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ShowsReal Housewives of New York CitySeason 3
The season that defined the franchise

Scary Island

Season three is where RHONY became a cultural institution. The New York scenes are strong; the group trip to St. John is something else entirely — television the format hadn't shown it was capable of.

Filmed
New York City · St. John, USVI
New York City and St. John, USVI
Premiered
Apr 6, 2010
Bravo · April 2010
Episodes
18
Format
NYC social reality
Original cast · group travel episode
Cast size
6 players
Full original cast
On this page
  1. 01The take
  2. 02The shape of the season
  3. 03Where it sits in the canon
  4. 05Adjacent in the canon
  5. 06Also appears in
01The take

Scary Island.

Specific, strange, and genuinely difficult to look away from. The season that showed the format's ceiling.
02The shape of the season

A rhythm worth tracking.

The season that made RHONY a cultural institution. A group trip to St. John — immediately and permanently known as Scary Island — produced some of the most committed, strange, and wholly unscripted television the franchise has ever aired. The New York scenes are strong; the trip is something else entirely. Season three is what the whole format had been building toward, without knowing it.

03Where it sits in the canon

The #01 slot.

Slot #01 of 5 in the Real Housewives of New York City Editor's Canon. The seasons on either side show what I ranked it against.

No spoilers. Every page is reviewed before it goes live.
06Also appears in

Cross-references.

Real Housewives of New York City — Editor's CanonEditor's Canon · #01
Real Housewives of New York City S3 — Scary Island — tiered.tv