Tonight is the season 3 premiere of unREAL on Lifetime. Its been a while since fans have been treated to the scripted reality series, and for the first time, a female bachelorette (played by Caitlin Fitzgerald) will be at the center of all the drama.
The synopsis for tonight reads, “In a desperate attempt to keep Everlasting afloat following the PR nightmare of the previous season, Quinn brings Rachel back from self-imposed exile. Together they must manage Serena, a Silicon Valley mogul and this season’s suitress.”
Quinn Brings a Psychologist for Rachel to the Unreal Set
For the first time, Quinn will bring a psychologist specifically for Rachel to the Everlasting set. According to SheKnows, Dr. Simon is a former corporate crisis counselor, played by Brandon Jay McLaren.
McLaren tells the outlet, “When first introduced to the Everlasting set, there is a steep learning curve for him, as he must acclimatize to their unusual and cutthroat work practices. But once he learns the ropes, his laser focus on improving Rachel’s mental health may result in him compromising his own.”
Rachel Faces Her Dark Past
Last season, fans learned that when she was younger, Rachel was raped by one of her mother’s patients. Showrunner Stacy Rukeyser tells SheKnows, “This season really is Rachel Goldberg’s #MeToo moment — even though it was written and produced and edited before that movement even had a hashtag! — in the sense that Rachel confronts not only the rape she suffered when she was 12 years old, but also as she confronts the way her parents dealt with that trauma. Or refused to deal with it… Of course, because she’s Rachel Goldberg, she’s not going to handle this process by the book, but she is earnest in her attempt.”
Executive producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro adds on, “I would say that we finally ask the question what the hell is wrong with Rachel, and we answer it… And I think that part of the answer is that there is never one thing.”
Chet Has a New Love Interest
Kassandra Clementi arrives ahead of The Nice Guys Sydney Premiere at Event Cinemas George Street on May 23, 2016 in Sydney, Australia.
Last season, we were teased with a Quinn and Chet romance, but that will be tested this season. Australian actress Kassandra Clementi will be playing Chet’s love interest, Krystal. The actress tells In Style, “[Crystal] comes in as Chet’s girlfriend and she’s quite a bit younger than Chet, so she’s been dubbed his ‘mid-life crisis’ choice of girlfriend. Obviously, there’s a lot of history between Chet and Quinn, so for him to be bringing in a new girlfriend who is quite naïve, and quite a lot younger than Quinn, stirred some drama.”
Another actress, Tracie Thoms, will also be joining the cast this season as Fiona, Quinn’s lesbian friend. In an interview with US Magazine, actress Constnace Zimmer said, “She starts out one way and she ends up another way… Even though it was a very male-centric kind of episode, we had less women than men, the women’s power overrode the men, even though there was more of them. That, to me, felt like a pretty incredible message, that it’s not the number of you in a room, it’s the confidence and the power that you can kind of exude.”
Both Zimmer and Shiri Appleby directed episodes this season. Be sure to tune into the premiere tonight, Monday, February 26, at 10pm ET/PT.