S10.E14: Fight or Flight?

[Ohwell]

That busted wig should have its own Instagram account.

[Jeanne222]

4 hours ago, Neurochick said:

 

What would happen if Brandon and Taylor and Meka and Michael did what Mindy did in the midst of the season, and say their respective marriages were over?  No one in production would be happy if that had happened.  I mean if Meka is SO upset that Michael keeps lying to her, why is she still there?  Why is Taylor still there if Brandon pissed her off THAT much?  I'd like to know.

Money and contracts!

[Yeah No]

5 hours ago, Neurochick said:

That wasn't disturbing to me, it was childish.  He was pissed at the show for setting him up with Taylor.  If most of his relationships have been interracial, he was probably upset that he was set up with a black woman, especially a reality show/Instagram wannabe with a busted wig. (sorry, had to throw that in)

FWIW, I found Brandon childish AND disturbing.  I think Katie is just childish and self centered.  Brandon provokes fear and plays mind fuckery games.  I feel like any minute he is going to explode and hurt someone or destroy property.  The way he acted with production was IMO far more disturbing than anything Katie has done so far.  Plus he has been acting that way since day 1 with Taylor.  His punching in that wedding cake was the first  disturbing red flag and it has been one red flag after another with him all through.  Anyone that acts that way AT THE WEDDING has serious anger and other issues and IMO I would not feel safe around him for two minutes.

Go easy on me, I lost my 92 year old father in NYC to Coronavirus today (well, it's technically yesterday now) and I am 110 miles away with no family in NY and I can't go anywhere near the place plus like everyone else I am dealing with the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.  Yes, this is a nightmare.

[CaliCat]

7 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

Go easy on me, I lost my 92 year old father in NYC to Coronavirus today (well, it's technically yesterday now) and I am 110 miles away with no family in NY and I can't go anywhere near the place plus like everyone else I am dealing with the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.  Yes, this is a nightmare.

I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your father.  It doesn’t matter how long our parents are with us, it’s heartbreaking to lose them. Not being able to be with your father is especially tragic. You have my sympathy. 

[Yeah No]

10 minutes ago, CaliCat said:

I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your father.  It doesn’t matter how long our parents are with us, it’s heartbreaking to lose them. Not being able to be with your father is especially tragic. You have my sympathy. 

Thank you so much.  This is the worst way and time to lose someone.  Obviously at that age I knew it might not be long anyway but this is not the way you want your loved one to go.  I couldn't be with him at the end and was told not to drive down to NYC whatsoever under ANY circumstances.  They aren't allowing visitors of any kind in the hospitals especially near Covid patients.  Plus I have no other family and he is 110 miles away.  It's just horrible.  He had visiting nurses coming into his apartment (which he couldn't be without) and I knew that was a potential problem but all of them were wearing masks and gloves, and yet he still got the virus.  He lived a long and wonderful life and so I am trying to concentrate on that and not the horrible circumstances surrounding his death.  As it is, I still haven't heard back from the hospital about funeral home arrangements.  I hear they are overwhelmed.  They told me it might not be until morning.  I am all cried out and in and out of sleep.  Thank goodness I have my husband here in the flesh or it would be even worse.

Edited April 5, 2020 by Yeah No

[VioletNevermind]

20 hours ago, zoltana said:

What is wrong with her eyes?  They seem really squinty.

It’s probably all of the makeup and the baby giraffe eyelashes.  She looks ridiculous to me.  So fake. 

[ReadMeLattice]

I actually sort of like that Austin won't say "I love you" on someone else's timeline. It shows that, yeah, Jessica might run the show in some ways on a day-to-day level (I don't think she's "controlling" but she is definitely a household-manager type), but he will hold his own and isn't a pushover or a total yes-man like Bobby seemed to be a bit with Danielle. Even though I'm sure it hurt Jessica a lot not to hear it when she went out on a limb and said it, I think it shows something healthy about their power dynamic--that they will be equals, even if Austin is a little quieter and more subtle about asserting himself. 

[MajorNelson]

17 hours ago, Neurochick said:

What would happen if Brandon and Taylor and Meka and Michael did what Mindy did in the midst of the season, and say their respective marriages were over? 

I Just want to jump in here and talk about Mindy and her ending the marriage.  She was following the experts' advice.  Dr. V asked Mindy to come up with three fundamentals or absolutes that she had to have.  And while Zach said he would abide by them, when she caught him in an instance of not being truthful, she adhered to the standards and ended it.  These other couples do not have an "out" given to them by the experts or producers, that we know of.

[CloseThisAccount]

On 4/1/2020 at 8:51 PM, LennieBriscoe said:

So she's trying again to control Derek. And ruining the dinner for the others.

ETA: Divorce, Derek. D-I-V-O-R-C-E. Sing it, son. 

But don't sing it like a Christmas song cos Katie is not here for that!

[CloseThisAccount]

Agreed that Taylor is annoying & unable to put herself aside & see into other people's feelings, but her story of the night in the hotel room was quite different from Brandon's & in her place I probably would have done exactly as she did.

She says she wanted both of them to go home & have an evening together.

Brandon replies, No, I'm going to work. So she drives him to work in DC & says, OK, then I'll hang out with my friend who's visiting DC.

Then she finds out Brandon didn't stay at work but almost immediately went home, where she wanted to be with him from the start anyway, so his whole, "I have to work" thing just looks like a way to avoid her.

They've never had sex.

He's basically her unpleasant, dishonest roommate. She doesn't owe him shit. If she wants to stay out all weekend with twenty people of assorted genders, I say more power to her & she should do the same next weekend, too. She's acting single bc she is single.  Brandon always tells the story to make her look bad on camera & leaves out all his aggravating behavior.  She makes ridiculous choices. But he's a bastard & deserves to be alone for the rest of his life just to protect the rest of us.

[sometimesjennifer]

48 minutes ago, TakeAPinotGrigio said:

She says she wanted both of them to go home & have an evening together.

Brandon replies, No, I'm going to work. So she drives him to work in DC & says, OK, then I'll hang out with my friend who's visiting DC.

Then she finds out Brandon didn't stay at work but almost immediately went home, where she wanted to be with him from the start anyway, so his whole, "I have to work" thing just looks like a way to avoid her.

Thank you - this is something that has been bothering me. While I cannot stand either of them for different reasons, in this instance I am definitely on Taylor's side if her telling of the story is true. She didn't just randomly peace out, say she was going to a hotel party without Brandon, and then neglect to contact him again till the next morning while he sat there fretting. She drove HIM into the city to supposedly go to work after he declined to spend an evening in with her so she decided to visit her friend since she was there anyway. Did he expect her to wait in the car while he worked, or even worse, drive home and then all the way back again to pick him up when he was done working? She sucks beyond the telling of it, but it sounds like he treats her like his personal chauffeur and expects her to sit around waiting for the next time he needs a ride. I think that is why he was pissed - not because he was worried about her, but because she wasn't there when he snapped his fingers to drive him home. And then he went home anyway without her, so he obviously has other means of transportation. If that is the case, why is she shuttling him around all the time?

So many unanswered questions about these two and I doubt we will ever get the full story.

Edited April 5, 2020 by sometimesjennifer
I need to read my posts before I click Submit

[Mrs. Button]

Quote

Go easy on me, I lost my 92 year old father in NYC to Coronavirus today (well, it's technically yesterday now) and I am 110 miles away with no family in NY and I can't go anywhere near the place plus like everyone else I am dealing with the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.  Yes, this is a nightmare.

I am so, so sorry! I can only imagine what you must be going through. May his memory be a blessing to you today and forever. We lost my FIL in early March (not of coronavirus), and maybe it sounds weird but I am really grateful he is free not only from his Alzheimer's Disease but just dealing with all the craziness here in these times.

I am really hoping that Jessica stays well too. I live in Cleveland, one of my close friends is an ICU nurse at the Cleveland Clinic — and what she tells me about the chaos there is really upsetting. I'm sure the qualities that make Jessica come off as domineering IRL are life-saving at work. I hope she is managing to keep a cool head — and bless her for putting her life on the line every time she shows up for a shift. 

[gonecrackers]

Disclaimer - I am in no way supporting Brandon's behavior with the below, but Taylor makes me sick, so here goes...

Brandon went to work, & she went out with friends. I think the point of contention is that she never came home.

If he was so horrid - & a bad temper would be a good reason to think so - she should've noped out of the 'marriage' from the honeymoon, instead of acting like she's trying when she's actually out partying - regularly - from what Brandon says. She's not trying, she's acting single, so she should've just divorced him, but then that would mean a loss of camera time & that's definitely not okay for her.

I'm going to also say given their issues & the fact that Brandon left she should've also left the retreat. There's no reason for her to be there just to party. It's a retreat for couples, not a singles party house. She needs to go home & dump Brandon if she's so damn upset. But again, that would result in less camera time. She's only had her 10 minutes so far, & she's going for the full 15.

[spunky]

3 hours ago, MyTwoCents said:

Wow! That was an incredibly crappy thing for MAFS to do to someone! They can really eff up someone’s life like that! I am so not a litigious person, but she should sue them for defaming her character. Can you shine any light on how she’s doing, if she’s married, got kids, happy?

She seems truly happy. She’s friends with a few MAFS wives and even went on a cruise with some of them. Her boyfriend seems to be truly in love with.

[Jeanne222]

Riddle me this.  Why was Brandon going into work at night?  Seems his work is in the daytime.

Why couldn't he work remotely like everybody does if he had something to catch up on?

Why did Taylor have to drive him?

Things I ponder. 

[gingerandcloves]

16 hours ago, Yeah No said:

 

Go easy on me, I lost my 92 year old father in NYC to Coronavirus today (well, it's technically yesterday now) and I am 110 miles away with no family in NY and I can't go anywhere near the place plus like everyone else I am dealing with the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.  Yes, this is a nightmare.

I'm so sorry, that does sound like a nightmare. Please accept my condolences for your loss.

[sasha206]

17 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Go easy on me, I lost my 92 year old father in NYC to Coronavirus today (well, it's technically yesterday now) and I am 110 miles away with no family in NY and I can't go anywhere near the place plus like everyone else I am dealing with the stress and uncertainty of the pandemic.  Yes, this is a nightmare.

Oh no, I am very sorry.  Big hugs to you.  I cannot imagine.  

 

[sasha206]

22 hours ago, Neurochick said:

That wasn't disturbing to me, it was childish.  He was pissed at the show for setting him up with Taylor.  If most of his relationships have been interracial, he was probably upset that he was set up with a black woman, especially a reality show/Instagram wannabe with a busted wig. (sorry, had to throw that in)

LOL, Neuro.  

Even with 2 incidences, one which I initially characterized as violent, I still like him better than her.

The creepiest thing to me was her acting like she wanted to talk to him so she'd continue to get camera time!  It was sociopathic.

[Retired at last]

I would not be surprised to read that Taylor and Derek hook up at some point after they both dump their current spouses, assuming that they do!

[Elizzikra]

2 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Riddle me this.  Why was Brandon going into work at night?  Seems his work is in the daytime.

Why couldn't he work remotely like everybody does if he had something to catch up on?

Why did Taylor have to drive him?

Things I ponder. 

I don’t think we know why she drives him. He may not have a car but surely he had some way of getting around before he met Taylor.

As for working remotely, I think as a “beer ambassador” he probably staffs a booth at festivals and a table at events, promoting whatever product he reps. So it’s event-based work that you can’t do remotely. I haven’t seen anything that indicates he has a good personality for that. I don’t see him glad-handing and working a crowd...

[buttersister]

Hey, Derek, I guarantee that if you’d say no on decision day, you’d be contacted by a number of women you could get to know and perhaps, marry one. Nice women who’d respect you and your dreams. And one who would love to be your life’s partner. Think about, k? 
 

Yeah, I know the finale isn’t live, I’m just putting it out there.

Edited April 6, 2020 by buttersister

[Kira53]

2 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

I don’t think we know why she drives him. He may not have a car but surely he had some way of getting around before he met Taylor.

As for working remotely, I think as a “beer ambassador” he probably staffs a booth at festivals and a table at events, promoting whatever product he reps. So it’s event-based work that you can’t do remotely. I haven’t seen anything that indicates he has a good personality for that. I don’t see him glad-handing and working a crowd...

He seemed very charming until his wedding day.  He seemed like the ideal beer ambassador before walking down the aisle.

[ECM1231]

My sincere condolences, Yeah No, on the loss of your father.

[KateHearts]

8 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

As for working remotely, I think as a “beer ambassador” he probably staffs a booth at festivals and a table at events, promoting whatever product he reps. So it’s event-based work that you can’t do remotely. I haven’t seen anything that indicates he has a good personality for that. I don’t see him glad-handing and working a crowd...

Oh, but in his interview episodes he described himself as "Mr. Life of the Party!!"

[cinsays]

12 hours ago, Retired at last said:

I would not be surprised to read that Taylor and Derek hook up at some point after they both dump their current spouses, assuming that they do!

no, no, no

derrick deserves someone real, not some publicity seeking twit

[spunky]

I'm sorry for your loss @Yeah No. Sending you virtual hugs and prayers. 

[spunky]

My theory on Taylor is that she's immature but not the bride of chucky like everyone on this board is making her out to be. Meka is very straightforward and doesn't seem like the type who would be friends with someone who is just causing drama for the sake of being on TV.  She had no problem calling her out on her video.  It also seems like Taylor is her ride or die during this experiment. 

During the matching process Pastor Cal stated that Brandon might be intimidated by Taylor because she is more educated than he is, makes more money than he does and is ambitious.  Of course the other 2 didn't agree with him.

I think that Brandon might be worse off camera and that dead look in Taylor's eyes is her just going through the motions. Production most likely airs his behavior because they can't stand who he truly  is.I think Taylor may have been a better match for Derek, because she seems like the type who would encourage his dreams and not shoot them down. Plus he wouldn't be eating boxed mac and cheese every night.

[Empress1]

14 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Riddle me this.  Why was Brandon going into work at night?  Seems his work is in the daytime.

I’m sure a lot of his event-based work is nights and weekends, and he’d work a lot of events as a beer salesman. I think there was a get-together with the men on a Saturday and he was late to that because he was working. Also he may be schmoozing his clients on nights and weekends, as is common for people in client-facing jobs (client dinners, golf, etc.).  He could do the paperwork part of his job in an office during the day, but at least some of his calling on his accounts would be nights and weekends. If the beer he reps is at a festival, as was discussed in this episode, he’d need to go to that festival to check in, and festivals are on weekends. Brandon has a lot of faults but I don’t think there’s anything out of the ordinary about his job.

[spunky]

On 4/4/2020 at 1:48 AM, Yeah No said:

I think Katie might regret this when she gets older.  But if I were matched with Derek when I was younger I probably wouldn't see myself married to him.  Even Ashley on "Couples Couch" mentioned that he was a little jerky and immature.  I don't know if it's just a function of his youth and something he will grow out of as he gets older, or something that won't change.  It's often a crap shoot when you meet someone young.  Sometimes they mature and sometimes they don't.  The thing is that Derek may be a genuine guy that's just a little rough around the edges, and she may regret not trusting him enough to see how things progress before trashing the entire relationship.  That speaks of HER immaturity and self-sabotage here as much as anything.
 

I've come to the conclusion that Taylor is a good actress.  I don't believe she is as sincere about her investment in making things work as she claims to have been, and I don't know if I believe she would have been if Brandon wasn't such a wacko.  She has clearly had one foot out the door all through the relationship - Now mind you who could blame her when Brandon was a brat from day ONE with her?  But still, there's something fake about her all the way through, like she just signed up for this for the "experience" and would have bugged out of any relationship even if the guy was not a total asshole like Brandon.
 

I know!!!  I am loving the reaction of some of my favorite couples from the series, especially Ashley and Anthony!  Anthony is hysterical and Ashley and I tend to agree on everything and think the same thoughts.  My husband and I do our own "Couples Couch" to the "Couples Couch" show, LOL.  We comment on the comments of the couples, which is sometimes pretty interesting and far more entertaining than the actual show itself!
 

I don't know if I believe Brandon could be violent.  I won't rule that out given what I have seen of him, though.  What I want to know is why he just doesn't completely back out like Mindy did if he's so done with the marriage and the show?  Under duress?  Cry me a river, no one's holding a gun to his head and forcing him to stay there.  I don't think he has enough integrity to really back out for good.  Which says that he is as much of a fake as Taylor is in his own way.  Both of them are full of crap and lying to the camera about wanting to be together whatsoever.  He is probably staying there because he'd have to forfeit some money if he doesn't.
 

I think the women were just as perplexed as Meka and we are about the timeline and how Michael's answers didn't add up.  They were actually becoming a lot like her in supporting her by grilling him under the "hot lights" that way.  Several times I noticed him looking down and to the side and touching his face as he answered, which to me is a classic sign of lying.  It just proved to me that pretty much anyone that had to endure him would end up grilling him and getting obsessed with his lying.  I've been around liars like this and it makes you crazy, you end up questioning every little thing they do and not trusting anything.  So I'm giving Meka a lot of slack on how she's acting because look at how even the others were reacting the same way!

MAFSFAN posted a copy of the contracts these couples sign. They have to pay a $100,000 fine if they leave before decision day. Maybe Taylor is just acting for the cameras for the same reason Meka is keeping Michael around. They probably can't afford to pay that fine and are just going through the motions until decision day.

[ReadMeLattice]

I don't like Taylor and she strikes me as somebody who's hoping for social media fame and is used to people telling her she's better than she really is because she's pretty and personable. But I agree with those who said Brandon's behavior with that producer was disturbing. When he was getting in his face, that was just plain creepy to me. Who does that to somebody who's just doing their job? His mean streak, just...yikes. He goes for the jugular, that one. 

I mean, even if he feels jerked around by the choice of partner, he 1) clearly could choose to leave. Mindy did, and wasn't forced to attend the retreat. He knew Taylor went out all night before willingly heading out to the retreat (and then looking like he drank a ton, by the way). He could have just...not done any of that, and thus also saved himself from having to film and two producers from being called pieces of s*** yet again.

I understand they can be fined, but if Mindy can back out with being fined, Meka and Michael could spend their whole honeymoon apart without being fined, and Zach could choose not to ever live with Mindy without being fined, I would assume he could just not go on the damn retreat.

2) Correct me if I'm wrong, but the two people he was cursing out--including one he certainly seemed to me to be physically threatening and goading for a fight--didn't have a hand in choosing Taylor. So what is all the rage about?

Edited April 6, 2020 by Lm2162

[Ohwell]

14 minutes ago, spunky said:

MAFSFAN posted a copy of the contracts these couples sign. They have to pay a $100,000 fine if they leave before decision day. Maybe Taylor is just acting for the cameras for the same reason Meka is keeping Michael around. They probably can't afford to pay that fine and are just going through the motions until decision day.

I find it hard to believe that Mindy and Zach paid $100,000.  

[spunky]

Just now, Ohwell said:

I find it hard to believe that Mindy and Zach paid $100,000.  

I'm just going  by what they posted on Instagram.  I think Mindy was given an out by Dr.V. 

[Empress1]

Just now, Ohwell said:

I find it hard to believe that Mindy and Zach paid $100,000.  

Or Heather and what’s his face from Miami, although maybe that stipulation exists because of them.

Also, and I know I’ve said this before, what if there’s abuse? What if you find out early on that your spouse is deep in the throes of addiction? I can’t imagine that would be enforceable in those cases.

[Ohwell]

2 minutes ago, spunky said:

I'm just going  by what they posted on Instagram.  I think Mindy was given an out by Dr.V. 

If true, then I don't think it's fair that Mindy is "given an out" and Zach is on the hook for the money, no matter how he acted.  

[spunky]

Just now, Ohwell said:

If true, then I don't think it's fair that Mindy is "given an out" and Zach is on the hook for the money, no matter how he acted.  

I respectfully disagree.  Zach never even tried. Therefore he should be on the hook.

[Ohwell]

2 minutes ago, spunky said:

I respectfully disagree.  Zach never even tried. Therefore he should be on the hook.

Agree to disagree then. 

Also I just did some googling and found no evidence that there was a $100,000 penalty.  Now maybe I missed it, so if it is true, I'd like to see some evidence.   

[spunky]

5 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Or Heather and what’s his face from Miami, although maybe that stipulation exists because of them.

Also, and I know I’ve said this before, what if there’s abuse? What if you find out early on that your spouse is deep in the throes of addiction? I can’t imagine that would be enforceable in those cases.

According to MAFSFAN the stipulation is in place because of Derek and Heather.  Apparently they don't want people leaving left and  right.

[spunky]

8 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Agree to disagree then. 

Also I just did some googling and found no evidence that there was a $100,000 penalty.  Now maybe I missed it, so if it is true, I'd like to see some evidence.   

I'm the worst at copying and pasting things from Instagram and Facebook.  However she posts a whole bunch of spoilers that have turned out to be true. You can check out her account,  it's entertaining. 

[cinsays]

51 minutes ago, spunky said:

MAFSFAN posted a copy of the contracts these couples sign. They have to pay a $100,000 fine if they leave before decision day. Maybe Taylor is just acting for the cameras for the same reason Meka is keeping Michael around. They probably can't afford to pay that fine and are just going through the motions until decision day.

wow, that is incredibly unfair when they do a poor job of matching them like they did here

what do they get paid for staying thru the whole experiment?

[Ohwell]

28 minutes ago, spunky said:

I'm the worst at copying and pasting things from Instagram and Facebook.  However she posts a whole bunch of spoilers that have turned out to be true. You can check out her account,  it's entertaining. 

I'm not on FB or Instagram but I've looked at other websites that talk about how much the participants get paid, but no mention of any $100k penalty for leaving the show.  So she might be right about some spoilers but I still question her being right about this information.  JMHO

[Elizzikra]

14 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I'm not on FB or Instagram but I've looked at other websites that talk about how much the participants get paid, but no mention of any $100k penalty for leaving the show.  So she might be right about some spoilers but I still question her being right about this information.  JMHO

At the risk of sounding a little Bill Clinton-y, I wonder what "leave" means. Perhaps they aren't fined if they continue to appear on the show and make themselves available for filming, even if, like Mindy, they opt out of the marriage but not the show itself.

[spunky]

18 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I'm not on FB or Instagram but I've looked at other websites that talk about how much the participants get paid, but no mention of any $100k penalty for leaving the show.  So she might be right about some spoilers but I still question her being right about this information.  JMHO

I get what you're saying.  

31 minutes ago, cinsays said:

wow, that is incredibly unfair when they do a poor job of matching them like they did here

what do they get paid for staying thru the whole experiment?

According to what she's posted $1500 an episode. 

[Retired at last]

I don't know anything about an early departure clause, but if there is any indication of abuse (physical or emotional), I think they could have a good suit against Lifetime for NOT letting them leave. In the case with Mindy and Zach, she definitely had support from the "experts" for leaving the "marriage". Or, if it was a contractual issue, maybe she could have stayed in the apartment they were paying for as long as he stayed away. There is a difference between not getting along and being abused. I think it is a good idea that they stay in apartments where there are extra bedrooms. But, we really don't know about their living arrangements when it is not filming day.

[princelina]

21 hours ago, sometimesjennifer said:

Did he expect her to wait in the car while he worked,

Why not - apparently Michael and production had no problem with it 😄 

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

I find it hard to believe that Mindy and Zach paid $100,000.  

 

50 minutes ago, Elizzikra said:

At the risk of sounding a little Bill Clinton-y, I wonder what "leave" means. Perhaps they aren't fined if they continue to appear on the show and make themselves available for filming, even if, like Mindy, they opt out of the marriage but not the show itself.

 

47 minutes ago, spunky said:

According to what she's posted $1500 an episode. 

At this point they all "recommitted" on Recommitment Day, but Mindy was advised to give Zach an ultimatum which he failed to keep.  However his ugly ass kept showing up for filming, and he kept pretending like he was "working on" things, so he never just left like Heather.  If this information is true then Zach and Mindy each missed out on $1500 last week because they weren't in the episode - maybe that's how they get penalized, and the $100,000 is just for if they leave for good and refuse to show up again?

[Empress1]

What I don’t get about the alleged penalty for leaving is that the show can require them to film even if they don’t stay married. It was very obvious that Heather and Derek still had to see their filming commitment through, hence all the dumb “exercises” the show made them do. It wouldn’t make sense for Mindy and Zach to go on the couple’s retreat but they could have filmed Zach telling his family about the divorce, they could have gotten the men & women together & had Zach & Mindy tell them about the divorce (maybe that’ll still happen), they could film individual therapy sessions with them ... there’s plenty of mineable content even if a couple splits.

$1500 an episode is $22,500 for 15 episodes per person, before taxes. I wonder how many hours a week they film?

[Elizzikra]

11 minutes ago, princelina said:

Why not - apparently Michael and production had no problem with it 😄 

 

 

At this point they all "recommitted" on Recommitment Day, but Mindy was advised to give Zach an ultimatum which he failed to keep.  However his ugly ass kept showing up for filming, and he kept pretending like he was "working on" things, so he never just left like Heather.  If this information is true then Zach and Mindy each missed out on $1500 last week because they weren't in the episode - maybe that's how they get penalized, and the $100,000 is just for if they leave for good and refuse to show up again?

It's interesting to me that they are paid per episode since, as I understand it, they film throughout the eight weeks and then cut the footage into episodes when all the filming is done. So they could really cheat a couple out of a per episode fee if they just cut the footage such that not every couple appears in every episode. I wonder if Zach and Mindy weren't filmed during the week of the retreat (which was only two days of the entire week) and knew they wouldn't be compensated for at least one episode or did they film and later the producers decided not to use any of the footage. 

[Ohwell]

I also wonder if the pay is different for the contestants in U.S. vs. the ones in Australia.  Is it filmed in other countries as well?

[gingerandcloves]

I thought the penalty was $50,000, not $100,000, but whatever, it's still a big chunk of money. The contract said that if they opt out of filming, unless it's an extreme emergency they will be penalized. It wasn't explicitly mentioned, but I think that if you do split with your spouse during the show, as long as you still agree to be filmed, you wouldn't be penalized. 

I'm just glad this season is almost over.

And another thought, about Brandon's anger issues. We know he wasn't invited to the reunion. They must have been really fed up with him.

[gonecrackers]

Maybe they thought Brandon would spill about what was really happening, & they can't have that.

[Empress1]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I also wonder if the pay is different for the contestants in U.S. vs. the ones in Australia.  Is it filmed in other countries as well?

In one of my Google searches about how much the contestants make, I came across an interview with one of the Australia contestants and he said he lost money doing the show because he couldn't work and whatever he made on the show was less than he would have made if he'd been working. I don't think he was in a particularly lucrative line of work, either. I think if you're going to do a reality show for the money, this isn't the one. They can't attach a big sum to it because they'd have people who "aren't here for the right reasons." Frankly, the shit Mindy and Meka and Kate went through isn't worth $22,500 before taxes to me, although to be fair they didn't know it was going to turn out the way it did.