Let’s start with the trailer you have probably seen at this point:

This is the trailer that MTV has been having on repeat everywhere. I went to the movies to see Dunkirk on Monday, and while I was there, a trailer for Siesta Key was playing in the main lobby. As I was grabbing Starbucks on Friday, the DJ of the radio station made a shout out advertisement for Siesta Key. MTV is really trying to make this show into a thing.

This trailer did not pique my interest particularly besides the beautiful people, except for the fact that the song is quite good and done by Carly Rae Jepsen. Carly Rae is the most underrated pop singer of the 2010s, the girl kills pop music and has created 95% of my interest in Siesta Key.

On the 26th, MTV put out this sneak peek to introduce the characters

Ranking the people based on this Sneak Peek:

Brandon — Only person of color. Kelsey — Prettiest girl and takes care of her sick mom. Garrett — Technically, not even friends with people on the show, dates Kelsey, and has great abs. Madison — Broke up with her boyfriend and still hooks up with him when it town. Respect. Chloe — I guess she’s the alpha? She likes Brandon. Juliette — Maybe doing this overly dramatic narration of how they are not in paradise made me upset. Alex — 7th best looking person of the group.

They put out this sneak peek talking about beach life. It’s kind of boring.

Then they did one to talk about love and relationships.

This was one was way more fun as they basically discuss that Siesta Key has a hookup culture where anything goes. That is what we want as fans of reality television. Some people talk about love, while others are more lighthearted about it.

USA Today posted an article previewing the show and discussing the first episode.

They talk about how Siesta Key is the natural progression from Laguna Beach and the Hills, and that adults who grew up with those shows are going to get Siesta Key now. I do expect a good amount of people who watched Laguna Beach or the Hills when they were younger to watch Siesta Key, or at least give it a chance. Those shows were a bit more enjoyable when you were younger as they were glamorous lives you could have wished to have. Now we wonder if the younger generation will actually watch this show.

Siesta Key looks beautifully shot and has a great soundtrack. The show itself looks like an Instagram filter. This is an example of a brand or an advertisement as a television show. Siesta Key was made for Peak Tumblr, where people would either use the aesthetics of people and scenes for a beauty blog, while others would take it apart for being a white privilege show that is so 1%, with then people intending to take it apart actually enjoy is it as a guilty pleasure.

Peak Tumblr is over, and what the show hopes for is the stars maybe gain a big social media following on Instagram and Twitter. The viewing numbers and ratings will matter a ton, but what matters more is how consumable it will be for people after the airing. AYTO is a good show because it is easily consumable as a show to binge. The first time I watched AYTO, I watched season 3 all in one day and was amazed by all the relationship jumping across the 10 episodes. While watching it live for the first time this past season, it was not as good of a show, it was slow and having to wait week to week for a low stakes show.

Siesta Key needs to raise the stakes, create possible controversy, and be easily watchable for the binge-watching crowd in order to succeed.

Should You Watch It?

I will be watching the first couple episodes to check out the vibe, see how they’re editing the project, and just judge the little things. If you were a fan of the Hills, this could be your new show. If you are looking for the Challenge, it’s not your show. If you are looking for the Real World, not your show. If you are looking for AYTO, also not your show.

It is not a competition, it is rich kids living a glamour life that is over-dramatized.