Thank God for Zac Efron’s Hot Younger Brother on ‘The Traitors’

This week:

• Putting some respect on J.Lo’s name.

• Introducing you to reality TV’s greatest new star.

• Remembering David Lynch.

• A spectacular season finale.

• A major disappointment.

A Reality TV Star Is Born

At one point near the end of this week’s episode of The Traitors, I had to go to my bathroom cabinet and pull out the Costco-sized bottle of Tums I keep for such stressful emergencies.

(Warning: Some spoilers ahead, if you watch The Traitors. Some utterly silly writing to read, if you don’t.)

This week’s roundtable section of the Peacock reality competition series had all the things that give me agita and ingestion: betrayal, mutiny, loud fighting, people crying, and, worst of all, the possibility of the lil’ cutie patootie I have developed an instant, intense crush on being thrown to the wolves and possibly sent home.

Check out the scene in question here:

Much will be made of the showdown between RuPaul’s Drag Race star Bob the Drag Queen and Survivor legend Boston Rob: There’s the fact that Bob, who was such a fan favorite that he got a cheering ovation at the party I attended, turned out to be, in fact, a terrible Traitor. There’s Boston Rob’s shocking double-crossing of Bob so quickly in the game, and that he was so successful at it. There’s the gasp-inducing lines that they shot like darts at each other while arguing at the roundtable, reality TV’s version of watching Shakespeare.

For me, though, there’s also the surprise ascendance of the show’s most random cast member, Dylan Efron, who was previously best known to most as “Zac Efron Has a Younger Brother Who’s Pretty Cute, Who Knew?!”

Efron was the first person to suspect Bob as a Traitor, but he needed Boston Rob to amplify his cause. He stood up for himself at the roundtable against Bob’s formidable dressing down of him, even as his brother caught some unfair stray shots in the melee. And, when Bob was booted, he was congratulated and cheered by the rest of the cast.

It was almost as if the rest of the competitors had the same “who is this guy and why is he here?” first impression, but in that one episode they agreed that he had graduated to their level. The whole celebration and Efron’s sheer giddiness over being accepted by the reality TV legends was like a scene in an ’80s teen movie, when the underdog, nerdy teen does something that finally gets him embraced by all the cool kids.

Except in this case, the underdog turns out to be a total smokeshow.

There’s another reason why Dylan Efron has emerged as a fan favorite. I’ll leave with these photos that have been all over my timeline this week, should you be curious what that reason is.

“Keep Your Eye on the Donut”

There have been many lovely remembrances of David Lynch published this week in the wake of his death, including these posted on The Daily Beast’s Obsessed.

I encourage you to read them all, while I share this silly moment that many have revisited in recent days.

In 2006, Laura Dern starred in Lynch’s Inland Empire, and Lynch felt that she was incredible in the film—so much so that she deserved an Oscar nomination. Not really having the resources to take out one of those splashy For Your Consideration billboards that line Sunset Boulevard during awards season, he did a DIY version, with his own Lynchian spin.

On the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and La Brea, he sat in a lawn chair next to a giant poster of Dern in the film with “For Your Consideration” plastered on it. Oh, and he had a cow on a leash next to him.

You can read more about it here.

One other thing that people might find interesting (and make of it what you will): Following the announcement that Lynch died, Woody Allen was trending on X. The reason was both, um, let’s say…wishful and very, very morbid.

A Banger of a Season Finale

My favorite new tradition is The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City producing a flawless season finale that is unexpected in every way.

Should anyone care what my thoughts are about it, I have two big takeaways.

The first is that the “game” that the Housewives play at dinner, where they all have to find the meanest thing they’ve said in a private text about a fellow cast member and have the subject of the insult read it aloud, was as diabolical as it was genius. The altruistic aim was to start over with a clean slate, after everyone supposedly realizes the harm of being so cruel to each other. The result was more predictable: violent chaos.

I love how icon and legend Heather Gay framed this prompt: in essence, we need to promote sisterhood and healing; to do so, let’s toss some nuclear bombs of cruelty and vitriol at each other. It’s like if I gathered all my friends for brunch and said, “I wish we were all closer, so I’m going to ask everyone to take a massive dump on the person who’s boyfriend they think is secretly gay and/or spit across the table at who you think is ugliest and then steal their credit cards. Don’t we all feel better now?”

The truth, I sort of understand this. Maybe the meanest things I have said are about the people I love the most. That’s what intimacy means to me. If you’re not getting on my nerves, then we are not close at all. If I’m not mercilessly complaining about you behind your back, then I simply do not think of you. Insults are my love language. You pack of absolute idiots and deranged buffoons who read this far down into this newsletter mean the world to me.

My other takeaway is that the scene between Angie K. and Mary at dinner is maybe the most heartfelt, beautiful scene Bravo has aired. I’ve rewatched it so many times.

They All—We All—Deserve Better

I was so excited for the new rom-com with Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon You’re Cordially Invited coming out later this month, but the trailer just came out and whoo-ee does it look like garbage.

What to watch this week:

One of Them Days: Keke Palmer and SZA are superb in a type of comedy they just don’t make any more. (Now in theaters)

Grand Theft Hamlet: They staged a Shakespeare production inside of Grand Theft Auto. (Now in theaters)

Severance: Blessedly, Season 2 is worth the three-year wait. (Now on Apple TV+)

What to skip this week:

Back in Action: How dare they waste Cameron Diaz’s comeback on something so bad. (Now on Netflix)

Wolf Man: The only thing you’ll be howling is, “I’m bored!” Hey-o! (now in theaters)