S05.E04: She’s Gone…?

[Whimsy]

Quote

The fallout from an explosive revelation about a past relationship rocks two romances and a friendship, while another pair leaves the pods as fiancés.

Original airdate 9/22/23

[snarts]

Lydia's a stage five clinger. No doubt she befriended Aaliyah just to hear about Uche & to try to drive wedge between them. So happy Aaliyah had the good sense to peace out on both of them. I'm worried for Milton. 

Astounded by the audacity of Johnnie thinking she could simply pivot back to Chris. Loved that he saw through her (with Izzy's assist)

Curious if any other couples will be added to the mix before the pods end. 

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by snarts

[dingochick]

I was wondering that about Lydia, too. The whole, ‘We’re the same, etc” crap seemed weird at first, and then after the bombshell,  reminded me of Single White Female. Seriously how weird is it that Uche gave Aaliyah tons of shit about her past, but then waits for a long time to drop the Lydia thing on her? He seems like a major ahole to me. Ugh. Lydia is coocoo bananas. I can’t believe all that stuff she kept saying to A after A made it clear she didn’t want to hear it. There are some hot messes here, for sure.

 

[Starlight925]

Agree with all of the above!

Lydia is a Love-Bomber.

Love-bombed Milton to get him to propose.

Love-bombed Aaliyah, doing the same-same with her, we're so much alike, let me hug you so hard, all the while, getting the scoop on Uche.

And Uche, what a dick.  Makes Aaliyah feel like dirt for something that happened once, 2 years ago, when she was open and honest with him, all the while keeping his own secret from 3 months ago.  I married an Uche, and trust me, Aaliyah made the better choice in leaving now.

[Cornhusker12]

Aaliyah is a saint, I'm still shook by that absolute bomb drop haha :( Her and Lydia's friendship seemed so incredible, my wife even said "THEY'RE THE REAL LOVE STORY" but then... damn. Very hard to see any other angle other than she cozied up to Aaliyah as a way to live vicariously through her with Uche, or something weird like that. The way she rattled off all of those little facts about him, sheeeesh. Poor Aaliyah.

Uche is extremely awkward, I still can't really put my finger on him. There are times when he seems like a total dick, and then other times when he seems like he legitimately can't read people/situations correctly and knows that he needs to back off and apologize after the fact. I dunno, I'm interested to see what the hell happens with these three. One thing I feel pretty certain about is that Lydia and Milton have zero future together haha. Poor guy got swept into her whirlwind I think.

[Mercolleen]

That was some good drama. 

[topanga]

23 hours ago, dingochick said:

I was wondering that about Lydia, too. The whole, ‘We’re the same, etc” crap seemed weird at first, and then after the bombshell,  reminded me of Single White Female. Seriously how weird is it that Uche gave Aaliyah tons of shit about her past, but then waits for a long time to drop the Lydia thing on her? He seems like a major ahole to me. Ugh. Lydia is coocoo bananas. I can’t believe all that stuff she kept saying to A after A made it clear she didn’t want to hear it. There are some hot messes here, for sure.

 

I agree that Uche should've told Aaliyah much sooner. Especially with all of his lectures about honesty. 

That being said... Lydia is messy. "He's got a blue Tesla, a two story house, and oh, yeah. I slept with him 3 months ago. But we're the same, girl."

Would this be the first time someone in the featured cast left the experiment early? I know some people left after the engagements (e.g. Diamond and her guy, Shana's atheist fiancé), but has anyone left the pods early?

[LuvMyShows]

On 9/25/2023 at 9:48 AM, Cornhusker12 said:

Aaliyah is a saint, I'm still shook by that absolute bomb drop haha :( Her and Lydia's friendship seemed so incredible, my wife even said "THEY'RE THE REAL LOVE STORY" but then... damn. Very hard to see any other angle other than she cozied up to Aaliyah as a way to live vicariously through her with Uche, or something weird like that. The way she rattled off all of those little facts about him, sheeeesh. Poor Aaliyah.

Uche is extremely awkward, I still can't really put my finger on him. There are times when he seems like a total dick, and then other times when he seems like he legitimately can't read people/situations correctly and knows that he needs to back off and apologize after the fact.

10 hours ago, topanga said:

Would this be the first time someone in the featured cast left the experiment early? 

OK, so here's what I'm confused about. Separate from the merits of whether we think Uche is or isn't a good guy or worth Aaliyah's time, I don't understand her reasoning for leaving. She said that one of the major reasons that she was leaving was what Lydia said and that Lydia kept giving her more details even when she asked her to stop. But the not stopping would be a reason to not be friends with Lydia...it wouldn't be a reason that had anything to do with Uche. And the content of what Lydia said was actually pretty innocuous...it didn't indicate any deep emotional involvement on the part of either Uche or Lydia. So the only rationale that would seem relevant is that he kept this a secret for so long...but she didn't mention that as being very important in her decision to leave. I think she should have stayed and tried to see if they could work through this, because by leaving, she played exactly into what it seems like Lydia was trying to accomplish! Maybe Uche is a dick, maybe he isn't. But it would seem like it's worth a best effort, so there are no regrets and what-ifs.

[Whimsy]

I agree with you @LuvMyShows.  If anything, Aaliyah should dump Lydia not Uche.

At first I was really impressed with all three of them!  Uche never bad-mouthed Lydia, Lydia didn't bad-mouth Uche, Aaliyah said they'd get through it, etc.  Then Lydia just kept going and going and going. 

Lydia is VERY insecure. I think she just kept going on and on about her relationship and the little tidbits about Uche because she thought it made HER look good. She just wasn't picking up the vibes that Aaliyah was giving off. 

I do get that it is a messy situation, but the show IS pulling singles from the same area.  Factor in other things such as interests, where they are in their careers, etc and it's a surprise this hasn't happened before!  Or, at least they haven't focused on it happening before. 

I agree with something said in another thread- they should have slightly older contestants.  30 and up.  The contestants in their 20's are always so immature and really, WHY is a 20-something looking to get married?  Enjoy your 20's!! (says the woman who got married at 19, but STILL)

 

[LuvMyShows]

1 hour ago, Whimsy said:

Lydia is VERY insecure. I think she just kept going on and on about her relationship and the little tidbits about Uche because she thought it made HER look good. She just wasn't picking up the vibes that Aaliyah was giving off. 

I actually give a more sinister motive to Lydia. I think she intentionally kept going and was quite aware that Aaliyah wanted her to stop, but was doing it either because she could see that it bothered Aaliyah and she was hoping to break them up, or because she wanted to 'mark her territory' as having been there first even if Aaliyah and Uche did end up together.

[Empress1]

On 9/24/2023 at 8:51 PM, snarts said:

Astounded by the audacity of Johnnie thinking she could simply pivot back to Chris. Loved that he saw through her (with Izzy's assist)

Good for Chris, having some self-respect. He did the right thing.

On 9/25/2023 at 9:48 AM, Cornhusker12 said:

One thing I feel pretty certain about is that Lydia and Milton have zero future together haha. Poor guy got swept into her whirlwind I think.

None whatsoever. They’re not a match at all.

I was mad at Uche. Gave Aaliyah so much shit about her cheating and then waited all this time to tell her about Lydia. I was glad that Aaliyah had her own self-respect and bounced.

Izzy and Stacy … I … guess? I don’t really like her so maybe that’s clouding things.

[DearEvette]

Daaaaang.  Aaliyah took us on an entire rollercoaster ride with her emotions this episode.

I feel bad for Aaliyah.  I can see why she would feel betrayed by Lydia onto whom she poured all of her confidences regarding Uche.  I think ultimately Aaliyah was really trying to exist in what the whole experiment was supposed to be.  the whole Love is Blind of it all, and Lydia really soured that for her.  She didn't want to have any pre-knowledge of Uche especially coming from Lydia.  And to his credit, it seems like he did too.

I appreciated them showing up the meeting in the pods between Uche and Lydia.  She seemed eager to 'start at ground zero' but he shut that down.  He wanted the experience of getting to know his person sight unseen as well and with her that didn't work. 

I also think the recency of it, they were boning just 3 months ago loomed really large as well for Aaliyah. Really curious to see where this goes.

Johnie really is one of those people who shape their own reality isn't she? How many times did she shape her own perceptions so they were the opposite of the one she voiced just the scene before?  I am so glad Chris didn't get sucked into her.

I would have never thought that Izzy and Stacy were the only couple with any kind of chemistry.  At least they looked like they were attracted to each other and really want to sleep together.  JP and Taylor looked very awkward kissing (someone on Reddit said he transformed into Woody Woodpecker whenever he went in for a kiss, bwah!) and she seemed to keep saying 'I love you' like she needed to convince herself it was still true. 

And don't get me started on Lydia and Milton.  Yes he is more mature than his age but dang, he looks like he should be in a college dorm room with his buddies playing Pokemon.  His tall gangliness  reminds me of my youngest who is a Sophomore in college a little.  They feel so mismatched.  Sigh.

[LuvMyShows]

On 9/28/2023 at 5:54 PM, DearEvette said:

I appreciated them showing up the meeting in the pods between Uche and Lydia.  She seemed eager to 'start at ground zero' but he shut that down.  He wanted the experience of getting to know his person sight unseen as well and with her that didn't work. 

I think he simply said that to be polite. I think he had probably experienced her crazy, and didn't want anything more to do with it!

[SoMuchTV]

On 9/28/2023 at 5:54 PM, DearEvette said:

I appreciated them showing up the meeting in the pods between Uche and Lydia.  She seemed eager to 'start at ground zero' but he shut that down.  He wanted the experience of getting to know his person sight unseen as well and with her that didn't work. 

Haha, I know this isn’t the point, but I have to laugh at people who say “start at ground zero” (like, where the bomb went off) when they probably mean “start at square one”. 

[Irlandesa]

Chris and Johnnie might have stood a chance if she hadn't told Izzy and Chris the same thing but opposite--in that she always chose the 'safe' choice or that she always chose the one who 'excited' her.  I'm glad they shared stories because it saved Chris.

I can believe Aaliyah was overwhelmed.  I'd be wanting to flee with the truth of Lydia and Uche's connection coming out way too late.

Uche says the reason he didn't tell her was because

Spoiler

production forced him not to say anything but I wonder what would they have done?  Kicked him out? I doubt it.

 

[NeenerNeener]

13 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I'm glad they shared stories because it saved Chris.

Spoiler

You might want to stop watching after Episode 6 then.

 

[Alexander Pope]

My 24 year old son, who seems more mature than poor Milton (whom I really like and  seems like a jeri-curled sheep headed to the slaughter), had a very insightful reading of Johnie's double speak to Izzy and Chris.  I think Johnie was twisting her words for sure, but in a weird way she was speaking her truth.  To Izzy she was saying, my true love was the addict whom I never got over and then I always settled for dull guys I didn't love. Now I don't want to settle anymore.  To Chris she was saying, I always was drawn to exciting guys but that was part of a bad pattern and now I want you, dull guy! Either way, not a good look and especially insulting to Chris.

Lydia is much more clearly a liar who tells different people different things.  She told Aliyah that WE wanted to start from ground zero (referring to her and Uche meeting in the pods), when it was she who did and he shut it down.  She told Milton that UCHE wanted to start from ground zero and SHE shut it down.  I can see why Aliyah left--getting away from her would be reason enough, but Lydia gave Aliyah plenty of reason to doubt Uche.

Lydia also has been really weird in the pods with Milton.  Rarely smiles, seems bored, low energy.  And then tells him she wants him so bad, meant to be--where is all that coming from except to stay on the show?

[call me ishmael]

On 9/26/2023 at 9:21 AM, LuvMyShows said:

OK, so here's what I'm confused about. Separate from the merits of whether we think Uche is or isn't a good guy or worth Aaliyah's time, I don't understand her reasoning for leaving. She said that one of the major reasons that she was leaving was what Lydia said and that Lydia kept giving her more details even when she asked her to stop. But the not stopping would be a reason to not be friends with Lydia...it wouldn't be a reason that had anything to do with Uche. And the content of what Lydia said was actually pretty innocuous...it didn't indicate any deep emotional involvement on the part of either Uche or Lydia. So the only rationale that would seem relevant is that he kept this a secret for so long...but she didn't mention that as being very important in her decision to leave. I think she should have stayed and tried to see if they could work through this, because by leaving, she played exactly into what it seems like Lydia was trying to accomplish! Maybe Uche is a dick, maybe he isn't. But it would seem like it's worth a best effort, so there are no regrets and what-ifs.

I completely agree that she should have dumped Lydia and seen what happened with Uchee.  But I think that there were probably two issues (I will probably be proved wrong).  The first is that Lydia lied and made it sound as if Uchee was also interested in starting at "ground zero" but "they" decided against it (which made it sound as if he was still interested in Lydia) and second, given the way the show is there was no way to play things out with Uchee without Lydia being around.  Especially, since Lydia was determined to make sure that someone proposed to her even if she thought that they were too young for her.  

 

[JH Lipton]

On the Aaliyah situation, not only did Lydia and Uche hide things, but Production did as well.  She should have been told up front about Uche and Lydia (and Lydia bounced from the show), so I can see her feeling betrayed all the way around.

On 9/24/2023 at 5:51 PM, snarts said:

Astounded by the audacity of Johnnie thinking she could simply pivot back to Chris. Loved that he saw through her (with Izzy's assist

Number 1 rule: Make sure Guy A is into you before breaking off with Guy B.  If she had talked to them in reverse order, she could  have kept Chris.

On 9/26/2023 at 9:21 AM, LuvMyShows said:

[T'he not stopping would be a reason to not be friends with Lydia...it wouldn't be a reason that had anything to do with Uche.

There was nowhere for her to go where she wouldn't be ambushed bu Lydia.  She  tried telling Uche that but he dismissed someone he boned 2 moths ago as "some girl".

[Lindz]

Mighty convenient of Uche to omit the dates. Like them last having sex 3 months prior. SUPER SHADY!!! But don't say you'll get through it & run away. For that reason, he should leave her alone. She's a liar & can't be believed.

[Lindz]

It really looked like Lydia dragged that boy to that proposal. He was trying to find any reason to end it. They waited til the last day, huh? 😅 He probably did it because he's curious & figured it couldn't be that bad... I knew Iz chose Stacy from the shower shots in the first ep. Um. It's super easy when it's superficial! DUH!!! Good on Chris for turning Jo down. Looks like they meet up on the outside though so I wonder what that's about.

[Merriwind]

Oh my goodness, I can't decide who deserves the most desperate award more: Lydia or Johnie. Please, buy those women some self-respect. I'm hoping they both are desperate for more TV time and their shot at stardom not these doomed marriages they were begging the men to propose.

I am probably going to hell for saying this - and I am certainly dating myself. Poor Milton on the couch in his athletic shorts, white socks pulled up to his calves, tragic hairdo and mustache really look like he was wearing some circa 1983 budget Lionel Richie Halloween costume.

Whoever said a thread that Izzy and Stacy are the only ones with chemistry is spot on. Who'da thunk it?

Also, 1,000 upvotes for the suggestion to limit the cast to ages 30 and up.