Season 3 of Winter House is winding down, but somehow, there’s still a little bit of steam left in this boat. Last week, we got an unnecessary cameo from Captain Sandy Yawn. Then, Danielle killed whatever was left of the good vibes by whining about her situation with Alex and taking her aggression out on everyone else. Now, we’re moving into the Winter House Season 3, Episode 8 recap.
This week, Tom returned, and the gang also welcomed Kory’s soon-to-be girlfriend Sam for a visit. She came to Colorado with a little bit of attitude and a whole lot of insecurities, shaking things up for Season 3’s penultimate episode. Let’s tackle all of the juicy details of Winter House Season 3, Episode 8 “Coming in Hot.”
Down in the dumps with Danielle
Unfortunately, Episode 8 brought us right back into the Danielle drama, as she fully spiraled over her situation with Alex. Fueled by frustration, Danielle started terrorizing everyone in the house with her weird attitude.
The group planned a glow party, and Danielle complained. They ordered Chinese takeout. Danielle complained. Everyone knew why she was grumpy. It had everything to do with Alex, so Malia tried to get her to snap out of it. But, there was no salvaging Danielle’s mood. Luckily, she eventually had the wherewithal to just remove herself from the party and go to bed. You know they were all relieved.
The next day, Danielle woke up fresh as a daisy. It was as if nothing ever happened, and she even did a deep clean of the kitchen. A full 180, and by the end of the day, she did another one.
She pulled Alex aside to talk about the status of their relationship, and she reiterated how she just wanted it to be a fun vacation fling. Of course. she says that but then runs around being emotional and territorial over Alex. He finally called out her hypocrisy and suggested that they just “focus on the friendship” and take away the benefits.
Danielle didn’t like that, but sheesh. She needed to hear it. No one could endure another minute of her Alex-induced mood swings.
Welcome home, Tom Schwartz
After only missing one episode, Tom made his triumphant return to Winter House! He survived the Season 10 Vanderpump Rules reunion and ventured back to Colorado to finish out the vacation. When Tom left the house, it definitely seemed like he was going to be gone for much longer than just one episode, but alas, our boy is back.
The whole house seemed excited to have Tom coming back into the fold. Katie wanted her crush back. Alex was stoked to have his pillow talk therapist back beside him. Tom was just grateful to be away from VPR.
“There’s no doubt about it this is escapism for me,” Tom said of his Winter House return. “I’m savoring every moment that I don’t have to be back in Los Angeles, where it’s very scary.”
When Tom came back to the house, all eyes were on him and Katie. Would they leap into each other’s arms like two war-torn lovers? Not at all.
Unfortunately for Katie, the emotional connection she had with Schwartz seemed to have reset while he was away. Yes, he called her by her first name in this episode, but where’s their spark? It seems like maybe his absence helped them both realize that this was a showmance and not a romance. However, there’s still time for one more hookup, so we’re not ruling them out just yet.
Sam’s a’coming
Kory invited his sort-of girlfriend to come visit the Winter House, and while that’s cute and all, it caused some super awkward feelings amongst the roommates as they awaited her arrival. Sam’s visit became less about Kory and more about everyone else.
Jordan felt weird because she was trying to get with Kory earlier in the vacation. Casey felt uneasy because she straight-up called Sam trash. Then, the cast learned about a blind item floating around on the internet that suggested Malia and Kory had been flirting. Awkward!
Kory tried to get ahead of some of the drama before Sam got there. He told Casey that he didn’t tell Sam about her trash-talking. Kory said he wasn’t going to tell her until after filming wrapped. What a gentleman, right?
Sam arrived pretty early in the episode, and everyone welcomed her with open arms. However, Casey’s arms were almost too open. The two of them were instantly buddy-buddy, and it felt painfully fake. Jordan thought so too. She theorized that Kory did tell Sam about Casey’s trash-talking and that they were both just overcompensating.
Regardless of whether they were being fake or not, Casey was able to steer clear of any drama with Sam. Malia on the other hand? That’s a different story.
Malia’s little sister energy
Sam was in the Winter House for maybe 10 minutes before Malia and Kory’s friendship became a problem. The blind item floating around about their flirty relationship didn’t help things. Neither did Kory’s chat with Sam where he told her at the beginning of the vacation, all of the girls were flirting with him. He wanted a pat on the back for not betraying Sam, but instead, he just made Sam even more insecure than she already was.
All season, Malia and Kory have been acting like two playful little siblings, and Sam’s presence didn’t change that. They wrestle, they tackle each other, they baby-bird shots of liquor into each other’s mouths — they’re like a big brother and a little sister. At one point in this episode, Kory and Malia wrestled each other in the snow right in front of Sam. She got pissed.
Sam went to Danielle and Amanda and complained about Malia being “desperate” for Kory. They tried to explain to Sam that Malia has “little sister energy.” Sam wasn’t buying it.
Behind the scenes, Jordan didn’t buy it either. In her confessional, she hilariously quipped, “It’s giving brother and sister in this universe but somewhere out there in the matrix is a different story.”
Danielle tried to help Sam by giving Malia a heads-up that there was some animosity growing. She suggested that Malia dial back her friendship with Kory, but let’s be real, Danielle is the last person anyone should take advice from in this house.
A roast to remember
That evening, the group organized a roast. There’s no better way to bond with your roommates than roasting them. It’s truly a love language.
Casey made some type of mystery meat to go with the roast, and they all gathered around and cracked jokes at each other’s expense. They read for being friend-zoned by all the girls. They dragged Kory for being a player. Then, of course, Danielle had to make things weird by trying to roast Alex for no longer wanting to sleep with her. Too much.
Malia got the roast extra spicy by making a dig at Sam. With a wink, she said, “Sam welcome to the house, I know it’s been a lot to tackle.”
Sam didn’t laugh and took it way too seriously. So once all of the jokes were done, she and Malia stepped aside to talk about the Kory situation. It quickly devolved into an argument as Sam tried to accuse Malia of being disrespectful to her “relationship” with Kory.
It’s not every day that anyone’s rooting for Malia in an argument, but she got Sam together. Sam tried to argue that Malia should be more respectful of her eight-month situationship with Kory, and Malia had to gently remind her that Kory came into the house, loudly proclaiming to not be in a relationship. That’s not Malia’s fault.
Once again, we’re witnessing the dangers of an undefined relationship. Whether it’s Schwartz and Katie’s weird showmance, Alex and Danielle’s “friendship,” and now, Sam and Kory’s situation, having unclear boundaries doesn’t seem to be going well for this group. Maybe they should all take a page from Jordan’s book and focus on celibacy for a bit.
Either way, the episode ended mid-argument with Malia and Sam. We’ll have to tune into next week’s season finale to see how that conversation unfolds.
Season 3 of Winter House concludes next Tuesday at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WINTER HOUSE SEASON 3, EPISODE 8, “COMING IN HOT?” DO YOU THINK ALEX HANDLED THE DANIELLE SITUATION IN THE RIGHT WAY? SHOULD MALIA STOP BEING SO TOUCHY WITH KORY WHEN SAM IS AROUND?
