S13.E15: Memory Lane & a Dirty Little Secret

[Mellybelly]

 Michaela - you are such a narcissist.  Geez - own your crap.  He left BECAUSE YOU TOLD HIM TO.  He literally said he did not want to leave you and you verbatim told him to go home.  Then you get mad when he does what you tell him to and play the victim.  He did not abandon you.  And you did not have a panic attack.  You had a full blown tantrum.  And Zach has no evidence?  Have you forgotten you're on camera?  Yes, Zach has evidence.  Lots of it!!  Ugh...she drives me crazy.  😠

Edited October 28, 2021 by Mellybelly
.

[Katie111]

I wish Dr Pepper met with Brett & Ryan to talk about the dating app.  What a total jerk.  I do agree with the above poster that Brett needs a makeover.  Not for Ryan, just for herself.  Her hair color does her no favors.  
 

I think Bao is a very lonely person.  Hopefully she’ll at least come out of this with a new group of girlfriends.  Johnny is just a complete psycho.  I don’t even know what the hell he is talking about when he is talking about Bao’s behavior.  Unless she has a split personality and we only see one side of it, he is just crazy with all his criticisms of her. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by Katie111

[Katie111]

Myrla’s timeline makes no sense.  I think she’s 35.  She can’t wait 5 years to try to have a kid until she can afford a house and a nanny.  Or maybe her plan is to wait as long as possible so she can only have one kid (or possibly none).  I think Gil wants several and she wants no more than one. 

[Rae Spellman]

So, Gil's driving that car, has no savings in the States, and has the audacity to criticize Myrla's spending.

ETA: Is Gil's argument that Myrla should spend less and save more of her higher income so that they can build the life he wants without him needing to earn more since money doesn't motivate him?

Edited October 28, 2021 by Rae Spellman

[ChiMama]

22 minutes ago, Rae Spellman said:

 

So, Gil's driving that car, has no savings in the States, and has the audacity to criticize Myrla's spending.

 

Funny - I just assumed it was HER car because of the brand & the flashiness and he was driving because they were going to visit his childhood neighborhood. It’s definitely a Myrla-ish “I deserve an expensive/luxury brand” type of vehicle & not Gil’s style. I bet it’s hers. 
 

Myrla on Unfiltered definitely threw shade at Bao - wonder what the story is there? 

Edited October 28, 2021 by ChiMama

[Auntie Anxiety]

3 hours ago, Meowwww said:

 

Why the fuck is Pepper encouraging them to work it out….in not one but TWO meetings???  Did she not see any video of Michaela’s multiple freak outs?  

The experts’ main concern is to keep the show going. They are paid to facilitate the drama and who the hell cares whom it might hurt. I guarantee that Dr. Pepper didn’t have any idea whatsoever about the full extent of Michaela’s sociopathy abandonment problems. She’s like Shawn WhatsHerName on the 90 Day Tell All shows. The producer hands her the questions and she reads them maybe spending a minute getting some background. 

P.S. Any therapist/psychologist who says opposites are good marriage partners, is most likely wrong in the long run.

[princelina]

1 hour ago, Katie111 said:

I think Bao is a very lonely person.  Hopefully she’ll at least come out of this with a new group of girlfriends.  Johnny is just a complete psycho.  I don’t even know what the hell he is talking about when he is talking about Bao’s behavior.  Unless she has a split personality and we only see one side of it, he is just crazy with all his criticisms of her. 

Yeah he says she breaks them down - that's all I've seen him doing to her!  I hope she gets some new friends after this.  I can see that she's uptight and serious, and not everyone's cup of tea, but she doesn't seem like a bad person.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Meowwww said:

Why the fuck is Pepper encouraging them to work it out….in not one but TWO meetings???  Did she not see any video of Michaela’s multiple freak outs?  

She may have but she does what production tells her to do.  They want a meeting, Pepper has a meeting.  Zack leaves the first meeting saying he can't talk right now but he "wants to".  No he doesn't.  He is rightfully DONE with psycho Michaela and pissed that the show is forcing him to talk to her.  So he leaves but he knows they'll wave the contract in his face and tell him he has to have the meeting.  So that's why there was a second meeting.  

Remember last season?  The same thing happened with Paige and her producer instigated "meeting" with Chris late in the season.  She got up from that one and left.  Then suddenly after an undisclosed amount of time she's back in the chair, forced to meet with him when she obviously did not want to.

Pepper just does what the producers tell her they want her to do.  Plus they are all still tippy-toeing around Michaela at Zack's expense because they're all afraid she'll burn their houses down or something.  I wanted to slap the crap out of Pepper for handing her nothing but softballs.  At the end she was telling her that maybe she should think about getting over her abandonment issues and not letting them make her throw tantrums because it's destructive to a relationship.  Well DUH, where was she several WEEKS ago?  And Michaela agrees with her like she's just saying yes to everything to look like she's the one doing the work and Zack is abandoning her.  Even after all that she was still playing Pepper to look like the victim.  What a sicko.  Poor Zack.

19 minutes ago, Auntie Anxiety said:

I guarantee that Dr. Pepper didn’t have any idea whatsoever about the full extent of Michaela’s sociopathy abandonment problems. She’s like Shawn WhatsHerName on the 90 Day Tell All shows. The producer hands her the questions and she reads them maybe spending a minute getting some background. 

I don't give Pepper that much credit.  She does what the producers tell her to do even if she knows better, which she obviously does.  She mentioned Michaela's tantrums.  She's seen the video I'm sure.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

Wow. Not only does Bao need a different husband but she has to get herself some different friends.  

Is anyone seeing a pattern here?  Wasn't it just a couple of seasons ago that someone's "friend" was getting a little chummy with her husband and threw them under the bus saying negative things about her?  Wasn't that Mindy?  I almost believe the show will pay the "friend" off to do this and if they're that desperate for the cash they'll do it.

Also, there's always a "friend" late in the season that claims they saw one of the wives' husbands on a dating site and informs the wife.  This has happened a couple of times before in previous seasons on this show already.  I think the "friend" is probably someone working for the show that's paid to keep tabs on all the participants' online activity, perhaps a computer hacker snooping on their web browsing.  It is just WAY too coincidental that this keeps happening again and again.

[Rambunctiouscurls]

3 hours ago, kristen111 said:

Why does Rachel talk like a first grader reading a book for the first time?

😂This is sending me. Perfect description.

[GettingGray]

3 hours ago, kristen111 said:

I think I’m gonna cry if Ryan says he wants a divorce from Brett.  She’s too nice.

Get you your hankie.

[For Cereals]

With the preview, I’m lost with Zach and Michaela.  More like done.

I’m tired of hearing about Myrla’s spending.  She has the coin and the bank statements. Myrla wants the house and her lashes and shoes, so it may take more time.  Gil, get another job if it bothers you so much.

Johnny can fuck all the way off.  Why is he talking off camera to Bao’s friend and not going back to Bao.  Let’s visit some of Johnny’s friends, exes, and coworkers.  He’s looking for any excuse. 

Ryan ugh.  One week!  Who cares if you didn’t talk to anyone.  Downloading was enough. Was he planning on banking a bunch of matches to hit up the next week to go back to his serial dating?

[flaky]

Prefacing this by saying I really don't like Johnny and I don't think Bao is perfect. I'm going to be objective based on what I've seen so far.

Johnny keeps mentioning on unfiltered that Bao isn't genuine and her true behavior comes out when the camera stops rolling. The example he gave on unfiltered is that she is a 'debbie downer' behind the scenes and another time mentioned that she has social anxiety. The main issue I have with this is not once did he mention all these on camera (outside of unfiltered) meaning if what he is saying is true he was also not being genuine when cameras are rolling.

Today's episode he was talking about this 'convo' with Sarah that was incriminating. He mentioned how in past relationships Bao had broken down the men so that they would end up leaning on her. Now, let's even assume this is true, she has not exhibited this specific behavior in their relationship, so why judging her based on that? If anything Johnny has been the one cutting her down consistently (We've seen the reel multiple times) with his words.

She asked what Sarah specifically mentioned on camera, and he chose not to respond claiming he doesn't want to put this on Sarah. You mean after you blindsided your wife to bring it up to not only Dr. Pepper but on camera too? Him getting  all 'can you see how you saying 'the ball is in your court Johnny' makes it seem like its all my fault' is sooooo stupid. Yes , Johnny the ball is in your fucking court because you just dropped a bombshell about her friend, saying that's the reason why you stopped trying and don't want to fully address it.

Say what you will about Bao, everything that she has said about his behavior is not only true but we've seen evidence of it.

Johnny is mean (True)

Johnny wants me to initiate intimacy (True)

Johnny uninvited me from meeting his family (True)

I could go on and on but I'm tired.

 

[endure]

4 hours ago, kristen111 said:

What the hell.  Johnny is cruel.  How dare he say that to Pepper?  He’s a worm, even if it was true.

I totally missed what the friend had told Johnny, I must have dozed off. Then I kept wondering why they didn’t say what she said lol 

[endure]

Gil putting down Myrla constantly is such a negative attitude yet that is what he says about her ie being negative and a Debby Downer?  Kettle…..meet pot! And why does she take it so well, almost submissive?  Must be so faux for some drama.
 

[Bees52]

1 hour ago, flaky said:

Prefacing this by saying I really don't like Johnny and I don't think Bao is perfect. I'm going to be objective based on what I've seen so far.

Johnny keeps mentioning on unfiltered that Bao isn't genuine and her true behavior comes out when the camera stops rolling. The example he gave on unfiltered is that she is a 'debbie downer' behind the scenes and another time mentioned that she has social anxiety. The main issue I have with this is not once did he mention all these on camera (outside of unfiltered) meaning if what he is saying is true he was also not being genuine when cameras are rolling.

Today's episode he was talking about this 'convo' with Sarah that was incriminating. He mentioned how in past relationships Bao had broken down the men so that they would end up leaning on her. Now, let's even assume this is true, she has not exhibited this specific behavior in their relationship, so why judging her based on that? If anything Johnny has been the one cutting her down consistently (We've seen the reel multiple times) with his words.

She asked what Sarah specifically mentioned on camera, and he chose not to respond claiming he doesn't want to put this on Sarah. You mean after you blindsided your wife to bring it up to not only Dr. Pepper but on camera too? Him getting  all 'can you see how you saying 'the ball is in your court Johnny' makes it seem like its all my fault' is sooooo stupid. Yes , Johnny the ball is in your fucking court because you just dropped a bombshell about her friend, saying that's the reason why you stopped trying and don't want to fully address it.

Say what you will about Bao, everything that she has said about his behavior is not only true but we've seen evidence of it.

Johnny is mean (True)

Johnny wants me to initiate intimacy (True)

Johnny uninvited me from meeting his family (True)

I could go on and on but I'm tired.

 

It's weird. He explains on there about his relationship with Bao's "best friend" Sarah, as she's a long-time mutual friend of theirs from when they were all in college. He goes to her for advice and she picks him up when he's down. Sounds like she's more his best friend, than Bao's. Of course she'd say things about her to confirm his feelings about his wife, and their marriage.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Bees52

[SabineElisabeth]

Triggered, my ass. Makayla is embarrassed. Embarrassed her new husband can barely stand to be near her.  And what was up with the weird gaslighting attempt?  Is our girl so deranged she somehow forgot her crazy behavior was both filmed and observed??

And while we're calling out bullshit, Ryan, we all know you were full of it with.your "I didn't intend for my profile on the dating app to be active yet." What you didn't intend was to get caught with an active profile on the dating app.  You should look on the bright side, tho. If you'd been matched with Makayla and she found out you were trying to get a jump start on finding a new piece of ass, you'd probably be cut up into small pieces and buried in the backyard right now. Instead, thanks to Brett, that was the most low-energy, low-key break up ever. And rather than texting her in a futile attempt to weasel your way out of what you did, a simple "thank you" would have been way more appropriate. 

Edited October 28, 2021 by SabineElisabeth

[Baltimore Betty]

47 minutes ago, SabineElisabeth said:

Triggered, my ass. Makayla is embarrassed. Embarrassed her new husband can barely stand to be near her.  And what was up with the weird gaslighting attempt?  Is our girl so deranged she somehow forgot her crazy behavior was both filmed and observed??

And while we're calling out bullshit, Ryan, we all know you were full of it with.your "I didn't intend for my profile on the dating app to be active yet." What you didn't intend was to get caught with an active profile on the dating app.  You should look on the bright side, tho. If you'd been matched with Makayla and she found out you were trying to get a jump start on finding a new piece of ass, you'd probably be cut up into small pieces and buried in the backyard right now. Instead, thanks to Brett, that was the most low-energy, low-key break up ever. And rather than texting her in a futile attempt to weasel your way out of what you did, a simple "thank you" would have been way more appropriate. 

100%

What kind of apology was I am sorry it went like that? How about I am sorry I was such a piece of shit that I could not be honest with you this entire time and could not wait one more week to get on a dating site?  I admire Brett's restraint although I believe it was not a surprise to her that he was not interested in her and she did say she wanted him to say it as in it's over.

Ryan cannot be alone, he is literally going from one relationship to another, no break between to self reflect about the (sham of a) marriage and how his actions affected someone else. That next girl he meets has seen this show, I guarantee it, single people dating these days Google potential dates.

Someone needs to explain to me why Zach wants to try to work things out with Michaela, what is the attraction, does he thrive on the drama too? Why work so hard for a toxic relationship? What does he have to prove? 

 

[kristen111]

8 hours ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Then there's Johnny’s Hentai porn hobby. Talk about creepy!

Bao's revelation about her immolating dolls was disturbing, though. That's nascent serial killer stuff right there!

Eh, I blame the “experts”.  Out of hundreds of people, they pick this bunch?  Either they have their licenses revoked, or Production has their hands on this fiasco.  One crazy is enough for diversity, but all of them????  It brought down the show.  Didn’t work.

[Baltimore Betty]

5 hours ago, For Cereals said:

I’m tired of hearing about Myrla’s spending.  She has the coin and the bank statements. Myrla wants the house and her lashes and shoes, so it may take more time.  Gil, get another job if it bothers you so much.

Why wouldn't Dr. Pepper suggest they go to a financial planner?  They have money goals, a planner would help them achieve their goals by budgeting so they can have a life while saving for the future, Myrla may not be able to shop as often but if she rethought about buying ugly, ill fitting, unflattering clothing and started to think about shopping for furniture and other household items she may get excited about saving for a house.  As far as Gil getting another job, what else is he qualified to do or have a degree in that would pay more? Can he make captain at his station?

 

 

[Yeah No]

Wow, José was really pushing how he and his family "really didn't have much money", wasn't he?  Talk about trying to downplay himself to look like a "rags to riches" story and appear more humble than he really is!  Good on Rachel for not buying it.  From her perspective (and mine) he was not that poor growing up.  That house was way nicer than the modest and tiny apartment I grew up in in the dumpy old Bronx so, sorry José, but I'm not buying it either.  

Well it turns out I was right last week that he admits he said he wanted a strong independent woman but really doesn't know what to do with one now that he has her.  So he said to Pepper, anyway.  What he really wants to do is control her, but she's not having that so he'd better get used to it or she's going to get really tired of him.

Although I'm not loving that Rachel spent that night at her ex's house.  I detect a spiteful side there, but given what he did to her I can understand it, just not THAT much spite to spend the night at an ex's.  And somehow it was never disclosed to us whether she slept with him or not.  Later on in bed José seemed to be taking this news better than he did the first time when all he knew is that she walked out.  Something isn't adding up here and I wonder what was edited out or whether this situation is going to blow up in the next episode.  We'll see.

[Spectator]

So this show is trying to get us to believe that Jose never once asked Rachel where she went when he locked her out??? Seriously? I’m not buying it. I would think that that conversation would have happened as soon as they made up, not a month later in front of doc pepper. No way. Jose is a control freak…he’d definitely have wanted to know where she was. Especially since he already didn’t trust her because she cheated in a past relationship. Actually I think almost any husband in that situation would have wanted to know where his wife spent the night, not necessarily because of trust issues, but because most husbands would want to know that their wives were safe. 

So I’m getting major “producer driven drama” vibes from this. Either Rachel didn’t even spend the night with her ex and the producers just fabricated it for the drama, or she did but she and Jose hashed it out long ago. I’m thinking the producers probably feared that these two had been getting along too well leading into decision day snd they needed to manufacture their typical “1 week to go, so let’s bring up some crap” drama. For whatever reason, the show is not happy just letting the stories unfold naturally - they want us to have doubts about the decisions. I don’t understand why. Do we really need to question what will happen on decision day with every single couple? Wouldn’t it be fine to just go in knowing the ending but watching simply to see what the couple says and does? We always knew scooby do and the crew were going to solve the mystery at the end of every show and we still watched. 

[Baltimore Betty]

11 hours ago, ChiMama said:

Michaela’s calm, cold assessment of the situation was jaw-droppingly chilling — ugh. Triggering™️ — and I’ve come to hate that term & don’t use it lightly.

I picture Michaela in a restaurant giving her order to the wait person and them walking away to put the order in and Michaela loses her mind because the wait person walked away, that triggered her so she flips the table.  Or in a store and the sales person has to check to see if they have whatever she has requested and they walk away, Michaela loses her mind because that person walked away, seriously when is she going to stop with being triggered especially when she was the person that caused the situation, telling someone to leave, they leave and she goes nuts.

I knew Michaela was going to be a narcissist about the whole trigger thing, blaming everyone else on her reaction, that is why I think Zach is nuts for trying to have a relationship with her.

Dr. Pepper said the experts get notes about the couples, from who, producers? I would love to see the notes from the producer who had to physically hold Michaela back or the producer that had to intervene between Jose and Rachel!

Will we find out that Rachel's ex (who she stayed with on that fateful night), is named Johnny.

[Spectator]

Watching the replay of Mikaela’s freak out made me wonder why the producer was actually holding Mikaela back at the end of the clip.Zack was gone at that point so his safety was not at risk. And knowing this show they would have loved to have filmed her exploding even more. So I’m guessing they restrained her because she was on a such a destructive run that they were afraid she was going to cause serious damage to the rental house. That sort of destructive violence against objects is a very short ride away from violence against people. Again, if Mikaela had been a man, I bet the show would have removed her from the show after that episode, fearing for the safety of her partner. But on this f-ed up show, they do the opposite and encourage Mikaela and Zack to hold hands and talk about things. Good god. 

 

[Jeanne222]

Why would Rachael call and spend the night at her ex's house when she knows Jose has been cheated on?  Isn't that #2 because she disclosed earlier in the season she had cheated!

I agree about Gil.  He wants M to give up the lifestyle she lives, on her own paycheck, so he can have what he wants sooner!  She agreed to put 20% of her earnings in savings which would be 2 or 3 times his contribution.  Gil's becoming the Debbie Downer and M is looking good!

Ryan thinks he'll get a new crop of females on his dating ap since he's now a tv star.  He can't wait.

Johnny digs his own hole deeper each week.  In the beginning he looked like quite a catch.  Now he looks so mean and angry.

How come  only part of them went back to their old neighborhoods?

Edited October 28, 2021 by Jeanne222

[cinsays]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Also, there's always a "friend" late in the season that claims they saw one of the wives' husbands on a dating site and informs the wife.  This has happened a couple of times before in previous seasons on this show already.  I think the "friend" is probably someone working for the show that's paid to keep tabs on all the participants' online activity, perhaps a computer hacker snooping on their web browsing.  It is just WAY too coincidental that this keeps happening again and again.

yeah,  but the important thing is that Ryan DID get the dating app downloaded and ready to go. couldn't wait a lousy week. 

[Jeanne222]

1 hour ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Why wouldn't Dr. Pepper suggest they go to a financial planner?  They have money goals, a planner would help them achieve their goals by budgeting so they can have a life while saving for the future, Myrla may not be able to shop as often but if she rethought about buying ugly, ill fitting, unflattering clothing and started to think about shopping for furniture and other household items she may get excited about saving for a house.  As far as Gil getting another job, what else is he qualified to do or have a degree in that would pay more? Can he make captain at his station?

 

 

Gil is also a trainer at the gym.  He's fairly new on the fire department and it seems Captain requires experience.

Gil does talk a good game.  I think he's a bull shitter but who knows!

Edited October 28, 2021 by Jeanne222

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, SabineElisabeth said:

And while we're calling out bullshit, Ryan, we all know you were full of it with.your "I didn't intend for my profile on the dating app to be active yet."

“I was planning to activate the app after I divorced you!” is not the excuse he thinks it is. They’re 10 days out from decision day; he couldn’t wait 10 days to get back out there?

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

Also, there's always a "friend" late in the season that claims they saw one of the wives' husbands on a dating site and informs the wife.  This has happened a couple of times before in previous seasons on this show already.  I think the "friend" is probably someone working for the show that's paid to keep tabs on all the participants' online activity, perhaps a computer hacker snooping on their web browsing.  It is just WAY too coincidental that this keeps happening again and again.

I can buy that it happens organically. I’ve come across the same people on apps before. I’ve also come across people I know, friends’ exes, etc. You set filters to determine what kind of person you want to see (age range, height, education, kids/no kids/wants kids, religion, race, geographic location, etc.) and that shrinks your pool of prospects. I can buy that Brett’s friend came across Ryan in her search for, like, men with at least an undergraduate degree aged 32-37 within 10 miles of her zip code.

8 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

How come  only part of them went back to their old neighborhoods?

Maybe the ones that didn’t aren’t from Houston.

[kristen111]

11 hours ago, potatochips said:

Bao: " I made a thatch hut, put my fake Barbies in it and burned them up. " Whoa...that sounds like a scene from a Halloween movie. I think Johnny is a jerk but she may have some deep rooted issues that should be resolved. 

Bao, Johnny and Michaela .. all nuts.  Michaela plays the innocent, but lies thru her teeth.  Nothing said about the video?

[Emma Snyder]

11 hours ago, Kimboweena said:

Nothing new to add to tonight's episode, it's all been said.  But did you see the upcoming episode title,  S13.E81: Decision Day Dish: Houston.

 

Isn't that weird? Is it the 81st episode of the series? This came right from Lifetime:

[Empress1]

4 minutes ago, Emma Snyder said:

Isn't that weird? Is it the 81st episode of the series? 

Thanks for the heads up - I can skip this.

[cinsays]

15 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Thanks for the heads up - I can skip this.

yeah, if we wanted to see more of these former couples we could probably just watch couples cam

[ByTor]

3 hours ago, SabineElisabeth said:

Ryan, we all know you were full of it with.your "I didn't intend for my profile on the dating app to be active yet." What you didn't intend was to get caught with an active profile on the dating app. 

And THIS was supposed to make her feel better? 

[LennieBriscoe]

12 minutes ago, ByTor said:

And THIS was supposed to make her feel better? 

Well, at least we know for certain what Ryan's  decision will be! 😂😂😂

But it was nice of him to "honestly" give Brett permission to make her own life choices! 🙄

[ByTor]

1 minute ago, LennieBriscoe said:

Well, at least we know for certain what Ryan's  decision will be! 😂😂😂

LOL way to spoil your own show, MAFS!

[Empress1]

10 minutes ago, ByTor said:

And THIS was supposed to make her feel better? 

It was showing as active because he activated it. Dating apps default to active - you have to intentionally deactivate your profile if that’s what you want. (Deactivate means it won’t show up on the app but all the info is still there and will show back up if you activate it. Deleting your profile gets rid of it altogether. Deleting the app but leaving your profile active doesn’t do anything - people on the app can still see your profile.)

And again, “I meant to activate it AFTER I dumped you!” is still mean.

[For Cereals]

3 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

As far as Gil getting another job, what else is he qualified to do or have a degree in that would pay more? Can he make captain at his station?

I don’t know what else he would do, but just meant if that’s not an option, he needs to shut about it, or, as mentioned upthread, try a different approach—see a planner, get Mryla excited about the next phase, figure out how to save or make better investments with his own money.  Constantly harping on how she spends her money ain’t it.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

I can buy that it happens organically. I’ve come across the same people on apps before. I’ve also come across people I know, friends’ exes, etc. You set filters to determine what kind of person you want to see (age range, height, education, kids/no kids/wants kids, religion, race, geographic location, etc.) and that shrinks your pool of prospects. I can buy that Brett’s friend came across Ryan in her search for, like, men with at least an undergraduate degree aged 32-37 within 10 miles of her zip code.

I don't buy it, especially because this "friend" told her about it 10 minutes before the was to film a scene where she was going to engage in an activity that might have brought the two of them closer together.  I think this was a deliberate bomb thrown by the show to create drama.

How many "friends" have we seen on this show that have thrown bombs at the most strategic times from the POV of show drama?  How about when Karen "mistakenly" got that text that gave away her husband-to-be's name right before she married him, giving her time to look him up and freak out about whether she liked him based some of his impassioned social media postings?  Don't tell me that wasn't a deliberate attempt to create drama.  It first started in the season with David and Ashley when a "friend" tells her that he had asked another woman out.  I know it has happened a few other times as well.  I don't buy that so many of these people's "friends" can "just happen" to see them or get matched with them on dating sites or see them out with other people all the time.  It doesn't pass my sniff test.  This show is in the business of creating drama and it's not above snooping or having the on the contestants' friends snoop on their online and in-person activities to find it.

1 hour ago, cinsays said:

yeah,  but the important thing is that Ryan DID get the dating app downloaded and ready to go. couldn't wait a lousy week. 

That's true but the show would never have known about it if someone wasn't snooping on him.  They do it for show drama.

[Spectator]

Mikaela: “This is a prime example of how he literally always abandons me. Prime example. Even when there’s somebody who’s non-threatening. You still leave a situation. So is it really me?”

Wow. Just wow. Yes Mikaela, it is really you. 

[Retired at last]

14 hours ago, ChiMama said:

Triggering™️ — and I’ve come to hate that term & don’t use it lightly. I used to watch this show as a fun voyeur experience while being a sap hoping to see true love come out of an unconventional situation. The last two seasons have not been fun or enjoyable - the angst and anger and cruelty have really been on display when what we all need right now is some frothy heartwarming fun & people we can root for. I’m thinking of taking this off my DVR. It’s a trainwreck and not a good way to spend 2 hrs/week. 

Yes! I wish I could give you a hundred likes!!! Perfectly stated.

ETA - for me, it became uncomfortable to watch when Kate and Luke were on and she was so miserable.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Retired at last

[Yeah No]

2 hours ago, Spectator said:

So this show is trying to get us to believe that Jose never once asked Rachel where she went when he locked her out??? Seriously? I’m not buying it. I would think that that conversation would have happened as soon as they made up, not a month later in front of doc pepper. No way. Jose is a control freak…he’d definitely have wanted to know where she was. Especially since he already didn’t trust her because she cheated in a past relationship. Actually I think almost any husband in that situation would have wanted to know where his wife spent the night, not necessarily because of trust issues, but because most husbands would want to know that their wives were safe. 

So I’m getting major “producer driven drama” vibes from this. Either Rachel didn’t even spend the night with her ex and the producers just fabricated it for the drama, or she did but she and Jose hashed it out long ago. I’m thinking the producers probably feared that these two had been getting along too well leading into decision day snd they needed to manufacture their typical “1 week to go, so let’s bring up some crap” drama. For whatever reason, the show is not happy just letting the stories unfold naturally - they want us to have doubts about the decisions. I don’t understand why. Do we really need to question what will happen on decision day with every single couple? Wouldn’t it be fine to just go in knowing the ending but watching simply to see what the couple says and does? We always knew scooby do and the crew were going to solve the mystery at the end of every show and we still watched. 

Thank you, you and I think alike.  I think you're right that this is once again producer driven BS.  It would also explain why José wasn't flipping out about it in that scene in this episode with the two of them in bed later.  He probably already knew about it, and that's one reason why he flipped out in that scene in that earlier episode where he is yelling and cursing at Rachel to get out.  It made him look very bad, but if we knew the real reason why he was flipping out we may have been a little easier on him.  It explains all the stuff about "trust" and her admitting she was a "cheater".  So this is old news and they're just trying to make it "new" news.  They probably edited that part of it out at the time and they saved it to use later to create more drama.  This show is evil.

[Spectator]

Mikaela said she felt “so scared, so terrified, so traumatized” that night at the ranch. Omg!! Is she kidding me??? Zack is the one who should have been saying those words, not mikaela.

also, doc pepper stating that there was explosive behavior on both sides??? Huh??? Maybe the show edited out zack’s supposed explosive behavior but I didn’t see any at all from his side. If anything, I saw a man keeping extraordinarily calm considering he had a hurricane blowing hard 2 inches from his face. All I saw was him desperately trying to extract himself from yet another one of Mikaela’s irrational tantrums. That was very smart. One can’t possibly have a rational conversation with someone in such an irrational state. He couldn’t even get a word in edge-wise. I applaud him for keeping his cool. A lot of people couldn’t have handled that as graciously. 

[Retired at last]

9 hours ago, flaky said:

Johnny keeps mentioning on unfiltered that Bao isn't genuine and her true behavior comes out when the camera stops rolling.

I would be surprised if they interacted at all when the cameras aren't there.

[kristen111]

3 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

100%

What kind of apology was I am sorry it went like that? How about I am sorry I was such a piece of shit that I could not be honest with you this entire time and could not wait one more week to get on a dating site?  I admire Brett's restraint although I believe it was not a surprise to her that he was not interested in her and she did say she wanted him to say it as in it's over.

Ryan cannot be alone, he is literally going from one relationship to another, no break between to self reflect about the (sham of a) marriage and how his actions affected someone else. That next girl he meets has seen this show, I guarantee it, single people dating these days Google potential dates.

Someone needs to explain to me why Zach wants to try to work things out with Michaela, what is the attraction, does he thrive on the drama too? Why work so hard for a toxic relationship? What does he have to prove? 

 

Why to a lot of things on this show.  Everything is a sham.  I don’t trust anything, anyone, anymore.  The first few shows maybe were real.  Maybe.

 

 

 

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, kristen111 said:

Bao, Johnny and Michaela .. all nuts.  Michaela plays the innocent, but lies thru her teeth.  Nothing said about the video?

Bao and Johnny are two very self-absorbed, selfish, unforgiving people.  I find it amazing that Johnny thinks he has "Daddy" issues.  Yes he does, but the 800 pound gorilla in the room is that he holds his mother responsible for her and his father's breakup.  He says he understood it but the little boy inside is still angry with her.  And that is why he is a misogynist.  Bao, on the other hand, there is a lot there that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg about.  We saw a little more to explain her issues in this episode but unfortunately it only makes her look like another person that needs several years of intense therapy to iron out.  The story about burning the "fake barbies" was bone-chilling.  There is a lot more there that we know nothing about.  One thing I can say is both of these people are very similar in some ways in that they are unwilling to forgive and be flexible about anything and are overly rigid about themselves and everyone else.  Their early lives must have felt out of control or they felt very insignificant and controlled by their families and now they are trying to control every little aspect of their lives with a microscope.  Now they are over-analyzing every little move that they or the other one makes and missing the forest for the trees.  Neither one of them would make a good spouse.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Yeah No

[Baltimore Betty]

6 minutes ago, Spectator said:

Mikaela said she felt “so scared, so terrified, so traumatized” that night at the ranch. Omg!! Is she kidding me??? Zack is the one who should have been saying those words, not mikaela.

It's not like Michaela was all alone in the middle of nowhere, it was a house full of people!

Zack did not want to engage, he was smart he left before he said something he would regret.  

[psychoticstate]

So I see the f*ckery from last week continues to this week.  

Dr. Pepper, girl, why on earth were you even in Zack and Michaela's unused apartment of busted dreams and combative meltdowns?  You clearly saw the footage of the Category 5 that Michaela turned into so why, WHY would you even try to attempt some sort of reconciliation?  

So Zack basically tells Dr. Pepper 50 different ways that he is out, he is done, he is finished with this entire experiment and most definitely with Michaela and her crazy ass.  Dr. Pepper responds with a suggestion that they talk with Pepper in the middle as some sort of mediator/translator.   I don't know.  I'm confused.  

That goes about as well as expected, with Zack leaving because Michaela is totally gaslighting him and the entire situation.  Note to Lisa Rinna:  THIS is gaslighting.  

So despite film footage to the contrary and witnesses, Michaela now claims that she begged Zack not to leave her (I guess telling him to go, to bounce multiple times actually means "Please don't go" in Michaela's world?)  and that because he left her, knowing she has abandonment issues, she then had a panic attack.  Or should I say "panic attack" because that's some straight up bullshit.  Is that what Michaela's family has termed her "episodes?"  Because girl, that was not a panic attack.  That was some next-level anger/control issues that exploded.  Nope.  No way.

I'm angry that Dr. Pepper did not confront Michaela and call her on her bullshit.  Zack was rolling his eyes and shaking his head while she was rewriting absolutely everything to show what a poor little victim she was and then left versus calling her a lying liar who lies directly to her face.  But we all saw it.  It's on video.   Girl, bye.

Johnny continues to be a total dick to Bao, leaving her at the apartment after returning from the couples retreat, still in his stupid pink shorts with boots.  That's reason enough for divorce in my book.  Turns out that he had a conversation with Bao's best friend (or should I say "best friend") Sara who Johnny was allegedly calling because they are both shopping for a new car.  Yeah, doesn't sound right to me either.  Anyhow, this supposed friend of Bao's basically told Johnny what a horrible partner Bao is and encouraged him to leave.  Bao, you need to find new friends.  And definitely dump this husband.  It's very clear that Johnny is looking for any reason to choose divorce and make it look like it's all Bao's fault.  Johnny, you suck.  You should have been matched with Michaela.  You'd both deserve the agony of being matched with the other.

Brett and Ryan are still pretty much awkward with each other.  Brett was going to show Ryan her childhood photos (as we are in the usual end of season episode where the MAFS-ers see where their spouses grew up, talk about childhood, etc.) but she found out literally ten minutes earlier that Ryan is on a dating app and was just matched with a friend or someone she knew.  So clearly, she doesn't give a rip about sharing anything with Ryan.  I know that's right.  Ryan doesn't deny it but says that he wasn't active, he wasn't going to do anything until after D-Day, etc, etc.  I don't know about dating apps nowadays but it seems to me that if you've gone on one to load your profile, etc., you're already doing something.  And as Brett pointed out, they are one week -- ONE WEEK -- from D-Day.  Could he not have waited seven days to do that?  It's really disrespectful to her.  She's still his wife and even though they both are going to decide to divorce, it's just disrespectful.   Shame on you, Ryan.  

I feel badly for Brett.  She seems like a fun, nice lady.  Will Ryan even admit what happened?  He seemed like he could have been into her when she and her breasts walked down the aisle and he admitted that after the honeymoon, he wasn't as attracted.  If it wasn't the terrible bathing suit she wore, was it because she was as slobby during the honeymoon as she apparently was in the apartment?  I understand that can be a deal-breaker for some - although I don't recall her apartment looking all that disorganized and crazy when she took him to see it.  Producer shenanigans?  Anyhow.

Jose and Rachel.  Yawn.  Rachel does admit to Jose that she ended up calling her ex to come pick her up when Jose locked her out of the apartment and she spent the night at the ex's place.  I'm still side eyeing that whole business.  Do the MAFS-ers not have an emergency number for production?  I know that Rachel went to the doors of some of the other MAFS-ers but was she tapping like a quiet little mouse?  How was it that not one of them heard her knocking?  Were any of them actually sleeping at their production apartment?    So Jose obviously doesn't like that Rachel called her ex (understandable).  I'm thinking that will be another index card on the fridge.  

Gil and Myrla.  Not going to lie.  Gil's story of how his dad was murdered choked me up.  It says a lot about Gil and his mom, and his dad, that he turned out to be a decent man (from what we've seen.)  I think he and Myrla definitely have differences with regard to finances, and they seem pretty large, but I think they are the only couple this season with a chance of making it the distance.  Jose and Rachel are into each other right now but Jose is controlling and I have a feeling he will use the fact of Rachel calling her ex when she was locked out against her in a future disagreement.  

Zack has clearly already started the divorce proceedings (as he should).  Bao should contact his attorney because she and Johnny have zero hope and she deserves so much better than this judgmental little twit who is flailing to find anything at all to disrespect and demean her.

The "experts" have been a complete fail this season.  There needed to be interventions on almost all these couples a long time ago. 

 

[Yeah No]

10 minutes ago, Spectator said:

Mikaela said she felt “so scared, so terrified, so traumatized” that night at the ranch. Omg!! Is she kidding me??? Zack is the one who should have been saying those words, not mikaela.

also, doc pepper stating that there was explosive behavior on both sides??? Huh??? Maybe the show edited out zack’s supposed explosive behavior but I didn’t see any at all from his side. If anything, I saw a man keeping extraordinarily calm considering he had a hurricane blowing hard 2 inches from his face. All I saw was him desperately trying to extract himself from yet another one of Mikaela’s irrational tantrums. That was very smart. One can’t possibly have a rational conversation with someone in such an irrational state. He couldn’t even get a word in edge-wise. I applaud him for keeping his cool. A lot of people couldn’t have handled that as graciously. 

It's unbelievable how Michaela only sees her own feelings and has ZERO perception much less understanding or empathy for how her behavior impacts Zack.  Like he's just supposed to "understand how she feels" as if that makes her behavior OK and it's HIS fault for not understanding it.  Wow, just how unbelievably self centered is this woman?  I agree with you about Pepper and how Zack handled that situation, but there was ONE glimmer of reality when Pepper told Michaela at the end of their discussion after Zack left that she really needed to focus on how her behavior looks to him and other people and work on her abandonment issues.  I was like "GEE, ya THINK?"  Like what a freaking understatement!  Like that wasn't the 800 pound gorilla in the room!  Unbelievable!

[Retired at last]

I was so disappointed in Ryan and his dating app. We all know that he wasn't into her (including Brett), but he didn't even want to wait a week? That was horrible. And I am glad that Brett told him to leave and told him that she could handle almost anything but being treated without respect. I know they have a lot of differences, but when we see those scenes where everything is mellow and they are just talking and having fun, it is sad that they could never get on the same path and actually communicate. It really might have worked and I think Ryan will regret his actions and see her as the one who got away.

I am still so incredibly bored with both Jose and Rachel. She drives me nuts with her perpetual frown. Other than the wedding day, has she ever smiled? Even while saying how happy she is, everything is measured and serious. I also think there was some producer hijinx going on with the staying at her ex's house. Jose actually has every reason to NOT trust her, although he still creeps me out. Even if they stay together at D day and even the reunion, they won't last a year. Both of them are off my "too annoying too watch" scale.

Poor Bao. Her stories and her letter to herself were so sad. I am glad that Johnny at least recognized that, as a human, she needed comfort. Her face was so crushed when Johnny started telling what her BFF (yeah right) said about her. He is looking for any chance he has and everyone is right - he is just mean.

I like Gil and I still don't think I could ever be friends with someone like Myrla. I think they have been doing a great job at playing the game. They seem so comfortable with each other, physically and emotionally. It would be nice if they could make it work, but I don't see that happening. He is too outgoing to want to be stuck at home or to go places without his wife, if they stayed together.

I agree with everyone else who says that Zack is just going back to meetings because he is contractually bound. I think the only reason he keeps throwing out options, like dating after the divorce is because he is trying to make it out of this alive. Dr. Pepper is an idiot and I really wish Dr Viv would get a new outfit and throw out the Pocahantas get up. Next year, maybe she will be dressed as Ariel?

About that E.81 coming up. Since the one before that is 16, maybe it was just a typo and should be episode 18? either way, I have NO interest in watching what other couples think may happen on D Day. WAY TOO MANY filler episodes.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Retired at last

[Auntie Anxiety]

4 hours ago, Baltimore Betty said:

Someone needs to explain to me why Zach wants to try to work things out with Michaela, what is the attraction, does he thrive on the drama too? Why work so hard for a toxic relationship?

Sex. Michaela’s wild sexual behavior is probably something that Zack has never experienced before. 

Somehow, Michaela’s “Go. Home. Now. Bye.” proclamation really meant “I don't want you to go.” Apparently, Zack forgot to download the latest edition of the “Crazy to Rational Dictionary.”

Edited October 28, 2021 by Auntie Anxiety