Bravo’s The Valley is a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules and follows a group of former partygoers as they settle into adulthood, complete with homeownership, career moves, and raising families. A few VPR faces have returned to the spinoff, including Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright, who are now separated, and Kristen Doute, who is newly engaged to Luke Broderick.

Season 2 of The Valley will continue right where the first season left off. Reality TV goers will get insight into Jax and Brittany’s life post-split while co-parenting their son, Cruz. The season also focuses on former couple Jesse Lally and Michelle Saniei as they work through their recent divorce for the sake of their daughter. Returning for the second season are couples Jason and Janet Caperna and Danny and Nia Booko. Additionally, both Jasmine Goode and Zack Wickham are now main cast members.

An Update On Life In The Valley

The Valley Season 2 kicks off with reintroductions of the cast, starting with Jesse Lally. He’s making breakfast for his four-year-old daughter, Isabella, whom he shares with his former wife, Michelle Saniei. The two are now waiting for their divorce to be finalized. “Co-parenting is not going well,” Jesse shares. “We are arguing all the time about everything.” Five hours later, Michelle is seen picking up their daughter from school.

Viewers then see Janet and Jason Caperna as first-time parents. Their son, Cameron, is 7 months old, and the couple is adjusting to this new life they share with him.

Kristen Doute and Luke Broderick are next. Kristen mentions that she and Janet are not on good terms. “She’s dead to me,” Kristen tells him. Meanwhile, the couple is now focused on trying to have a baby of their own.

Jasmine Goode, who got bumped up from a friend to a main cast member, is walking with her significant other, Melissa. Jasmine wants to take their relationship to the next level and get married.

Cameras then head to Danny and Nia Booko’s condo, and the couple have their hands full as they raise three young children under three-years-old. Lastly, we are taken to Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright’s house, where the former now resides alone after their separation. In a confessional, Jax shares that their separation has not been a smooth one.

Jesse visits Jax’s home where the latter spills that he and Brittany “were messing with the idea” of fixing their marriage. Jax appeared to be fully on board, but he found out that she was still speaking to one of his former friends named Julian, who Brittany had hooked up with.

The cameras then pan to Brittany speaking to Michelle, where she recounts the same story. She admitted that Jax went through their whole private text conversations on an iPad their son uses, and saw that Brittany had sent a “sexy video” to Julian. Brittany tells Michelle that on that day, Jax got extremely irate and angry after learning all of this.

“He flipped the coffee table, and it hit my knee,” she tells Michelle, adding that it was a “terrifying” moment. Jax allegedly yelled at his former wife that she was cheating on him, but they were already separated at this point. “I went full unhinged rage,” Jax tells Jesse. Jax confesses that it was terrible what he did, and was lucky their son did not witness it.

Brittany adds that Jax’s rages are so bad, she does not allow Cruz alone with him.

Additionally, Jesse shares a romantic update, telling Jax that he’s now in a relationship with another woman following his separation from Michelle, but it really does all sound vengeful. Michelle is also in a new romance with a man named Aaron, but theirs sounds a lot more serious. Both Jesse and Michelle have no problem criticizing each other, pointing out how different they are from their current partners.

Team Jesse Or Team Michelle?

Nia, Zack Wickham, and Kristen meet for lunch where they agree that Brittany and Jax are better off not ever getting back together. They discuss how scary Jax’s rage can be, including the night he got aggressive towards Brittany after he had learned about her texting Julian. Prior to this, Brittany and Janet are also seen discussing Jax’s mental health. Everyone seems to be in agreement that the bar owner needs to seek some sort of professional help.

Meanwhile, Kristen also speaks about her relationship with Janet. Both Kristen and Zack have not been on good terms with Janet since the conclusion of Season 1, but it continued to get worse following a podcast episode in which Janet accused them of some horrible stuff, like insinuating that they almost cost her a full-term pregnancy. Zack also believes that Janet is trying to infiltrate his relationship with Brittany.

In a surprise twist, Kristen goes over to see Jesse. The two did not get along last season with Kristen accusing Michelle of infidelity. At that time, Kristen shared that Michelle had been dating someone for one year, and now, Jesse wants to investigate to see if it was Michelle’s boyfriend, Aaron, all along.

Jesse apologizes to Kristen. However, Jesse is playing a pretty ruthless game and viewers can already tell that his separation from Michelle will not be pretty. He tells Kristen, “It’s going to be Team Jesse or Team Michelle.”

Jax Gets Excluded From Brittany’s White Party

Jax is “bummed” he isn’t invited to a party Brittany is throwing with their friends. Everyone is invited to her white party, including Janet and Kristen. Janet wants to break the ice and mend her relationship with Kristen, but not without an apology.

Meanwhile, Jax throws his own party at Jax’s Studio City bar. VPR alum Tom Schwartz appears where they discuss that night where Jax’s rage towards Brittany was inexcusable. Tom tells Jax that he needs to “seek help” and that there was “no excuse” for his behavior that night, no matter what Brittany did to him.

At the white party, Janet pulls Kristen aside for a conversation. Janet wants to fix their relationship, but Kristen isn’t allowing her to get off easily, especially after her podcast interview. In fact, Janet only makes it worse when she lumps Kristen into Zack’s “demonic behavior.” Kristen felt that Janet was merely gaslighting her and her apology wasn’t sincere. Janet also wants an apology from Kristen, but she didn’t get one.

Both Jesse and Michelle are also invited to Brittany’s party. Michelle brings Aaron and it’s clear that Jesse despises him with every fiber of his being. Jesse also came with every intention to rile Michelle up by telling her he was going to fight for full custody of their daughter and move to Orange County.

Michelle believes that Jesse has not moved on from their marriage. He is only seeking revenge to hurt her by saying he’d move and take their daughter with him. “He will do anything to ruin my life,” Michelle shares. In a confessional, he admits that he is trying to get a rise out of her.

The episode ends with snippets of what’s to come, including Danny and Nia’s marriage being tested and Jax’s co-stars urging him to get real help.