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Keeping Up With The Kardashians Episode 7 Recap: "The Ex Files"

Photo: Peter Kramer/NBCUniversal.
Exes (and potentially soon-to-be exes) are the theme for this week's episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. The Kardashian women are worried about Rob, Kris is struggling with Caitlyn, and Khloé's moving on.
"Make an Ex Box," Kim says, repeating to Scott the advice she gave Khloé when Khloé came across a stack of her wedding photos. Khloé's first instinct was to shred them. But an Ex Box, a designated storage spot for the flotsam and jetsam of partners past, is Kim's solution.
Kendall and Kylie are spending the afternoon doing a shoot for Kendall + Kylie when Kylie gets a call from Kris. Kylie let Rob and Chyna move into "an old house of mine" and apparently the new parents have had a massive blowout. Chyna threw something and broke the television. Kylie thinks it is disrespectful and she is worried about her brother. "It is really hard to support a relationship that is unhealthy," she says.
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Kylie goes to check the damage herself, and Corey gives her the lowdown. Corey went over to pull Rob out of the situation. Apparently, Chyna moved out of the house. "It's really sad, and it's not going to end well," Kylie says. Kim and Corey go to Rob's house, essentially to do a wellness check on him after he posts some emotional videos on social media following his fight with Chyna.
Kourtney and Kim dig out their Ex Boxes to convince Khloé that she should hang on to some of her past with Lamar, even as she is changing her name back to Kardashian. Kourtney's Ex Box has a lot of pictures and mementos from her life with Scott, and there is a letter from a different old boyfriend that Khloé reads aloud with great gusto. "It's like The Notebook," Khloé says, thrilled with the melodrama. Later Kim takes her Ex Box on the road to Khloé's house. They open the box while they enjoy some of Khloé's name change celebration cake. Kim's treasures are much more interesting than Kourtney's. She has a chicken nugget box from a first date, a prop from a music video (looks like a finger from Thriller), and even a copy of the confidentiality agreement she signed when she visited Micheal Jackson's Neverland Ranch. Khloé asks Kim if Kanye knows about Kim's Ex Box. "Well, I told him this morning," Kim says, laughing. "I mean, he could care less." Khloé is with Kanye on this one and declares 70% of Kim's keepsakes burn-worthy.
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Meanwhile, Rob and Chyna reconcile as quickly as they broke up. Rob joins her on a trip to New York for an appearance. "Chyna does make me very happy," Rob says. He says he doesn't want to have a child with somebody and then not be with that person.
Back in California, Rob's sisters aren't buying it. They have labeled the relationship toxic. "I feel bad for his mental state," Kourtney says. "He's so delusional," Kylie says. She says that Rob tries to deny the facts of his volatile relationship, even when everyone is there to witness what is going on. Not to mention the fact that he blasts it across his social media channels.
Kris has some ghosts-of-relationships-past drama to deal with in the form of Caitlyn. Caitlyn calls while Kris and Kendall are in the car. Caitlyn wants to come over to Kris's house and get facials together. Kris is hesitant but puts on a happy face for her daughter. "For the sake of my kids, I'm really trying to be a good friend," Kris says. She agrees to put on a different kind of face, the gold exfoliating mask kind, for her ex-spouse.
Caitlyn will have to wait until after the big family meeting at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (really?) to discuss the future of Rob & Chyna. Oddly enough (or not) neither Rob nor Chyna are present for the meeting to discuss their reality show. "No one thinks they should fuel this bad relationship with the pressure of a show," Kim says. Kourtney asks if Chyna even talks to him when they aren't filming. "The show has made Rob think more about what other people think of him, and it's not healthy," Kourtney says. "The show is what got him out of bed," Kris argues. Kim's theory is that Rob wants the show to go on because he thinks that's how he will hold on to Chyna. Kendall argues passionately against a second season."The fact that people's lives revolve around a show is the saddest thing," she says. This whole story line about Rob & Chyna (and Rob and Chyna) is like a post-modern, meta brain teaser, which none of them realize or all of them think that viewers won't notice. Neither option feels good to watch.
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Kris and Caitlyn have their spa day at Kris's house. Caitlyn admits that she used to steal Kris' makeup and did it so often that she still has bags of it unused. (Is that Caitlyn's Ex Box?) Kris says that she always blamed her kids for the missing glam. Kris says that letting the kids take the blame was mean. All waterproof mascara under the bridge for Caitlyn who shrugs it off and tells Kris that her book is done. She says she will stop by with an advance copy for Kris to read. True to her word, Caitlyn brings Kris a copy of her memoir. (This is another meta moment since Caitlyn's book drops on Tuesday. No accident this episode aired this week.)
Kourtney fills Scott in on the details from the big family meeting about Rob's show. Scott, as is often his role, says the thing so many viewers might be saying to themselves: "Ultimately, this should be his decision." Yes, Kourtney agrees, but Rob isn't a rational person, she says. Scott, who obviously missed the family memo, asks whether Rob wants to do the show or not. Because, Scott correctly points out, there's not a lot that Rob actually wants to do.
Rob sends an email telling his family that he is grateful for their support, but he's working through his issues with Chyna. Part of his confidence comes from filming the show, he explains. Kourtney and Kim discuss setting boundaries on their brother. But, first things first, they need to schedule another family meeting and invite Rob this time.
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Kris reads Caitlyn's book and is not happy. She tells Kim, Kourtney, and Khloé that the only nice thing Caitlyn has to say about her is that she was good at a party once. "Why does everything have to be that Kris is a bitch and an asshole?" Kris says. She disputes Caitlyn's characterization of their relationship and their marriage. "I've done nothing but open my home and my heart for someone who doesn't give a shit," Kris says. "I've never been so angry and disappointed with someone in my whole life." Kim sees where her mom is coming from because she has watched her mom put in the effort to have a good relationship with Caitlyn for their kids' sakes. "Caitlyn has a right to feel however she feels," Kim says. "But why bring my mom into it one more time?"
The big Rob sit-down is anti-climatic. Rob tells them he wants to be with Chyna. He wants to give their relationship his all because of Dream. Kim and Kourtney explain their concerns. Kim reminds him that Khloé and Lamar quit filming to deal with their problems. (Because, yes, everyone in this family at one time has a least one reality show crew following them around.) Kourtney questions the wisdom of letting millions of people into your relationship, all without a trace of irony. "I was doing great when we were filming, honestly," Rob says. Clearly, he wasn't watching the same show everyone else did when Rob & Chyna was on.
The final word, for now, goes to Kim who says she doesn't want to fight anymore about Rob and Chyna's relationship. She decides that the family should take a step back. Does she mean as overprotective sisters or as concerned executive producers? Viewers, decide for yourselves.

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