Empress1

Michael has a career in tech sales, which can be really lucrative, at least one hobby (boxing), is physically fit, is nice to people and animals, can string a sentence together/appears to be intelligent, and has a close group of friends. He’s also self-aware - he’s said he knows his style is unconventional but HE likes it, which is what matters to him. (His style is carefully cultivated - you don’t dress that way by accident.) I see no reason for him not to be confident. I do see reasons for, say, Orion not to be confident, none of which have anything to do with his looks.

Totally different things. Marriage is about long-term compatibility. Sex doesn’t have to be (though I would not marry someone I wasn’t sexually compatible with). Many a couple have mistaken good sex for love/compatibility, to their detriment. Michael and Chloe may be sexually compatible but they don’t yet know if they’re compatible long-term. That’s what they’re supposed to be figuring out. Michael may not be conventionally attractive but he’s confident. I don’t think he’d tolerate anyone saying he was lucky to have her because she’s better-looking than he is (nor should he, because that’s cruel).

This is my thing. These couples weren’t friends before; there’s no need to be friends now. Most of them don’t actually like each other. Clare, read the room - Cameron hates you. He doesn’t want to hear from you, on his birthday or otherwise. Just be done! Do these people not take space after a breakup?? Lauren is going to be just fine. (She and Michael are my favorite cast members.) Love her cutting off Orion and going out on dates. (I’ve heard of cucumbers on the eyes but I’ve never seen cucumbers on the legs during a pedi.) I think most rentals have per pet/per month pet rent, so it’s an additional cost. And a lot of rentals limit number and/or breed of pets. It’s a legitimate concern.

Some tea from AD.

I might, depending on the situation, but for these people, who clearly don’t like each other at all? Brennan doesn’t like or respect Emily as a person, and it doesn’t seem like he ever has. I don’t know what all went down between Clare and Cameron but Cameron seems to hate her now. Why would they be friends? For what? Also you can be done with someone and not be their enemy. You can just be done. We tried, it didn’t work, they’re somebody I used to know. That’s fine. … Unless what they want is for the men to grovel, which is not the same as friendship and a disingenuous thing to want.

Yes. That cinematic “everyone says everything they need to say” thing is overrated (and they also did that anyway). You give yourself closure. There’s no reason for them to keep talking - they’re not friends. This is why I was like “?” when Emily was bitching that their exes hadn’t texted them. Y’all broke up! Texted them to say what? Say it at the reunion y’all are likely contractually obligated to attend. I agree with whoever said that the women seem really invested in the men being at fault/the villains, when at the end of the day, these were just incompatible couples. Somebody wasn’t into somebody. Happens every day. (I personally would rather hang out with the men than the women, with Lauren being the exception. Emily’s relationship with alcohol is troubling and both she and Clare have nasty sides, and Becca is whinier than I prefer, though maybe she’s less whiny in a different situations. Chloe seems nice enough but I agree that all her responses sound curated.)

Yeah, in the timeless words of Heather B., who was on the first-ever season of The Real World: they use what you give them. Jimmy made a point of keeping that off camera and Chelsea blew that up, and IMO she was fully in the wrong for that. Netflix wouldn’t have had the “should we/shouldn’t we” choice to make if Chelsea hadn’t provided them with the info by saying it on camera.

Amy’s red gown is a lot, with the … half sleeves? Cuffs? I’ve never fully understood why the dress code for reality show reunions is “pageant.” Like, Sarah Ann really had on body glitter. In 2024. At age 30, or however old she is. Oh-kay. I never thought Jeramey was cute but I thought he looked terrible on this reunion. Just nothing attractive there at all, either in looks or personality. He just seems like an asshole. Exactly. Jessica said it best- at the most basic level, Sarah Ann and Jeramey could and should have handled the situation more respectfully, and people are entitled to think they’re foul because of it. If Laura really thought Jeramey was it for her, that they were going to get married and have kids and alladat, then I agree with her that Sarah Ann and Jeramey made a mockery of that, and that sucks. I do think they’re a better match than Jeramey and Laura, but the way they got together is iffy at best, and actions have consequences. Watching Trevor just sitting there with his mouth hanging open was hilarious, I can’t even lie. Cameron posted that while he has no beef with the show, one, he and Lauren had a prior engagement so couldn’t make it, and two, he wasn’t really feeling season 6 like that (he said he tried to watch it but it was too much about drama). Basically: we’re like six years out from this, we’re good, let somebody else do it. I saw a clip online where she said she tries to make Clay realize what he missed out on “every chance [she] gets” and I was like, girl … Like, he’ll learn the lesson of “my actions had consequences I don’t like” by being denied access to her. Her hugging up on her (which she said she did, she said they’re all over each other when they see each other and call them “flirty friends”) doesn’t teach him anything except that he can still have her if he wants.

Formatting fail. My bad.

Rita’s opens in February now! My brother and I always talk about how we saw a Rita’s open on our way from our grandmother’s funeral in February (not last month, this was years ago). There was snow on the ground. (For those who don’t know: Rita’s is a local water ice chain. Water ice is a frozen confection, kind of a cross between a Slurpee and a snow cone.)

Oh, I would. I think Chloe said there were enough people in the world. She’s also 39, so she may not want to deal with infants at her age (yes, I know women give birth into their 40s), although based on what I remember her saying at the wedding, it didn’t sound like she’s ever wanted to give birth. Which is fine.

?! Oh, I have to watch this. Cam just spilling the tea! That’s very bad form of Becca (and Emily). While I can understand Emily wanting to cheat since her marriage was clearly dead … it’s 8 weeks. She couldn’t wait 8 weeks? It’s like the guy a few seasons ago who got caught on a dating app with a week to go - just ride it out and then go do whatever when you’re divorced next week. They also had Brennan over Austin. I think it was just sloppy editing. Austin’s age has been listed as 31 for the entire season. I hope Emily cheating is brought up on the reunion.

I was like “WHAT IS THIS?” They better not mess with my Mr. Johnson! That friendship was delightful though. Them talking Real Housewives was hilarious. My grandmother was a school librarian in an under-resourced school in Philly (and she went back to school in her 40s, after her kids were grown) so this was near to my heart. I did think it was odd that Barbara would have so much sway, and I liked seeing Janine stand up for herself and her work. Working for the district has been good for her.

Austin is 31. She clearly has not even come close to doing it. I have a friend who adopted her daughter out of foster care. She was single (she’s married now) and her daughter was a teen when she came to live with my friend (she’s grown now!). I’ve known other foster parents too, though not as well. I can tell that Chloe hasn’t even looked at the application, let alone started with home visits, etc. I actually don’t think a placement would be wise until her relationship with Michael is more stable. Emily was whining about how their husbands didn’t text them … was I the only one like “y’all broke up, what do you want them to say?” I’ve said here that I firmly believe in no contact after a breakup. I think Brennan’s friend was talking about closure … like, the case is closed, is it not? They were all strangers before and it’s not weird to me that they’ll go back to being strangers. There was a moment when the chyron identified Austin as Brennan, which made me laugh.

I don’t think he likes her, period. I keep coming back to the fact that he said he was “drained” after the honeymoon, and when he showed her his apartment his body language screamed “get her out of here.” Emily said she always gets ghosted and I think if he’d met her on Bumble and gone on a date with her, he’d have ghosted her. Maaaaaybe given her the old “I didn’t feel any chemistry” text, but probably ghosted her.

Yeah, with Haley and her husband, I felt like he was a nice guy stuck in a bad situation (they were incompatible and Haley treated him like shit) but Haley wasn’t a nice person, period. With Emily and Brennan, I don’t see her as a victim either - I’ve never thought she was particularly nice, and she’s confusing “party girl” with “positive person.”

When someone asked her what she was saying and she replied “I’m saying … a lot of mean stuff!” I rolled my eyes to the sky. Just tell him she’s out! He’s not going to fight for her and she needs to get some self-respect. If she really thinks he was on a date with this producer, if she thinks he cheated on her (sexually or not; she clearly is not okay with him being out with this producer socially, particularly since he didn’t tell her about it), there is no reason for her to be there. She just said she didn’t want a marriage like theirs had been, she wanted to move forward, and he’s doing the same shit he was doing that upset her. This is what it is. Better to get out now before their lives are more intertwined. I’m trying to hang in there with Becca because unrequited feelings is a shitty place to be in, but if she were my friend I’d be reaching the point where I say “I don’t know what else you want me to say. We’ve had this conversation before. You know I think you should end it, so … 🤷🏾‍♀️”

She has an annoying habit of trying to analyze the group when nobody asked her. I know it’s her profession but they’re not her clients. Lauren needed a bra.

This gathering is heavy. Chloe looks like “I really just wanted a beer.”

I would have done a bolder lip, a necklace (I can hear my mother saying “you need something around your neck!”) and that slit was really high. I love a slit (I‘m tallish and have long legs) but I’d be worried about showing too much with a slit that high, so I’d want it closed a couple of inches.

If he’s not ready to be a stepdad, he shouldn’t be (and I maintain that I don’t think a single parent of an underage child going on this show is appropriate). Even if his reason is “I don’t feel like it,” that’s a good reason - the best reason, really. And “company” in this case is “everybody with access to a Netflix subscription.” It would be bad enough if she just told her group of friends, but she told EVERYBODY. I don’t care about Jimmy and his friend one way or the other, but you should be assured that your person won’t put your business on front street if you ask them not to. And if they do, they should be genuinely apologetic. Chelsea was like “I mean, it’s how I felt so whatever.” His whole comportment screams “not ready.” Even the way he approached her at the altar said it. “I mean, why does the timing matter” - sir, please read the room and approach the situation with some humility. You don’t get to get defensive here. The way he handled their talk afterward said it - don’t be hugging up on her when you broke her heart! If you want absolution, go to church. I said elsewhere that he’s probably one relationship away from being ready and I stand by that. AD might end up as the one who got away.

He passed. She commented on how surreal it was to have to put “deceased” for him on the marriage license. (Been there, thought not for a marriage license. Those moments when it hits you again are hard.) I believe her parents were divorced when her dad passed. Yeah, it sounded to me like they were friends, hooked up once, and decided not to make a go of it as a couple. I don’t know that I understand his motivations for keeping that a secret, but I will say that I agreed with him in that if I can’t trust you to keep my confidence (and Chelsea wasn’t really sorry), that’s a problem. The moment when AD thanked her mother for helping her leave and her mother said “you are so welcome” made me tear up. Her mom is a real one. Clay’s father blaming HIS father for his infidelity made me mad too. I was like … sir, at your big age? Please be serious. Clay’s parents having that conversation was almost too intimate - that was real shit.

I don’t think we did either - I would have remembered because I think discussing and being on the same page about finances is crucial. I hated that Clay kept kissing AD after - I was like “get off her!” She wasn’t kissing him back and I found it to be kind of disrespectful of him - she’s humiliated and heartbroken, give her physical space. I know what AD meant about feeling used - his next GF is probably who he’ll marry, and she feels like that woman gets the benefits of her work on Clay. She said herself she picks men who need fixing; she needs a man who is fully formed. (But AD, girl, “what the fuck?” in front of the pastor? Ha!) And it seemed like Jimmy was fully dumping Chelsea, not just saying he couldn’t marry her. I didn’t get the vibe that he was saying “I don’t think we’re ready to get married but let’s still be a couple.” She’s not it for him at all (or anyone, she needs some therapy first). When they were fighting she kept making the case for why they shouldn’t get married without meaning to, and then he basically said that - “thanks for confirming that I’m doing the right thing,” or something, and I thought “ouch.” But they have no business marrying. Amy and Johnny really do seem happy, so good for them. When was this filmed? Wondering how much time has lapsed between the weddings and reunion.

Yep. She’ll have to get over him first. If they want to be friends they need a stretch of no contact and he’ll need to take his cue from her re: getting back in touch. (I firmly believe that no contact is the best way to get over someone, wherever possible. Obviously if you have kids you have to talk, but that’s not in play here.) She’ll get hurt again (or still) if they try try to downshift to just friends too quickly.

She’s 32, he’s 31. She turned 32 during filming; they were the same age when they got married. A year isn’t an age difference. I agree with you - I wouldn’t describe either of them as particularly high-energy. Austin’s not out here talking about how he likes to go hiking or mountain biking or traveling or even go to the gym in his spare time. Neither is Becca. Come to think of it, I’m not sure what either of their interests are. I’m not even sure what Austin’s job is. I feel like in prior seasons, we saw the couples doing things one of them liked to do. We saw a bit of that this episode with Michael taking Chloe to the boxing gym (he seemed to be a member there, he knew the owner), but I feel like we used to see more of it. A lot of the activities the couples have done this season have seemed pretty producer-driven. Totally agree. Becca may not be needy in all her relationships but she gets so little from Austin that anything that goes smoothly is a triumph. The fact that she considered leaving the washer open a success story is a sign that this isn’t working. She should want better than breadcrumbs.