Tonight's episode is the first behind-the-scenes look at what happened to Kim Kardashian West in her Paris hotel during Fashion Week. The robbery made international headlines, and Kim disappeared from social media leading to rampant speculation. Keeping Up With the Kardashians teased the episode with a special preview last week. This week, the curtain gets pulled back. "The dramatic firsthand story that only Kim can tell," the trailer teased.
Kim even shared a family photo, the last taken in Paris before the robbery, on Instagram in advance of the episode. "I thought it was important to share this story through my eyes & not in an interview where my own words could be twisted," she wrote.
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The episode opens with a black-and-white slate that reads, "On October 3, 2016, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint." Kim immediately left Paris and joined Kanye in New York. The first footage they show is the paparazzi footage of Kim moving from the car to the apartment in New York. The camera then follows her and Kanye into the elevator. "I just, like, don't want to cry in front of the kids," Kim says. Kanye agrees that they won't talk about what happened in front of the kids.
At this point, we jump back in time to the week before. Kim is in California packing an insane amount of clothes for Paris fashion week. This footage, leading up to the robbery, is hard to watch knowing what is coming her way. "I'm so excited to go," she says.
Once she is in Paris, Kim reminds viewers how much the City of Lights means to her. "That's where I have so many amazing memories," she says over footage of her wedding dress fitting. "I can't wait to have all of the glitz and glam that Paris Fashion Week is all about."
Kourtney is excited to join Kim, Kendall, and Kris in Paris for her first time there for fashion week. She is also choosing, with the help of a stylist, from racks and racks of clothes to bring. Mason does his part to make sure his mom doesn't get too ahead of herself. "If you pull them up, you're going to look like Steve Urkel, but a girl," he says when Kourtney tries on a pair of way-too-big, wide-legged leopard trousers.
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In Paris, Kim, her assistant Stephanie, her stylist Simone, and Kris troop off to Balmain for their fittings before the show. Olivier Rousteing, Balmain creative director and Kardashian West BFF, is finalizing the looks for his show. Kris, apparently Mom to everyone, reassures Rousteing that the show is going to be fabulous and punctuates that with a big hug.
Kourtney arrives, and she and Kim and the traveling road show immediately turn around to get ready for the Balmain show. The Paris apartment is filled with racks and racks of clothes, more than most small boutiques. Kourtney isn't happy with her first look, but since they have like a million to choose from that's not a problem. They all hit the road. Kim mentions that Kanye is coming for just one night. He apparently saw pictures of her online and said he had to fly out to help her with her looks.
After front row at Balmain, Kim, Kourtney, and Kanye go to Givenchy. Kayne is very hands-on styling the ladies' looks for the show. He is not shy about asking for what he wants or making suggestions. The Givenchy staff are basically working for Kanye at this point. "I don't have the balls that Kanye does when it comes to asking for things," Kim says. Kanye shows up, styles everyone, then takes off again.
They all talk about the so-called prankster who, earlier in the week, tried to kiss Kim's butt on the street in Paris. Pascal, the bodyguard, tackled him. Kim was mostly nonplussed about the whole thing.
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Meanwhile, Kim is snapping it all, sharing it with the world.
Kourtney is excited to see Kendall walk for the first time. After Kendall's successful walk at Givenchy, Kourtney and Kendall decide to hit the town. Kim, as we all know, as the world knew because she snapped it, stays behind, alone in the apartment.
Flash to New York, and the episode switches to footage from the documentary team following Kanye on his Saint Pablo Tour. He takes the stage, but halfway through the show, he gets the call from Paris. "I'm sorry," he says in the familiar footage from the time. "Family emergency. I have to stop the show."
Kourtney is photographed at the nightclub, minutes before she learns the news. She gets a text from Simone, the stylist. Something is wrong. Then Kim calls, screaming, from Simone's phone. Kourtney tells Pascal, Kim's bodyguard, who runs out of the club and calls the police. Kris, at her hotel in Paris, also gets a call. "It was one of the worst nights of my life," she says.
Kendall says she started crying on the spot in the nightclub. She and Kourtney rush back to the apartment. They arrive at the same time as the police and have to convince the police to let them in. Kris remembers arriving and hugging Kim and feeling relieved that Kim is okay, she's alive.
"Kim was in shock. We were all so traumatized; we left Paris before the sun came up," Kris says.
Jump forward to Kim, Kris, and Kourtney arriving at the apartment in New York. "I just want to see them for like a second," Kim says when she and Kanye are talking about the kids in the elevator. Kris cries when Kim sees her children. "For the rest of us, the thought of losing Kim is emotionally scarring and hard to overcome," Kris says, the emotions on the surface bubbling over as she does her interview segment for the show. "That's it. I can't talk about it anymore," she says before tearing up.
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Later that day, Corey and Kanye are talking about the incident. Kim says the robbers were in their 40s or 50s. "If anything happened to you," Kanye says. "I wouldn't have stopped until they were dead."
On the flight back to Los Angeles, Kris expresses her concern that Kim might have post-traumatic stress. She wants Kim to talk to someone. Kim assures her mother she's fine, but says, "Our life is just going to have to change." Kris agrees. There will be guards everywhere, and those guards will be armed. Kim is upset that people online are questioning whether or not she made the whole thing up. Corey reminds her and Kris that there will always be negative stories. "The family is just going to have to deal with it forever," he says.
At Kris' house, Kris checks in on Kendall, who is also shaken up and exhausted. They all talk about the exact moment they heard the news and what they did in response. Kris' story is particularly poignant. She got the call in her pajamas and immediately rushed into the hall to go to Kim. On her way, she grabbed a blanket that she knows is one of Kim's favorites. "I'm just going to wrap her up in this blanket," she says, all mom no manager.
The final minutes of the episode move between Kim retelling the story of that night to Khloé and Kourtney, and Kim speaking directly to the camera in an interview segment. Thinking about it now, she says, she thinks she was being watched all week and monitored on social media, especially Snapchat.
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Some of what she says is familiar from the headlines last October. She was alone. The concierge of the hotel was forced at gunpoint to bring the robbers to her room. It is the details, the up-close and personal details, she shares that are so harrowing. When the police arrived, she was practically naked, hiding in a bush on the balcony. She had a moment when she thought about escaping, but she knew she would be risking a shot in the back from the perpetrator's gun. She begged for her life, using the concierge as a translator. She told them she had babies and a family. Her mouth was duct taped. She thought for sure she would be raped then shot in the head. She prayed for Kourtney to "have a normal life after she sees me dead on the bed."
The episode comes to a close with home video footage of Kim, Kanye, and their kids. Reality hit hard for the first family of reality TV last October. For both Kim in real life and Keeping Up With the Kardashians, this is a bright line. Everything after this will be different. It just remains to be seen how those differences will play out during the rest of the season.