When we went on twitter Tuesday night, we saw lots of people who were confused, asking “what just happened on The Hills?” But don’t be mistaken, these were not people who had missed The Hills finale and wanted the news. These were the people who’d watched the finale and were literally mystified by the ending.

Six years in, and they couldn’t give us a decent cast picture. Ph: MTV

The series tried to act smart for their finale, making fans scratch their heads. While rumors that the “reality show” was being scripted have floated around for years, The Hills always had a bright and happy face from the cast go public to deny those rumors. Or at least one would, and then another cast member would refute it.

In 2007 Lauren Conrad told In Touch:

“We’re not trying to be The Real World.  The whole idea is that they make [The Hills] look like a scripted drama,” said Conrad in In Touch Weekly’s November 26 issue.  “But there’s no script.  Every decision you see us make on the show is our own… I don’t act.  If I wanted to be an actress, I’d go on a scripted show and make a lot more money.”

Also in 2007, Heidi Montag had this to say to Blender Magazine:

“I’m just glad I don’t have to deal with all the drama,” Montag said.  “I mean it’s fun to watch, but I’m glad it’s not my life.  I’m actually a drama-free person.”

And very recently, Olivia Palermo from The Hills spin-off, The City, denied that her show was real.

Bursting that particular delusional bubble, the end of The Hills gave some social commentary and insight into the show (it makes us feel dirty to type “social commentary” in a post about this series). How did they attempt this move? They showed Kristin Cavallari getting into a car, headed for a flight to Europe. But not so fast! Then they panned away to also show the camera men and crew in the shot. To be sure, some fans thought the show had made an editing error. But it was done on purpose. (Unlike the final shot of Lost, which created lots of controversy until an official statement was issued by ABC.)

Smug as ever, Brody Jenner told the after show audience, “The thing is, as you saw on the end… what’s real and what’s fake, you don’t know.” He continued, “Our relationship, the entire time could have been fake. That’s one of the questions – what was real and what was fake, and we left it [open to interpretation].”

So if they were ultimately creating a scripted show, and realized that scripting a show is better – why was The Hills branded as a reality TV show? Oh right, for the money and intrigue. Duh.

Heidi Montag is a Human Optical Illusion

The only ending to this series we would have mildly enjoyed would have been all of the girls (including Lauren and Heidi) huddling around a TV screen of the show and laughing at it, commenting on how fake it all was. Instead, with the absence of Heidi and Spencer from the life aftershow, the knowledge of how bitter Conrad is and why she left, and the way Montag’s family has been torn apart as we’ve watched her self-destruct in the public eye… all we feel is incredibly sad for that entire cast. (But then a little less sad because they did get tons of perks and free swag. So, whatever.)

Tagged: , , , ,