The wait is finally over. After a few weeks of repeat episodes and hints about this season’s first guest, Father Cooper is back at it again. This week, Alex brought on one of her biggest guests yet, Alix Earle. The TikTok star took over all of our feeds in 2022 and is now starting a new branch of her career, joining Alex Cooper’s new media brand Unwell. Her own podcast, Hot Mess, launched alongside the first episode of CHD4, and I’m here to talk about it. Breaking down this season’s new style, Alex and Alix’s episode, and this week’s solo episode, this article gives you all the info you need to know about CHD’s new season.
the style
Alex Cooper has had a hold on me ever since her Single Father Era, when she and her ex-co-host Sofia Franklyn dramatically ended their partnership, and Cooper took over the show on her own. Since then, she’s been giving us weekly episodes and mini-episodes, often bringing on guests and experts to discuss everything from sex lives to mental health. Last season, Cooper began experimenting with video episodes, leaving behind the audio-only format for a simple and cozy video recording of the podcast’s recording in her studio. This format let us watch some of our favorite guests cuddle up with Alex on her couch every week and gave us a new insight into celebrity’s lives.
In the season four premiere episode, Alex gave us a full cinematic experience. Say goodbye to the days of a wide-shot, stationary view throughout the entire episode, and hello to the days of multiple scenes, locations, and reality TV-esque episodes. This episode begins with a montage of guest star Alix Earle’s rise to fame, taking us through some of her most memorable TikTok moments. Then, rather than meeting in her studio, Alex Cooper heads to meet our guest star at Alix’s childhood home. Viewers meet Alix’s family in a collab of real-time and monologue scenes, making us feel like we’re watching a reality production. The episode follows the girls through multiple locations and activities, a completely different flow than last season’s hour-long conversations on the couch.
While this video-centric style is definitely different from last season and will take some adjusting to (if you’re like me and like to listen to podcasts while driving, you’re gonna have to change your routine), I am truly loving it so far. Watching the girls travel and experience Alix’s home and college life gave the interaction a super personal feel, and watching them do their makeup for a night out couldn’t have been more perfect with a co-star who became famous for her “get ready with me” videos. Plus, I can’t help but notice the fact that this heightened level of cinematography comes during Alex’s engagement to fiance Matt Kaplan, the film producer previously known on the podcast as Mr. Sexy Zoom Man. Overall, I love this new style and can’t wait to watch rather than listen to this season’s episodes.
The Alex and Alix collab we didn’t know we needed
We were all shook when Alex announced that she’d be recruiting new influencers to start their own podcasts on her media platform, Unwell, and even more shook when Alix Earle announced that she’d be starting her own podcast, Hot Mess. It’s only fitting that the girls became guest stars for each other’s podcasts, with collab episodes on both Call Her Daddy and Hot Mess.
This week’s episode highlights Alix Earle’s rise to fame and the struggles she and her family faced along the way. In an unusual turn of events, the episode occurred not on Cooper’s turf but on Earle’s, with the episode beginning in Alix’s hometown in New Jersey. Viewers got to meet each of Alix’s relatives and hear all about her blended family before the two girls settle in her backyard to talk about Alix’s rise to fame. The episode follows Alix and Alex as they drive through Alix’s hometown until they reach her old high school to discuss Alix’s traumatic past. She discloses her father’s affair with a public figure and presumed prostitute, and how this led to gossip and bullying that scarred her childhood. Alix doesn’t hold anything back, breaking down into tears in front of the camera as she processes some of this trauma for the first time. This scene shows Alix in a light that fans have never seen her and gives the episode an authentic vibe that lasts throughout the next hour.
After an emotional talk, the two go to Alix’s college town of Miami, FL, for a visit to Alix’s new apartment. We get to watch the two get ready for a night out and play truth or drink, leading to some classic Call Her Daddy questions like Alix’s favorite position and celebrity crush. This part of the episode feels like you’re one of the girls, watching as they take shots and spill tea. I love some good girl talk, so you already knew this part of the episode was going to have my approval. Next, the girls go out to clubs in Miami, and we watch clubbing clips that take us straight into the next morning’s hangover.
Finally, we see Alix and Alex waking up disheveled (but still looking drop-dead gorgeous, because of course they do). The episode ends with a scene on the beach and a nostalgic talk about the girls’ time together, but not before they remember they need to go save Alix’s nudes from leaking on the internet. Truly a Call Her Daddy classic ending to the season premiere.
Alix and Alex’s collab was something that some of us asked for and some of us didn’t, but regardless, it was what we didn’t know we needed. As someone who tries to scroll past Alix Earle’s TikToks for my own sanity (because really, who looks that perfect?), I loved getting to know her in a more personal, less-edited setting. The two’s chemistry is clear, with Alex becoming the older sister/drunk aunt we all always wanted. It was so good that after watching I went over to Alix’s first episode of Hot Mess and watched that all the way through (but that’s another article topic). Overall, I hope we get to see another Alix x Alex collab in the future, even though the similar names and looks are a bit tricky to keep up with.
the solo episode
Lastly, we have the Sunday Session, the smaller episode Alex releases on Sundays that are either solo episodes or chats with experts (therapists, life coaches, sex therapists, etc.). This week’s episode is a behind-the-scenes look at the Wednesday episode, giving us the inside scoop on the episode’s productions and some extra scenes. Cooper switches between narrating and showing us real-time clips from the episode, giving us the perfect balance between a calm Father chat and a chaotic Wednesday episode. I loved getting to hear about the production of this episode and thought it was the perfect ending to the new season’s premiere episodes. Overall, this week’s episodes blew away any expectations I had. I can’t wait to watch more of this season and am so glad that our Founding Father is back at it again.