‘UnREAL’ season 2, episode 9 review: It all hits the fan

As the second season of “UnREAL” is set to conclude, we are yet again facing a question of likability, and who we are meant to root for.

Here’s the odd thing: We find ourselves feeling great sympathy for Rachel at present, even with the knowledge that her biggest move in the episode was intentionally getting Yael sick and even picking out a white outfit for her in order for there to be maximum humiliation in front of the camera. Yes, we did have an episode capped off by someone popping their pants. It’s a storyline drawn up by a third-grader, but somehow it worked within the framework of the show and the person we know Rachel to be. She knew that Yael was shady and was being incredibly rude to her while getting close to Coleman. She got revenge, and the worst possible kind for Yael. Getting eliminated by Darius is nothing compared to what happened to her on national TV.

Yet, somehow Yael could still be the winner here given that Coleman now has everything that he needs to seek vengeance on their show, in particular the evidence of what happened to Mary, even if he took some of it from Rachel while she was in a vulnerable state. (Plot issue of the week: Was Yael really feeling good enough to hook up with Coleman, and would he really want to given the circumstances?)

Seeing the story of Chantal was vintage “UnREAL” in that it was funny, over-the-top, and entirely manipulative. Great stuff. We’d enjoy Tiffany just as much if the relationship with Chet wasn’t coming out of almost nowhere. His presence is really the one reason why the entire ending could be torpedoed where she ends up with Darius.

You would think that this would all be enough for a single episode — and yet, Quinn was devastated in the closing minutes after learning she was unable to have children. She sent her new love away, and were it not for Rachel and her mission to destroy Coleman, who knows how far her spiral would’ve gone? She gave her a focus, which in turn gives us a heck of a great focus going into the last episode of an uneven-but-fun season. Grade: B- (and we never thought a storyline about poop would get this high a grade).