S03.E07: Impress the Parents

[Ms Blue Jay]

I just don't think people should care what their parents think of a romantic partner, if you want to find happiness.  Some parents may be great and others do not have their children's happiness in mind.

[DearEvette]

54 minutes ago, CSunshine76 said:

I understand that, but I didn’t find her father to be very welcoming of Brennan. And the vast difference in wealth will likely come into play as well. I very well could be wrong, but I just don’t see her family meshing well with Brennan based on the small amount of interaction I saw on the screen.

I thought the dad was suspicious at first. And Alexa's younger brother and Nancy's younger brother could have a sneer-off.  Both of them were giving some big  'I am not here for it' energy. LOL.  But the knives 'joke'  and the dad later talking heads that he liked Brennan makes me believe the dad is welcoming.  Brennan, to his credit, was great with the parents.  But I am curious about the whole idea of taking care of her and making sure she can live in the way she was accustomed.  If there is going to a source of tension in that relationship it would be it. 

8 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

At this point I bet that they are told they don't get any money if they don't stay until the wedding day. There is no other explanation of why some of these people are still there humiliating themselves.

For that amount of misery, Netflix would have to pay me enough to retire on to stick it out.  I mean it couldn't have been too much to walk away from since Shaina dropped Kyle right after the meet the parents. 

I am wondering if it isn't money upfront,  it has to be something in the way the contract is worded that they can't just leave before the weddings.  Diamond and Carlton, I could see that being an untenable situation so that made sense.  They were outright hostile and insulting each other.  No way would we have believed they'd want to progress after that.  But Shaina and Kyle?  I wonder if she used some sort of Religious exemption?   Mark and Jessica (according to Jessica) had agreed to both say no at the altar.  But he reneged.  I can believe it. 

[P2C2E]

I don't know how much financial pressure there is, but I guarantee there is a lot of emotional manipulation from producers. We don't see 99% of what is going on. They ask leading questions, keep people up all night, keep people drinking constantly, etc. No wonder everyone is on edge. Even if both halves of a couple know they will say no and break up, they have to play along. We laughed at the editors leaving in Andrew's eye drop tears manipulation, but they could be doing that to every person that cries. Production is not there to protect them emotionally; they're there to exploit them.

[ichbin]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:26 AM, Petey1960 said:

Raven comes across gold diggerish.

I don't see an "ish" about it!  She made it pretty clear that she wants a man who will be able to keep her in the lifestyle she believes she deserves...and it won't come cheap.

On 10/28/2022 at 10:09 PM, Starlight925 said:

Bartise will tire  of anyone in his life, even someone who looks like (his ideal) Raven.  

      He's a Narcissist, and Narcissists have to Narc:  Idealize, devalue, replace, discard.  Repeat.

      He's already tiring of Nancy.  Won't even hug her.  

      But the second Nancy talks to Andrew, he possessively has to move back in.  He doesn't want Nancy, but he can't stand that her focus has shifted from him.  Narcissist.

I'm of the opinion that most people who put themselves on a show like this have at least one foot dipped I the narcissism pool but this guy is fully submerged and grew gills.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, ichbin said:

I don't see an "ish" about it!  She made it pretty clear that she wants a man who will be able to keep her in the lifestyle she believes she deserves...and it won't come cheap.

I didn't read what she said in that way.  The only eyebrow raising thing she said is that she expected SK to pay half the Dallas rent even if he's in CA. 

As for the rest, she was concerned at the effect of having two people on one income--her income--would have. 

[lettylettyletty]

I was pretty impressed with Raven's friends and their directness with SK. they are absolutely right in their concern. I have started to like Raven. I think she's just emotionally guarded, and for good reason--it's a weird situation.

I liked Alexa's family and having lived in Israel for a year (though I'm not Jewish) I completely got what they meant by identifying more as Israeli than Jewish--there is just a really Israeli directness and honesty that I kinda love, though I'm from a real classic New England family and it was jarring. I think the dad was actually being very welcoming and not threatening. He was being direct and honest and hearing Bennett out.

I like this season more than I thought I would at first, mostly because of the family/friends stuff, which always brings a messiness that's human. As goofy as this show is sometimes, it is often people having real emotions. That would be better dealt with in therapy tbh, but still.

[LakeGal]

Bartise is the one I dislike the most.  He thinks quite highly of himself and I am not sure why.

Just on the physical I think Cole & Zanab are the best looking couple.  

[lettylettyletty]

On 10/31/2022 at 2:25 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I just don't think people should care what their parents think of a romantic partner, if you want to find happiness.  Some parents may be great and others do not have their children's happiness in mind.

Yeah, this is just really strange to me. I guess it's cultural in a lot of ways but I could not give two shits about what my parents think of a person I'm marrying.

[pH-factor]

Again I wonder what these people discuss in the pods.  Nancy should have discussed the abortion issue with any potential fiance in the Pod as it can be a very important factor in some "cultures ". I certainly wouldn't discuss my might have an abortion with my deeply religious grandmother.

[LuvMyShows]

On 10/26/2022 at 11:32 PM, DearEvette said:

My opinion of Bartise is in the sub basement.  Matt is a straight up psycho, but Bartise is a major asshole.  He is immature and has a dog in the manger attitude.  He treats Nancy like dirt but barges into her conversation with Andrew to make sure he has nothing to worry about and yet had no problems constantly telling her he is losing his physical connection to her. 

On 10/27/2022 at 11:10 AM, EdnasEdibles said:

And Matt is crazy. Like straight up abusive manipulative crazy. 

On 10/26/2022 at 9:11 PM, SoapDoc said:

I was a little confused as to why Bartise told his family about the abortion conversation. 

My take is similar, but reversed.  Matt is, as mentioned above, straight up abusive manipulative crazy, however it is straightforward in its raging-ness and plainly visible.  But Bartise is a psychopath, and it is much more insidious.  When Raven hurt his feelings by exercising during his childhood story and not paying attention, he put those dollar bills in her pod to prey on her weakness and make himself feel better through her (presumed) hurt.  He told his family about the abortion thing to enjoy seeing Nancy be put in an uncomfortable situation, one that he also might be able to use to his advantage based on the possible outcome.  And the way he started talking to Nancy and Andrew while they were talking together, sounded so creepy.  The red flags are visibly waving all over the place for Matt, and while it's far less overt with Bartise, I believe that it's faaarrr more dangerous.

Edited November 4, 2022 by LuvMyShows

[LuvMyShows]

On 10/30/2022 at 6:36 PM, Empress1 said:

It reminded me of a scene from Married at First Sight where one of the husbands got mad at his wife about something dumb and recounted the story to a friend and the friend was like “you were about to leave over that?!” (meaning something insignificant).

IIRC, it was someone saying it to Jose about Rachel having called him by someone else's name in conversation.

On 10/29/2022 at 3:18 AM, violet and green said:

I don't think it's racism. Colleen has a fit modern dancer's body; while Zanab is a bit matronly around the middle, with belly rolls when seated. That is what I have been assuming Cole was talking about. He isn't attracted to her body type, or perhaps to curvier women.

Yes, this is it.  Also, in addition to her body-type being more matronly, when Zanab wears her hair in a bun on top of her head, and has a lot of makeup on, she looks like she could be his mother.

On 10/30/2022 at 5:34 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I had to wonder how staged it was because why was that the first time I found Bartise remotely likeable?  LOL.  It was like night and day, he seemed like a totally different person.

The reason I would wonder if it was staged was because Matt said it was 2:30 am, yet clearly they had been filming Bartise and Nancy at the time Bartise heard from Matt.  I have a hard time believing that they routinely film at 2:30 am.  So maybe it was waaay earlier in the night, or it was all re-enacted, or something.

On 10/31/2022 at 3:25 PM, Ms Blue Jay said:

I just don't think people should care what their parents think of a romantic partner, if you want to find happiness.  Some parents may be great and others do not have their children's happiness in mind.

Some people get rose-colored glasses when it comes to romantic partners, and it sometimes takes a hard truth from family/friends to open their eyes.  Likewise some people can be overly harsh/critical about romantic partners, and a more objective eye from family/friends can be helpful to put things in perspective.,

[DearEvette]

29 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

My take is similar, but reversed.  Matt is, as mentioned above, straight up abusive manipulative crazy, however it is straightforward in its raging-ness and plainly visible.  But Bartise is a psychopath, and it is much more insidious.  When Raven hurt his feelings by exercising during his childhood story and not paying attention, he put those dollar bills in her pod to prey on her weakness and make himself feel better through her (presumed) hurt.  He told his family about the abortion thing to enjoy seeing Nancy be put in an uncomfortable situation, one that he also might be able to use to his advantage based on the possible outcome.  And the way he started talking to Nancy and Andrew while they were talking together, sounded so creepy.  The red flags are visibly waving all over the place for Matt, and while it's far less overt with Bartise, I believe that it's faaarrr more dangerous.

Oooh, good points all.  I also thought the abortion conversation was a way to undermine Nancy especially as her pro-choice self was completely outnumbered by him and his pro-life family.  It was a super shitty, manipulative thing to do and forced her to have a conversation about a sensitive topic with people she just met nanoseconds ago.

[Mercolleen]

On 10/27/2022 at 11:28 AM, DearEvette said:

Ie just sat there all mumpty about it. 

I'm going to start using the word "mumpty."

[Mercolleen]

On 10/30/2022 at 6:36 PM, Empress1 said:

Cole complains that Zanab is passive-aggressive about chores, and she … really is. There was a scene where she was like “you know what you can do with dirty clothes? Put them in the laundry,” in this really condescending voice as though she were speaking to a toddler. I wouldn’t respond well to that either.

I feel like she is just plain aggressive.

[LuvMyShows]

On 11/4/2022 at 7:42 PM, DearEvette said:

It was a super shitty, manipulative thing to do and forced her to have a conversation about a sensitive topic with people she just met nanoseconds ago.

Especially because he has used "it didn't go well with my family" as reason for hesitating about saying yes, even though it was ALL because of what HE initiated and orchestrated.  I think he is one of the vilest people I have ever seen on these romance reality shows.

[Jax7917]

I am so confused by Cole and Zenabs thoughts that Colleen is drop dead gorgeous and so much prettier than Zenab . In fact , off the bat I thought Zenab was the prettiest girl by far out of all of them . Maybe I’m blind because I don’t see Colleen as beautiful . She’s average looking at best . And In the talking head, Zenabs like “ I’ll never look like Colleen , I’ll never be as tiny as her .” In my eyes , Zenab is tinier than Colleen . I think Z has body dysmorphia because she is so insecure about her looks for no reason . Even in the pods she said guys never hit on her . She’s so insecure and being with a guy like Cole who thinks being honest is the same thing as being rude is just not a good match . 

[Jax7917]

The Bartisse not being attracted to Nancy seemed to come out of nowhere , as he did keep mentioning being sooo attracted to Raven but he also said Nancy was beautiful too from what I remember . They were having sex but now he doesn’t want to go near her because the attraction isn’t there ? Did they cut a scene ? 
 

These girls really need to pick their low self- esteem up off the floor as it’s embarrassing to watch women who have known these men for a week or 2 , so scared to speak up and say how big of an asshole the guy is acting and just get up and leave the relationship . Particularly Zenab and Nancy . They just nod their heads when their guys say how hot the other women are . I am genuinely confused by Bartise constantly talking about looks and how the physical is extremely important , yet Nancy didn’t respond ..” hey if you feel that way , why did you go on a show called love is blind ?” 

[Blakeston]

For all the talk of Zanab being insecure about her appearance, I think most people would be very insecure if they knew that their fiancé was struggling with a lack of physical attraction to them. Cole has made that extremely obvious, repeatedly.

Zanab and Cole are both just awful at communication. Zanab became upset about the Colleen conversation again because Matt fed her some nonsense about them saying "whatever happens between us happens."

So when Cole asked her why she was rehashing that conversation again, she should have said, "I've just been told that you and Colleen said 'whatever happens, happens.'" And then Cole could have reassured her that he never said that, and then hopefully things would have gone back to normal between them.

But instead, she got passive-aggressive (as usual) and didn't tell him about the new information, and allowed him to believe that she was just rehashing an old argument for no reason.

As for Raven, I still think she's looking for someone to fund her lifestyle, even as she's unwilling to compromise that lifestyle. One of her friends made a comment about how SK is denying her "a fairytale." I think she really expects a fairytale, and SK being so sweet and doting plays into that. I don't see her doing much to make his life a fairytale, though.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Blakeston

[Lindz]

On 10/26/2022 at 7:51 PM, Irlandesa said:

Bartise is pulling away and then he decides to get jealous of Andrew? 

EXACTLY!!! Like. WHAT THE EFF YOU WANT?!!! Idk what he interrupted their convo for. Like. Bro. You wasn't checking for her earlier, so don't bother now. That'd be an automatic no from me. Disrespect, neglect, & ignore in my own home?!! OH HELL NAW!!! GTFOH!!!

[Lindz]

3 couples appeared to have fallen apart during that last gathering. Wowwww. Crazy to see! "Whatever happens, happens." Does that even make any sense you nut?!! NO! If they'd met in a bar, they'd talk. Just like what y'all said about each other! And moving out cuz she's not back yet, what if she was in an accident?!!! I can't with his irrational, unstable behavior!

[nlkm9]

On 10/27/2022 at 2:03 PM, Zuleikha said:

Alexa owns a branch of an insurance company (Allstate, I think). I Googled her a few days ago to try and find out what specific flavor of Jewish ethnicity her family is and saw a thank you from a local JCC for her helping support a Maccabee team. I think she makes a lot of her own money, which is why she wants a prenup. Too bad Nancy's not thinking along those lines as well! 

Brennon's an engineer, so I expect he'll be making plenty of his own money soon if he's not already. I don't know if water treatment engineers are a particularly poorly paid specialization, but engineers typically seem to make high incomes. I don't think finances are going to be an issue between them. 

I was fascinated by the discrepancy between Brennon's childhood poverty and the huge property his parents live on. I don't know if that's just country TX property prices or if they came into money at some point, but that gorgeous land with the beautiful pond seemed as luxe in its own way as Alexa's family house. 

I did have to chuckle over the sterotype of alexas stepmother being so young and botoxed up, marrying an older wealthy man.

i thought Nancy was a real airhead and wow im so impressed with her growing real estate empire and her and her moms work ethic. She needs to think prenup. 

On 11/8/2022 at 11:37 PM, Blakeston said:

For all the talk of Zanab being insecure about her appearance, I think most people would be very insecure if they knew that their fiancé was struggling with a lack of physical attraction to them. Cole has made that extremely obvious, repeatedly.

Zanab and Cole are both just awful at communication. Zanab became upset about the Colleen conversation again because Matt fed her some nonsense about them saying "whatever happens between us happens."

So when Cole asked her why she was rehashing that conversation again, she should have said, "I've just been told that you and Colleen said 'whatever happens, happens.'" And then Cole could have reassured her that he never said that, and then hopefully things would have gone back to normal between them.

But instead, she got passive-aggressive (as usual) and didn't tell him about the new information, and allowed him to believe that she was just rehashing an old argument for no reason.

As for Raven, I still think she's looking for someone to fund her lifestyle, even as she's unwilling to compromise that lifestyle. One of her friends made a comment about how SK is denying her "a fairytale." I think she really expects a fairytale, and SK being so sweet and doting plays into that. I don't see her doing much to make his life a fairytale, though.

Zanab need to chill on the makeup. Are we going to see the girls apartments?

i find raven rather refreshing in her honesty, why sk came on this knowing he was gone for 2 years is odd. But i like them together- a lot.

[pH-factor]

Maybe SK came on the show to get a wife to support him while he was getting his education like so many men that I have known in the past and then once he is established he can divorce her for his trophy wife.😜 JK

[Blakeston]

16 hours ago, pH-factor said:

Maybe SK came on the show to get a wife to support him while he was getting his education like so many men that I have known in the past and then once he is established he can divorce her for his trophy wife.😜 JK

SK expecting Raven to support him would be barking up the wrong tree to say the very least! 😅