Another Sunday night and we’re again Keeping Up With The Kardashians in Cuba. Some of them, at least, are still vacationing in the island nation, making things awkward for the locals and the viewers back at home.
Episode 13 picks up right where Episode 12 left off. Kim and Kourtney stop in at a local market, and Kim asks if Kourtney has talked to Scott and if he wishes he had made the trip. Cuba, according to Kim, is Scott’s kind of place. Kourtney repeats what we heard last week. Scott wanted to come, but he decided too late to get his visa in order. Plus, Kourtney says, he’d like the vibe, but he’s more of a “lay on the beach” kind of guy.
Khloé and Malika go for a drive with Armando in the Chevy. Malika finds yet another opportunity to make things awkward. Armando asks if they like peanuts. She asks him to repeat the question. Twice. She honestly thinks he is asking her if she likes penis. Luckily for all involved including all of us at home, this doesn’t go on too long. She realizes he’s saying peanuts, and he shares some with Malika and Khloé. We are all just lucky that Malika doesn’t have a penis allergy.
Khloé is still stressing out about Lamar. Last week it was because she hadn’t yet talked to him since they arrived in Cuba. Now, it is because she has talked to him. She got in touch with him, and he said he’s great. “And that worries me the most.” It sounds like her worries are not unfounded because Lamar is drinking alone at home. Malika, for all of the cluelessness she’s had on this trip, does give Khloé sound advice when it comes to Lamar. She tells Khloé that the drinking is worrisome, and he shouldn’t be doing it, “but that’s not a choice he’s making.” Malika wants Khloé to do a better job of taking care of herself.
Kim needn’t have questioned whether Scott wanted to make the trip to Cuba. Lord Disick has a serious case of FOMO. (This is a major part of his nature when it comes to his extended family. It drives a lot of his behavior.) The Cuba FOMO is in full effect in Calabasas. Scott drops in on Kris to tell her that he’s bummed they didn’t make the trip, and he’s convinced they are missing out on something big. He was told there was no cell service in Cuba and, “now the girls are posting all these pictures.” He’s not going to take this case of FOMO lying down. Scott is going to do his best Cuban staycation there in LA.
The Kardashians aren’t the only ones taking pictures of the Kardashians in Cuba. Word has now gotten around that they've arrived, so now there are crowds and paparazzi. Kim and Kanye roll with it. Khloé is disappointed. “I thought no one knew who we were here,” she says, completely unironically. Full credit to Malika for the side-eye here.
The whole caravan makes its way to a salsa dancing class. Kim proves, again, that her being a terrible dancer on Dancing With The Stars might have been the most real reality show thing she has ever done. Granted, the long, straight skirt does not promote any hip action, but still. North and Penelope are far and away the best of the bunch. (And, of course, the cutest.) Kanye’s less excited about the salsa class than the opportunity to do some ad hoc fashion design on the spot and his next meal. “I’m gonna eat some rice and beans because its my favorite food,” he says.
Speaking of rice and beans, Scott’s Cuba campaign has started back in California. “In order to get my Cuba on, there are some levels and steps I need to take. I need to ease everyone into it. So, today it’s just Cuban food.” He arrives at Kris’s house with trays of Cuban food. Rice and beans. Just like Kanye in Cuba. Kylie, Kris, and Corey are into it, but Kylie draws the line at Scott’s pocket speaker playing Cuban music.
Scott enlists French Montana for step two in his Cuban immersion weekend. The two men pull into Kris’s driveway in a vintage Chevrolet. Scott and French take Kris and Kylie cruising in the Chevy, smoking some serious cigars. It’s all laid back and relaxed until Kylie realizes she has a lip kit launching in 40 minutes. Free time over, everyone. Back to work.
A different one of Kylie’s business ventures is a hot topic at the dinner table in Havana. Kylie has just launched a campaign with Puma, despite the fact that she appeared in Kanye’s first two shows: Yeezy Adidas shows. Kim is annoyed that her mother didn’t communicate with Kanye about the Puma deal. Kayne says it would be like if he decided to come out with a TV show on Sunday night. “I could come on your show like twice then do my own thing with my friends Jay-Z and Beyoncé.” Hey Kanye, can you do that? That actually sounds like a pretty great show.
Khloé and Malika have one last shot for an awkward moment with the driver, Armando, and they take it. They tell him how much they love Cuba, and they’re worried that modernization will change it. “I hope they just keep this 1950s vibe,” Khloé says. Sigh. Malika thanks her friend for “another amazing memory.” Memories are like currency to this gang, which is not bad, per se, it just doesn’t always feel authentic.
On the runway waiting for the jet to take off, Khloé, Kourtney, and Malika talk about how great it was to be unconnected from the world for a few days, leaving cell phones and social media behind. Kourtney, the family voice of reason, points out that the dinners on the trip were so special because no one was on their phones. Khloé credits the lack of connectivity for making everyone so calm and cool and relaxed. She also wants to know if the plane has Wi-Fi.
The vacation from their problems is over, and Khloé is anxious to check in on Lamar and Kim is ready to face off with Kris about Puma. To Khloé’s relief, Lamar does indeed seem to be doing well, but she’s starting to put a little more distance between them. “I really want to keep Lamar in a really positive space,” she says. Even so, she realizes that there is only so much she can do. He has to take control of his life. She ends up at this place at the end of many of the episodes this season, so, how much control she’s willing to relinquish is honestly a question.
Kim takes her mom to task at Kris’s house. She tells Kris that friends are asking her if Kanye is pissed that Kylie signed with Puma. Kris sticks to the party line, claiming that it was purely a business decision. Kim’s not buying it. “Sometimes when you’re dealing with family it's not really a business decision,” Kim says. Kim isn’t faulting her mom for making the deal, just questioning the communication around how the deal was made. She pulls a page out of Kanye’s book saying it would be like if she signed a big deal with Estée Lauder without telling Kris or Kendall. Kris backs down from this one, admitting that she might not have handled it correctly. “Sometimes I get ahead of myself, too, and I forget to communicate,” Kris says.
In a quick glimpse behind the Kardashian curtain, Kim and Kris laugh about some of the early deals that Kris made for Kim’s brand. Her job was always to find opportunities. “It’s not like you could sing or dance,” she says to Kim.
The last moments of the episode are a Cuban-themed party that Khloé and Kourtney throw for Kris and Scott (and Corey.) Malika takes everyone’s phones away for 30 minutes. Kris gets tipsy while wearing a white lace pant suit with an embroidered, sparkly pineapple. Scott gets his Cuba time with Kourtney and the kids. All is right in Kardashian Land. “Maybe our Cuba trip will remind us all to take advantage of family time when we have it,” Khloé says. Let’s hope she remembered to tweet that after dinner.
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