Next Gen NYC Recap: Time Warp

Next Gen NYC
Brooklyn Horror Story
Season 2 Episode 5
Editor’s Rating ★★★★
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As if Riley’s meltdown last week wasn’t scary enough, it’s time for Halloween on Next Gen NYC. And while they all seem to be afraid of having to go to Brooklyn for this party, the scariest part for me is having to see how little they know about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Brooks, for some perplexing reason, thinks it somehow involves a chocolate shop in some way, and calls his mother Meredith for clarity as he gets ready. She, of course, is familiar because she’s the most culturally queer member of that family (with Seth in a close second place). Georgia then hops on the line to beg the question that I’ve been asking since this Rocky Horror confusion began: “Did you watch Glee?” That, naturally, was Rowan’s first exposure to it, but Shai says he can’t stand that show — losing all of the goodwill he had built up thus far.

No matter how good this show gets, it’s important to remember that it’s not because this is an interesting cast. In fact, the show’s success is despite the fact that (with the exception of Rowan and Georgia) they’re some of the least interesting people in this city, and the scene at Rocky Horror really hammers that home. Out of everybody we see at the party and on stage, it’s almost shocking that these are the people being followed around by a camera crew. Nearly every other person I lay my eyes on there is more interesting, especially the Mrs. Roper-esque fortune teller, who I’d watch on her own show in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, something about Next Gen NYC is working, so here we are.

Apart from people watching, the party turns out to be the perfect place for Ariana to confront Shai for funneling information to Hudson about her flirtation with Liam, who I’ve decided looks like straight Frankie Grande. Shai and Charlie at least gave Liam a heads up that they aired him out, but Liam is unbothered and denies their assessment that his goal is to fuck Ariana, saying that his goal is just wanting to get to know her. Ariana is more annoyed, especially since she was closer with Shai than Hudson ever was. Shai seems to think he somehow accidentally facilitated this romance and was just trying to clear his conscience with Hudson, but Ariana assures him he doesn’t have that kind of power and she was going to hang out with Liam with or without his assistance. 

While this is going on, let’s do a quick boyfriend roll call. We meet Rowan’s boyfriend Brian and get to experience this bizarre cast through his innocent, virginal eyes. As for Gia’s boyfriend Christian, he’s still scarred from boys’ night, so he’s safe at home, and Ava teases that she’s suspicious of misdoings from her boyfriend Hook, so more to come on that front. Who would have thought someone named Hook would do you dirty? Georgia, meanwhile, is dressed as a pigeon — “a very iconic staple of most urban environments,” and warns us not to touch the discolored ones. Thank you, Georgia, but I wasn’t going to touch any of them, actually. 

While Brooks has deliberately tried to keep his distance from Charlie all season (and who could blame him), Ava encourages him to try to at least clear the air, so he goes up to him so they can have a conversation about the state of their fractured relationship. Brooks explains that he pulled back not only after the crypto torture scandal, but also after last season aired and they all saw all of the shit Charlie was talking behind their backs. Specifically, Brooks calls out Charlie’s negative comments about his dad. “Fuck your dad,” Charlie doubles down, shocking Brooks since Seth Marks was the only person championing Charlie last season. “You have the least respectable dad on planet earth; he’s a fucking househusband, he should be embarrassed,” Charlie says, tripling down. 

For a brief, beautiful moment, I really thought I was about to see Brooks Marks swing on a bitch. He froze ever so briefly, glaring at Charlie in such a way that I was convinced he was about to slap the fuck out of him with a closed fist. Unfortunately but unsurprisingly, Brooks kept his cool long enough for a circle to form around them. Now with an audience at his disposal, Charlie announces that for one time only, it’s open season and he welcomes any and all questions to finally put all the rumors to bed. 

Naturally, the first question asks about his involvement in the crypto torture. “Ridiculous question, I’m not even gonna humor it. I’m not gonna say anything,” he says, seconds after declaring that he’d answer any question. Incredible. It’s also exactly what someone who was involved in crypto torture might say when asked about it.

To his credit, he does pivot beautifully by distracting them all with a totally false comparison, saying he doesn’t understand why he’s persona non grata while Ariana is currently on probation for a DUI. I think we all have legal problems, he’s essentially saying. As if summoned by Charlie’s shit talk, Ariana appears out of thin air to clarify that there’s no overlap between her DUI and crypto torture. A slightly better comparison comes from Ava, who tells Brooks that his mom isn’t a criminal by association just because she was on a show with “a lady” who was arrested — referring to Jen Shah’s crimes (and I don’t mean that time she called Brooks a twink). Eventually, Charlie and Brooks agree to just respect each other’s space and move on.

But why is Ava making this her mission in the first place? I’m just as confused about it as Georgia is, given that she and Ava were united against him when the season began. Watching this attempt at repairing Charlie’s burnt bridges play out from across the bar, Georgia feels like she’s seeing her friends slowly succumb to a cult leader despite her fervent warnings. 

Meanwhile, Emira and Georgia are closing the loop on how word spread about Georgia’s alleged flirtation with Emira’s boyfriend Kevin. Luckily, Charlie admitted leaking that accusation to Georgia, which means Emira doesn’t have to fire or muzzle her assistant for blabbing. But there’s one more thing about what Charlie said that Georgia wants to share given how close Emira thinks she is with Charlie. She says that every time they’d have the conversation about whether or not Georgia flirted with Kevin, Charlie would say, “This can’t even be the case because Kevin’s a gay man.” Upon hearing this, Emira instantly shuts down, leaves the party, and demands her mic be removed. As Charlie passes by, she says, “You have said some nasty shit and I don’t wanna be your friend anymore.” 

“He’s a fucking piece of shit, and he’s dead to me,” Emira goes on to say, and the eruption is completely warranted. Charlie has already proven himself to be homophobic, but this comment was unbelievably transphobic against Emira, his one defender left on this cast. He’s meanwhile left confused about what’s going on, so Georgia explains that she told Emira about his comments, which he naturally denies ever saying. Well, he says he doesn’t remember saying it, which on Bravo basically counts as an admission.

I’m left feeling the way I do after every episode of this show, thinking that there’s no way that the human pus stain that is Charlie can ever come back from this… and yet time and time again he keeps coming back.