Kris Jenner Cashed In on Her Sister's Death on 'The Kardashians' -

Season 6 of The Kardashians never really gained momentum. The season struggled to share interesting storylines without revisiting history, treading on old ground without offering anything new. When Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian hit the road for their trip to India and Italy, there was a glimmer of hope that viewers could expect a return to form for the reality series, filming authentic adventures of the sisters together. But for years now it has been clear that Kim and Khloé are the only two family members who take filming seriously, while the rest of the family have been content to ride their coat tails.

Gone are the days when the family filmed continuously together, allowing cameras to capture everything they say and do to be edited together to maximize drama. In recent seasons, the need to keep a tight reign on sharing very little of the family’s personal life has created a vacuum in the series, where there aren’t enough interesting storylines to fill a season. This has led to different family members stretching themselves to create filler scenes that often fail to land, like the frequent conversations surrounding the Menendez brothers this season. Even the family momager Kris Jenner fell victim to this bad habit by turning a chance to celebrate her niece into a filming opportunity.

Kris’s Grief Was Apparent This Season on ‘The Kardashians’

Kris Jenner confessional interview 'The Kardashians' — Image via Hulu

Kris briefly spoke about losing her younger sister in earlier episodes, and how much the grief was affecting her 90-year-old mother. It was clear this season that Kris was struggling with her emotions, compartmentalizing so much grief and pain while pretending to her daughters and the camera that everything was fine. When family friend Scott Disick attempted to comfort Kris over the loss of her sister, she was eager to quickly move away from the subject. In a confessional interview, when the producer asked Kris if she was ready to talk about her sister, the momager snapped that she was not ready, “not today.”

Kris broke down in tears several times this season, like when her mother called and felt she needed help in the kitchen, or when Amari Thompson had a seizure at his 18th birthday party. Kris was also caught being curt with the crew or even, on occasion, with her grandchildren. It is understandable for Kris to not be at her best when it comes to emotional regulation during her time of mourning. But her reluctance to speak about her feelings, and her tendency to keep things light and superficial, made for some questionable filming choices this season.

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Kris’s Need to Spoil People Comes Across As Superficial

When Kris invited her niece Natalie Zettel over to her home for an Oscar de la Renta wedding dress fitting as a gesture of kindness after losing her mother, it came across as the sweet gesture it was intended to be. Kris expressed she wanted to help her niece to celebrate, to “make this a memory that she will keep in her heart forever.” It was a thoughtful choice to pay for a couture gown for the wedding, and a sweet sentiment. As was the necklace that she gifted her niece, as Kim Kardashian explained to her cousin that their mom had given each of her daughters the same necklace at a special point in each of their lives.

Kris going above and beyond to spoil her niece for her wedding, especially in light of her having lost her mother, is nothing but kind. However, the choice to film the scene for the series when Natalie is not known to the audience, and her relationship with her famous cousins is equally unknown, comes across as exploitative. As Kourtney Kardashian has frequently pointed out about her famous family, they are excellent at celebrating each other in big moments, but they are less capable of being supportive of each other emotionally from day to day. Kris’ desire to film a scene of her spoiling her niece is an extension of this habit of spoiling her loved ones with grand gestures, but being less emotionally available for support.

When the season has been struggling to fill the episodes with interesting storylines, with Kim even admitting she couldn’t rally her sisters to film scenes to celebrate Khloé’s birthday for a special tribute, and with everyone refusing to share their authentic day-to-day lives, this scene of Kris spoiling her niece comes across as filler for a season struggling to get off the ground. It was a lovely gesture, but without showing the audience a meaningful relationship that exists underneath the artifice, the scene seemed like a strategic effort to include an act of kindness in the season for clout. The Kardashians overall could take a lesson from Kris’ mistakes this season, of trying to get away with crafting filler scenes and not sharing their authentic lives.