Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Kardashians’ Season 3 on Hulu, Where Khloé and Kim Bravely Deal With Emotional Trauma

The Kardashians on Hulu is back with Season 3 and our favorite reality TV family — Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner — are letting us into their “whirlwind of a year.” Since news on them has been rather quiet lately, we can’t help but wonder if the show has run its course. After all, if they’re not making headlines everyday, is there anything truly important going on? Well, apparently there is.

THE KARDASHIANS – SEASON 3: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: The first episode of The Kardashians Season 3, appropriately titled “Can Everyone Get Their Sh*t Together,” opens up to the show’s new intro — a dramatic, albeit fabulous sequence to Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” as the family roller skates around an indoor rink wearing dark shades and matching black catsuits. Why change it up? Kim says, “Because why not? We wanted a music video. It’s fun.”

The Gist: Jumping right into what we want to know (but may have forgotten we want to know), The Kardashians immediately has Kim explain what the heck happened between her and Pete Davidson. After begrudgingly admitting to being single for the first time in nine months, Kim tells Scott Disick and Khloé, “Breakups are just not my thing.” Relatable.

At the same time, Khloé is dealing with the “mind fuck” that is her secondborn. OK, that was harsh. The Good American founder is simply going through the motions of surrogacy all while dealing with melanoma on her face, which she later has to have a “scary” surgery on to find out its severity. In true Khloé fashion, her sense of humor shines through as she says, “I like this side of my face better anyway.”

Meanwhile, Kourtney is still…well…Kourtney. Still loved up from her recent nuptials to Travis Barker, the star doesn’t hold back while talking about her abundant sex life. But we’ll get into that a little later. She’s also still incredibly cynical about her family dynamic as she insists the “superficial” Kardashian clan doesn’t know how to “be sad together” or “grieve together.”

In the Season 3 premiere — which only begins to document some of the happenings since we last heard from the family — the whole squad is present at one point or another, including Scott Disick, who was noticeably absent through much of the previous installment. Thank you, Lord…Disick.

What Shows Will This Remind You Of? If it wasn’t obvious, The Kardashians will remind you of the family’s first show Keeping Up With The Kardashians as well as its spinoffs. Despite following a bit more of a cinematic structure, the content is fairly similar to that of the former E! show.

Our Take: As a reality TV enthusiast, I have been so lost in the Bravo drama (ie: Scandoval) these last few months, that the Kardashian family has truly taken a backseat as far as scandals go. Tristan Thompson hasn’t cheated. No more babies have been born. Kourtney’s a married woman. Kim’s divorced. And her spectacle-making relationship with the SNL alum is long over. So what’s left? Especially since we haven’t heard much from this otherwise groundbreaking family since their lackluster Season 2 finale.

Well, after watching the first two episodes of The Kardashians Season 3, I stand corrected. The show still maintains its deep elements while Khloé bravely opens up about her physical and mental struggles. And Kim becomes even less artificial as she sobs over protecting her four children from her divorce from controversial rapper Kanye West — and more importantly, his infamous rants that are oftentimes made at her expense. Meanwhile, the Jenner siblings add a sense of fun as Kendall excitedly attempts to teach Kylie how to drive stick. Plus, Kourtney and Travis are still wearing those damn matching skeleton onesies.

Though we all may not relate to learning stick in a fancy Porsche or planning a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show or needing to forewarn our romantic interests that we have a TV show, this may be the most realness we’ve gotten from the family in a long time (with the exception of Season 2, Episode 1, when Khloé went through yet another heartbreaking cheating scandal with Tristan).

While Khloé and Kim appear be carrying the brunt of the emotional trauma — or, putting in the work, if you will — it’s clear that the storylines for each family member have room to go anywhere, making for yet another banger as far as reality television is concerned.

Sex and Skin: While we don’t actually see any sex and skin, it certainly is implied when an ovulating Kourtney ditches Khloé to try to make a baby with Travis Barker — a job she swears can be done in “five minutes.” As the youngest Kardashian sister waits upstairs, she recounts a “triggering” childhood memory of falling asleep under her parents’ bed while playing hide-and-seek only to wake up to them having sex. When Kourtney returns after 15 minutes, she reveals to her sister that it was “record time” and that their sex sessions usually last “hours.”

Parting Shot: After crying over Kanye’s social media tirades and his false claims that she cheated on him with rapper Drake, Kim tearfully tells cameras, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. Let’s talk about something else.” When a producer asks, “What’s making you cry?” the reality star replies, “Everything,” before the screen cuts to, “To Be Continued.”

Sleeper Star: OK, hear me out. James Corden — yes, Cats star and the former Late Late Show host, James Corden — was the surprising sleeper star of this episode. While he was only present in a short scene at Kendall’s 818 dinner party, the comedian got Khloé to spill on her second baby with ex-boyfriend Tristan.

When Corden asks her what’s new in her life, she casually replies, “Not much. Oh, I had a baby,” before he recommends that she name him “False” — the obvious contrast to her first baby, True. The conversation leads Khloé to confirm the baby’s actual name — Tatum —  which was kept secret since he was born in August 2022. So thank you, James Corden.

Most Pilot-y Line: There’s nothing like Scott swooping in to make fun of the Kardashians for everything they’re famous for — their butts, their 72-day marriages, their lavish lifestyles, etc. The Season 3 premiere is no different when he arrives to Khloé’s newly-constructed mansion and has a hard time letting himself inside.

“Is there even a doorbell? What goes on here?” he asks while examining the doorknob-less door. “I still got a doorknob, does that mean I’m poor?”

If doorknob sales decline dramatically after this episode airs, we know who to blame.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Kardashians Season 3 is anything but disappointing. Between Khloé’s health scare, Kim’s divorce drama and the trailer’s promise to deliver yet another Kourtney/Kim feud, this season has all the elements that got us hooked to reality TV’s royal family in the first place. Bible.