Yeah No

Whoa, super awkward at the couples brunch. The other couples are skeptical about Mia and Tristan, and with good reason. They didn't even try to hide it. Mia thinks Tristan is being too open about their relationship. Normally I would say yes, but with her, too bad, I'm just sorry he covered for her in not talking more about her arrest, etc. I don't think Tristan is as dumb as he looks. At least he says "Mia and I" instead of "Me and Mia". He is clearly holding way back with her, his mother's seeming acceptance of Mia notwithstanding. There's more than just a "cloud hovering" like he said. That "love but not in love" stuff is the clue, plus his unconvinced expressions. I don't believe Mia's really in love with him. She is trying desperately to make him feel more guilty about leaving her so her 15 minutes continues and she saves face. She's banking on him not being able to leave a woman that is in love with him. She knows what she's doing but that will only work for so long. Her outright expectation of wanting more from him given what he's already looking past with her is unbelievable. Scary pathological, even. Amber, your insecurity is not attractive. Maybe you should try to "fake it till you make it" instead of wearing it on your sleeve. All that may disappear in time. She's obsessing about every little thing she can latch on to explain Dave's obvious reticence with her. She doesn't have to be fast friends with his friends just "acquaintance friends". She said she didn't need more friends out of insecurity. Although I think the insecurity may be based in knowing deep down that Dave is just not that into her. Yes, that's what it looks like. She's only going to sabotage any chance of his feelings growing by acting so insecure about it. Give it a freaking chance. I cringed when she opened up to his friends right away about her insecurity about the blonde/brunette thing, but to their credit they handled it very well. They seem like nice people. I don't blame Dave for his reaction to Zacchia. He pictures his balls in a jar by the door with her. I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that they don't get their parents together is more because the parents don't relish being on TV. Speaking of that, Pastor Cal - WTF with saying this is the first time their families can get together since the wedding? What about the brunch right after the honeymoon? Also, I don't get why Danielle gets suck flak for her humongous eyebrows when Mia's need their own zip code. Although they do seem to get bigger and darker with every episode, LOL.

Oh yeah, Europe, especially Paris, has always been dog friendly in restaurants, especially outdoor cafes, with the emphasis placed on small and well-behaved. New York has also been known as dog friendly in a similar way as Europe, although I don't know if it's as common there as it once was decades ago. Love this article about how dogs are treated like royalty in Paris.

Oh yeah, that's another thing that didn't ring true for me - While Italians from Italy are hung up on the "no cheese on seafood" rule, Italian Americans are a totally different story, and are mostly easy going about it. Some don't prefer it, but they don't generally act like it's a mortal sin to grate some cheese over a seafood pasta. I love PBS Sicilian chef Nick Stellino's story about how he really knows he's an Italian American now because he has loosened up about putting cheese on seafood.

I think Enzo's mom was just looking for a reason to rag on Diana because she doesn't want to part with her son. I thought making her work with that eel was an attempt to encourage failure. Even if Diana could cook lasagna it doesn't mean she can cook eel. I'm a pretty good home cook and I've never killed and cooked eel, although I remember my grandmother doing it. I just think his mother was looking for a way to make her fail because she really doesn't want her son to leave her. I'm Italian American from "borough" New York and I didn't like the stereotype either, especially having known many such Italian moms (including my own) and feeling like the way Enzo's mom acted didn't ring true. Most Italians are flattered that you'd even make an attempt to cook their food, and wouldn't be insulted if you somehow just didn't get it quite right. They would laugh it off and tell you that they can teach you. If it was motivated by fear of losing her son, she would likely have not made such a negative scene at all but acted passive aggressive toward Diana and make snide comments here and there while keeping a smile on her face and trying to appear accepting of her. Loved the nod and wink to "Working Girl", though!

It's probably because they couldn't get anyone else. I'm sure they have to beg people to do it. Rachael Ray fulfilled her contract and left. I miss the first couple of seasons when it looked like there was some real mentoring and learning going on.

You know, I 'm of two minds about Sam. I think if we just exchanged his personality for Alan Kaye's we'd all think his wooden spoon was cute. Speaking of Alan, to some degree he also used the same "hunker down and live off your own fat" strategy, it's just that he was a far cooler individual in my opinion. Sam seems like such a twit in some ways. Speaking of Alan, I wouldn't mind if down the road if the show continues long enough, they had a season of where only previous winners compete against each other for an even bigger prize. I think that might be more interesting than this season if enough of them were interested in it.

I have a new theory to answer the mystery of why we saw so many people tap out sooner than in their first season. Maybe it's because they knew what was going to happen to them and they wanted to avoid it. They did the cost/benefit analysis in their heads and seeing themselves waste away that much wasn't worth it. Like Dave admittedly tapped out just before he saw his body degenerate to the point of serious consequences. This time he was super-conscious about when that would happen, and seeing that just around the corner was enough for him to know he should go. Unfortunately this happened sooner than in his first season. I'm sure that this was also the case to some degree with Brooke (although for her the loneliness was also a major factor). Why the two of them didn't bulk up like Sam, though, is my next question. They probably didn't anticipate Mongolia being as challenging as it was, but I'm thinking that wasn't a wise assumption. They probably also misjudged their own ability to weather whatever increased difficulty Mongolia threw at them, too.

I don't see Skylar having the right "somethin' somethin'" to replace Greg. I also don't see how the chemistry will work between him and Rachel, but I'll try to be open minded about it. Who knows? They may have Greg come back for one or two episodes just to put real closure on their relationship. I probably wouldn't have a problem with that. But if the show were to put them back together in a relationship, I don't think that would work for me.

Thanks for the warning, I was afraid of that. I didn't know it was on today but I have set my DVR to record it on Tuesday when it re-airs. If she failed once on FNS, then failed on the redemption show, then WTF is she doing hosting a show? It's like FN is determined to fail. They don't know WTF they're doing anymore. It's like the definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

I would have chosen a man of any race if it felt right, and I did date men of other races, but ended up with a white guy. I didn't really think about it back then. I just went with what worked. I could have easily ended up with someone of another race if it had worked out that way. Just a factor of the very diverse environment I grew up in. A Jewish girlfriend of mine has always preferred Hispanic men. She has been that way forever. When I was in high school there was a Jewish guy that only dated black women. I liked him, but wasn't "his type". Geesh. So it works both ways, obviously! I have another Jewish girlfriend that exclusively dates Jewish men, and it's definitely not because she's religious because she's not at all. So I agree with you that it becomes hard to figure out where the line is drawn between prejudice and non-prejudice when it comes to this.

Sure that could be the case, but as with anything else I don't think it's fair to generalize on every black man's motivations in wanting a lighter skinned partner. If Tristan were that colorist, why wouldn't he just go full-on and ask the experts for a white woman and leave it at that? I think just asking for someone that wasn't darker than himself is not necessarily a sign of wanting to be with someone closer to the dominant culture group. After all, he's still open to a woman of color. If he asked for a white woman I might wonder, though. The more I find out, the more I realize that if there's a physical trait out there, even if it's something not commonly desired, there are still men out there that prefer it. I've had to learn that it's probably best not to get too hung up on why men have their physical preferences. Whatever the reason, even if it's not motivated by some kind of ethnic prejudice, we women would likely find a reason to criticize it and call it "shallow" anyway.

As someone else pointed out, those season 1 tap outs were people that didn't know what they were getting into and had no business being there. This season is not like that. These people know exactly what they're in for and lasted a significant amount of time in their original seasons, so they should be even better prepared and determined to last longer than they did the first time around. So far there's been nothing that unusual or worse about Mongolia than what some of them endured on Vancouver Is. or Patagonia. Sam starved in season 1 and ate an occasional mouse back then too. Same for Larry. So why they are whining and tapping so early on (especially compared to their first time) is still a mystery to me. Britt is the only one that has already lasted longer than his original season and still seems determined at this point.

I recognized Jamika Pessoa from Food Network Star about 9 years ago. Proof that losers can end up getting a show if they persist, and are lucky. Let's hope it happens sooner with Manny! https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/shows/2018/7/lets-eat

Jess is from Pleasantville? That explains a lot. Like she's never lived around any rats. Well, I'm glad that at least there's some public recognition for Manny and the social media response is confirming their mistake. Like who does Jess's family know at Food Network that got her that win? Do they golf with one of the producers up at the Pleasantville Country Club? Seriously.

You know what gets me about this season? We're only what, like 37 days in and we're already down to 3 people?? And these are people that in their first seasons lasted 20+ days longer than that? WTF? You would think that they'd last longer this time. I don't think any season has seen this many tap outs so soon, and I don't think Mongolia has been that much worse than anywhere else. So far, Britt is the only one impressing me with a desire to win. Making that sled tells me he fully intends to deal with snow. Even Sam and Larry have already bitched about missing their families or starving or whatever. I'd expect that from them maybe after 50 days, but it all started happening at less than 35 days! Sam ate nothing but mice last time too, so it's not like he didn't know what he could potentially end up eating. So again, what is their problem this time? I get the feeling the show probably enticed a lot of them to come back when that was not their idea. That would explain the lack of determination in a lot of them. The problem with that is that it doesn't make for good TV.

Well, you know, that's just like your OPINION, man! Sorry I've been watching the 20th anniversary showings of "The Big Lebowski".... ;-) Just shows you how "one man's meat is another man's poison". Peter Hermann is 10 years younger than me, so I see him as this really cute younger guy, LOL.

I can't agree with you that it all comes down to color because the power of religion and belief in "destiny" is incredibly strong. I think she is able to manipulate him because she knows he wants to believe that she was sent to him by God and she is God's will for him. If she feeds into that belief she knows he won't turn his back on something he believes God has ordained for him. He has to continue to believe that she is "the one" and no matter what she looks like he'd find a way to believe that this is the person God wants him to find attractive. Just as no matter whether she's been arrested or stalked someone, he has to love her because this is what he thinks God is asking of him. I firmly believe that Tristan is one person that would put his "worldly desires" secondary to what he believes is God's will for him. We are talking about someone with a fundamentalist belief (and I have had good friends who have been such), and they are known to make great sacrifice and put aside whatever "worldly" preferences they have once they have bought into someone being God's will for them. That's why I can't see what Tristan is doing as based solely on her skin color. He most definitely doesn't strike me as being shallow enough to overlook her being arrested and possibly lying to him and the world just based on her skin tone, or believe that she is "the one" purely because she's light skinned. Feel free to disagree, though!

Perhaps it's part of it, but I think Tristan's gushing is partly because she's manipulating his emotions so well. She knows just how to work him for her own advantage. She's probably saying stuff like "God brought us together for a reason" and all that garbage. It's hard to watch him being taken by what I see as a con.

I think there are a lot of factors going into the reasons why Tristan is staying with Mia. Being light skinned is only one of them. There are potentially far more compelling reasons than that for him to continue with her given the pressure and incentive the show gives them them to stay together, and how fatalistic he is about "God's will" and his duty to whatever he thinks is God's will. I doubt that if all other factors remained the same and she just happened to be dark skinned he would be saying right now, "OK, I'm out of here". I think Tristan thinks that it's not only the show that brought him together with Mia, but God. He thinks she is the one that God has chosen for him, working through the show to bring her to him (and I'm sure she's played that hand with him too). It wouldn't matter if she were one eyed and purple at this point, he would stick with her.

I see a direct correlation between expensive waxing, nail, eyebrow and eyelash treatments and Danielle's inability to pay off her $15,000 "travel" debt. I doubt very much that she's in the income bracket to afford those kinds of things on a regular basis without going into debt over it. Now, I'm of her parents' generation and I never engaged in salon treatments until I was in my 40s because I couldn't afford it, and quite frankly I thought I looked good without it. I couldn't afford it again when I was unemployed during the recession and now I do those things myself (I don't do waxing or fake eyelashes. I pluck and shave like we used to do in the "old days"). What bothers me is how many young people see these kinds of things as "normal" entitlements as if they are necessities. First of all, she's too young to need all that professional intervention to look good. If she thinks she needs all that now, how is she going to feel when she's 45 or 50? Plus I hate to tell her but all that stuff is not making her look better. She's wasting her money. Also, what bothers me is that she never considered finding a way to get out of that debt, but just let it pile up. Now I had no choice when I was out of a job during the recession, but what's her excuse? Unless she's wrecked her credit rating she could easily get one of those crowd funding loans like "Lending Club" that would cost $300-400 a month and she'd pay it off in only 3 years. If she hasn't considered that then she's just plain irresponsible and dumb. Sorry, I just needed to get that off my chest!

There are a few things that make me wonder about Dave's sexuality, such as not being that close to his parents, being single at his age, not seeming completely open about his past, seeming a little skittish about being involved with a woman in general, feeling like he's hiding something, etc. I'm sure part of it is commitment-phobia, but I'm feeling like there's even more to it. Why is he so distant from his parents? Maybe in addition to other difficulties with them, he's hiding something from them? He strikes me as one of those guys that's basically straight but has had gay episodes that he keeps firmly in the closet. There are a lot of mainly straight guys out there that engage in gay hook-ups now and then that don't want anyone to know about it. They don't want people to think they're gay because they're basically straight and that's the identity they want to be known to have. Something tells me he could be one of those guys. He seems like he'd be far more comfortable being alone but having hook ups with no emotional involvement than being in a committed, intimate relationship with a woman. Sure, he could do that with women too, but something still tells me he's hiding something and based on all the other stuff I'm seeing, having had gay episodes in his past seems like it could be a possibility.

At least Charles isn't sympathetic enough to want to be married to her!

Yes to the Dave/Jose similarity. And yes to rooting for Britt, but because I like him he's bound not to, of course. I haven't been hating this season as much as some others here have, but I have a feeling we're going to have an unsatisfying ending with a lot of tap outs one after the other once the weather gets really bad.

OMG, it's all coming back to me, THANK YOU for posting this, it was bothering me that I couldn't remember it! Loved that "Deja fuck" line too! "Friar fuck" was almost as good, if you remember that one - I got married in that church 38 years ago, BTW (and it's not an RC church but Episcopalian)!

How Charles' personal life affects Kelsey is not a reason for him to censure himself because she doesn't like how it affects her. She's his subordinate and who he gets involved with is his prerogative given that he owns the business and she basically works for him. He can mix business with pleasure if he wants to - there's no law against it and if he owns the business he is totally free to engage in it, even if he does risk potential complications with subordinates and sexual harassment allegations if things turn sour with his love interest. Kelsey can either put up with it or move on. He shouldn't have to censure himself because she doesn't like how it affects her. If she feels uncomfortable with it or that it's unfair to her, she's free to leave. Years ago I worked in a small business where the boss took up with one of his subordinates. I didn't much care for the change in dynamic, plus the boss increasingly deferred to the opinion of his new love, who didn't like me very much. Fortunately it was a temporary summer gig so I toughed it out for a few months and moved on, but it was a similar situation in that how I felt about this relationship and how it affected me on the job didn't matter because he was the boss.