'The Kardashians' Episode 2 Recap: Truth in Comedy

Kim Kardashian’s biggest priority is always going to be studying for the baby bar test, but a close second is her comedy career. This week on Hulu’s The Kardashians, that means writing her SNL monologue. Actually, family always comes first, of course, except when she’s suing Roblox and Ray J. But writing her SNL monologue is up there, and as friend of the family Malika Haqq says of her, “Kim doesn’t fail.” To ensure that will be the case, she employs heavy hitters Dave Chappelle, Michelle Wolf, Amy Schumer, and Kanye West to write it with her. The funniest person to ever associate with the family, Todd Kraines, is not included on the text chain.

The theme of this week’s episode was truth in comedy. In addition to a scene with Amy Schumer in her bizarrely slip-covered loft, we also see exiled Brit James Corden give Khloé a pep talk that makes her cry backstage at his show and SNL production celebutante/Affleck ex Lindsay Shookus stomach Kim’s rewrite notes. The Kardashians editors are framing Kim on SNL as the biggest thing that’s ever happened to the family, even though we all know it’s this photo series where a young Penelope Disick got hit by a car door while toting a rolly backpack (she’s fine). They probably are teeing us up for famously private Pete Davidson’s entrée to the program, but I can’t imagine we care all that much.

Like last week, Kardashians still grapples with the unsolvable problem of the lag between filming and real-time media coverage of the crazy clan. This is one of the most famous families in the world, and we’ve all already bore witness to the immediate aftermath of Kim and Pete kissing on that magic carpet last October. Darker still are Kim’s comments on the show about the importance of respecting Kanye West in light of his behavior in the months since this episode was filmed.

All of the Kardashians have anxiety, which is understandable, and I was surprised and saddened to hear that Khloé, who was terrified of what people might tweet about her after her James Corden interview, doesn’t have a therapist. She says her mother Kris gave her a beta-blocker earlier to calm her down. Later, backstage, Kris offers her another. Kris and Khloé are building houses next to each other, which brings to mind images of a Grey Gardens situation with black toilet paper and matching Fiji fridges.

Amid all this comedy drama, the only time I laughed during the entire episode was when Kourtney and boyfriend Travis Barker straddled each other on a pool chair during the tour of a Bel Air mansion they were considering moving into. “It’s old Hollywood Frank Sinatra vibes, so us,” Kourtney says in a confessional right before Travis unbuttons her cardigan in the next scene. Momager Kris has been working overtime via the tabloids in the last year to erase our existing memories of Kourtney “room temperature avocado pudding” Kardashian and replace them with ones that aver she canonically has always been a music lover, a rocker, and a punk.

Meanwhile, Kourtney and Travis want to have a baby, and the IVF is not going well. Kourtney says “I’m so clean and careful about what I put in my body that [the IVF treatments] are working as a contraceptive instead of helping us,” presumably referring to the drinkable collagen powders she released in 2019. She’s moody, even though Kris has never seen her happier outwardly. An aura of sadness has always emanated from Kourtney, and I worry no amount of trips to Disneyland can cure that.

I forgot that Kendall and Kylie were alive for a minute because they weren’t in this episode. Luckily a quick Google search confirms they’re safe. They were just at Coachella.

Last week: ‘The Kardashians' Episode 1 Recap: Flesh Tones vs. Roblox