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Ali Barthwell

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@wtflanksteak

Ali Barthwell is a writer who has been recapping reality TV shows—The Bachelor and Real Housewives among them—since 2015. She is an Emmy-winning writer for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. Her work has been featured on The AV Club and Chicago Magazine.

  1. overnights
    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: All Dolled UpIt’s time for the Bailey-Que, and Eva brought bean dip and a doll with bad energy.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Keeping Up AppearancesIs this the season of RHOA where we discover that the tenuous bonds keeping these women together are as fragile as a Forever 21 bralette?
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Baby of the HouseKenya, jealous of the attention Brooklyn gets from her father, asks her husband to rank how much he loves her and their daughter. Oh. Oh Kenya, no.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Truth HurtsThe real emotional thrust of this season appears to be watching Porsha pick herself up after Dennis “the Hot Dog King” betrayed her.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season-Premiere Recap: Dennis the MenaceOh, our dear, sweet Porsha is going through it.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Finale and Reunion Recap: Rule of EngagementHas Bachelor in Paradise gotten addicted to being that show that produces marriages and children?
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: End TimesThe final days of Paradise loom, and it’s just chaos out there.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: The Try GuyEveryone in Paradise seems to think that it’s the job of the other person in the relationship to fix all your problems.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: New RomanticsBlake really comes alive when he has to convince a woman to be with him. He loves nothing more than wearing a woman down.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Unfinished BusinessAnd that, friends, is how you audition to be the next Bachelor.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Bad ReceptionJohn Paul Jones has decided that the wedding of two distant acquaintances is the perfect time to settle his marriage vendetta with Derek.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Chaotic WholesomeFinally, we get what we needed: two rock-solid hours of JOHN PAUL JONES madness.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: The Girlfriend ExperienceSeeing the whole cast welcome Demi’s girlfriend, Kristian, to Paradise is as heartwarming as it is narratively confusing.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Couples DanceHaving wrung what it can out of the Blake-Caelynn-Kristina-Hannah-Tayshia love pentagon, BiP can now start being a dating show again.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Paradise VigilanteWhen you ask for a guy who will fight for you, you risk ending up with a guy who likes to fight. See: the end of this episode.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Hot MikeMike has arrived on the beach, and Caelynn’s pre-husband Cam just cannot deal.
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    Bachelor in Paradise Recap: Gossip GirlsWas Blake incredibly messy with this whole Caelynn-Kristina situation? Absolutely. But is he really the monster they want to paint him out to be?
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    Bachelor in Paradise Premiere Recap: We Need to Talk About BlakeWe’ve barely stepped foot on the beach, and already there’s love-quadrangle drama brewing.
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    The Bachelorette Finale Recap: Mr. Wrong GuyThis may not be the ending we wanted, but it’s certainly the ending we deserve.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: One and Not DonePart one of a two-part finale is light on drama but heavy on Hannah talking about windmill sex.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: No ApologiesThe Bachelorette really put all its narrative eggs in the Luke basket, and Hannah paid the price.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: Breaking FaithForget red flags. At this point, Luke should be covered head to toe in red.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: The Music ManIt’s time for hometown visits, and also time for Hannah to wise up about these two flimflam men she just can’t let go of.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: My BolognaLuke really thought he did something when he picked up that pile of fancy meats.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: High and MightyHannah and Garrett manage to make nude bungee-jumping seem boring, and Luke manages to make it all about him.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: Same Old SongA glorified clip show masquerading as an episode obscures the real problem with this season: Hannah just can’t admit she’s wrong about Luke.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: The Luke Ness MonsterHannah would definitely be the person in a horror movie to suggest going deeper into the haunted forest.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: Rotten LukeLuke P., you’re on TV. We can all see you.
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    The Bachelorette Recap: No Pity RosesTypically by week three things are still lighthearted, but instead we have the soul-crushing and not at all fun desperation of Luke P. and Cam.
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    The Bachelorette Season Premiere Recap: Enter at Your Own RiskI’m so ready for Hannah to destroy some of these dudes through her sheer determination to not appear to be a fool.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Reunion Recap: Friend or Foe?Almost every single topic on this reunion comes back to NeNe and her complete and total lack of fucks to give.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Season Finale Recap: A New LightKenya Moore Daly herself limbos into the finale to cause an 11th-hour rift between NeNe and Cynthia.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Rumor Has ItThe chaos of this season just will not stop, and we must acknowledge that the majority of the drama has revolved around NeNe and Eva.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Wedding Bell BluesThe combination of Eva’s wedding and the aftermath from the Bye Wig party does little to alleviate NeNe’s troubles. But the gowns …
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    The Bachelor Season Finale Recap: All Out of LoveLet’s just start the countdown clock on this relationship now.
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    The Bachelor Season Finale Recap: Fight Or FlightColton returns from Beyond The Fence ready to fight for Cassie because she completes him. Oh no.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Dungeon MasterHas Kandi finally reclaimed “dungeon” after the Porsha drama? Sure, Kandi. Sure
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    The Bachelor Recap: Bully PulpitMost of “The Women Tell All” is focused on “rivalries” and who’s bullying whom, but at least Colton gets another shower scene.
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    The Bachelor Recap: Jump! That! Fence!The biggest breakup in a season with no shortage of breakups leads to the moment we’ve all been waiting for.
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Closet DramaNene’s Bye Wig Party builds to a vomit chain reaction — and, somehow, that’s just the beginning of the night’s drama.
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    How to Get Away With Murder Season Finale Recap: Laurel LoyaltyLet’s hope next season opens with Annalise relaxing on a beach while everyone else sits in jail.
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    The Bachelor Recap: Free-fallingIt’s hometown-visit week, and Colton is falling for the ladytestants, both figuratively and literally.
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    How to Get Away With Murder Recap: Law of AttractionAnnalise thinks Emmett wants to destroy her, but fortunately, he also wants to bang her, and she’s going to use that to get answers.
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    The Bachelor Recap: Red FlagsHow many ladytestants need to warn Colton before he realizes he’s the one screwing everything up here?
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Proposals and StuffFor someone so incredibly focused on getting engaged, Porsha sure is missing all the clues.
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    The Bachelor Recap: Beware of Shiny ObjectsColton’s increasingly clear penchant for blonde influencers raises the eternal question: who is here for the “right” reasons?
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    The Real Housewives of Atlanta Recap: Tokyo RosesThe Japan trip comes to a lively close with samurai training, pickle sex positions, and multiple deliveries of gigantic bouquets.
  48. overnights
    How to Get Away With Murder Recap: The InformantWelcome to the All Scheming, All Plotting Annelise Keating Variety Hour.
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    The Bachelor Recap: Kiss OffHeather loses her kissing virginity while Elyse is out here revolutionizing this game.
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    How to Get Away With Murder Recap: Burden of ProofThe only thing HTGAWM loves more than the law is a good scheme, and this episode is full of ‘em.
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