The Real World Homecoming

"Homecoming" proves that there's simply no going back to the way we were. That's not entirely a bad thing, as the premiere demonstrates by reminding us of Kevin and Julie's fervent sidewalk argument about race and racism. ... Here and now they are genuinely overcome with emotion to share space again. ... Yes, we've all gotten older and wiser in some ways more than others. Acknowledging that through "Homecoming: New York" makes it a more worthwhile trip than any memory lane rewind can offer in 2021.

One of the most fascinating potential elements in this Real World redux will be watching how the same people unpack these issues now after three decades of experience and insight. There is also something poignant about watching these six people, several of whom have remained in touch, reconnect in person again, especially at a time when in-person reunions are impossible.

What’s satisfying isn’t that the roommates have evolved to become what Kevin calls woke, so much as that (in Homecoming’s premiere, at least) they come off as thoughtful, empathetic, reasonably intelligent and self-aware adults.

The show feels a little like going to your college reunion. You are just glad to see everyone and check in on how they are doing, but overall the premiere—a throwback to the kinder, gentler days of reality TV—is a little, dare I say it, boring.

The first episode is nostalgic and a little bittersweet, but not exactly urgent. The castmates hug and cry, share family pictures and sip white wine. Most of the drama comes in flashbacks to the race- and hormone-driven clashes of the original season. But combine “Homecoming” with a rewatch of the first season (also streaming on Paramount+, along with several other “Real World” seasons), and you get an overwhelming sense of how much and how little has changed, in TV and in America.

A lot of the premiere — the only episode provided to critics to screen — is taken up with recapping the original series. ... I’m already fascinated to see all these foundational “characters” recontextualized for our new reality: like all of us, older, wearier, but maybe a little bit hopeful, too. They’re also still being polite in the premiere, and I have to stick around to see what happens when they stop.

Thanks to the cast, there’s still some charming grit in the cogs of what’s become a predictably smooth form of reality-TV blandness.