When we left Julia Haart at the end of the first season of My Unorthodox Life, she was happily married to Silvio Scaglia, and the two of them partnered to buy Elite World Group, a top modeling and talent agency. She was riding high as the CEO, even while dealing with her four kids’ various issues as they all transition from being in a sheltered Orthodox community in upstate New York to being either “modern Orthodox” or not even religious. But since that first season, Haart and Scaglia have been engaged in a really ugly divorce that’s still ongoing, and Haart lost her job. How much of that ugliness will we see in Season 2?
MY UNORTHODOX LIFE SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A disclaimer strangely mentions that the second season of My Unorthodox Life was recorded between January 31, 2022 to April 12, 2022. After a recap of Season 1, we see “One Year Later; The Haart Penthouse”, with moving boxes all over the living room.
The Gist: There are moving boxes there because Julia Haart’s soon to be ex-husband, Silvio Scaglia, is moving out. A few weeks earlier, the two of them decided that a divorce was the best option, given that they each saw their futures differently. Julia is devoted to her children; her daughters Batsheva and Miriam were living at the penthouse. Silvio, on the other hand, wanted little to do with Julia’s kids, which was a source of most of the tension between them.
Bat was living in the penthouse because she was going through her own divorce; there were too many disputes with her husband Ben about how religious they should be as a couple, and they were each going in opposite directions in that regard. Miriam’s current girlfriend, Nathalie, is over the penthouse frequently. So there is a lot of relationship drama going on.
But it seems that Julia has things worked out: No one is splitting assets, and their business partnership will continue. She will remain CEO of Elite World Group, which has been growing under her leadership. Despite how Silvio treated her and her kids, she wants things to remain amicable, because she feels that they are terrific as business partners and nothing in their personal lives should change that.
Then she gets word that Silvio has hired a prominent divorce attorney, one that is retained when looking for a fight, not an amicable divorce. Pretty soon after that, as we learn in the second episode, Silvio fires her from EWG, despite Julia’s assertion that they’re 50/50 partners.
In addition to Julia and her divorce drama, we also follow Robert Brotherton, COO of EWG and Julia’s bestie, as he gets ready to have some plastic surgery. After losing a lot of weight, he’s decided to nip and tuck his midsection so he can feel confident about himself. He gets support from both Julia and his new boyfriend, Ra’ed. The two of them had been friends since they were teens, but over the pandemic they grew closer, especially after Ra’ed moved in with Robert at his new house in Connecticut.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? My Unorthodox Life Season 1. It’s considered a “docusoap” along the likes of Bling Empire, House of Ho, and Family Karma.
Our Take: A common criticism of the first season of My Unorthodox Life was that it didn’t really explain how Julia Haart went from being in a very sheltered Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, New York to the CEO of Elite World Group in the span of six years. So all of the news surrounding Haart and Scaglia’s divorce confirmed what many of us thought: Their relationship and her position at EWG are pretty much intertwined. We’re glad that Haart has decided to air all of the ugliness, at least from her point of view.
Of course, what we don’t see is Scaglia’s side of the divorce. Why did he agree to do things amicably and keep their business relationship untouched then suddenly hire shark attorneys, fire her from her CEO position and start lobbing lawsuits? From the various news reports of their divorce, it seems like he fired her immediately after she filed for divorce, though the show makes it look like that was in process before all this happened. Also, he’s accused her of stealing money from their holding company, and he’s said that she holds a half-share less stock in the company than he does, which is why he had the power to sack her.
We want to see all of this, and judging by the descriptions of the episodes, we will — at least through April, 2022. It looks like Haart is staying strong through all of this, but her assertions that they are having a perfect divorce feel laughable in retrospect. We appreciate how EP Jeff Jenkins clipped together so many scenes of Haart’s confidence in how the divorce was proceeding, because it was good foreshadowing for anyone who knows about what will happen next, and makes for a surprise for those who don’t.
What made us scratch our heads is the concentration on Robert. Sure, he has a big personality, but his plastic surgery and his skepticism over the open relationship he’s having with Ra’ed feel like pretty mundane docusoap stuff compared to what’s going on with Julia.
What’s going on with Julia’s kids, including the still-shy Shlomo and still-Orthodox Aaron, is at least a little more intriguing because most of them are still struggling with their religious identities, even if that means that they’re moving away from religion. But the more we are away from Julia the more we want to go back to her and the ugliness. Are we proud to write that? Not really. But at this stage, it’s what’s going to keep people watching.
Sex and Skin: Julia gets a purse from her friends that says “Pussy Power” on it. In the second episode, she throws a “lesbian rager” for Miriam’s birthday with a neon sign saying “I Love Pussy.” Such class.
Parting Shot: Julia tells Robert about the lawyer Silvio hired and about how she wants to keep the divorce amicable. “It doesn’t sound very fucking amicable,” he responds.
Sleeper Star: If anyone, it’s Ra’ed, mainly because he’ll act as anyone’s wingman. Shlomo wants to get to know a woman from EWG? Ra’an helps him. He wants to introduce Robert to a handsome man at the dog park? Sure, why not?
Most Pilot-y Line: When Silvio moves out then says goodbye to Miriam and Batsheva, Bat awkwardly says, “It’s been a pleasure,” even though we all know that it hasn’t.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Because of Haart’s divorce, Season 2 of My Unorthodox Life will likely be less about the Haarts’ continuing transition to a more secular life from their lives in the Orthodox community. But that divorce is so juicy that it will make the season a fascinating one to watch.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.