After leaving viewers hanging on a bit of a cliffhanger last week, this Sunday's finale of I Am Cait brought a moment we have been waiting for all season: Caitlyn Jenner and Kris Jenner meeting to work through their issues. For fans of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, this was a huge deal. None of us want to see the family's two leaders at odds, and after watching Caitlyn become more confident in so many aspects of her life for the past eight episodes, it seemed like resolving things with her ex-wife was one of the most important remaining steps on her road to happiness. While the conversation didn't exactly end with the two becoming best friends, Kris and Caitlyn were each able to express their feelings and come to a sort of understanding.
The sit-down primarily focused on two main issues, with each woman having been hurt by the other's actions. For Kris, it was Caitlyn's comments about her in Vanity Fair, primarily Caitlyn saying she was "mistreated" during their marriage. For Caitlyn, it was not being invited to their daughter Kylie's graduation. After exchanging a few pleasantries, and Kris complimenting Caitlyn's shoes, they sat across from each other in Cait's living room and got down to business.
According to Caitlyn, at this point the two hadn't spoken to each other in six months, and Kris responded by saying, "I really was blindsided in a lot of ways, and that really got to me so bad, that I didn’t want to communicate with you and be angry." Caitlyn responded by saying that being excluded from Kylie's graduation felt like "a slap in the face," while Kris explained that she felt the same way about the Vanity Fair interview. At this point, the recurring theme of the conversation became clear: while both Kris and Caitlyn feel seriously hurt by the other, neither is able to fully understand the other's emotions, nor are they really able to admit any fault in hurting each other. Unfortunately, that didn't really change by the end of the conversation, and instead the former spouses essentially agreed to put the past behind them, and move on as friends for the sake of their family. Before they got to that point, however, there was more to work through.
While Caitlyn maintained that she didn't think she said anything hurtful in Vanity Fair, Kris eventually moved on to something else that was hurting her. "You’re sensitive and amazing to all of these new people in your life, but you’re not so sensitive and amazing to the people on this side of the family that you left behind," she said, which Caitlyn took great issue with, telling Kris she wasn't leaving anyone behind and to not "play the martyr." But Caitlyn seemed to understand, with a tinge of sadness, Kris' next explanation of her feelings.
"I know you say you’re the same person and you’re not going anywhere, but sometimes I just miss having Bruce around, we all do," Kris said. This seemed to affect Caitlyn more deeply than Kris' previous statements, and in a separate talking head she said, "One of the hardest things for me to deal with is my family’s grief ... I wish my happiness could be their happiness." In this moment it was clear how difficult these past few months have been for both Jenners, and watching them finally confront these feelings face-to-face made my sympathize with both of them. They've both been working through their divorce and Caitlyn's transition, all while under intense media scrutiny, and in the process have said and done some things that hurt each other. Once these feelings, Kris' of grief and Caitlyn's of being unfairly excluded, were put on the table, they were able to start focusing on the future.
Caitlyn asked how they can move forward, and Kris simply said, "we have to get used to our new normal." After Caitlyn reflected in a talking head that, “it was good to talk because I got [Kris'] side of the story. I don’t agree with everything she said, but it’s good to communicate," they tried to kickstart a sort of friendship. Kris asked Caitlyn about her personal life, and when she remained tight-lipped, Kris gave the ultimate Kardashian-Jenner peace offering: "Do you wanna take a selfie?" That selfie may not have been made public yet, but I'm glad we were able to see Kris and Caitlyn confront their issues and begin to move past them, in their own unique way.
