S10.E14: Fight or Flight?

[princelina]

4 hours ago, configdotsys said:

Brandon got in the back seat of the car and would not unlock the door because he said the plan was something else? What was that? Then he got out and walked somewhere? I'm still lost with what was going on there.

I also did not understand what the questions from Meka meant. Why was she asking/expecting that Michael had gone to the festival with Brandon when he was going for other purposes? And what was the text in the car about "we're on our way back?" Did he mean he and Brandon or he and production? Why did Taylor say it was bull shit what Michael was saying about the trip? I just am lost in a ball of confusion about everything that happened there.

First paragraph:  I believe that Brandon was still drunk and "teaching them a lesson".  Obviously they waited until they could cajole him into a car, and then left.  (I did not see him still wandering the property in the scenes from next week 😄)

Second paragraph:  Michael had claimed (I thought) that he had to go back to DC to make funeral arrangements, specifically to order flowers, for his uncle's funeral.  He told them that they arrived in the city at 2:00, went to Brandon's for clothes, and at 3:30 were waiting in the parking lot for Brandon outside of the festival.  And Michael made it back for dinner.  So did he order flowers?  Did he do it from his phone in the car in the parking lot?  Did Brandon "go to work" for just an hour or two? Did Michael spend his entire day in production's car, driving Brandon around?  Am I spending too much time wondering about this?

1 hour ago, MyTwoCents said:

I understand what you mean. Although I don’t know if it’s a race thing. There are  bitchy, angry, unreasonable white chicks on MAFS too! 🤣
Sheila was definitely unreasonable with Nate. And angry. A lot. She was a real piece of work. She’s probably still single.

It's not a race thing - there have been some great black couples too.  And nightmare white women.  I believe it turned out that Sheila had discovered Nate having other women during the show, but for some reason that was not shown to the viewers at the time.  I don't understand how this show wants certain types of drama and leaves good stuff on the cutting room floor!

[Blissfool]

1 hour ago, Kdawg82 said:

Also did anyone catch Taylor toasting thr couples in the kitchen when they got to the retreat? "To the final CAST! We made it!" That was gross. 

 

52 minutes ago, MyTwoCents said:

Wow! I did miss that! Yes, gross! I’m going to have to go back and watch it!

She said, "Cheers to the Castleton House. We made it."

[Kira53]

I love couples couch and I don't know any of these couples.  I didn't see their seasons but I like them.  And I really enjoy watching with them.  They are my new friends.  Friends at first sight!!!

[Kdawg82]

1 hour ago, Blissfool said:

She said, "Cheers to the Castleton House. We made it."

Thanks. I totally didn't catch it as such.  I was like wtf?! What cast? 

[sasha206]

2 hours ago, princelina said:

Second paragraph:  Michael had claimed (I thought) that he had to go back to DC to make funeral arrangements, specifically to order flowers, for his uncle's funeral.  He told them that they arrived in the city at 2:00, went to Brandon's for clothes, and at 3:30 were waiting in the parking lot for Brandon outside of the festival.  And Michael made it back for dinner.  So did he order flowers?  Did he do it from his phone in the car in the parking lot?  Did Brandon "go to work" for just an hour or two? Did Michael spend his entire day in production's car, driving Brandon around?  Am I spending too much time wondering about this?

 

In this day and age, he couldn't order the flowers online?

I wouldn't be surprised if Michael and Brandon have their own secret text message string and when he heard about this festival, decided it would be a fun getaway.

Next week's episode I bet they uncover what MIchael was really doing.

Edited April 3, 2020 by sasha206

[LuvMyShows]

6 hours ago, configdotsys said:

I'll take the unpopular hat and say that I thought the crock pot thing was stupid. It just looked like an attempt to get people to "awwww" all over Austin. He could have put the thing down somewhere as soon as they walked in. Just bringing it was weird and dumb.

Totally agree.  To me, it made him seem wimpy and incapable of thinking for himself.

On 4/1/2020 at 9:50 PM, Straycat80 said:

And speaking of fake...WTF with this seance? 

IKR? And either Meka was just going along with it on a lark, or she seemed to really be buying it.  We were supposed to believe that a ghost was making a yes/no light come on?

On 4/1/2020 at 9:23 PM, Racj82 said:

Side note that the argument between Katie and Derek outside seemed sketchy. Like there was some frankenbite editing going on or audio being added in later. On Katie's side of the argument.

Yep, IKR again.  It occurred for the words where they showed Katie from the back, and she wasn't moving her head/body at all.  Someone being as agitated as she was, would have been moving while she was speaking.

[LuvMyShows]

 

 

11 HOURS AGO, SOMETIMESJENNIFER SAID:

I actually really enjoyed that scene. I loved that it wasn't just Meka who was frustrated and confused by his lies! Finally everyone else could see what she had been going through with Michael for so long. It must have been such a relief for her to have others experience it alongside her.

I saw it differently.  It just felt icky to me.  Although they showed Jessica joining in with the questioning, as edited it didn't look like the others were sympathetic to Meka's obsessive grilling.  I am 100% Team Meka, but this incident wasn't a good look.

ON 4/1/2020 AT 10:57 PM, KIRA53 SAID:

Why can't any of these couples realize that they were married without knowing each other and six weeks is not a time where somebody's going to love somebody unless it's extraordinary match. I can understand if they got married after a two year relationship.

This is why I am totally blown away by Katie being bothered, let alone devastated, that Derek hasn't expressed to her any of the sentiments from his poem, in the 7 weeks so far.  WTAF?  Even if I were in love with someone after 7 weeks, I cannot imagine it being of a deep enough level to inspire something like what he wrote.  If girlfriend wants, and even goes so far as to expect, sentiment like that from him this quickly, then really and truly she needs her head examined and needs to leave the mental health practitioner field immediately. 

59 minutes ago, After7Only said:

I don’t find Brandon scary.  He is an asshole when pushed though.  
I don’t see Brandon’s hissy fits any different than Katy’s yelling, stomping hissy fits.

What was scary, IIRC, was the manner in which he said what he did to the production guy.  He had a weird, controlled-but-crazy way of speaking, facial expression, and body language.  It was intentional and explicitly designed to provoke the other person and elevate the tension.  We may not agree with the sentiment behind Katie's fit, but the fit she had was more of a standard variety anger-expression, blowing-off-steam fit that most people have had more than once in their lives.  I have never seen anyone approach the particular type of crazy that Brandon demonstrated.

[TzuShih]

Katie has proven over and over that she's the type of woman who needs friction in her marriage.  We've all seen couples who love to fight and make up.  Katie should've put that in her Vows.  "Sweetness" is NOT a characteristic that she 'cherishes' in a relationship.

[luckylou]

6 hours ago, OnTime said:

Yep, the producers have their own drama agenda! 

They didn't have to show Brandon's arguments with production on the show, but they did starting in Panama and haven't stopped. I'll bet there is more!!

WHEN is the Decision Day? They are still at the country house next week.

Sitting here trapped in my  house, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out what is going on with Brandon and Production.  Starting from the Honeymoon episode I have wondered why anyone who had agreed to appear on a reality show would get so angry, not just with the cameramen, but with his supposedly innocent “wife.” Initially I thought Brandon seemed phony, but as time has passed I have found myself sympathizing with him. Though his language makes that hard too.  I suspect he has reason for his anger.  The weird grin...his language and his actions are angry, but his facial expressions and gestures (is he mocking the height of the producer?) seem planned to create maximum irritation....probably why the editors have left nothing on the cutting room floor.  I would love to know what they aren’t telling us.  Maybe Brandon is about to write a book.

Clearly, lots goes on we never learn about.  For instance, we learn Mindy was picked up at the airport by a friend.  Why was that?  Had Zach actually quit the show in Panama?  Was pressure brought to bear to get both Zach and Brandon back after the Panama debacle? Why did Mindy need or want to find her own ride?

And what was Taylor doing when she followed Brandon into the closet? (Bathroom?) Interesting he insists on getting out his phone and filming her...and that he, who never showed much interest in his phone previously, is never without it in this episode.

I doubt the sincerity of that “Commitment” episode.  They must have paid everyone to continue in their “marriages.” 

I am enjoying the Couples Couch though. There do seem to be a few happy alumni.

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by luckylou

[gingerandcloves]

3 hours ago, princelina said:

 

Second paragraph:  Michael had claimed (I thought) that he had to go back to DC to make funeral arrangements, specifically to order flowers, for his uncle's funeral.  He told them that they arrived in the city at 2:00, went to Brandon's for clothes, and at 3:30 were waiting in the parking lot for Brandon outside of the festival.  And Michael made it back for dinner.  So did he order flowers?  Did he do it from his phone in the car in the parking lot?  Did Brandon "go to work" for just an hour or two? Did Michael spend his entire day in production's car, driving Brandon around?  Am I spending too much time wondering about this?

 

You and me both. I couldn't make heads or tails out of his supposed timeline.  Let me go back and recap what happened when Michael came back to the house.

Derek and Katie are mashing potatoes in the pot. Michael walks into the kitchen and says, "I feel like you're doing that wrong, 'cause the handle's in the pot backwards." (Derek is using the handle of the wooden spoon upside down). Katie, "Michael!". Derek, "Hi there! How you doing, buddy?" Michael: "I'm good, boss, how are you?" Derek, "It's fine." Katie, "Get on in here. Do you want to make some mashed potatoes?" Michael, "Um, hmmm..." Katie, "We need your help, clearly." (Michael in ITM: "Brandon is choosing not to come back, but my goal was to leave in  enough time to get back to the excursion with my wife, um" (Michael's eyes are darting around, he's turning his head from side to side, and shrugging his shoulders, then he closes his eyes). "but unfortunately wasn't able to do so." Back to him in kitchen, mashing potatoes. M voice over: "I still want this marriage to work and I think being here physically in real time there's another opportunity for me and Meka to have the chance to work on the issues that we're facing."

Cut to Austin and Jessica, returning from the cave excursion. They enter the kitchen. General chit chat among all of them about the food and who's making what. Michael and Austin agree to grill the meat.

Cut to Katie in ITM: "So Michael comes back just in time for dinner, and Brandon did not come back." Katie goes on for a bit about Brandon. Taylor and Meka return from their outing.

Outside, Austin and Michael are setting up the grill. A: "How about you, Michael, how are you feeling?" M: "Um. I guess I'm still hopeful and confident for the future. It's just like a matter, of, like, seeing how this weekend plays out. I think the big thing right now, is just, not feeling supported by my wife. You know, I was gone for several hours, trying to put the finishing touches on this memorial service, and I don't know if Meka cares." Austin chimes in: "..That's what you talked about in terms of feeling that support.  I totally understand what you're saying from that end, and that might be, like the ultimate, like, base factor, right, in Decision Day?" Michael: "Yep."

Back to women, in kitchen. Jessica: "No offense, but Brandon didn't even say "hi" to us this morning." Conversation about Brandon, and whether he is coming back or not. Taylor says she's texted him and he said he's not coming back and for her to enjoy the retreat.

Taylor in ITM: "I mean, even Michael showed up. He's not talking to his wife at all, but at least he showed up."

Now they're all sitting around the table, outside. Jessica asks how Meka and Taylor's excursion was. Meka says it was really fun, she and Taylor had a great time. Jessica, to Michael: "Did you get your stuff taken care of in D.C. that you needed to?"

Michael: "I was able to get something arranged, but not exactly how I wanted it." He turns his head and closes his eyes. "Just the traffic getting back and forth, was a little bit hard to get into the city." He looks down to the right. 

Jessica: "How late did you get in? How long did it take--"

Michael: "Two o'clock."

Jessica: "'Oh. You didn't get there until 2 then?"

M: "Yeah."

J: "Oh wow."

J: "Were you able to hang out a little bit with family then?"

M pauses. Meka and Taylor are staring at him. M: "I saw some people, but just, like a lot of moving parts. Just like, go here, pick up this. Go there, do that. So like, it still worked out, but yeah."

Meka: "Did you hang out with Brandon at the festival?"

Michael: "No, we just dropped him off, and then I went and saw some of our folks, and then we got him to the next location, but we really didn't get to spend a lot of time together. We did the majority of that on the car ride."

Jessica: "Brandon needed to get taken to another location?"

Austin: "Well, he was going to work."

M: "Going to work, so he needed clothes, and you know, that kind of stuff."

J: "Ohh...if he knew he had to go to work, why didn't he just take his clothes with him? Cause that, did that alter your getting to your thing then?"

M: "Um, not exactly."

Meka: "And why didn't you drive? That seems like that would've made more sense than having production take you." 

Michael says nothing, just takes a drink out of his glass, and shrugs his shoulder.

Michael: "That wasn't in the cards. There was only one car to come up, one to come back."

J: "Did they drive you around all day?"

Michael: "Yeah."

Meka: "Where to?"

J: "And they didn't say, like, 'You have to come back'?"

Meka: "Where did they drive you to?"

M: "We had to go to Brandon's house to get his change of clothes for work, uh, and then we didn't get downtown and find parking until, like, 3:30, so that kind of bled into about 4:00, and then..."

Taylor: "Find parking?"

Meka: "Yeah, why'd y'all have to find parking?"

M: "We had to find parking to get him to the festival, to get him inside."

Jessica: "Why couldn't you just pull over to the side so he could get out? And then you could still leave by 3:30."

J in ITM: "The potluck dinner is going really weird. Brandon decided to stay in D.C., and I'm finding out that maybe Michael didn't even need to go back for a funeral. At this point, I'm just going to eat the mac and cheese, and the steak, and you know, call it a night."

Meka: "So none of y'all went to the festival? You just parked?"

M: "We went to the festival to get him to work, and then we waited on him, cause we were leaving together, but then he ended up staying to work."

Meka: "But y'all went to the festival."

M: "We all went to his job. We didn't go to the festival to hang out."

Meka: "No, I was just asking if you hung out with Brandon. You said no, you didn't."

M: "It was with-- it was with the producers."

Taylor, looking at her phone, "Like, bull[bleep]."

Meka: "Like, why not just be honest about that? He clearly just said 'I did not hang out with him. We just dropped him off at work.'"

M: "I'm gonna ask you not to talk to me like I'm a child."

Austin and Jessica look like they wish they were anywhere else in the world.

Meka: "When you keep asking him questions, then the truth comes out little by little by little. Instead of him just saying, 'Yeah, we went to the festival with Brandon 'cause we were expecting him to work and then we had to come back.' Why not just say that from the beginning? You're like, 'No, I didn't hang out with him. We just hung out on the car ride."

Michael gets up at this point. Meka in ITM: "I'm just so glad someone else is calling him out because he maintains that the reason why he lies is because he does not feel comfortable with me. It's me. I haven't been vulnerable. But Michael has been lying to me since Day 1. I'm just glad that everybody else can finally see it."

M: "I think I've had enough of sitting at the table." Taylor makes a scoffing sound. Michael, as he enters the house: "You're ridiculous." (Or as Michael pronounces it "Ri-dic-kuh-lus.")

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm still a bit confused. I have no clear timeline at all of Michael's activities during the day. And if Brandon wasn't filming any more, and not coming back to the house, why didn't the producers cut him loose and just let Michael carry on with his stuff, and then bring him back? Weird. What does everyone else think?

 

[Kira53]

19 minutes ago, gingerandcloves said:

You and me both. I couldn't make heads or tails out of his supposed timeline.  Let me go back and recap what happened when Michael came back to the house.

Derek and Katie are mashing potatoes in the pot. Michael walks into the kitchen and says, "I feel like you're doing that wrong, 'cause the handle's in the pot backwards." (Derek is using the handle of the wooden spoon upside down). Katie, "Michael!". Derek, "Hi there! How you doing, buddy?" Michael: "I'm good, boss, how are you?" Derek, "It's fine." Katie, "Get on in here. Do you want to make some mashed potatoes?" Michael, "Um, hmmm..." Katie, "We need your help, clearly." (Michael in ITM: "Brandon is choosing not to come back, but my goal was to leave in  enough time to get back to the excursion with my wife, um" (Michael's eyes are darting around, he's turning his head from side to side, and shrugging his shoulders, then he closes his eyes). "but unfortunately wasn't able to do so." Back to him in kitchen, mashing potatoes. M voice over: "I still want this marriage to work and I think being here physically in real time there's another opportunity for me and Meka to have the chance to work on the issues that we're facing."

Cut to Austin and Jessica, returning from the cave excursion. They enter the kitchen. General chit chat among all of them about the food and who's making what. Michael and Austin agree to grill the meat.

Cut to Katie in ITM: "So Michael comes back just in time for dinner, and Brandon did not come back." Katie goes on for a bit about Brandon. Taylor and Meka return from their outing.

Outside, Austin and Michael are setting up the grill. A: "How about you, Michael, how are you feeling?" M: "Um. I guess I'm still hopeful and confident for the future. It's just like a matter, of, like, seeing how this weekend plays out. I think the big thing right now, is just, not feeling supported by my wife. You know, I was gone for several hours, trying to put the finishing touches on this memorial service, and I don't know if Meka cares." Austin chimes in: "..That's what you talked about in terms of feeling that support.  I totally understand what you're saying from that end, and that might be, like the ultimate, like, base factor, right, in Decision Day?" Michael: "Yep."

Back to women, in kitchen. Jessica: "No offense, but Brandon didn't even say "hi" to us this morning." Conversation about Brandon, and whether he is coming back or not. Taylor says she's texted him and he said he's not coming back and for her to enjoy the retreat.

Taylor in ITM: "I mean, even Michael showed up. He's not talking to his wife at all, but at least he showed up."

Now they're all sitting around the table, outside. Jessica asks how Meka and Taylor's excursion was. Meka says it was really fun, she and Taylor had a great time. Jessica, to Michael: "Did you get your stuff taken care of in D.C. that you needed to?"

Michael: "I was able to get something arranged, but not exactly how I wanted it." He turns his head and closes his eyes. "Just the traffic getting back and forth, was a little bit hard to get into the city." He looks down to the right. 

Jessica: "How late did you get in? How long did it take--"

Michael: "Two o'clock."

Jessica: "'Oh. You didn't get there until 2 then?"

M: "Yeah."

J: "Oh wow."

J: "Were you able to hang out a little bit with family then?"

M pauses. Meka and Taylor are staring at him. M: "I saw some people, but just, like a lot of moving parts. Just like, go here, pick up this. Go there, do that. So like, it still worked out, but yeah."

Meka: "Did you hang out with Brandon at the festival?"

Michael: "No, we just dropped him off, and then I went and saw some of our folks, and then we got him to the next location, but we really didn't get to spend a lot of time together. We did the majority of that on the car ride."

Jessica: "Brandon needed to get taken to another location?"

Austin: "Well, he was going to work."

M: "Going to work, so he needed clothes, and you know, that kind of stuff."

J: "Ohh...if he knew he had to go to work, why didn't he just take his clothes with him? Cause that, did that alter your getting to your thing then?"

M: "Um, not exactly."

Meka: "And why didn't you drive? That seems like that would've made more sense than having production take you." 

Michael says nothing, just takes a drink out of his glass, and shrugs his shoulder.

Michael: "That wasn't in the cards. There was only one car to come up, one to come back."

J: "Did they drive you around all day?"

Michael: "Yeah."

Meka: "Where to?"

J: "And they didn't say, like, 'You have to come back'?"

Meka: "Where did they drive you to?"

M: "We had to go to Brandon's house to get his change of clothes for work, uh, and then we didn't get downtown and find parking until, like, 3:30, so that kind of bled into about 4:00, and then..."

Taylor: "Find parking?"

Meka: "Yeah, why'd y'all have to find parking?"

M: "We had to find parking to get him to the festival, to get him inside."

Jessica: "Why couldn't you just pull over to the side so he could get out? And then you could still leave by 3:30."

J in ITM: "The potluck dinner is going really weird. Brandon decided to stay in D.C., and I'm finding out that maybe Michael didn't even need to go back for a funeral. At this point, I'm just going to eat the mac and cheese, and the steak, and you know, call it a night."

Meka: "So none of y'all went to the festival? You just parked?"

M: "We went to the festival to get him to work, and then we waited on him, cause we were leaving together, but then he ended up staying to work."

Meka: "But y'all went to the festival."

M: "We all went to his job. We didn't go to the festival to hang out."

Meka: "No, I was just asking if you hung out with Brandon. You said no, you didn't."

M: "It was with-- it was with the producers."

Taylor, looking at her phone, "Like, bull[bleep]."

Meka: "Like, why not just be honest about that? He clearly just said 'I did not hang out with him. We just dropped him off at work.'"

M: "I'm gonna ask you not to talk to me like I'm a child."

Austin and Jessica look like they wish they were anywhere else in the world.

Meka: "When you keep asking him questions, then the truth comes out little by little by little. Instead of him just saying, 'Yeah, we went to the festival with Brandon 'cause we were expecting him to work and then we had to come back.' Why not just say that from the beginning? You're like, 'No, I didn't hang out with him. We just hung out on the car ride."

Michael gets up at this point. Meka in ITM: "I'm just so glad someone else is calling him out because he maintains that the reason why he lies is because he does not feel comfortable with me. It's me. I haven't been vulnerable. But Michael has been lying to me since Day 1. I'm just glad that everybody else can finally see it."

M: "I think I've had enough of sitting at the table." Taylor makes a scoffing sound. Michael, as he enters the house: "You're ridiculous." (Or as Michael pronounces it "Ri-dic-kuh-lus.")

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm still a bit confused. I have no clear timeline at all of Michael's activities during the day. And if Brandon wasn't filming any more, and not coming back to the house, why didn't the producers cut him loose and just let Michael carry on with his stuff, and then bring him back? Weird. What does everyone else think?

 

Michael did carry on with his "stuff".  Unclear that there really was a dead uncle. He seemed unconcerned that nothing was accomplished so I don't think there was any stuff to do.  He wanted a break from the retreat; he seems to have problems taking part in the group.  You are probably "confused" because Michael is a terrible liar and tries to cover it up with word salad to distract from the lack of a timeline.  Meka should call his sister with her condolences to see if uncle died this week.  Michael didn't seem very concerned that his trip wasn't successful regarding funeral arrangements or not being seeing relatives to support them.  Everything he said was vague as if he hadn't even planned his lies.  

[princelina]

5 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

IKR? And either Meka was just going along with it on a lark, or she seemed to really be buying it.  We were supposed to believe that a ghost was making a yes/no light come on?

People who believe in ghosts like that believe in lots of crazy things - of course here I'm talking about Mr. P's family 😄 His mom and aunt swear a derelict house they know of is haunted on the second floor and Mr. P gets all mad and says, "Really? The ghosts all sit around going, 'I don't feel like going downstairs'?"  Hahahahaha!  The first time he left me alone in a room with his mom she told me all about her past lives and he was furious 😄 

4 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

What was scary, IIRC, was the manner in which he said what he did to the production guy.  He had a weird, controlled-but-crazy way of speaking, facial expression, and body language.  It was intentional and explicitly designed to provoke the other person and elevate the tension.  We may not agree with the sentiment behind Katie's fit, but the fit she had was more of a standard variety anger-expression, blowing-off-steam fit that most people have had more than once in their lives.  I have never seen anyone approach the particular type of crazy that Brandon demonstrated.

I have - mean drunk feeling like his dignity has been offended.  They think they are superciliously mocking the person who is not appreciating their worth. In my experience primed by vodka (I call it the devil's brew)

2 hours ago, gingerandcloves said:

So I'm still a bit confused. I have no clear timeline at all of Michael's activities during the day. And if Brandon wasn't filming any more, and not coming back to the house, why didn't the producers cut him loose and just let Michael carry on with his stuff, and then bring him back? Weird. What does everyone else think?

 I think Michael told Meka that his uncle died, was pissed that she wasn't all "boo-hoo" with him (maybe he watched last season when Keith's grandma died and Iris was supportive) so he sulked the rest of that day and night, and left the retreat to "order flowers" - hoping that  he could start fresh with Meka and the group that night.  Why he wants to do that is still up for speculation. Since the Jamaican trip has never materialized, I'm questioning the dead uncle story anyway.                                                                                                                                                                                              

[Yeah No]

On 4/2/2020 at 2:09 AM, Kira53 said:

I think it was that Brandon was working at a festival because he's a beer ambassador. It was pretty vague about the funeral and why Michael had to leave the retreat to purchase flowers for his uncle. I don't know, I always thought most people just called up the florist and said this is my budget, how many red roses or whatever it is can I get for my budget.  The florist can show you on the Internet pretty much what it's gonna look like and that's that. He was just very Squirrely, because if I had to make actual burial arrangements for a dead relative and I only had an hour and a half I'd be pissed as hell that I traveled all that way and didn't get to do what I came to do. And I wouldn't nonchalantly return for a dinner that I wasn't really going to participate in. Anyway we all know that Michael is a liar even when he doesn't have to lie so I think it's all quite dubious about uncle's funeral.

I don't believe Michael for one minute about the flowers and the funeral.  It just doesn't add up.  I think he wanted to go to the beer festival with Brandon, otherwise why go in the producer's vehicle?  And why isn't there any footage of this on the show to verify what he did?  He probably ordered the flowers online like everybody else and lied about where he was going.  Why would we expect anything else from Mr. Pants on Fire?  When he was being grilled by the women at the table Michael showed some of the classic body language signs of a liar in his answers so I'm sorry he's FOS.

Quote

I just think that Brandon was put into a situation where he was going to be disappointed because he wrote those vows to a different kind of woman than the show married him to.  Brandon is the kind of guy that seems like he feels entitled to get what he wants and so I'm sure that he believe that the show would match him up with the type of women he usually dated. I don't really find that to be a strange expectation except if you watch the show you know that the producers often appear to totally ignore what people say they like in a date. People who like blondes get brunettes etc. and in real life people who like blondes do marry brunettes and have happy marriages. But they choose to pick someone different than their usual type.

Brandon was hostile to production from the first night - maybe he felt they had lied to him by not taking his preferences into account

I find your theory plausible.  I don't necessarily think it's a race thing but Brandon has clearly been acting hostile and off since day one on this show before he had any justifiable reason to act that way.  Even on the honeymoon he was exhibiting the same off behavior.  I can only feel so sorry for him being matched with fake Instagram fame whore Taylor.  His behavior is not just normal anger.  It's scary anger.  

On 4/2/2020 at 2:11 AM, Soup333 said:

I think she’s actually jealous of Derek. Of his joviality, his kindness and of people liking everything about him that she sees as inferior. 

I think jealousy absolutely rules Katie. Jealousy, anger and vengeance. It’s like she’s some wannabe mean girl vying to be most popular in middle school. She’s upset with Derek for being kind to two women who were talking about their marital problems. There was nothing even remotely flirtatious about him echoing Taylor’s woosa. It was Derek being his happy go lucky self and Katie wanted to start some shit and make him run after her like a little lost puppy. It wasn’t enough for the girls to run after her. She needed Derek to INITIATE! and beg her forgiveness when he’d done nothing wrong.

I wish they’d have rung a bell every time he said he was sorry. If they’d have rung one every time Katie said the word like we’d all be dizzy. What a bitch.

I do think in Derek's mind he thought he was being "kind" to the women, but why the need to be all touchy feely with Taylor and sitting next to her instead of his wife?  I don't think that any spouse should be touching another spouse of the opposite sex no matter what, even if he was supposedly being a good person.  Now mind you, Katie may be way off in her reaction to that behavior, but his body language spoke to me of immature cluelessness and a lack of respect for the appearance of his behavior.  I have never once seen any spouse on this show act that way with another person's spouse and if I did I would not be defending it no matter who did it.  You don't act that way especially when you know your spouse is insecure about your relationship.  Derek only gets so much of a pass for being young and naive on this.  BTW, Ashley from the Chicago season had pretty much the same opinion on "Couples Couch".  

I think what pissed Katie off and got her jealous is that Derek was in her mind showing more attention to the other women than her.  A lot of that might have been in her mind and is coming from her insecurity in the relationship, which I don't know where that's coming from because I don't really think she's all that into Derek in her heart of hearts.  She is very attached to him right now but that's because of some kind of neediness to be in a relationship.  I think her jealousy may just be a projection of her own insecurity.  Derek's issues are probably more "fixable" than hers are, and aren't as detrimental to marriage.  His heart seems to be in the right place while hers is clearly somewhere else and not giving him a chance.  Derek doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would spew BS because he's on camera, but I still wonder whether he's going to say "yes" on decision day.  Perhaps I just can't believe he would still be so invested in the relationship after the way she's treated him.

[spunky]

11 hours ago, Blissfool said:

I think that was just all part of the script.

I don't think Meka is unreasonable either. The reason I threw the word "unreasonable" in there is to describe how Sheila came across to her husband (can't remember his name).

What I meant is that, to me, it seems that each season there is a black couple that is portrayed in this manner:  

wife= angry/unreasonable

husband=victim

BTW, Derek and Katie can fit that bill too, BUT they have a sexual relationship and they manage to get along sometimes.

It was later revealed that Sheila’s behavior was due to Nate cheating on her throughout their marriage. I follow her on Instagram and she refuses to even acknowledge the show because of their bad edit.

[Yeah No]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:23 AM, bichonblitz said:

But he does nothing. NOTHING! She does it all! He doesn't even initiate sex! Not only has he done it all, he added her to his insurance plan without thinking twice about it. Awful immature nerd, huh?  So tell us, Katie, what exactly did you do? When they went on their anniversary date did she even get him any gift? I remember he did a lot for that special evening. 

Run, Derek. Go find yourself a cutie that likes to have fun and likes you just the way you are. I'm sure there are plenty of adorable girls in their 20's who would love this guy. I still don't understand why he is on this show. Sure he has a little growing up to do but he's only 26. 26!! 

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.
 

On 4/2/2020 at 4:25 PM, Jaclyn88 said:

I don’t get all the hate against Taylor . Look who she’s married to . Since day 1, Brandon has been an aggressive , bratty asshole . Is she the vision of perfect ? No I’m sure she loves Instagram more than life , but I think ( besides the video ), she’s been more than patient with Brandon .. much more than I would’ve ever been . I do think she’s very attention craving but I think anyone who signs up for reality tv is so the rest of them are no different . 

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.
 

On 4/2/2020 at 8:36 PM, MyTwoCents said:

At this point of this season, Couple’s Couch is better than the real episode

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!
 

15 hours ago, Soup333 said:

I think a lot of Brandon’s beef with production is that he regrets participating in this show. He’s angry at them because they won’t stop filming when he wants and they push and push to get the content they want. It’s obvious that he’s done with this farce of a marriage. He’s said as much. He’s told Taylor he doesn’t want to be friends. At this point he’s fulfilling his contractual obligations but only under duress. Taylor is much more willing to act her part *on camera* but she is definitely acting. And not well.

I don’t think Brandon is necessarily violent but he was absolutely goading the male producer, probably hoping the guy would hit him so he could then leave the show for good and file a lawsuit. 

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.
 

3 hours ago, gingerandcloves said:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm still a bit confused. I have no clear timeline at all of Michael's activities during the day. And if Brandon wasn't filming any more, and not coming back to the house, why didn't the producers cut him loose and just let Michael carry on with his stuff, and then bring him back? Weird. What does everyone else think?

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!

[gumbo]

4 hours ago, gingerandcloves said:

You and me both. I couldn't make heads or tails out of his supposed timeline.  Let me go back and recap what happened when Michael came back to the house.

Derek and Katie are mashing potatoes in the pot. Michael walks into the kitchen and says, "I feel like you're doing that wrong, 'cause the handle's in the pot backwards." (Derek is using the handle of the wooden spoon upside down). Katie, "Michael!". Derek, "Hi there! How you doing, buddy?" Michael: "I'm good, boss, how are you?" Derek, "It's fine." Katie, "Get on in here. Do you want to make some mashed potatoes?" Michael, "Um, hmmm..." Katie, "We need your help, clearly." (Michael in ITM: "Brandon is choosing not to come back, but my goal was to leave in  enough time to get back to the excursion with my wife, um" (Michael's eyes are darting around, he's turning his head from side to side, and shrugging his shoulders, then he closes his eyes). "but unfortunately wasn't able to do so." Back to him in kitchen, mashing potatoes. M voice over: "I still want this marriage to work and I think being here physically in real time there's another opportunity for me and Meka to have the chance to work on the issues that we're facing."

Cut to Austin and Jessica, returning from the cave excursion. They enter the kitchen. General chit chat among all of them about the food and who's making what. Michael and Austin agree to grill the meat.

Cut to Katie in ITM: "So Michael comes back just in time for dinner, and Brandon did not come back." Katie goes on for a bit about Brandon. Taylor and Meka return from their outing.

Outside, Austin and Michael are setting up the grill. A: "How about you, Michael, how are you feeling?" M: "Um. I guess I'm still hopeful and confident for the future. It's just like a matter, of, like, seeing how this weekend plays out. I think the big thing right now, is just, not feeling supported by my wife. You know, I was gone for several hours, trying to put the finishing touches on this memorial service, and I don't know if Meka cares." Austin chimes in: "..That's what you talked about in terms of feeling that support.  I totally understand what you're saying from that end, and that might be, like the ultimate, like, base factor, right, in Decision Day?" Michael: "Yep."

Back to women, in kitchen. Jessica: "No offense, but Brandon didn't even say "hi" to us this morning." Conversation about Brandon, and whether he is coming back or not. Taylor says she's texted him and he said he's not coming back and for her to enjoy the retreat.

Taylor in ITM: "I mean, even Michael showed up. He's not talking to his wife at all, but at least he showed up."

Now they're all sitting around the table, outside. Jessica asks how Meka and Taylor's excursion was. Meka says it was really fun, she and Taylor had a great time. Jessica, to Michael: "Did you get your stuff taken care of in D.C. that you needed to?"

Michael: "I was able to get something arranged, but not exactly how I wanted it." He turns his head and closes his eyes. "Just the traffic getting back and forth, was a little bit hard to get into the city." He looks down to the right. 

Jessica: "How late did you get in? How long did it take--"

Michael: "Two o'clock."

Jessica: "'Oh. You didn't get there until 2 then?"

M: "Yeah."

J: "Oh wow."

J: "Were you able to hang out a little bit with family then?"

M pauses. Meka and Taylor are staring at him. M: "I saw some people, but just, like a lot of moving parts. Just like, go here, pick up this. Go there, do that. So like, it still worked out, but yeah."

Meka: "Did you hang out with Brandon at the festival?"

Michael: "No, we just dropped him off, and then I went and saw some of our folks, and then we got him to the next location, but we really didn't get to spend a lot of time together. We did the majority of that on the car ride."

Jessica: "Brandon needed to get taken to another location?"

Austin: "Well, he was going to work."

M: "Going to work, so he needed clothes, and you know, that kind of stuff."

J: "Ohh...if he knew he had to go to work, why didn't he just take his clothes with him? Cause that, did that alter your getting to your thing then?"

M: "Um, not exactly."

Meka: "And why didn't you drive? That seems like that would've made more sense than having production take you." 

Michael says nothing, just takes a drink out of his glass, and shrugs his shoulder.

Michael: "That wasn't in the cards. There was only one car to come up, one to come back."

J: "Did they drive you around all day?"

Michael: "Yeah."

Meka: "Where to?"

J: "And they didn't say, like, 'You have to come back'?"

Meka: "Where did they drive you to?"

M: "We had to go to Brandon's house to get his change of clothes for work, uh, and then we didn't get downtown and find parking until, like, 3:30, so that kind of bled into about 4:00, and then..."

Taylor: "Find parking?"

Meka: "Yeah, why'd y'all have to find parking?"

M: "We had to find parking to get him to the festival, to get him inside."

Jessica: "Why couldn't you just pull over to the side so he could get out? And then you could still leave by 3:30."

J in ITM: "The potluck dinner is going really weird. Brandon decided to stay in D.C., and I'm finding out that maybe Michael didn't even need to go back for a funeral. At this point, I'm just going to eat the mac and cheese, and the steak, and you know, call it a night."

Meka: "So none of y'all went to the festival? You just parked?"

M: "We went to the festival to get him to work, and then we waited on him, cause we were leaving together, but then he ended up staying to work."

Meka: "But y'all went to the festival."

M: "We all went to his job. We didn't go to the festival to hang out."

Meka: "No, I was just asking if you hung out with Brandon. You said no, you didn't."

M: "It was with-- it was with the producers."

Taylor, looking at her phone, "Like, bull[bleep]."

Meka: "Like, why not just be honest about that? He clearly just said 'I did not hang out with him. We just dropped him off at work.'"

M: "I'm gonna ask you not to talk to me like I'm a child."

Austin and Jessica look like they wish they were anywhere else in the world.

Meka: "When you keep asking him questions, then the truth comes out little by little by little. Instead of him just saying, 'Yeah, we went to the festival with Brandon 'cause we were expecting him to work and then we had to come back.' Why not just say that from the beginning? You're like, 'No, I didn't hang out with him. We just hung out on the car ride."

Michael gets up at this point. Meka in ITM: "I'm just so glad someone else is calling him out because he maintains that the reason why he lies is because he does not feel comfortable with me. It's me. I haven't been vulnerable. But Michael has been lying to me since Day 1. I'm just glad that everybody else can finally see it."

M: "I think I've had enough of sitting at the table." Taylor makes a scoffing sound. Michael, as he enters the house: "You're ridiculous." (Or as Michael pronounces it "Ri-dic-kuh-lus.")

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I'm still a bit confused. I have no clear timeline at all of Michael's activities during the day. And if Brandon wasn't filming any more, and not coming back to the house, why didn't the producers cut him loose and just let Michael carry on with his stuff, and then bring him back? Weird. What does everyone else think?

 

Thank you for this.

So from my understanding, Michael did nothing to do with the funeral. He made up a lie that he had things to arrange so he could leave the house. Production wanted to go to the festival and he wanted to tag along. 

First stop was Brandon's house, then to the festival, where they parked and went inside. The plan was for production to drive Brandon back after work but he said he wasn't coming back. So they drove Michael back.

 

[Yeah No]

12 minutes ago, gumbo said:

So from my understanding, Michael did nothing to do with the funeral. He made up a lie that he had things to arrange so he could leave the house. Production wanted to go to the festival and he wanted to tag along. 

First stop was Brandon's house, then to the festival, where they parked and went inside. The plan was for production to drive Brandon back after work but he said he wasn't coming back. So they drove Michael back.

Yes to all of this - which makes you wonder just how "real" any of Brandon's nasty shenanigans towards production have been if they all piled into a van and went to have fun at the beer festival together.

Also makes me wonder if the only reason Brandon hung around as long as he did at the "retreat" was because all of this was arranged in advance.  Same with why Michael showed up there when he did.....They were all in "cahoots".

Edited April 4, 2020 by Yeah No

[Liberty]

Interesting how Brandon remains a focus even when off screen, and Black Power Michael seems largely forgotten until Meka brings him up.

How about Meka's fingernails, clearly those do not get in her way while she is brand analyzing.

Katie is to Mental Health Professional as Taylor is to Beauty and Brains.

[sasha206]

14 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

which he said what he did to the production guy.  He had a weird, controlled-but-crazy way of speaking, facial expression, and body language.  It was intentional and explicitly designed to provoke the other person and elevate the tension.  We may not agree with the sentiment behind Katie's fit, but the fit she had was more of a standard variety anger-expression, blowing-off-steam fit that most people have had more than once in their lives.  I have never seen anyone approach the particular type of crazy that Brandon demonstrated.

Exactly.  I don't understand why there is any defense of Brandon at all. And this is coming from someone who started liking him after the first production blow up and completely dislike Taylor.  

If he had been just blowing off steam, bitching at the producers, that's one thing.  I'm sure it does becoming annoying AF to have cameras in your face and I'll bet most of them don't realize how intrusive it is.

But the provoking of the cameraman went beyond to me and I also found his very calculating manner of speaking a little freaky.  

[sasha206]

17 hours ago, TzuShih said:

Katie has proven over and over that she's the type of woman who needs friction in her marriage.  We've all seen couples who love to fight and make up.  Katie should've put that in her Vows.  "Sweetness" is NOT a characteristic that she 'cherishes' in a relationship.

For sure.

She wants to be manhandled, by a bad boy.  That's what she is attracted to.  That's probably why her last boyfriend was so absent for her.  Because he was a bad boy.   The more absent he was for her, the more she longed for him.

If Derek were Zach, she'd be in love (not for bad boy quality, but his absenteeism).  

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by sasha206

[Zero260]

On 4/2/2020 at 7:36 PM, MyTwoCents said:

 

At this point of this season, Couple’s Couch is better than the real episode

 

I completely agree! I love Shawniece and how she obviously adores Jephte. He makes some really sly and humorous comments under his breath. Anthony is a gem ... cracked me up with his bodybuilder T-shirt and the way he exposed it. And most surprising to me is the dynamic between Jamie and Elizabeth. Their body language says they’re comfortable and in-sync with each other. I find her a little annoying sometimes but he doesn’t seem to notice or react to her quirky personality. At least not on CC. 

[Kira53]

On 1/8/2020 at 9:02 PM, Booger666 said:

I hope Brandon’s awkwardness is because he is nervous because he isn’t coming across well.

 

On 1/8/2020 at 9:06 PM, Ohwell said:

I agree.  I couldn't tell if he was really pleased or not.  Neither could Taylor.

 

On 1/8/2020 at 11:40 PM, qtpye said:

That lady is stunning.

 

What was up with him? I did not like her styling but Taylor is a good looking woman with brains. She also came off as very sweet and patient during their conversation. I wonder if he was intimidated by her?

 

On 1/9/2020 at 1:06 AM, Chilly said:

I get why people are being put off by Brandon's awkwardness. He seems cold for sure. But he reminds me of my cousin, who is super awkward and goofy in social scenarios. And his humor is very similar to my cousin's too, and sometimes it can come across wrong but he's just trying to lighten the mood and not look stupid because he's all awkward.

I think he's just feeling off and he's lucky his new wife is forgiving and level headed. I bet once he warms up he will be completely different. 

 

On 1/9/2020 at 6:56 AM, humbleopinion said:

Brandon is a beer brand ambassador?
Job description is beer delivery guy.

Brandon is not very good with words, written or spoken. Cringing along with Taylor as she listens to him struggle at the alter and feeli

Taylor/Brandon...the tease has them getting along just fine between the sheets...cue the music....bow chicka wah wah

 

On 1/9/2020 at 8:53 AM, qtpye said:

I was a little worried when he said "beer ambassador", because it sounded so phony. Jackie from the second season sold Tito's Vodka but she had a lot of drive and spunk. You could see that she would be a very good sales person. She was also successful enough to have her own house in the expensive Northeast. I thought Brandon was at least in sales but other people have said he is more likely a delivery driver. Again, there is nothing wrong with this...it is honest hard work.

She sells bourbon by hosting parties and did not seem to have a problem with his job and being in the business she probably knows what "Brand Ambassador" really means.

It almost feels like Brandon is a guy who is used to being slightly worshiped and adored. by having some kind of upper hand. He is a handsome guy who might have grown up in a family of women since his dad was not in the picture. I felt bad to learn about his brother but it probably had the effect of people lavishing even more attention on him as it made him an only child.

He is probably used to being the 'star" of the relationship and that ain't never gonna happen with Taylor. She is a swimsuit model and researcher at Hopkiins. On top of that, she was really sweet and patient with his awkward ass.  It is like the Seinfeld episode where the guy is asked "how did YOU ever get a girl like her".

I hope I'm wrong because I really liked Brandon until I saw his reaction to Taylor.

 

 

On 1/9/2020 at 10:46 AM, Jaclyn88 said:

I really didn’t like Brandon . His personality would have turned me off right away . I was expecting him to be very excited when Taylor walked down the aisle .. because let’s face it . It could have been someone who looked very different . But he was just stoic and showed no umph. He has that player personality where nothing affects him and everything is said with swag rather than just being real .  

 

On 1/9/2020 at 12:17 PM, dirtypop90 said:

I don’t think Brandon looked intimidated at all. He looked unimpressed as soon as he saw Taylor. He didn’t know she was brainy etc. then. I fear we are gearing up for a Luke and late scenario where is either gay or attracted to another type of woman, wanted an interracial pairing.

 

On 1/9/2020 at 12:46 PM, qtpye said:

That is what I’m afraid of...that he is just not into her and will not give her a chance, which is the premise of the show.

I thought Brandon was really cute and charming last week. He seemed to turn pissy and awkward the moment he saw her.

I feel like the show teases me with these beautiful black couples that go nowhere.

In all fairness, most of all couples on this show go nowhere...

 

On 1/9/2020 at 12:47 PM, Ohwell said:

I agree on both counts.  I do think Taylor is pretty, but nothing special.  Brandon's grandmother is so stunning that I'll bet some his friends were embarrassed to be looking at her.

The impression I got from Brandon was that, while he thought Taylor was attractive, he was disappointed that she wasn't another race, not necessarily White.   However, from what I've seen so far he seems like a nice guy and I wouldn't compare him to Luke yet.  Also, I don't get a gay vibe from him.  Some people said the same thing about Keith last season because they both come off as kind of chill and laid back. 

 

On 1/9/2020 at 1:55 PM, dirtypop90 said:

Taylor is objectively attractive to me. She's the most attractive woman in this cast and he looked the most disappointed. He also kept weirdly asking her he feared a man would walk down the aisle.

Also, I said he could be gay OR not have wanted a black woman.

You might not think Taylor is a stunner but no one that comes on this show is. She looks better than most women that have been on this show. So what was he expecting? Perhaps he was hoping she wouldn't be black

 

On 1/9/2020 at 4:16 PM, Cammi said:

It's odd you say this, my best friend's hubby said the same thing when he watched that segment with us. We were ooh-ing over the gorgeous Taylor and wondered why her groom seemed unimpressed. He goes "Probably wanted a white girl". He said he bets if we looked at his dating history it would reveal his suspicions. 

 

On 1/9/2020 at 4:30 PM, Ohwell said:

Brandon had already stated in his introduction that he'd dated women of all races--Black, White, Hispanic, Middle Eastern (don't remember if he mentioned Asian).  So he if he told the "experts" about his dating history, he probably was expecting someone other than a black woman, although I'm not sure that he only wanted a white woman.  

 

On 1/9/2020 at 5:00 PM, Kareem said:

Maybe Brandon likes his women bigger or something? I think she’s attractive and pleasant. He, on the other hand, seemed like he had nothing to give.  He’s not a comedian, he’s not a dancer, he’s not effusive, he was barely friendly.  He’s like a pile of wet sand. I kept thinking Vivica Fox got a dud.  I also liked him last week. Geez. The actions didn’t match the words.

 I thought Austin was nice and I loved his vows.  Jessica’s incessant giggling was getting to me.  She’s also no comedian.  What’s with the oft mentioned patience? Does she go Category 4 every now and then?  Yikes.  

 

On 1/9/2020 at 5:15 PM, gingerandcloves said:

I liked Katie and Derek's wedding, they seemed to have great first impressions of each other, and hit it off well right away. I'll admit I even teared up a bit. However, Katie does give me a bit of Amber vibes - that she just really wants to be married and doesn't care too much about who the groom is. I hope she doesn't become a real clinger.

Brandon, yeah what was up with him? He seemed excited pre-ceremony, and then flat after seeing Taylor walk down the aisle. I don't know if he was expecting a different type physically or what. I hope it was just

 

On 1/9/2020 at 6:40 PM, qtpye said:

Brandon seemed so disappointed. He almost seemed like he wanted to walk out at that moment and then proceeded to leave the alter before being pronounced husband and wife.

Being a woman of color that all too aware of how colorism runs rampant in our community, I felt like he wanted someone more light skinned. 

Also, while I think Taylor is very attractive...her styling at the wedding did her no favors. 

of course, as others have pointed out, a happy wedding does not always lead to a successful marriage.

 

On 1/9/2020 at 10:09 PM, ShowFan said:

Poor Taylor! She is so beautiful and smart and ambitious and she got matched with a shmuck, if that’s even a word. Quite painful to watch. Brandon seemed disappointed, annoyed, anxious....one of of the worst I’ve seen on MAFS and I’ve watched all seasons except the first. Just Puke from last season tops him up, of course. 

 

On 1/10/2020 at 10:56 AM, qtpye said:

In all honesty, as a woman of color, I wish they would just skip matching African American people, if the matches have to be half-assed.

It is hard to see the other grooms treat their new brides so nicely and than have Brandon be almost a total ass to his (the man was fixing to walk off before the pastor let them go).

I know some people have said that Brandon is awkward, but that does not gel with what we have been presented. He was plenty charismatic and if he really is a beer salesman...that is a job that requires some social savvy.

We all picked up on that he was not happy when he saw his lovely bride.

I hope I am wrong about him and it was just his nerves. I remember he said he dated all races, including black.

I hope his idea of "black" is not just someone like Vanessa Williams (who I think has two black parents).

 

On 1/10/2020 at 11:08 AM, kerrieway said:

You and I agree, Brandon is not awkward, he does not like Taylor. People are just being naive or uniformed because they see two attractive people and hope for love and don't know the underlying issues. 

Well I am not a woman of color, I am black and would like them to either pick black guys who like black women or just get some other cultures in the mix if they can't do that i.e. Indians/Asians/etc. 

I won't beat this topic further on this particular episode discussion, I'm sure it will come up later anyway. 

 

On 1/10/2020 at 3:49 PM, configdotsys said:

I thought Brandon was disappointed on sight with Taylor and because it was such an immediate reaction, I thought perhaps he was hoping for a white woman. I don't know anything about beer ambassadors but read that they earn between $16 and $28 an hour and their responsibilities are: Beer Ambassadors work as brand representatives at various events and retailers where Golden Road beer is served or promoted- such as beer and wine festivals, charity fundraisers, and Costco stores. The Ambassador will be responsible for setting up equipment, table display, pouring beer, and educating consumers on our beers and brand identity.

Sounds like a schmoozy type gig in which you hawk product in social environments or travel around. With her promoting whiskey at events, you'd think that was something good in common because someone unfamiliar with the social, possibly flirty, friendly requirements while doing your job might get jealous or whatever. Taylor comes across as a fun type person but not a fun-fun-fun type wild gal. Maybe that is what he was hoping for. It's so hard to tell. This will be very interesting.

 

On 1/13/2020 at 1:53 PM, Ilovepie said:

Also, someone who is in sales for a living..........

I don't really buy it either. He exuded so much confidence and ease in everything leading up to this that I have to chalk it up to disappointment in Taylor more than anxiety. Even hot grandma said he likes beautiful women, so I don't think he's very shy........

These are just some of the thoughts that people had in the wedding episode about Brandon. Certainly a lot of concern and confusion as to what was up with him. I had a lot of time trying to get away from COVID-19 worries so I went back to the wedding episode to see if my impression of what people were saying at the time was correct.  I decided to do a lot of clips and hope that people are entertained by a retrospective of concerns about Brandon and Taylor. It does make the point that at first sight Brandon did have extreme reaction that was hard to miss. We may never really know what it's all about but it's a lot of fun to speculate.  It gives us something to do before the next episode.  I did my best to snip different observations.  The overall conclusion was confusion as to what was up with Brandon because he seems so different from his initial presentation.

It's interesting to see what different people thought at the time.  

"Discuss."

[gonecrackers]

9 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I do think in Derek's mind he thought he was being "kind" to the women, but why the need to be all touchy feely with Taylor and sitting next to her instead of his wife?  I don't think that any spouse should be touching another spouse of the opposite sex no matter what, even if he was supposedly being a good person.  Now mind you, Katie may be way off in her reaction to that behavior, but his body language spoke to me of immature cluelessness and a lack of respect for the appearance of his behavior.  I have never once seen any spouse on this show act that way with another person's spouse and if I did I would not be defending it no matter who did it.  You don't act that way especially when you know your spouse is insecure about your relationship.  Derek only gets so much of a pass for being young and naive on this.  BTW, Ashley from the Chicago season had pretty much the same opinion on "Couples Couch".  

As much as I don't like Katie, I agree with all of this. I wonder though, if it was "clueless" behavior, or he's just distant from her at this point because of the way he's been treated. If he were crazy about her, I wonder if he would've been so attentive to another wife. Although I don't think it's an excuse, I doubt it.  That scene also showed Taylor in an even worse light IMO. Party gurl who would probably pull a Lindsey & not care a bit, because she feels justified in everything she does. She's awful in so many ways.

 

The whole thing with Michael, Brandon, production, the van, etc., just seems too off to me. Even the interrogation via Jessica - she seems like she'd stay more in her lane.

I'm speculating on what I can, but, production is very stinky this season in general.

 

34 minutes ago, Zero260 said:

Anthony is a gem ... cracked me up with his bodybuilder T-shirt and the way he exposed it.

I would try to watch again just for Anthony, who I believe is my all time favorite from this show & he is funny & direct. I like Ashley more on CC as well.

35 minutes ago, Zero260 said:

I completely agree! I love Shawniece and how she obviously adores Jephte. He makes some really sly and humorous comments under his breath.

I have not been able to understand a word he says; such a mumble mouth. I'll continue to hold a grudge for her for his sleeping around while she was pregnant. I hope their future will be good because I like Shawniece, but I don't trust him one bit.

Now if they would just throw screen hog JamieO OFF the show!!  Guess I could always try again with liberal use of FF...

[Jeanne222]

I think alcohol is what sets Brandon off.  He could be a functioning alcoholic.  

I'm curious how far they live from Brandon's work.  The night Taylor stayed in DC all night she drove Brandon to work.  Why?  Doesn't he drive?  DUI'S possibly?

Katie is strange. She surely isn't pretty or cute.  Is it liquor fueling her flame too?  Derek is like a fraternity boy. He just not ready for this.

Michael exhausts me.  Meka still has that machine gun mouth!  Bam Baca bam!  I duck every time she fired up!

I also think Michael and Brandon are over it but they had five couples this year but Mindy 's marriage was the worst so they let them go!  The others have to honor contracts.

 

[Lily247]

20 hours ago, Elizzikra said:

Wha?

Women don't "have to" wait for a ring. They can propose themselves; make clear their desire to get married and then exit the relationship if it's not moving quickly enough toward marriage for their liking; choose to stay in a relationship knowing that their partner isn't ready for marriage. They have choices though they may not always like them. 

Most of the young people I know don't date a single person for a long time. There's a lot of "hooking up/friends with benefits" types of relationships - sex with no strings attached. There's a lot of hanging around in groups. But I don't know too many younger women who date a single person for years and year and years, hoping and praying for the ring. They date and break up or date and get married or date and don't get married. 

I'm not sure what "benefits of marriage" that men get that women do not during the dating relationship. I don't know any man who ever dated a woman because he wasn't capable of cooking and wanted someone to do it for him. I think both men and women enjoy sex and you don't have to be married to do that. Plenty of women choose to have children as single women and that's actually harder, less common and less socially accepted for men to do so a heterosexual male who wants to be a dad has more pressure to marry than a single woman does.

I'm just not into the whole trope that men won't buy the cow if they can get the milk for free. People get married (or not) for a whole variety of reasons but I don't think it's primarily to have someone to cook, clean and have sex with. I could do (and did) all that stuff for many years without being married.

I agree with a lot of this. I also think that the majority of men in modern society have no desire to get married, and only do so out of pressure from their gf. A lot of times in marriage in this day and age (from my observations of dozens of couples), women tend to be in charge in marriage (deciding when and how many children they will have, the cars they will drive, the furniture, where they will vacation, etc etc.). Just scrolling through facebook, I always see pregnancy announcements where the husband is forcing out a grimacy smile while already holding an infant with a toddler nearby and the wife looks ecstatic with a 4 month pregnant belly. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Lily247

[sasha206]

It was funny to me that Derek asked if she was pissed b/c he was flirting with Taylor.  Flirting.  Derek, oh Derek, unless it was editing and she said "you were flirting with Taylor first," he just admitted to what he was doing -- flirting.

It would be great if Taylor/Derek ended up having side texting.

[bichonblitz]

1 hour ago, Zero260 said:

And most surprising to me is the dynamic between Jamie and Elizabeth. Their body language says they’re comfortable and in-sync with each other. I find her a little annoying sometimes but he doesn’t seem to notice or react to her quirky personality. At least not on CC. 

Are these two really together? I'm shocked! I never thought that relationship would see the light of day. There was some serious malicious fighting between those two during their season. Goes to show maybe alot of this on camera stuff is exaggerated by what production tells them to do. They seem to get along great on CC and their comments are funny and on point. 

[qtpye]

2 hours ago, Kira53 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just some of the thoughts that people had in the wedding episode about Brandon. Certainly a lot of concern and confusion as to what was up with him. I had a lot of time trying to get away from COVID-19 worries so I went back to the wedding episode to see if my impression of what people were saying at the time was correct.  I decided to do a lot of clips and hope that people are entertained by a retrospective of concerns about Brandon and Taylor. It does make the point that at first sight Brandon did have extreme reaction that was hard to miss. We may never really know what it's all about but it's a lot of fun to speculate.  It gives us something to do before the next episode.  I did my best to snip different observations.  The overall conclusion was confusion as to what was up with Brandon because he seems so different from his initial presentation.

It's interesting to see what different people thought at the time.  

"Discuss."

I really liked Brandon at first and was excited about him and Taylor as a couple. I don’t blame him for not trusting his wife but I think he was not feeling her even before the phony aspects of her personality came out. I mean he almost left without her at the alter. I know he just might be socially awkward but he seemed like a smooth likable guy up until that moment.

It is okay that he was not attracted to her. I have said many time that I would not be physically attracted to Zack, who probably has women throwing themselves at him every day.

This guy is really not that insightful but he does have thoughts on Brandon.

 

[KateHearts]

On 4/2/2020 at 1:08 AM, ECM1231 said:

The show has said numerous times that they won't pair couples of different races, so if he didn't want a black woman, he should not have been chosen.

But they did pair mixed-race couples. Davina and the nurse guy. And the black man with the woman of Indian descent with a criminal record.

On 4/1/2020 at 10:44 PM, OnTime said:

Why does Katie think so highly of herself? 

I think she's one of those people who is so into "I am of value" that she takes it two steps further as "I am more valuable than anyone else." I think a lot of people can misinterpret the idea of self-worth, prioritizing oneself and one's mental health that they are chronically defensive, seeking offenses that aren't really there, and demanding to be treated respectfully even when they don't act respectful themselves.

[KateHearts]

On 4/2/2020 at 12:08 AM, rebel2u said:

I'm wondering if Katie is one of those people that thrives on drama.  A red flag was when she said, essentially, we get along better after we fight.  Yeah, that intensity works when you're 16 and in love with love.  But when you're 26 and married, fighting so that your love will be intense and passionate all the time is exhausting and doesn't bode well for a long term relationship.

The entire scene at dinner where Katie was making faces, rolling her eyes, and left the table (not once but TWICE) reminded me of a couple we knew in college who ruined every party by having a big fight which usually resulted in her running off dramatically while crying hysterically, expecting others to rush after her and comfort her, and him standing there while everyone else just felt awkward.  And I did say in college.  Katie is young but if she wants to be married and expects Derek to treat her well she needs to do a lot of growing up.  Her scene with all the girls rushing around and her exclamation "HE DOES NOTHING!" was just over the top and stupid.

[Ohwell]

18 minutes ago, qtpye said:

I really liked Brandon at first and was excited about him and Taylor as a couple. I don’t blame him for not trusting his wife but I think he was not feeling her even before the phony aspects of her personality came out. I mean he almost left without her at the alter. I know he just might be socially awkward but he seemed like a smooth likable guy up until that moment.

It is okay that he was not attracted to her. I have said many time that I would not be physically attracted to Zack, who probably has women throwing themselves at him every day.

This guy is really not that insightful but he does have thoughts on Brandon.

 

This guy and his wife are hilarious.  

(off to look up Ginger from Chicken run)

[Jeanne222]

I always like to watch these participants with their parents.  Katie was so disrespectful to her mother it's no surprise how she treats Derek and has stayed unmarried.

She's exhausting!  She's 'full of herself' as my Irish grandma used to say!!!

[MajorNelson]

1 hour ago, sasha206 said:

It was funny to me that Derek asked if she was pissed b/c he was flirting with Taylor.  Flirting.  Derek, oh Derek, unless it was editing and she said "you were flirting with Taylor first," he just admitted to what he was doing -- flirting.

1. I think he was using the term flirting that Katie was thinking, so to me...no foul.

2. Now wouldn't a "bad boy" flirt with other women, and then Katie is supposed to desire him even more?  What's wrong with her, she can't keep her roles straight?

Edited April 4, 2020 by MajorNelson

[retired watcher]

This is a shit show. Katie is a big baby, Brandon is nuts, I'm worried about Taylor's safety even if she is provoking him. Taylor is only worried about losing camera time. Michael is also scary. Talking to Brandon is the only time I saw him smile. Meka talks too much. Derek is a saint.  Austin and Jessica shouldn't have been subjected to this. It is very hard to watch.

[MajorNelson]

16 hours ago, gingerandcloves said:

You and me both. I couldn't make heads or tails out of his supposed timeline.  Let me go back and recap what happened when Michael came back to the house.

 

Thanks for your huge writeup.  The trouble is, for whatever happened all we have is Michael's mishmash of the events as he chose to disclose them, lies included and as well omitting whatever he wants omitted

I would lay odds his Uncle did die.  Also, that sometime during the day he wanted to order flowers.  He MAY have met up with some family members for 10 minutes.  And as far as parking at the Festival, I bet the plan was to hang out there.  His wanting to get back in time to go on Meka's excursion was basically impossible and therefore just "nice words" but a lie.

[Kareem]

6 hours ago, qtpye said:

This guy is really not that insightful but he does have thoughts on Brandon.

 

Oh my goodness.  That was fun!  Taylor her wig and her cracked phone, Perch doing Perch things and his assessment of thugalicious Katie were perfection.  Thanks so much for sharing it, qtpye!  Too funny. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Kareem
Poster’s name spelled wrong; sorry!

[LaLaLaLa]

4 hours ago, sasha206 said:

For sure.

She wants to be manhandled, by a bad boy.  That's what she is attracted to.  That's probably why her last boyfriend was so absent for her.  Because he was a bad boy.   The more absent he was for her, the more she longed for him.

If Derek were Zach, she'd be in love (not for bad boy quality, but his absenteeism).  

 

Derek/Katie should have switched with Zach/Mindy. Better matches and would have been a good twist to keep viewers watching.

[cinsays]

23 minutes ago, LaLaLaLa said:

Derek/Katie should have switched with Zach/Mindy. Better matches and would have been a good twist to keep viewers watching.

at least it couldn't have been any worse

[sasha206]

1 hour ago, MajorNelson said:

Thanks for your huge writeup.  The trouble is, for whatever happened all we have is Michael's mishmash of the events as he chose to disclose them, lies included and as well omitting whatever he wants omitted

I would lay odds his Uncle did die.  Also, that sometime during the day he wanted to order flowers.  He MAY have met up with some family members for 10 minutes.  And as far as parking at the Festival, I bet the plan was to hang out there.  His wanting to get back in time to go on Meka's excursion was basically impossible and therefore just "nice words" but a lie.

I will go with his Uncle did die.  Or someone's Uncle.  And he did not order flowers. 

[zoltana]

On 4/1/2020 at 7:06 PM, Suzy Rhapsody said:

I thought I was the only one watching Unfiltered through my fingers.  Lawd!

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

[zoltana]

On 4/1/2020 at 11:08 PM, rebel2u said:

Yes!  Zack is!  You go, girl!

I obtained a Master's in Counseling, beginning the program not long after I graduated from college.  I kind of did it on a lark, and though I did well in my studies, I realized that, at that point of my life, I wasn't ready to counsel anybody.   BUT, as someone now older and wiser and with an MA in Counseling, I have two words of advice for Derek:  Derek, RUN!

I'm wondering if Katie is one of those people that thrives on drama.  A red flag was when she said, essentially, we get along better after we fight.  Yeah, that intensity works when you're 16 and in love with love.  But when you're 26 and married, fighting so that your love will be intense and passionate all the time is exhausting and doesn't bode well for a long term relationship.

Again, I say, "Derek, RUN!"  There are plenty of women out there that would be ecstatic to have a fun, kind and easygoing guy like you.  Love shouldn't be this hard.  

It scares me that she's a therapist.  Does she start belittling anyone who is having a hard time?

[qtpye]

12 minutes ago, zoltana said:

It scares me that she's a therapist.  Does she start belittling anyone who is having a hard time?

She calls them a giant nerd/dork and then runs out of the room in hopes the client will come and coddle her.

[zoltana]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:24 AM, BunnyAndIvy said:

Has anyone mentioned the crockpot yet? I was cracking up that Austin ended up lugging that thing all around that (huge) house tour 😂 

Thank you!  I was wondering when someone was going to mention it.  He was asking why does someone even bring a crockpot.  Well Austin, hun, you are going to appreciate the hell out of that girl in the future when you go to gatherings and she comes with a crockpot full of velveeta and rotel or Lil' smokies in bbq sauce, lol!  In the south that's just good manners 😂

 

[Liberty]

If someone was selected, or applying, for this show, wouldn't they watch a couple of the previous seasons?

Who would take a chance on ending up with Ryan DeNino or Iris Caldwell?

Who, as pleasant as Austin or Derek could see the previous train wrecks and still want to be part of this?

[Kira53]

6 hours ago, KateHearts said:

But they did pair mixed-race couples. Davina and the nurse guy. And the black man with the woman of Indian descent with a criminal record.

Maybe the show "said" that they wouldn't pair couples in interracial relationships when the participants want to be paired in interracial marriages.  Meaning the  man and woman only want the other race.  I think that Davina prefered to not date a man of East Asian background.  I would think that she could find and arranged marriage on her own if she wanted someone from India or Pakistan.  (I don't recall where her parents were from)  I don't think her husband requested east asian or nonwhite so they weren't matched in this dimension.

[Neurochick]

On 4/3/2020 at 7:16 PM, LuvMyShows said:

What was scary, IIRC, was the manner in which he said what he did to the production guy.  He had a weird, controlled-but-crazy way of speaking, facial expression, and body language.  It was intentional and explicitly designed to provoke the other person and elevate the tension.  We may not agree with the sentiment behind Katie's fit, but the fit she had was more of a standard variety anger-expression, blowing-off-steam fit that most people have had more than once in their lives.  I have never seen anyone approach the particular type of crazy that Brandon demonstrated.

I didn't see crazy at all.  A person being angry doesn't mean they are crazy.  I saw his facial expression as, "see what just happened."  As if the producers had asked both he and Taylor to please go on the couples retreat. 

I'm confused as to what "normal" anger is.  I mean what is normal?  What is "scary" anger?  To who?  To me Brandon's anger was, "Why did you pair me with HER?"  And then when it came out that she's a reality fame whore, it pissed him off even more.  I can't say I blame him.  If Brandon were a woman, would the anger still be "scary?"

I think by the time this episode was filmed, the producers knew this season was a wash out.  So what they were trying to do was to salvage the season.  "Just come on the retreat, it'll be fun."

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.

Edited April 4, 2020 by Neurochick

[Neurochick]

BTW, did Katie think stealing a golf cart was "hood rat stuff?"  Really Katie? 

[KateHearts]

I thought the whole "stolen golf cart" and paddleboat scene was completely cringe-worthy. I think Derek is a good guy but his over-the-top act of trying to be the "bad boy," while actually saying "yeah, I'm a bad boy" made him look stupid and desperate.  And all the video of the two of them doing their "daring" activities as if they were reinventing the wheel was just stupid.

[KateHearts]

On 4/2/2020 at 8:43 PM, Neurochick said:

I am confused.  What is so scary about a person expressing anger?  Anger is a normal emotion.  True, Brandon is a man-child, but still.  I don't see Brandon as being violent at all.  What has happened that expressing anger, even if it's yelling has become scary? 

What I found disturbing was Brandon's body language, in-your-face dares, the "yeah try to come at me" and his repeating of phrases over and over again ("don't touch me; don't touch me; don't touch me") that seemed to show that he has anger (normal) that he can't express well or handle in a way that isn't either self-destructive or threatening towards others. He was almost wanting the crew to start a fight. And if he's not right there in the face of who he's angry with, he sulks and retreats.

[Neurochick]

5 minutes ago, KateHearts said:

What I found disturbing was Brandon's body language, in-your-face dares, the "yeah try to come at me" and his repeating of phrases over and over again ("don't touch me; don't touch me; don't touch me") that seemed to show that he has anger (normal) that he can't express well or handle in a way that isn't either self-destructive or threatening towards others. He was almost wanting the crew to start a fight. And if he's not right there in the face of who he's angry with, he sulks and retreats.

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)

Edited April 5, 2020 by Neurochick