After last week’s blowup at Brian’s birthday blowout, it’s time for the aunties to get in on the drama in Family Karma Season 2 Episode 2. Obviously word has spread with each kid coming home and recounting their version of the night’s events to their moms. Shaan and Dillon’s mom Kalpna Aunty (a new addition to the season who feels very at home onscreen) obviously feels the most involved, given her sons were at the eye of the storm last week. She rightly seems hung up on the threat of violence from Vishal and seems to think violence is not part of the Indian DNA. “We gossip behind each other’s backs, we don’t punch each other,” Shaan jokes. (Clearly no one in this family has ever been to an Indian frat party, but I digress). Still, Kalpna Aunty seems able to separate the disagreements between Vishal and Dillon given her friendship with Vishal’s mom Reshma Aunty goes back decades. More on that later.
Elsewhere, the return we’ve all been waiting for: LOPA AUNTY!!! The villain of season one returns triumphantly with a fun surprise: she’s bought a condo in Miami and will now split time between there and Memphis. Though Vishal doesn’t get much screentime in the episode, we do find out that he’s upset that he wasn’t made aware of this move. It’s not clear whether this stems from his new-found emotions after starting therapy, the fact that this is supposed to be his mother-in-law though he and Richa are on the rocks, or the fact that he literally works in real estate and she didn’t consult him prior to making the decision. My guess is all three.
Speaking of Richa, she finally makes an appearance as well (and conducts her testimonials in a STUNNING red dress that I will need in my closet ASAP). Even though Anisha is technically Vishal’s friend, after dating Vishal for ten years the lines between his and hers have blurred. Richa and Anisha get brunch, and Richa admits that she’s not sure whether there is a future with Vishal. I think the show loses some intrigue around this relationship because we never really saw Vishal and Richa in a loving relationship–from day one of Family Karma, they’ve been on the rocks and it only makes me root for Richa to dump the lovable man-child.
I was a big fan of Anisha in Season 1 and I’m continuing to love her journey as a single, independent Indian-American woman in Season 2. It’s really refreshing to see her storyline as she freezes her eggs not only because it’s not something I’ve seen depicted much on TV but also because her mother is very supportive of her decision. Anecdotally, one of my friends recently froze her eggs and a big fear of hers was how her mother would react, so it’s really heartwarming to see Chitra Aunty going so far as to inject her daughter with the hormones needed for the extraction.
The big dramatic set-piece for this episode is a happy hour at Kalpna Aunty’s house (or “compound” as they call it, which is extremely creepy). My favorite part was Dillon hovering in the background eavesdropping on the aunty gossip–one of my favorite pastimes. As all of the aunties roll in (everyone from Amrit’s mom to Lopa Aunty), the tension in the room is palpable. And as soon as the topic of Brian’s birthday comes up, all bets are off.
Each aunty kind of sides with their child, spewing off the version of the story that they were told second-hand. Finally, Reshma Aunty has had it. After all, her son Vishal is at the center of the crisis and he didn’t exactly tell her the full story. She Irish exits the happy hour with Bali chasing after her (side note but Bali seems like a great friend even if she lives for the drama) and Lopa Aunty sits there smugly, clearly happy to be proven right about that family. To be continued.
Other Observations:
- At the happy hour, all of the aunties have a really nice conversation about gay identities and their children coming out. I was really into seeing aunties discussing their own blind spots and misconceptions openly, and I’m excited to see next week’s episode which hints that Amrit will come out to his grandma. Happy Pride, indeed.
- The show seems to be foreshadowing some sort of falling out between Amrit and Nicholas. Honestly, no one should be sharing that small of a studio AND working from home out of it, so I feel ya boys
- Speaking of, no updates on #AmritWatch this week. He lives to see another day.
- Apparently Vishal won’t eat octopus anymore after watching a documentary about them (my money is on <i>My Octopus Teacher</i>, which is just hilarious to me)
- No Monica Vaswani this week and very minimal Brian screentime. I really do wonder if their storylines will be as interesting without the will-they-won’t-they backdrop. Even with new significant others, I’m feeling a little cold on them right now.
- Line of the episode belongs to Queen Lopa Aunty: “Stop playing drama, you’re not a Brad Pitt.” Chef’s Kiss.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in New York City. Her work has appeared on Paste Magazine, Teen Vogue, and Brown Girl Magazine. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.
Watch Family Karma Season 2 Episode 2 on Bravo