Earle Meets World gets ultra vulnerable, but takes its sweet time getting there

Kathleen O'BoyleSun, September 6, 2026 at 5:54 AM UTC

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Earle Meets World shows a new side of Alix Earle -Credit:Netflix

If you already like Alix Earle, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy Earle Meets World.

If you’re not someone who normally watches reality TV just for the sake of watching people live their lives, though, some parts of the eight-episode series may feel pretty slow. The Netflix show follows Alix and her blended family as they deal with relationships, family issues, social media drama and the pressures that come with having millions of people following their lives online.

There’s also plenty of the everyday stuff that comes with reality TV, including getting ready, going out, talking about relationships and sitting around with family, which can either be entertaining or feel like filler depending on what you’re looking for. For me, the show works best when Alix actually lets herself be vulnerable. The show was highly anticipated by fans after teasing it weeks earlier.

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One of the more interesting parts of the series is the way it handles Alix’s family. Her parents, Alisa and TJ, have been divorced for years, while TJ is now married to Ashley Earle, better known as Ashley Dupré. Ashley was previously involved in the prostitution scandal surrounding former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, and her relationship with TJ eventually became part of the complicated history of Alix's family.

That backstory could have easily been turned into messy reality-TV drama, but the show is more interested in what their family looks like now. Alix, her siblings and both sides of the family have clearly had to figure out how to navigate an unconventional family dynamic.

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Alix Earle's best friend Sally is also on the show -Credit:Netflix

There’s still tension, particularly between Alix and Ashley, but it never completely takes over the series. Instead, viewers get a sense of how complicated it can be to have a blended family where everyone has years of history with one another.

The most emotional storyline, however, involves Alix’s mother. Alisa’s breast cancer journey is handled in a way that gives the series some real emotional weight. After their mother’s diagnosis, Alix and her sister Ashtin undergo genetic testing and learn that they both carry a BRCA2 mutation, which can increase the risk of certain cancers.

Those scenes are genuinely difficult to watch, particularly as Alix and Ashtin process what the results could mean for their own futures while dealing with everything their mother has already gone through.

I cried watching it, which is one of the better signs for a reality show like this.

The show sees a modern family dynamic -Credit:Netflix

Alix’s breakup with NFL star Braxton Berrios is another plot point that benefits from her willingness to be honest. Alix got real about how difficult it can be to deal with heartbreak when millions of people are watching and forming their own opinions about what happened.

One major storyline is Alix’s fallout with Alex Cooper, the Call Her Daddy host and founder of Unwell Network. Alix explains why she felt betrayed by Cooper and talks about how much she had looked up to her when they first met. This was especially satisfying for anyone who has followed the drama between the two online, although the series doesn’t necessarily deliver the explosive confrontation some viewers may be expecting.

That’s probably the biggest issue with Earle Meets World. The show has plenty of material to work with, but it sometimes takes too long to get anywhere with it. Some episodes feel stretched out, and certain conversations could have been shorter without losing anything important. Some of the most important storylines, such as the Cooper drama, don't get introduced to viewers until the end of the season.

Still, the slower pace doesn’t make the entire series a miss. Other exciting features on the show include cameos from Jake Shane as well as Dancing with the Stars' Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”