S01.E07: Meet the Parents

[Jane Tuesday]

Quote

Tensions mount between Giannina and Damian.  Amber takes Barnett to her childhood home.  Cameron braces for a fraught meeting with Lauren's father.

 

[latincoffee]

Kelly & Kenny's seem like a perfect match for each other. The family meeting seemed to have gone great. 

Gianini needs to stop the outbursts --it's creating friction in their relationship. 

[ally862]

3 hours ago, latincoffee said:

Kelly & Kenny's seem like a perfect match for each other. The family meeting seemed to have gone great. 

Yes, I've liked them from the beginning because they seem like the most mature and sure of what they.  They don't seem too wrapped up in the magic.  Because of that though I haven't been super invested in their story because it's so steady, if that makes sense.  That being said, their families seemed so genuine and they truly warmed my heart.  

[aradia22]

Either Jessica was not that drunk and is just using that as an excuse for her bad behavior or she has a serious problem and should think about really cutting back instead of just cutting herself off before she's wasted. Also, I hear the baby voice is back.

LOL. "Have you noticed that I don't return the compliment?" SHOTS FIRED. I don't care that she's fake if she's going to make me laugh like that. 

Ha, Matt? Who's Matt? Oh, Matthew Barnett. I see. I feel like it's not that easy to read Barnett and Cameron and Damian. I mean, Barnett and Damian definitely talk in a way that's a little too smooth or well thought-out but none of these guys are that camera ready. I can't always tell if they're distant or aloof or just being guys and being kind of reserved and quiet. It's different from other reality TV shows where I feel like they scout for guys who are more willing to get in the mud or be totally open about their feelings. They're pretty good at talking heads but they just a little quiet with other people, especially as the show is opening up to more and more people besides the pod dwellers. 

[aradia22]

I wonder what Damian's background is. Are his parents just normies who disapprove of reality TV? Are they Connecticutt WASPs? Southern elites? I'm just now realizing how little context we really have about who these people are. I feel like Giannina definitely has reality show drama queen vibes. But they're also underplaying something she's saying which is that I think she's used to a lot of physical affection and petting and doesn't like how Damian seems more reserved and less into initiating intimacy or just cuddling. If you measure how attractive you are, how much someone is interested in you, how much someone cares about you, etc. in how much they display that through physical touch then I can see why she would be put off in a way that is very confusing to him. 

Kelly's parents were very cute. I feel like they were reasonable but also supportive. 

Lol, I definitely feel like Jessica thought she would be getting an out with Mark's family. But nope. They were fine with her. 

Cameron's flow was so whack. But God bless him for just going for it. I think meeting Lauren's mom went pretty well. He came across nervous but pretty genuine.

Yeah, there was a big difference between Barnett's huge family home in that nice neighborhood and Amber's family home. I wonder if this show will go into class issues. Barnett's family don't seem upper class but they certainly have some money. 

[LilaFowler]

MATT's family does not like Amber at all. Only the mother rose to greet her. That was super awkward.

I know everyone loves Lauren and Cameron, but he gives me the creeps. I like her but him? Nah. Hard pass.

[aradia22]

Quote

MATT's family does not like Amber at all. Only the mother rose to greet her. That was super awkward.

I feel like they don't hate her as much as the editing wanted us to believe they did. There were a lot of quick, obvious cuts to make it seem like no one was making eye contact with her and the music was very manipulative. I agree that they probably don't like her that much but I assume they were fairly polite. The editing made it seem like Amber was laughing like a lunatic and the family were shooting her dirty looks.

[LilaFowler]

2 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

I feel like they don't hate her as much as the editing wanted us to believe they did. There were a lot of quick, obvious cuts to make it seem like no one was making eye contact with her and the music was very manipulative. I agree that they probably don't like her that much but I assume they were fairly polite. The editing made it seem like Amber was laughing like a lunatic and the family were shooting her dirty looks.

Eh... She was shaking like a chihuahua while everyone just stared at her. That was a wide angle shot and wasn't editing, lol. The sister looking her up and down and sneering also wasn't editing.

Amber seems completely unbalanced. MATT says that he's never met anyone so confident but it's all clearly a front for some deep-seated insecurity. These statements that she makes to the other women, like not being able to survive if he were to break up with her or not go through with the marriage, I wonder if she tells him this stuff, too. He needs to run.

[Kdawg82]

When I said Amber may be from a trailer park, I see I wasn't too far off. That poor family though. I can't imagine. Of course a bunch of kids around and no mom. Granny must be the sitter while Amber's sibling(???) Is at work? Her dad died when she was five? OMG. Barnett- or MATT (as i caught that being your real name)- don't screw with this gal. 

Love love love Kelly & Kenny's families.  They did (as his mom stated) "win the lottery" with this family combo. Hopefully they're genuine. 

Again, bad acting Gianina looks like her family comes from a long line of reality or F list TV personalities somewhere on the planet.  

Edited February 24, 2020 by Kdawg82
I rewatched & saw a young woman who appeared to be the mom of kids

[2727]

9 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I definitely feel like Jessica thought she would be getting an out with Mark's family.

Take a drink every time Jessica tries to sabotage her engagement and fails!

[jabRI]

19 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I wonder what Damian's background is. Are his parents just normies who disapprove of reality TV? Are they Connecticutt WASPs? Southern elites?

He seemed really concerned about losing his job because of the time off, so I'd say more blue collar, since he didn't seem to have a lot to fall back on.  The funniest part to me was in the car when they were NOT meeting his parents, he kept telling G 'don't yell at me' so she whisper-yelled (same words but in a soft voice) ha!

[JTMacc99]

Interestingly, I like Amber a lot more now. Kid was nervous as hell because she doesn’t think she’ll measure up to his family because of her roots. That’s an awful weight to carry around. 
 

I loved Kelly’s parents.  Actually I loved both families for that couple. 
 

I also loved Lauren’s mom and am pretty sure will feel the same about her dad. 
 

The other two couples are doomed, so I am not wasting time trying to figure them out at the moment. 

[AlanaHeart]

Was it mentioned at all why we have never saw Lauren meet Cameron's parents? I know his Mom is sick. Have we seen any of Cameron's friends yet?

 

Does any one think it was totally weird that with Amber's grandmother's house, the crew wasn't let inside to film? Makes me wonder what the state of the house was.

 

 

Edited February 22, 2020 by AlanaHeart

[Racj82]

On 2/20/2020 at 10:27 PM, LilaFowler said:

MATT's family does not like Amber at all. Only the mother rose to greet her. That was super awkward.

I know everyone loves Lauren and Cameron, but he gives me the creeps. I like her but him? Nah. Hard pass.

He comes off like a love robot to me. Like he was just programmed to say and do all the right things. He doesn't come off like a real person. I can never trust someone who seems to have the right words, reactions, etc for every occasion.

15 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

Interestingly, I like Amber a lot more now. Kid was nervous as hell because she doesn’t think she’ll measure up to his family because of her roots. That’s an awful weight to carry around. 
 

I loved Kelly’s parents.  Actually I loved both families for that couple. 
 

I also loved Lauren’s mom and am pretty sure will feel the same about her dad. 
 

The other two couples are doomed, so I am not wasting time trying to figure them out at the moment. 

I respect and understand Amber's feelings about meeting the family but I also think she is still annoying as hell.

 

On 2/21/2020 at 7:56 AM, 2727 said:

Take a drink every time Jessica tries to sabotage her engagement and fails!

I hope Jessica herself doesn't play drinking games. She may not survive them.

Her constantly trying to make their age difference alone a thing when no one gives a shit is very tiresome. 

 

[aradia22]

@AlanaHeart From what I remember, I don't think it was mentioned why we didn't see Lauren meeting Cameron's parents or Mark meeting Jessica's mom or friends. 

[Choosejoy]

Is Cameron the only child?  Why hasn't Lauren met any of his family? I really like them for each other! 

Glad to see Jessica claim to stop pushing her fiance away! He seems what she needs and the man she unknowingly deserves.  Stop being a control freak Jessica! Let it happen! 

Hope Matt and Amber make it. Amber may need to get a job. 

[Bobcatkitten]

Jessica needs some serious help. Both with alcoholism and her inability to commit. She is doing everything she can to tear down whatever relationship she has with Mark. It's all her issues. All of it. And I don't understand why Mark hasn't peaced out. 

 

Also I really enjoyed Cameron talking to Lauren's Dad. I mean clearly this show and how they approach engagement and marriage is ridiculous. But seeing them have a real conversation about race was super interesting. I think her Dad was the right part skeptic/open.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I adore Lauren's mother.  Lauren's father was so intimidating, oh my god.

Gigi's mother is a goddess.  She is so damn gorgeous.  She doesn't even look old enough to have a child like Gigi.

Jessica is such a horrible person.

I'm sorry, but Amber acted INSANE when she met Barnett's family.  What choice did they have but just to quietly scare?  She acted so over the top crazy.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Neurochick]

I think both Jessica and Amber have drinking problems.  Jessica turns into a different person when she drinks.

[Brooklynista]

13 minutes ago, Neurochick said:

I think both Jessica and Amber have drinking problems.  Jessica turns into a different person when she drinks.

A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts and the truth tumbles right on out of Jessica when she gets saucy. 

[Neurochick]

5 minutes ago, Brooklynista said:

A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts and the truth tumbles right on out of Jessica when she gets saucy. 

I disagree with this, that's a huge myth.  Go to an AA meeting and you'll find out that's not necessarily true.  Many people do things while drunk (like murder) that they would not do if they were sober.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Neurochick

[Racj82]

On 2/23/2020 at 6:54 PM, Neurochick said:

I disagree with this, that's a huge myth.  Go to an AA meeting and you'll find out that's not necessarily true.  Many people do things while drunk (like murder) that they would not do if they were sober.

In this case I don't think that matters. Drunk or sober, who she wants to see with is very clear. But, while drunk, she actually lays it out there. While sober, she keeps trying to be polite or not say her whole truth. Her blurting out things like damn Barnett is hot to Mark is a drunk truth telling moment because she tells everyone else she thinks she's attractive, for example. While drunk she actually said it to Mark as well.

[Blissfool]

On 2/23/2020 at 11:42 AM, Ms Blue Jay said:

 

Gigi's mother is a goddess.  She is so damn gorgeous.  She doesn't even look old enough to have a child like Gigi.

Which brings me to Mark's mom. Got married at 18, has been married 31 yrs, making her..........49?!......Stop it!

[marny]

What's hard about Jessica and Mark is that they have no clue how they're going to be edited, so they're each trying to come across well, meanwhile coming across terribly. Jessica is just trying to force Mark to dump her so she can be perceived as the poor victim. Instead, she's coming across as a huge jerk who settled for a nice enough guy after her first choice didn't want her, but won't just let that poor second-choice guy go. And Mark, in putting up with her nonsense, is coming across like a pathetic doormat. I wonder if he's afraid to be the one to walk away and be depicted as a shallow guy who doesn't want to be with an "old lady". 

[EastCoast4Life]

On 2/20/2020 at 7:09 PM, aradia22 said:

Ha, Matt? Who's Matt? Oh, Matthew Barnett.

Yes, what is wrong with the name Matt? Why did he insist on going by Barnett the whole time up until now? He looks just a lot like his dad. His siblings seemed to be a mix of mom and dad, and didn't get Barnett's good looks. He's also way taller than all of them. 

Speaking of kids looking like their parents, boy does Mark look like his mom! I was laughing at how wonderful Mama Mark thought the age difference was. That was not the reaction that Jessica was hoping for. 

Wow, could Kenny and Kelly's parents BE more adorable? So normal, so sweet, and just all around lovely. 

 

[Angeleyes]

4 hours ago, EastCoast4Life said:

Yes, what is wrong with the name Matt? Why did he insist on going by Barnett the whole time up until now? 

In the pods he said that all his friends call him Barnett. Also, there was another guy on the show named Matt that ended up going home so the show probably wanted him to use that so that there was less confusion. 

[aradia22]

Quote

Yes, what is wrong with the name Matt? Why did he insist on going by Barnett the whole time up until now? 

I'm getting the vibe that he might be the kind of guy who is bro-y and frat-y with his friends and very straight-laced with his parents and possibly at work. On this show, he's Barnett and he can never be serious about anything and he's always cracking jokes. But if that guy from the pods was present with his family, they didn't show it. 

[DearEvette]

Giannina is so damned dramatic! I don't even know where the sex argument came from.  And why is she yelling at the camera?  Meanwhile Damien is still Rock face.  Dude has no animation in his face.  He is sarcastic as hell tho.   Also, was he lying down fully dressed, under the covers?  Is he cold all the time?  He was wearing the jacket while cooking as well.

I know some see Cameron being a little intense/creepy.  I don't see it.  I just think he is way into Lauren and can't believe his good fortune so he keeps looking at her as if she is going to disappear.  Damien otoh,  now he gives me controlled serial killer vibe.  He would be perfectly cast as a cool-headed assassin who disposes of his kills with no expression on his face.

Mark's father was killing me.  Every time he camera went to him, I just died.  Each time he just had this grumpy frown on his face.  And Jessica, I will give it to her, she was great with his parents.  She actually seemed like she was into Mark for once. And when she mentioned being Christina and wanting to raise kids in the church, Mark's dad cracked  the teeniest of smiles while still managing to look grumpy.  LOL.

Barnett was surprised by Amber's background.  I wasn't. She absolutely gave off that hard-scrabble vibe to me.

Amber was really ON with Barnett's family.  They looked so skeptical.  I would have never guessed that Jessica of all people would be more chill with parents than Amber.

Kelly's parents were a hoot.  Her dad looks like he smokes weed and her sister looks like she dances to the Goddess during the solstice and then casts spells.  Her and Kenny's meet the parents were fun.  No lie, their parents had 10x more personality that either Kelly or Kenny.

Lauren mimicking her mother was funny.   Cameron ... rapping.  Okaaay.  Not excellent... but not tooo terrible.  It is definitely mom-appropriate rap.

Also, how crazy is it that Cameron's mom & dad have the same names as Lauren's mom & dad?  I really loved the convo between Cameron and Lauren's dad.  Just really enjoyed their vibe.  Lauren's dad is pretty cool. 

 

 

[truthaboutluv]

22 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Mark's father was killing me.  Every time he camera went to him, I just died. 

This so much. At one point, right before Jessica pointed out his not saying anything, I was wondering if he was just mute. 

22 hours ago, DearEvette said:

Barnett was surprised by Amber's background.  I wasn't. She absolutely gave off that hard-scrabble vibe to me.

Agreed. Frankly I have been more so surprised by Barnett's background, than Amber's. As someone noted above, in the pods he definitely gave off the trucker/frat boy vibe that made it seem like he and Amber were perfectly white trash-tastic together. 

And instead he has this really nice starter home, seems to have come from an upper middle class family if that family home is anything to go by, has a steady job and definitely did not seem too thrilled by Amber's laissez faire attitude towards having a steady job. 

On 2/20/2020 at 11:35 PM, aradia22 said:

I feel like they don't hate her as much as the editing wanted us to believe they did.

I don't think they hated her, as they don't know her. But they definitely didn't seem happy by Barnett's decision. I think it was a combination of just thinking jumping this quickly into a marriage is crazy period but also that yeah, Amber is as Damian said meeting her, "a lot". And add to the fact that she was clearly nervous as hell, which means the loudness and OTT behavior might have been ratcheted up to 10. It's clear his family was uncomfortable. 

One of my other favorite hilarious moments with the family was when Gigi's mother was saying how she just thinks the whole thing is too soon, and Gigi's dad is next to her, just parroting the whole time, "too soon, too soon" and shaking his head. It was just his whole demeanor that had me cracking up - arms folded, legs crossed, body turned slightly away and just shaking his head, going, "too soon"

[Empress1]

On 2/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, DearEvette said:

Barnett was surprised by Amber's background.  I wasn't. She absolutely gave off that hard-scrabble vibe to me.

Me too. It's also always been clear to me that her "confidence" masks insecurity. I noticed something similar with Matt (heh), that he seems very nervous about disappointing people. He didn't want to disappoint Amber with his home, he didn't want to disappoint his parents. Like @aradia22, I suspect he's different around his parents and authority figures than he is around his friends. He definitely has a bro vibe (which is why I don't really care for him; that is not my type), but I think he turns that off around his family.

I would not have gone with thigh-high boots to meet the parents. Amber was clearly nervous and over-sharing. The sister-in-law was not feeling it at all - she was side-eyeing Amber the whole time.

On 2/20/2020 at 7:09 PM, aradia22 said:

"Have you noticed that I don't return the compliment?" SHOTS FIRED. I don't care that she's fake if she's going to make me laugh like that. 

I was like "That is fighting DIRTY." I also laughed that they were yelling at each other from different rooms. I kept thinking, somebody just go in the room! Y'all not in the pods anymore, you can talk face to face!

On 2/22/2020 at 2:46 PM, AlanaHeart said:

Was it mentioned at all why we have never saw Lauren meet Cameron's parents?

In an interview with them that I read they said it happened but it just wasn't shown; they said they thought it was too uneventful for it to air.  

On 2/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, DearEvette said:

Kelly's parents were a hoot.  Her dad looks like he smokes weed and her sister looks like she dances to the Goddess during the solstice and then casts spells.  Her and Kenny's meet the parents were fun.  No lie, their parents had 10x more personality that either Kelly or Kenny.

Kelly's parents totally had an aging hippie vibe. Kenny's parents are a really good-looking older couple.

On 2/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, DearEvette said:

Mark's father was killing me.  Every time he camera went to him, I just died.  Each time he just had this grumpy frown on his face. 

Mark's dad looked like Sam the Eagle the entire time and I loved it.

Damian is kind of homely. I find Giannina exhausting. I also don't tolerate yelling, so I was with Damian when he said not to yell at him.

Lauren's imitation of her mother had me rolling. There was also something about the way Lauren's mother said "Oh my," when Cameron said he loved Lauren so much that I thought was really cute.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 2/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, DearEvette said:

Giannina is so damned dramatic! I don't even know where the sex argument came from.  And why is she yelling at the camera?  Meanwhile Damien is still Rock face.  Dude has no animation in his face.  He is sarcastic as hell tho.   Also, was he lying down fully dressed, under the covers?  Is he cold all the time?  He was wearing the jacket while cooking as well.

People on reality TV always seem to be doing weird things like climbing into bed fully clothed, or cooking in their outerwear! Why??

I think Gigi thinks that she and Damien have some sort of "tempestuous" relationship; like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; lots of high volume fighting followed by wild make up sex. Sadly, Damien is not that guy. Gigi lives for trouble and if there isn't any naturally occurring, she'll go on ahead and make some. Damien is way too tame for her. 

Amber, dear god. That snort laugh. I know she can't help it but it is so off-putting. And I mean, I know from extra. I'm extra as fuck. But I'm also funny and adorable. Amber needs to learn how to read a room. She seems to have no sense of decorum. All she knows is to be extra, super extra, or maybe a little less extra. 

[Kiss my mutt]

Jessica is hot mess express while Amber is the trailer trash on the same express heading nowhere. I’m more likely to be empathetic towards amber though because she comes by it naturally. Mark had nothing to be ashamed in his home and I’m sure things clicked into place once he saw Amber’s humble beginnings. 

[Kiss my mutt]

I had to roll my eyes when Jessica said she’s super Christian to Mark’s parents. Whatever that means. 

[Ilovepie]

On 3/10/2020 at 11:55 AM, Kiss my mutt said:

I had to roll my eyes when Jessica said she’s super Christian to Mark’s parents. Whatever that means. 

The only thing that girl is religious about is drinking......

[CoolMom]

On 2/28/2020 at 9:30 PM, DearEvette said:

Giannina is so damned dramatic! I don't even know where the sex argument came from.  And why is she yelling at the camera?  Meanwhile Damien is still Rock face.  Dude has no animation in his face.  He is sarcastic as hell tho.   Also, was he lying down fully dressed, under the covers?  Is he cold all the time?  He was wearing the jacket while cooking as well.

I could read the thermostat on the wall, it was set at 70 degrees.  I would be in a parka. 🙂 

[RealReality]

On 3/8/2020 at 2:11 PM, Kiss my mutt said:

Jessica is hot mess express while Amber is the trailer trash on the same express heading nowhere. I’m more likely to be empathetic towards amber though because she comes by it naturally. Mark had nothing to be ashamed in his home and I’m sure things clicked into place once he saw Amber’s humble beginnings. 

LOL, I've got about zero sympathy for amber.  You're such a badass, really?  

You don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. 

Your "job" is ex tank mechanic and you work "whenever you want" which sounds suspiciously like you're an escort. 

You want to immediately move into this guy's house because you have no income and no place to live. 

You appear to have no interest in getting a real job anytime soon as you would hypothetically want to be a "stay at home mom"

You are 20k in debt and have a $700 credit card from Sephora.  You've made sure to pay that card off because there enough room for $200 worth of makeup. 

You haven't made a solitary payment towards debt you KNOW is non dischargeable in bankruptcy.  I have a lot of feelings about student debt, but that doesn't change the fact that you're not supposed to completely blow it off. That 20k of debt is probably $40k by now.  

And hey, all of this is fine I suppose.  But stop billing yourself as some badass independent woman who can take care of herself when you are clearly on the hunt for someone to take care of you.  

 

ETA : Barnett is the one who needs a prenup.  Amber seems like the type to claim squatters rights even if they aren't married.  Also, I wish that some producer would have spilled all the tea about Amber's financial situation to Barnett's family.  It would have taken all the smug right out of her. 

Edited April 9, 2020 by RealReality

[awaken]

On 3/10/2020 at 2:55 PM, Kiss my mutt said:

I had to roll my eyes when Jessica said she’s super Christian to Mark’s parents. Whatever that means. 

Yeah, she said that in the pods, too. Thrilled that mark is “super Christian” too because he has a large tattoo of Jesus. I see no evidence of this super Christian status she proclaims!  

[SoMuchTV]

On 2/20/2020 at 2:35 PM, latincoffee said:

Kelly & Kenny's seem like a perfect match for each other. The family meeting seemed to have gone great. 

I'm extremely late to this conversation (somehow this came onto my radar when Season 3 came out).  Kelly and Kenny and their families all seemed very cute and chill. But I have to get this off my chest.  That book they bonded over, Love You Forever?  Which has come up in multiple episodes, now? That is in my opinion the creepiest kids' book ever.  I guess that's a minority opinion, based on Amazon reviews, but I know I'm not the only one who feels that way!

I'm not spoiled so I'm looking forward to how everything turns out!  Kinda wishing I had started watching this in spring 2020!