Midwest to believe the island has an unbeatable nightlife scene) but they’ll slap on a locator showing who these houses actually belong to.

Here’s to True, Supportive Friendships

On last night’s episode, we got just a tiny glimpse into what Jared’s been going through ever since leaving the U.S. Navy after six years.

He first meets with Madisson and says he feels crazy, that feeling depressed is now normal for him, and he drinks every day. She assures him he isn’t crazy and asks if he would consider talking to someone. During the episode, Madisson also tweeted at Jared about how important he is and reminded him that he always has a friend in her.

It’s a good, serious moment that puts the show’s unnecessary drama on the backburner.

The whole clip lasts about 30 seconds, and I wish it had been longer. Mental health is no joke, and it needs to be talked about more.

Mental health affects a lot of people. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about seven to eight out of every 100 adults in the U.S. will have post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness found that approximately one in every five adults in the United States experiences mental illness in any given year.

There is stigma surrounding mental health. It’s not talked about enough, and people don’t understand it, which is maybe why Jared feels “crazy.”

Thankfully, the issue is discussed later in the episode when Jared and Canvas go fishing together. When Canvas asks why they aren’t doing their usual binge drinking, Jared said his mom had a talk with him because she didn’t want to watch him turn into an alcoholic.

Jared tells Canvas that he was diagnosed with PTSD and says he’s looking into therapy.

Like the supportive friend we rarely see on this show, Canvas says that now might be the time to face this obstacle and tells him they should continue doing activities like fishing that keep them away from drinking, especially when they’re feeling down.

This, my dear friends, is what a supportive friendship looks like. Canvas knows her friend needs her and offers to help in any way she can.

This 45-second conversation is what I wish more friendships looked like on this show. A lot of time, it seems like no one on this show cares about anyone but themselves, which is awful, especially when their friends are going through serious obstacles.

Fortunately, Madisson, and especially Canvas, proved that wrong tonight in their support of Jared.

These two scenes, which I would like to thank MTV for showing, along with a message that halfofus.com is available to those struggling with their mental and emotional health, are more relatable to me than any other on the show, and I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks that.

Don’t forget to check on your friends, even the ones who seems strongest. Everyone needs to be reminded how important they are once in awhile.

—Katie Johns

Anyway, we open on Amanda’s 22nd birthday party, and everyone is getting schwasted as usual. For fun, here is a brief list of my notes from the first few minutes (verbatim, minus the curse words).

“Can we stop with the f****** recaps we all know what happened last week.”
“Um Jared you should probably not drink alcohol while sliding backwards down a Slip 'N Slide.”
“Was the a** wipe tight shot really necessary?”

We also hear potentially one of the best narration lines of “Siesta Key” history from Juliette: “You’re probably wondering who the hell this girl Shelby is … ” and proceeds to introduce us to the girlfriend of one of Alex’s best friends, Drew (you know, the stocky Teddy Bear-esque guy who is often lingering in the back of party shots).

Shelby spills to Chloe (who else) that she was in the car with Drew recently when Alex Facetimed him to explain what happened with the now-infamous girl found in his Kompo Castle sleeping quarters. She claims Alex admitted to sleeping with her and even expressed admiration for her lady parts … hmm …

Shockingly, Chloe says they shouldn’t bring this up to Juliette at the party because Amanda doesn’t want drama, and viewers around the country start to clap at our girl for being mature/a good friend.

It does, however, come out at the after party (of course) held at what I believe is the Casey Key Tiki Bar, and Juliette pulls a bomb power move by stolling right up to Alex and asking him in front of everyone if he slept with that girl or not.

Obviously he denies it, and a whole fight erupts about who is lying and who is telling the truth. I don’t know who to believe (but I mean we all know Alex is a literal dumpster fire so Shelby is probably right), but what I do know for sure is that Juliette is being more mature than ever (and I mean no shade by that, I truly respected what she did) in the moment she turns to Drew and says she’s sorry he’s been pulled into the middle of the drama but this is her problem to deal with.

Let’s take a quick moment to notice the calm and sincerity in Juliette’s voice when she delivers this message to Drew. THIS IS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION, PEOPLE. As opposed to Alex, whose most quotable moment in this scene is when he tells drew to go “shut up his b****.”

Remember when I called him a literal dumpster fire? Yeah, I stand by that. (Let’s not forget that early in the episode he also told Chloe he obviously didn’t sleep with this mystery girl because if he “wanted to cheat on Juliette, no one would know” because he’s great at “covering his tracks.”)

*Throws up in mouth*

Anyway, enough about the worst cast member on this show because of course this conversation goes nowhere and Juliette still wants to forgive him.

In the meantime at this dramatic afterparty, Kelsey randomly walks up to Cara and Garrett and starts accusing Cara of using him. Garrett is understandably upset as Kelsey’s comments about their relationship get increasingly out of line, but she cracks when he fires back that he “doesn’t give a f***” about her anymore.

In an earlier scene we saw Kelsey and her mom Debbie, now in a wheelchair, at Hana Sushi Lounge talking about how her multiple sclerosis is getting worse and Kelsey is having a hard time coping because she doesn’t feel like she has anyone in the friend group who she trusts. That person used to be Garrett she says, and she misses having him to confide in, but um girl, going up to him and randomly lashing out is not going to help you get him back in your life …

Anyway, this is getting long, so he’s a brief description of what happens next

Kelsey cries at the after party, says she has a lot of family issues going on, and Madisson comforts her.
Garrett hears about said family issues and goes to try to comfort her but she rejects him and his apology for saying he doesn’t care.
We hear Pauly has another warrant out for his arrest for not appearing in court after being caught with an open container. Shocker.
He tells Alex he refuses to turn himself in because if Grandma Bev finds out, he’ll lose his trust fund money and won’t be able to afford to live on the key. Sounds like a personal problem.
Garrett and Cara recap the after party in his very adult apartment complete with burning candle (nice touch, Gar bear).
Jared and Madisson meet at Marina Jack for one of only two meaningful conversations on this episode, and it’s about how he’s struggled to adapt to civilian life after coming home from the Navy. Madisson apologizes for not being there for him after saying no to a date, he accepts and admits that he drinks everyday to cope with his mental health problems.
We all remind ourselves that Madisson is the best girl on this show for being so supportive and suggesting he go to therapy, but sadly he says he’s OK with being depressed everyday because he doesn’t want people to think he’s crazy. This broke my heart, because I realized how deeply he’s internalized mental illness stigma.
Back to Pauly: Gary tells Alex and Pauly that this is a bad pattern of behavior that can not continue and we all are supposed to give Mr. Kompo a Fatherly Figure of the Year award for stating the obvious. He says he’ll help Pauly find a lawyer but won’t pay the legal fees.
Amanda, Chloe and Juliette share a weird scene where Juliette basically says she doesn’t care what they think about her relationship, she prays Alex will change. #SMH
Pauly gets arrested, I laugh, and Alex goes to bail him out (for more than $1,500 he casually pays in cash) after hearing Pauly had 20 grams of weed on him when he was caught with the open alcohol container in public (the former is a felony charge, by the way).

Finally, Canvas and Jared have the other healthy heart-to-heart of the episode while fishing next to the John Ringling Causeway. Jared admits he’s been diagnosed with PTSD and wants to seek therapy because his mom told him she doesn’t want him to become an alcoholic and go down the wrong path like his uncles. Canvas, like the great friend she’s proven herself to be, says she supports him and that they can hang out sans alcohol from now on.

Sidenote: Kudos to MTV for encouraging viewers to go to halfofus.com if they’re struggling with “emotional issues.” However, I wish they would have said mental health problems because using “emotional” rather than “mental” seems a little bit like a cop-out by people giving into the stigma surrounding mental health issues (especially when the first sentence on the website’s “About” page says “Mental health issues are a reality for millions of people across the country”) but I’ll get off my soap box.

I’ll keep these last three scenes brief because I’m tired of this crap.

Pauly gets in Alex’s car (after a tight shot of the historical marker for the Sarasota County Historic Courthouse with just the right amount of drama) and says jail was the “worst five hours of his life.” That comment made me laugh out loud.

Cara and Garrett have a super weird conversation (but also oddly cute in an awkward flirty way??) at Cask & Ale that starts with her asking if he likes her skirt just because she never wears skirts and ends with him getting her to admit she’d like to be his girlfriend — I think? Because apparently they weren’t officially dating before? Unclear.

Finally, this never-ending episode concludes with Chloe showing up at Alex’s house, fighting with him about his actions and then telling him that they are no longer friends.

About time, girl.

Hold onto your seats, fam — next week looks like another bumpy ride.