girlplease

And let's not forget that Sean initially presented himself as the Sensitive (Ponytail) Guy: crying in the limo, talking about being bullied, and the miscarriage - she may have gotten the message "wow, this guy is really open about his feelings - I should respond in kind." So now he's shutting down, and she's trying to carry on with their previous dynamic. Frustrating for sure, but I think (hope) she's starting to get the message.

It probably wouldn't have made much difference in Sean's commute, but I don't see why Davina and Sean had to live all the way on the UES? Why not a further south part of Manhattan, or gasp, Hoboken? Wait, I think I just answered my own question. That said, an hour and a half commute is nothing if you're in love. Sean was freaking out and didn't want to be there, period.

One might be surprised about this. I don't think Davina approached it in anything like a constructive way, but it was bound to be an issue eventually.

Yeah, that's really childish.

I also thought it was odd that he'd never spent more than a few hours there despite living in Jersey. I can respect if it's not for him, but he should have said so up front if it was a dealbreaker for him.

^^^ That's a really interesting observation.

I didn't love Davina's behavior in this episode, but the thing is, Sean told the experts he'd be okay with relocating. Time to put up or shut up, Sean. I wasn't too bothered by Ryan and Jessica for once, but they hardly even look at each other. It's kind of sad. I'm worried that Jaclyn is more into Ryan than he's into her.

If not wanting to have sex with Sean makes one frigid, I'm Antarctica.

It's like he wants all the trappings of a "happy life" but doesn't want to put in any work on the relationships that might get him there. The surprise baby might have appealed to him for that reason - he gets to accomplish his goal of starting a family without actually bothering with the smaller steps that often lead there (starting/maintaining a relationship, marriage [for some], discussing and agreeing to try to get pregnant). He seems more invested in the idea of checking off these life goals than enjoying the journey at all. (lol, I missed your post upthread, MsPH - I guess I am just echoing you, you already said everything I meant to!)

Yeah, I thought those scenes beautifully illustrated exactly the kind of stupid stuff you do in your twenties that seems SO OBVIOUSLY STUPID when you're a little older. Liza can see it clearly, but Kelsey can't yet. Maturity in a nutshell.

Pharmaceutical reps actually make pretty decent money - looks like the range is around $75-$120k in New York. Looked like she had a nice studio.

Ryan seems to be really dismissive of others' feelings - in the last episode, when his mom was describing what a difficult time she'd had that year with her mother's death, right on the heels of her father's death, and Ryan followed up with some "it's in the past, hopefully they're in a better place, it's the circle of life" speech. It just seemed like a really cold and unfeeling thing to say. He seems really uncomfortable with others expressing emotion - like whatever's happened, they should all just move on and get over it already. No discussion!

It looked like she got him a bottle of wine and... wait for it... Tito's vodka! I thought the steamer was sweet because she explained that he wouldn't have to take his clothes to the cleaners because she was his wife now and would steam them for him. The leopard purse... well, that's what comes from doing your shopping on Christmas Eve. Still, his intentions were good.

In light of the miscarriage reveal, among other things, I'm getting the vibe from Sean that he thinks he can sort of fast-forward past the emotionally difficult things in life - like if he just keeps talking he can bluff himself into a real relationship. He isn't interested in actually putting in the work. For some reason it really bothered me how he barely acknowledged the fish feast Davina brought him - he just brushed past it so they could get to whatever he had planned (showing off his house). It's all about him. I have nothing good to say about Ryan and Jessica. He doesn't know how to apologize. I feel like the fight must have been much worse than what we saw - they both seem pretty messed up about it. Tickled to see that Jaclyn gave the gift of booze (a girl after my own heart!) and I thought she was genuinely sweet and affectionate with Ryan's mom and niece. She seems like a demonstrative person. They continue to be my favorite couple just by their sheer normalcy. Also, Ryan kept saying "my wife" in a vaguely Borat way... listen for it! :D How weird is it that "mom's basement" almost seems like the best living situation? I guess when the others in the running are "sad clown" and "metrosexual"... (Sean, I do not think that means what you think it means.)

I've recently learned (after dating someone who was a bit of a couch potato) that I need to be with someone who likes to stay active.

I think it was only possible to do this episode from Jamie's POV - the spanking scene would have been completely unpalatable if we only got Claire's perspective. I have to believe this was their way of saying, "things like this happened in the time period during which this story takes place, we don't condone it but here's a glimpse into the thought process of the men who might have taken part in this behavior. Oh and also, please don't hate Jamie."

And 50% of marriages end in divorce :D That's my point - waiting or not waiting, there's no guarantee your relationship is going to work out in the end.

Maybe his Poppy was a jag too? o_0 Re Ryan and Jessica, if the milk/cow narrative were true, wouldn't it stand to reason that couples who wait to have sex would stay together foreeeever? We know that's not always the case either.

Man, this forever. Shut up for five seconds, Sean! I kinda agree with whoever said upthread that Sean might have been bullied because he was annoying. His not-so-clever asides and dorky sex talk in the couples massage were so cringeworthy. Davina doesn't bother me so much. I suspect she's already getting tired of Sean's yapping and that's why she got a little pouty and pointed out that he wasn't listening to her - I bet he does that a lot and she can't get a word in edgewise.

I agree with this - it seems like Jessica has held up marriage as the end goal for so long, it's as if she hasn't considered that it's just the beginning of a new set of problems. Ryan is a punk. I won't go so far as to say abusive, but I noticed in the jacuzzi scene it looked like Jessica had a big bruise on her leg! Of course, we don't know if that's from tipping the kayak or capsizing the jetski. But Ryan has been roughhousing with her like she's one of his bros - and if she's not into it, she needs to let him know instead of trying to be the "cool girl" who doesn't put up a fuss.

Go on and blame the edit, Pearl...

The thing is, as a performer, you don't get the opportunity to "warm up" to your audience. Pearl looks great but her stage personality has been comatose. I think that's what Ru was critiquing (and rightfully so IMO).

It's funny because Ryan D. said a lot of complimentary things about Jessica in the talking heads - and yet we all picked up on the disrespect in his actions.

Maybe "Wisconsin" as in "polar opposite of Brazilian"? As Jillybean noted upthread, I also appreciated that Hillary Duff's character seemed career-focused, self-assured and intelligent - they could have gone "fluffy" with her and I'm glad they didn't. The scene where she fetched her boyfriend a beer was interesting - something that could be chalked up to generational differences but I like that they didn't hit us over the head with it.

PityFree, I think you're right on. I actually felt kind of bad for Jaclyn in this episode because she seemed so nervous and didn't know what to do/how to act as part of a couple. I think her babbling/taking the reins is kind of an attempt to take control of the situation because she's out of her depth and isn't used to that feeling. I agree that Ryan needs to start speaking up if he's uncomfortable - I hope he does, since she may not even realize what she's doing. I didn't care for Sean's blustery act, that would lose points with me real quick. I wonder why it wasn't shown? Maybe it didn't fit in with the "sensitive/good guy" edit they seem to be giving him. Davina did well this week, I think - she's trying. Ryan D.....feh. I hope Jessica is taking notes because he's starting to show his true colors.