S07.E08: For Whom the Bell Tolls

[TwirlyGirly]

Brian apologizes to Ingrid; Niles tells Matilda he wants to postpone the wedding; Sunny finds out Veah brought her ex; Vanja worries about Božo; Loren tries to get out of the friendzone; Tigerlily and Adnan have a tearful goodbye.

 

➡️Air date: 10/20/2024

 

CHEAT SHEET 

Season 7 Couples: Names and Locations

(Can't remember who's who? See the topic for S07.E01: Great Expectations for photos of each couple)

Tigerlily, (Texas) & Adnan, (Jordan) 

Rayne, (New Mexico) & Chidi, (Nigeria) 

Loren, (Nevada) & Faith, (Philippines)

Niles, (Alabama) & Matilda, (Ghana) 

Joe, (Florida) & Magda, (Poland) 

Brian, (Illinois) & Ingrid, (Brazil) 

Veah, (Florida) & Sunny (South Africa)

Vanja, (Florida) & Božo, (Croatia)

[surfgirl]

I wonder if we will get a text screen saying that Ranyne was fired because she's BSC

[Gobi]

Unfortunately, Rayne couldn’t be here tonight. We wish her all the best.

[surfgirl]

6 hours ago, Gobi said:

Unfortunately, Rayne couldn’t be here tonight. We wish her all the best.

Translation:

Unfortunately (for her but not for us), Rayne couldn't be here tonight (because she is at home waiting for vampires and aliens to arrive). We wish her all the best (because she is off her proverbial rocker).

[Tango64]

Sunny, yes!!! Exactly the right response to her crazy move bringing her ex. What was she thinking?

The fact that she was texting the ex on their romantic evening, and that’s how she got caught when he grabbed her phone, says so much.

Now don’t let us down by going all wishy washy and taking her back next week  

 

 

Edited October 21 by Tango64

[SunnyBeBe]

4 hours ago, Tango64 said:

Sunny, yes!!! Exactly the right response to her crazy move bringing her ex. What was she thinking?

The fact that she was texting the ex on their romantic evening, and that’s how she got caught when he grabbed her phone, says so much.

Now don’t let us down by going all wishy washy and taking her back next week  

 

 

True!  Her actions with the entire ex thing afe so outrageous that they seem production driven to me, but if we are to accept the storyline as real, then the lady is delusional.  Her actions were hurtful and cruel.  If her actual concern was safety on the flight, continuing to text after arrival in the presence of your boyfriend is arrogant and disrespectful.  It shows her true character.  But, it won’t matter.  Sunny will forgive and the show will try to make it all ok. Ridiculous.  I hate it when the show pretends abusive treatment from a partner is ok.  No…it isn’t.  People should be shown standing up for themselves and not sucking up to poor treatment.  The blind commitment to a fantasy, no matter what is troubling.  I don’t care for Veah at all.  

Edited October 21 by SunnyBeBe

[Stuckathome]

Veah has serious mental trauma in her past which probably doesn't help and almost makes this feel exploitive to watch. I agree, Sunny had every right to be pissed. Rory hopefully is getting out and seeing the sights and enjoying this trip, not just watching tv in his hotel, waiting for SOS text. If she was being honest about it, she would have explained to Sunny PRIOR to her trip that the idea of flying alone on such a long trip, first time out of the country, gave her a lot of anxiety and she wanted to bring a friend along. Then ask if he was ok with it being a friend she had a past with.....not this sneaky shit, including texting on the sly while on a date, cutsie plane selfies....

I don't get Brian's end game since 

Spoiler

according to stuff I see online on instagram, he was actually STILL MARRIED at the time of filming, to a Brazilian woman no less. They actually lived together in Brazil, which explains his fluency with Portuguese. Is he just a sex tourist who needs a paycheck so he dreamed this up for TLC?? 

Matilda has every right to never speak to Niles again. The way he sat there with that sheepish grin on his face....I give her props for not smacking the shit out of him. He is humiliating her.....in front of her family and pretty much the world. And I don't blame her for being pissed with his non committal answer. I mean, he told her that they would get married on this trip. Now he is saying, well I need to get to know you better, take some time---how much time ? Why should she believe anything he says when it comes to commitment? 

[AR Traveler]

Lovely Twirly has taken on each trainwreck episode for our credit, but she is incorrect in saying ""Brian apologizes to Ingrid".  What happened there was nothing more than what teenage boys and so-called "Nice Guys" do when they strike out: "What a B----- you are!  Here I am, ready to gift you with my manly powers of pleasure, and what, you want a token of  romance and a condom?  Wow!!"  I'm losing respect for Ingrid, despite her beauty, for entertaining this sleaze.  

He's also playing the Victim Olympics to the hilt: "She isn't falling in a swoon because of my wheelchair".  Creeps don't have to walk.

I have an affliction every time I hit foreign soil: my credit card jumps out of nowhere into any shopkeeper's hands.  It doesn't matter where: Canada, Japan, China, England...same jumping cards.  Split, however, may finish me.  A market surrounded by one beautiful city (and I've heard the same from friends who have been there)!  Wowzers!

Unfortunately, there is a bozo afoot in Split, about to run into lovely Vanja.  And what's that, he has a secret?!   Bigger than living with his mom and having no job is that he's apparently on an entirely different page concerning their relationship.  Add the Buttinsky Twins and you have a heartbreak ahead.  Darn it, Vanja might be a bit desperate and a knothead, but she's hardworking and should demand much more than this guy.

Now come the cases I almost feel uncomfortable watching and writing about.  Veah is one damaged cookie and far from ready for a relationship with anyone, especially cross-cultural.  On the one hand, brining a friend to a foreign country when you're meeting someone for the first time appears very, very smart.  I would have no problems, if I knew about it way ahead of time and even knew the other person beforehand.  What Veah (and the ex) did is perplexingly sneaky and cruel.  Sunny's temper is a flashpoint but I can't blame him.  I hope this is quits for them, but I have doubts, too.

As cute as I want to find Niles and Matilda, he is also being cruel and can't possibly be that out of touch.  If he is, then he too has no business in a relationship, especially cross-cultural.  What the hell was that proposal?  She was all set and had her bags packed!  I think this has a cultural side too; by even postponing the wedding, it is a slap to her in front of her people.  As much as I see her motives, I believe she loves NIles and felt for her.  And is it OK to say holy moley, Ghana is beautiful too!

Tigerlily is another disturbing case, for both of them, but we barely got a glimpse.  He's a controlling jerk, but also just following his culture and what he knows.  I'm starting to think Tiger likes it, on some level.

Now, folks, Roxy Music's song Avalon makes me want to throw myself down the stairs at Bryan Ferry's feet like a sacrifice and submit the tatters of my virtue.  That's how it's done, guys (and female versions of Bryan, oh my).

Edited October 21 by AR Traveler

[Stuckathome]

2 hours ago, AR Traveler said:

If he is, then he too has no business in a relationship, especially cross-cultural.

I agree...add this to another danger of online dating. A man who is not really equipped for a relationship, let alone a cross cultural marriage, is able to meet and seduce beautiful young women and convince them he is sincere. He was honest with her about being autistic, but again, I think he is falling on that as a crutch/excuse for just being adverse to confrontation. A lot of us are, doesn't make us on the spectrum. To me the idea of marrying someone the first time I meet them in the flesh is insane, but to her point---at what point would he feel ready? I don't know that he ever would, I imagine years of hand wringing and excuses. I mean, next his family needs to weigh in and it didn't sound like they would be on board with any of this......

There has to be something not quite right with Vanya, right? I mean, she is gorgeous, hard working, seems to have good friend circle....and yet she can't find a jobless, short and hairy 40 something who lives with his mom closer to home? Where she wouldn't have to stress about him meeting her at the airport......bozo's mother's face when he said he met a woman. The shock! The relief! the panic of , "is he punking me?" spoke volumes. 

[kirklandia]

3 hours ago, AR Traveler said:

 

Lovely Twirly has taken on each trainwreck episode for our credit, but she is incorrect in saying ""Brian apologizes to Ingrid".

 

Definitely misleading, but that's straight from the TLC episode listing.

A subsequent comment led me to search for the song Avalon and watch the official video - prominently featuring a gorgeously twirly girl.

[Polliwollidoodle]

The bit with Veah and her security companion makes some sense if this were NOT being filmed. Since it's being filmed ( and I'm assuming camera crews  but maybe I am wrong since Covid) then why have someone accompany? 

Also, does it mean TLC paid for the companion? 

Too many reality questions poking into my brain.