The KUWTK previews for Season 19 promised a lot, and this season is already delivering, albeit slowly.

The elaborate pranking of Kris went exactly as planned ... but is the family prepared for the momager's revenge?

On Thursday night, Keeping Up With The Kardashians premiered.

Season 19 is the landmark series' penultimate season.

While the show's age was apparent in the season premiere, it was also a keen reminder of why it will be missed.

Obviously, the horrors of the devastatingly deadly COVID-19 pandemic haven't yet struck the peaceful and affluent suburbs of Calabasas.

Instead, we saw Kourtney brainstorming Poosh content.

She opted for hug therapy, which for Kourt involved hugging everyone in her vicinity, from family to her employees.

A lot of the drama at the premiere centered upon Malika Haqq, Khloe's bestie who is grappling with a complex situation.

See, she and her initially undisclosed baby daddy do not have the best relationship.

Malika is trying to accommodate everyone else's wishes for her baby shower ... at the expense of her own mental and emotional well-being.

For example, over the phone, Malika tells Khloe and Khadijah that she doesn't want many people at her baby shower.

The cap that she suggests for the invitation list is ... 50-55, which sure sounds like a crowd to just about everyone.

A frustrated Malika explains that she can't go with a cap like 30 because her baby's paternal grandmother will be coming and Malika is letting her invite guests ... and she has, like, six sisters.

Most of the stress that is driving Malika to tears is over her relationship with the baby daddy, rapper O.T. Genasis, whose real name is Odis Flores.

Ultimately, however, Khloe throws Malika a shower that she thoroughly enjoys. Though she and O.T. are now exes, their baby, Ace, was born healthy and showered with love.

Malika gives a speech, identifies the father, and Khloe showers her with giant teddy bears.

The biggest moment of the episode was, of course, when Khloe and Scott pranked Kris, a moment teased months ago.

Even those of us who think that pranks should result in court-ordered counseling 

In this case, absolutely everyone but Kris was in on this elaborate prank.

Corey Gamble, Kim, Kris' publicist, Kris' assistant, and more aided and abetted this deception.

As you can see in the video, it all hinged upon Khloe pulling off a picture-perfect Kris cosplay (kosplay?).

So long as she didn't stand too close to anything, their four-inch height difference could not be detected from the photos.

So the plan was to get Kris drunk, going out drinking together but secretly drinking water to remain clear-headed while Kris got sloshed.

Once Kris was home, her assistant had to snatch up her clothing and jewelry from the evening and rush them to Khloe.

Fully made up and wigged for the role, Khloe pretended to be Kris on a bender.

The next day, Kris' publicist claimed that TMZ had gotten photos of Kris drunk doing things that Kris did not remember.

Kris was in a panic, knowing that she had gotten tipsy but not realizing that she had blacked out like that.

Whether she was onto them or not, she put on a good performance of fear, even expressing concern that she might need rehab.

This is where the prank could have turned into gaslighting if they had not pulled the plug.

They came clean to Kris, who vowed revenge ... specifically, against Kim.

We have to imagine that the non-family, like her assistant and publicist, were taken to a private island somewhere and Kris hunted them for their pelts.