trashjunkie

TAR with Sean and Dr. C as partners! Now THAT I'd watch. Who knows, maybe after spending weeks running around the world with Sean, Dr. C would finally change his tune on him.

Oh, I thought of another important one: don't pair people who live 2+ hours apart, especially if they are clear about not being willing/able to relocate! No matter how compatible people might otherwise seem, that's a huge roadblock to overcome in the early phase of a relationship.

I've seen all of these excellent suggestions floating around in other threads: -The matchmaking stage should not be rushed. 6 months to a year seems like a good ballpark. -Mandatory background checks and STD screens (and actually follow through with eliminating people from contention if problematic information surfaces). Might be a good idea to review everyone's social media activity at this stage as well. -Couples must live together during the entire experiment or face breach of contract -Experts should be shown footage of the couples throughout the experiment to better assess progress. No more of this "we didn't see any of this until it aired and are as shocked as you, the viewer" bullshit. edit: Haha neurochick, you and I posted at almost the exact same time, but we clearly agree on a lot :)

Yup! He said that and I was like "...And?" I've dated guys who need/want caretakers, that shit gets old real quick. Now I'm a nurturing person, and my husband would definitely back me up on that, but I'm not anyone's mother. Take care of your damn self.

Ah! That makes so much sense. All season I thought it was "it's a love thing" and it bugged me because it was so stupid.

I've been glued to these boards over the past few days but have been so dumbfounded that I've been at a loss for words. Clearly we all saw through the bullshit from the start -- we could tell there was something "off" about all of these couples but I never would have guessed it was this serious. I know I've snarked on her in the past but I feel so bad for Jessica, she seems like such a sweet soul and it kills me that she's been made to go through what I can only imagine was a terrifying ordeal. Nobody should have to put up with that, especially not for a reality show! If there's any silver lining to this, maybe it will bring about some greater scrutiny when it comes to screening participants for shows like these. Or maybe I'm being overly idealistic, who knows.

Preach! For better or worse, I feel like I got a pretty good sense of who each of these people were this season, except for Sean. Everything out of his mouth was a manipulative platitude. Maybe he's not even a real person, just some artificial intelligence created specifically for reality show appearances. It could explain why Dr. C's so jazzed on him. My husband (who ended up genuinely enjoying watching this show for snark value way more than he would ever admit) finally came around to agree on my distrust of Sean during the final episode. He was like, "Wow, everything out of his mouth is just what he thinks people want to hear!" And when Sean started going on about finding God, hubby burst out laughing.

Does anyone genuinely believe the couples made their decisions separately? I sure don't. That seemed like more producer-driven BS to me. I'd be amazed if each couple didn't privately discuss their decision to leave vs stay.

Considering they showed a quick shot of the scores during the 10th frame and Sean had a 77, he is definitively NOT a good bowler.

I like that eyebrow theory. Jess really would benefit from someone sitting down with her and teaching her how to shape them better. They need to taper off at the ends, girl! I mean, I get it, I have naturally terrible eyebrows too so I sympathize but if I can get mine under control, she definitely can.

HAHA oh my God. That "strut around NYC" montage was utterly painful. Thank you for reminding me.

Interesting how the show felt the need to showcase not only Ryan's mom, but also that weird winery owner couple talking about how quickly they themselves jumped into marriage/commitment. WE GET IT GUYS, sometimes moving fast can work out just peachy. But it can also be disastrous. It's clearly the latter in this case.

"I'm a very sexual person" is one of the most meaningless cop-out lines ever. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when people say that. But to top it off with "I'm Christian Grey sexual"? Vommmmmiiiiiiiitttttttttt.

I feel so bad for Nadine because although I have never been pregnant, I have all the same fears she does of c-sections and complications, etc. I imagine adding pregnancy hormones into the mix can make you a basket case, and then to have the blood clot in the placenta. Must be so hard. I'm hoping everything turned out okay in the end, or else they wouldn't have made it into such a ridiculous and insensitive cliffhanger. What we heard of Laura's story did sound pretty mediocre, but since it was just a few sentences taken out of context I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I agree, Jessica and Ryan D's fighting was hard to watch. I think they are both being horrible to each other. Neither one comes out looking good at all. My husband and I watch this show together (well really, I watch it and he tolerates it like a good sport) and he turned to me and said, "I can't even fathom you ever telling me to go fuck myself." Neither can I! Nor can I fathom him telling me I "should just know" anything and to "read a book" if I don't. It's clear these two have absolutely no respect for each other and that's the fundamental problem. I wish they weren't forced to keep going with this for another three weeks, they both desperately need to get out because I don't think either one is going to change.

YES, these are my thoughts exactly. I think that's the main issue with Ryan's idolization of his grandparents' marriage. I imagine that even though his grandfather told his grandmother to "shut up" on occasion, they had a solid foundation of decades of love and support. You can't just say things like that right off the bat and expect a relationship to grow around them.

I agree there's no reason for her to give stuff like that up before the baby is born, but she seems to expect SO much in her life to be "just so" that I have a feeling she's gonna be in for a rude awakening. I doubt she'll have time to chew each bite of food 10,000 times when she's wrangling a fussy toddler.

My husband says his hair makes him look like Fry from Futurama. Cannot unsee.

Couldn't agree more. I was bullied mercilessly in 6th grade, and sure it was traumatizing, but I learned a LOT from it and moved on from it. I don't use it as a crutch, or to justify bad behavior. After a certain point you need to grow up, stop letting the past define you, and take responsibility for your actions.

I thought Erik actually said he was 17 when his mom joined the convent, not 19. 17 is still pretty close to being an adult, but he seems to have had a rough childhood with a mostly absent mother either way, so I feel for him. I'm a slow eater so I kind of sympathized with Nadine a little bit during the silent lunch. THAT SAID, I overchew my food because I had a scary choking incident as a child and it's something reflexive that I really can't help. None of this aids-in-digestion nonsense. If everyone else has cleared the room and your companions are silently waiting on your ass to finish eating, maybe hurry it up a bit instead of grinning like a dope. I always feel terrible when I'm the last one still eating. I really enjoy Kirk/Laura and Toi/Rouvaun so much more than I initially expected to. Both couples seem to genuinely care for each other. I hope they make it. Sam and Laura on the other hand... I just don't buy it. They read more like two besties hanging out than a married couple. And that has nothing to do with their sexuality, I know a bunch of awesome lesbian couples and these two just... don't convince me. They seem like the perfect example of a college relationship that should have been left in college. It's not working out in real life.

Not to mention the fact that once they told him, he didn't seem to care at all. I'm pretty sure that whole "I need a cigarette" interlude was creative editing to up the tension factor.

Yeah I grew up in/near Douglaston so I really resent that shithole remark upthread. Parts of Queens are pretty dodgy, but so are parts of Jersey and Long Island.

She would have been well within her rights to call it "trash". My husband kept repeating, "That clown's gotta go, that sad clown's gotta go!" Cracked me up.

Jaclyn and Ryan R remind me of my aunt and her husband. She's brash and aggressive and he's extremely laid back and lets her take the lead. It seems like a weird match at first but it COMPLETELY works for them, and they're still madly in love 15+ years later. So I have high hopes for this couple. I do think Jaclyn was a little inappropriate with her laughter at the gift, but I almost wondered if there was more to that response, like maybe Ryan commented on the leopard print a lot during the honeymoon and she was laughing partially in recognition of that. I dunno. She seemed to really love the necklace he got her. While watching the show, my husband commented, "These people have known each other for a couple weeks, why couldn't they have asked them for suggestions on what they might like for Christmas?"

YES, my thoughts exactly! How many damn times did he say "bumps in the road" last night? I get the feeling that's the kind of thing he heard (from his grandparents probably) a million times without really comprehending what it means. Dude, you said something stupid and offensive and Jessica reacted negatively to it. Instead of apologizing, you got defensive and aggressive. That's not a marital bump in the road, that's asshole behavior. Also, total side note, but Jessica needs to lay off the mascara. Those spider lashes are not a good look.