S07.13: Reunion Special

[HerkyJerky]

Prepare for a reunion messier than Alex’s apartment. 

[HerkyJerky]

I had to chuckle when Hannah and Nick seemed to solve their differences in a mature manner, and then Nick had to ruin it all by saying something nice about Hannah and then she went ballistic!

[janerazor]

I didn't understand Hannah ragging on Nick so much. Hannah dumped Nick, so why would Hannah bitch at Nick about women who Nick is DMing? They aren't together. Nick can DM anyone he wants! And Nick had written down at some point he wanted to get famous through the show. Duh, like 95% of the contestants want to, too. And somehow Hannah insults Nick for this, but she can admit she's acting bitchy and we're all just supposed to go along with it? I don't understand how that girl has friends.

[HerkyJerky]

In Hannah‘s defense, her “glow up“ was great but we all know that that’s not gonna last too long and her bitchy personality is going to last forever!

[NeenerNeener]

Ashley's dress is held up by spiders.  I don't think I would have leaned into Halloween that hard.

Nick Lachey seems to have found the weight that Hannah lost.

I'm with Marissa's mother, rolling her eyes while Ramses talked.

Now I'm sure Nick Dorka has applied for Perfect Match.

Yeah, Hannah admits she's a b*tch but it sounds like Nick was no day at the beach either, and she's got support from other people in the cast for that.

What is it with guys not wearing socks?

Edited October 31 by NeenerNeener

[DearEvette]

Now how the heck did I come away from this liking Marissa's mom and thinking Leo wasn't so bad here?

God. That was terrible. Terrible end to the worst season.

Poor Taylor and Garrett. Their nice, evolved, sweet relationship has to always be connected to all of these people who are all toxic. Even people I liked last episode lost me in during this reunion.

Hannah is still awful and she managed to drag Marissa with her.  I love how Marissa had so much smoke for Nick but NONE for Ramses.  Yeah he called you a 5/10 but girl you wrote a 10 point bulleted list about his problems and told the world he was bad at sex. 

Ramses looked like a clown. But I am happy those dreadlet strings are gone.

So Alex called Tim a pissy little bitch during their Cabo argument?  Yeah I would have ended it right there.  I suspected that whatever happened there was a 2-strikes thing and he was waiting for strike three.  I admit I was lukewarm on her during the season and liked him better.  He said 'she was giving him nothing' and that was my feeling as well. But I can concede he might be a little too rigid in his thinking for her. it is clear they just are not compatible and, I mean look at their homes. His was precise pin-neat and hers was a slobby mess.   Feels like a metaphor for how they meshed. It was never going to work.

Ashley and Tyler. I am so disappointed. We got what felt like a PR rehearsed  explanation from both of them. I get there are kids involved and no one wanted to really dive into it, but the mother chose to out everything on SM so that horse already left the barn. Vanessa and Nick could have pushed on that but let Ashley go all "I know my man..."

As much as Stephen (my strong black brother! 😂)  was a mess during the show I have to admit his "It doesn't matter what I say you aren't going to believe me anyway' stance was legit. He's right, people have their minds made up him explaining anything isn't going to change anyone's mind.

Why do we care about previous Pod squads? I did not need to hear one more time about Bliss and Zach's favorite song or know that Nancy is dating a Bartise look-alike.

[ichbin]

5 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

Yeah, Hannah admits she's a b*tch but it sounds like Nick was no day at the beach either, and she's got support from other people in the cast for that.

I thought that came off as a pre-planned pile on. Hannah's minions got the more favorable edits out of their relationships on the show so they helped their sister out during the reunion.  The two guys who had the negative things to say about Nick were also two of the most despised on social media.  Meanwhile we were never shown Nick in anything close to a bad light.  Gee, I wonder who to believe.
 

Hannah pretends to have some self-awareness but then can't help but doubling down otherwise.  She should take a page from Leo's book on how to turn ones image around.

[marybennet]

Hannah was as horrible as ever, but telling the guys she looked like a grenade was perhaps not Nick’s finest moment. 

[jabRI]

First, as someone who has always struggled with their weight over the years,  I proudly watch body positivity in the media.  That being said, I also think it has to look good on you. I don't know how in the world Alex felt comfortable sitting there basically half naked.  Standing was ok, but once she sat down it was ridiculous.  And I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on with Katie's dress, the draping was so bizarre.

 

Trivial stuff over, I will always believe Nick over Hannah. I know (and actively avoid) people like her who say 'I speak the truth' essentially saying it gives them a free pass to be as cruel and brutal as they  want.

[Irlandesa]

The more we saw Nick, the more I got vibes from him that made the things said about him in this episode believable. That said, it doesn't change the fact that Hannah was awful.

Sometimes, both people in the couple can be horrific.  I think that was the case here, although Hannah was much harder to take.  He was smart enough to let Hannah bury herself.

[catherinejane]

There was a heck of a lot of boob and underboob going on, which didn't look as good when sat down, particularly if sat in a way that looked comfy rather than bolt up right on edge of the sofa!

 

being British, i have no idea what a grenade may be in a looks related context. but assume its bad. But overall Hannah was far worse to Nick than him to her. She wrote a list of 10 things she didn't like about him and left it out for him to read.

[Racj82]

6 hours ago, catherinejane said:

There was a heck of a lot of boob and underboob going on, which didn't look as good when sat down, particularly if sat in a way that looked comfy rather than bolt up right on edge of the sofa!

 

being British, i have no idea what a grenade may be in a looks related context. but assume its bad. But overall Hannah was far worse to Nick than him to her. She wrote a list of 10 things she didn't like about him and left it out for him to read.

The term grenade blew up when The Jersey Shore on MTV was a phenomenon. It became a term for the girl you may often see in a group of women that's the "big one" or less attractive. That's the women your friend hooks up with or spends time with so they don't block your efforts with the woman you are going for. A lot of times the grenade thing is weight based. The grenade is the obese one. So, if Nick did indeed say these things, he was rudely talking about Hannah's weight.

I don't understand, whether true or not, why these people think they can keep their lives private when coming on here.  If you have things going on like kids you kind of claim, it's going to come out on social media as soon as the show starts airing.

To go along with that, stop gabbing to would be spouses in a rude or cruel light. People love gossip but men in particular will go to their significant other in a heartbeat about some gossip. Most of these people are not real friends. Shut the hell up. Keep it to yourself.

Edited November 1 by Racj82

[snarts]

I wish Netflix would spring for a 'Where are they now" special highlighting folks from the previous season rather than cut into reunion time. 

Marissa lost me when she went so hard after Nick vs. her own douche, Ramses. Hannah doubled down on her criticisms so not sure why it mattered that Nick wasn't blown away by her looks. Also not sure why Hannah reading & taking pics of his journal with her friends wasn't seen as a bigger offence. 

Tim's an asshole. Alex came off well at the reunion, aside from her dress. 

 

 

[SummerDreams]

I haven't finished it yet, but I have to ask the guys in here or even the women in here; is Alex's appearance good? I mean, do you see her and say, look at a beautiful lady? I'm asking cause I get second hand embarassment seeing her boobs struggling to stay in the dress.

[After7Only]

2 hours ago, snarts said:

Tim's an asshole. Alex came off well at the reunion, aside from her dress. 

 

I think they are both probably OK people in real life.  But they were very incompatible in how they communicate.   

I also never felt Alex was that into Tim.   I think he sensed that as well, and might have been overly critical, to justify ending it.   

 

34 minutes ago, SummerDreams said:

I haven't finished it yet, but I have to ask the guys in here or even the women in here; is Alex's appearance good? I mean, do you see her and say, look at a beautiful lady? I'm asking cause I get second hand embarassment seeing her boobs struggling to stay in the dress.

I thought Alex looked beautiful outside of that dress.   The dress was probably intended for someone with a smaller bust.   While standing up I can see why she liked it, but sitting down it was a fail.   

[Racj82]

1 hour ago, SummerDreams said:

I haven't finished it yet, but I have to ask the guys in here or even the women in here; is Alex's appearance good? I mean, do you see her and say, look at a beautiful lady? I'm asking cause I get second hand embarassment seeing her boobs struggling to stay in the dress.

Yes and most people say she looks good. The dress just did not look good on her.

[LakeGal]

Hannah should have worked more on her inside and less on her outward appearance.  She is a mean girl.  She has not changed and I did not appreciate Marissa fighting her battles for her.  Marissa should have spent her time on Ramses and not Nick.  

I was disappointed in the reunion.  They didn't really get into the stuff we were interested in.  I agree about all the folks from past seasons.  Why don't they do special update episodes on them?  This was suppose to be the reunion for this season.  

Ashley is going to live a lifetime of regret with that idiot she married.  I feel they are still hiding things.  I wanted more direct questions asked of them.  Instead we got AD blabbing about stuff.  

[Racj82]

To go along with the difficulty this show will continue to have finding authentic people who care more about fame, we also have people coming into reunions well aware of their current image and come in going on damage control. They fight to have their narrative be what is heard. There isn't interest in keeping it real. They get asked whatever questions are given, they keep what they don't want to be heard to themselves. Too many people are worried winning.

[DearEvette]

4 hours ago, snarts said:

Tim's an asshole. Alex came off well at the reunion, aside from her dress.

I admit I was not a fan of Alex's during the show and while the reunion didn't exactly soften me toward her, I came away feeling the chasm between them was just too deep from bad perception and hurt feelings for them to agree in any one truth and he blame wasn't solely hers.

But I don't believe Tim was that bad.  There was one point where he said he had to be conscious all the time of not appearing like a big angry black dude. He was hyper aware of the optics so I think that probably contributed to why he seemed so frustrated at the reunion.  Even during it, he never wanted to say anything exactly bad about Alex, even trying to  keep the argument in Cabo wraps, refusing to quote what she said instead using the generic 'Calling me out my name" which is an AAVE term that means the person insulted you without specifying what the insult is . But she had to drop the insult "Okay,yeah., I called you a pissy little bitch."  just so she could let everyone know how badass she is.  But even then he kept silent. Men can not air out on that stage the way women can and I think he knew this and it contributed to his frustration.

2 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

I haven't finished it yet, but I have to ask the guys in here or even the women in here; is Alex's appearance good?

Her hair and makeup were very lovely.  Neck up she looked gorgeous.  Her dress was a hard 'No."  I am not a fan of underboob ever anyway, but her dress was just unflattering and tacky.

[HerkyJerky]

Obviously, they are contractually obligated to appear at the reunion and I’m sure there’s some sort of financial penalty if you don’t show up. But it had to be a huge number or else why would Ramses be there? He looked SOOOO uncomfortable. My guess is that of all the failed couples his reason/excuse for why it didn’t work out was the lamest and weakest of all of them.

Edited November 1 by HerkyJerky
Clarification

[After7Only]

3 hours ago, LakeGal said:

Ashley is going to live a lifetime of regret with that idiot she married.  I feel they are still hiding things.  I wanted more direct questions asked of them.  Instead we got AD blabbing about stuff.  

I think Ashley/Tyler pretty much told us everything we need to know.

Reading between the lines.... the kids mother's version of the story is basically accurate.   However, I seemed like Tyler told Ashley the entire truth before the wedding, but didn't want it aired.   Ashley wasn't comfortable leaving it unaddressed, so they both chose the version of the story that aired on the show.   With kids being involved, I can't really fault them for not going too deep into the details.  And Nick/Vanessa would have looked bad pushing it.     

[jabRI]

5 hours ago, SummerDreams said:

is Alex's appearance good?

No, I made a similar comment.  I think the producers wanted to go for 'revenge dresses' for the ladies, but they really needed a stylist to help Alex see how it would look standing, walking and sitting.  In general I find this show always cheapen the ladies' looks.  Brittany with her bolt ons looked just as ridiculous.

[JH Lipton]

On 10/31/2024 at 7:10 AM, DearEvette said:

So Alex called Tim a pissy little bitch during their Cabo argument?  Yeah I would have ended it right there.  I suspected that whatever happened there was a 2-strikes thing and he was waiting for strike three.

He lost any good will I might have had for him when he acted like a pissy little bitch complaining that Alex took a nap before work.  When she told him why, he didn't respect her opinion at all.

With respect to the "hand on his mouth", it seems they were arguing and production tried to film them.  I think she didn't do anything more than make a "shh" gesture (to help his image) and he blew it up.

[jackjill89]

On 10/31/2024 at 10:51 PM, jabRI said:

First, as someone who has always struggled with their weight over the years,  I proudly watch body positivity in the media.  That being said, I also think it has to look good on you. I don't know how in the world Alex felt comfortable sitting there basically half naked.  Standing was ok, but once she sat down it was ridiculous.  And I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on with Katie's dress, the draping was so bizarre.

 

Trivial stuff over, I will always believe Nick over Hannah. I know (and actively avoid) people like her who say 'I speak the truth' essentially saying it gives them a free pass to be as cruel and brutal as they  want.

Exactly. Speaking "the truth" (which is actually their perception) doesn't give you a free pass to be a horrible human. This attitude has become so much more prevalent in the era of reality TV. There are ways to share your thoughts/opinions in a way that doesn't slap someone in the face.

[NeenerNeener]

7 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

I will always believe Nick over Hannah.

If Nick had a stated goal of becoming "famous for being on LIB" then I think he's as big an @$$hole as Hannah. The people we remember most from this show are rarely the happy couples. They're the meanest, messiest people, and then they pop up on other reality shows like Perfect Match and House of Villains. 

[Racj82]

3 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

If Nick had a stated goal of becoming "famous for being on LIB" then I think he's as big an @$$hole as Hannah. The people we remember most from this show are rarely the happy couples. They're the meanest, messiest people, and then they pop up on other reality shows like Perfect Match and House of Villains. 

Nick isn't really because that's just what most of these people want or also want. Hannah is living on social media now and trying to get all the attention she can. She's no better than him because she didn't write down she wants fame.

Also, if Nick was truly serious about that goal, he barely did anything to achieve it. He was pretty low key. Especially outside of the pods.

I think Hannah and Nick both wanted to make it out of the pods but had few options. So, they just went with each and hoped for the best. They never made sense together.

[Starlight925]

Am I the only one who thinks Garrett's glow-up is way too much?  Comical, even.

The center-part hair, open shirt/chest hair, loud printed jacket, gold necklace, 80's Tom Jones booties....and now he's modeling?

To me, his charm was that he was just this real guy.  This real, slightly nerdy guy who had this cuteness to him and just wanted to find real love.

Now he got all glowed up.  Me no likey.

Edited November 3 by Starlight925

[kassandra8286]

On 10/31/2024 at 8:51 PM, jabRI said:

.  And I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on with Katie's dress, the draping was so bizarre.

She is gorgeous, but that dress was so unflattering, both color and style. I'm with you, I couldn't figure out the bodice part at all.

And why did she spend a year, crying, sending flowers, and apologizing to Hannah? She did nothing wrong. I cannot for the life of me understand why Hannah has so many loyal "besties". What do they see in her?

[AnnieBananie]

I fell asleep halfway through the reunion, and when I woke up, I didn't feel any need to go back and finish it. 

[nlkm9]

On 11/1/2024 at 5:42 PM, jabRI said:

No, I made a similar comment.  I think the producers wanted to go for 'revenge dresses' for the ladies, but they really needed a stylist to help Alex see how it would look standing, walking and sitting.  In general I find this show always cheapen the ladies' looks.  Brittany with her bolt ons looked just as ridiculous.

trying to be so sensitive here, but Alex is a beautiful but very large woman. that dress was completely inappropriate for her body type --however I heard she designed the dress so thats very interesting to me.

they just werent good together and Tim seems to have a lot of deepset anger.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 11/2/2024 at 9:15 PM, Starlight925 said:

Am I the only one who thinks Garrett's glow-up is way too much?  Comical, even.

The center-part hair, open shirt/chest hair, loud printed jacket, gold necklace, 80's Tom Jones booties....and now he's modeling?

To me, his charm was that he was just this real guy.  This real, slightly nerdy guy who had this cuteness to him and just wanted to find real love.

Now he got all glowed up.  Me no likey.

Glow-up? More like NO-up.

On 11/2/2024 at 5:14 PM, NeenerNeener said:

If Nick had a stated goal of becoming "famous for being on LIB" then I think he's as big an @$$hole as Hannah. The people we remember most from this show are rarely the happy couples. They're the meanest, messiest people, and then they pop up on other reality shows like Perfect Match and House of Villains. 

The goal was more along the lines of "to be the most famous contestant on LIB history." Which Hannah and her pod-sisters spun into the dreaded being on the show for the wrong reasons, while Nick spun into "not really a goal, just something I threw down on paper to appease a friend who suggested I write a bunch of 90-day goals." Taking it as true that he wrote it and that when he wrote it he didn't even know if he was going to be cast, I don't find as sinister as Hannah tried to make it. 

Who would be the most famous LIB cast members? I'm guessing:

Lauren and Cameron from S1, without whose lightning-in-a-bottle this concept never would have worked.

Amber/Barnett also from S1

Shake/Dipti from S2

Shane/Natalie from S2

To unseat those and any other of the contestants would probably require either epic dickishness/crazy like Shake/Shane or a potentially epic love story like Lauren/Cameron. Presumably, Nick does not think of himself as an epic dick. 

On 11/1/2024 at 8:06 AM, snarts said:

I wish Netflix would spring for a 'Where are they now" special highlighting folks from the previous season rather than cut into reunion time. 

Marissa lost me when she went so hard after Nick vs. her own douche, Ramses. Hannah doubled down on her criticisms so not sure why it mattered that Nick wasn't blown away by her looks. Also not sure why Hannah reading & taking pics of his journal with her friends wasn't seen as a bigger offence. 

Tim's an asshole. Alex came off well at the reunion, aside from her dress. 

 

 

I definitely would prefer the occasional hour special following various LIB cast members or even the occasional SX-cast Y years later coda. Because it is very hit or miss. I enjoyed seeing AD even if I didn't instantly remember her on seeing her. Didn't really care too much about S1 Jessica but might have in the context of seeing her with her other S1 castmates. But giving a plane ticket, a weekend hotel stay in L.A. and a few K is probably cheaper and less work than it would be to do a more interesting followup to any of the previous seasons.

Marissa is one of the contestants who would have to do a lot to lose me. I think she didn't have to spend much energy pointing out what a douche Ramses was -- the show made it clear in and of itself, and Mama Marissa also pitched in. (I am considering a breach of contract suit for her failing to follow through on her castrating of Ramses. Maybe I head-canon that she tried but only succeeded in cutting off his mini-locks instead). Marissa did enough to put Ramses in his place IMO, including the bit were in talking about how everyone made mistakes, "I used to have sex with that man." 

Hannah was determined to try to drag Nick down in the dirt with her, and who knows if it worked. I think I would tend to believe it if any of the more credible men (i.e. Garrett or Tyler) confirmed it, but since the best they got for support was Frederick and Ramses, I'm not going to give their statements all that much weight. Those guys for all we know could have decided to shit on Nick's reputation to help salvage their own.

I think Nick calling her "a grenade," and saying she looked average are pretty hateful to do in general on a show that is premised on looking past the superficial in general and more importantly are pretty two-faced when he's supposedly IN LURVE with Hannah at this point. Depending on your perspective, it's hard to say you love someone who is only a 5. Like if you love someone that automatically curves that person up to like a 6 or a 7. You shouldn't be saying that she's the sort of person that somebody has to take one for the team and engage with her so that others in the crew can have a chance to date her attractive friends. I wasn't clear on when the diary snooping and picture taking happened but that's unacceptable. Not sure why neither Nick nor anyone else called Hannah out on that invasion of privacy.

I'm mixed on Tim. He clearly has problems in general. He clearly was shitty to have done that staged letter-to-Alex's-dad bit and undercut it almost immediately by talking about how he had doubts. He seemed to be more on a mission to bring home a daughter for his own parents to replace his dead sisters. I do think in that context, he did probably get an earful from his parents about how Alex had that nap before her shift and he decided that was the back-breaker.

But I do think that if I had an argument with my "fiancee" where she never clearly says "I just need to have some space" during an hour argument, gets me riled up so that I'm looking to fit in the stereotype of "angry violent black man," and she calls me a pissy little bitch, I'm probably not much longer for that relationship one way or another.

[Lindz]

Didn't recognize Jessica. Her makeup is better. Maybe same for Katie. 🤔 Same for Hannah. Katie & Alex's dresses were bad. Taylor & the chest plate, no. Sparkly spiders? Hell no! Garrett's hair is worse now. Of course he wanted to move past what Nick said, we know he likes hiding information. 😉 Woah, Nancy!!! Totally didn't recognize her!!! She looks bigger, is it the dress? 🤔😅 Too much leg, Marshall!!! Meh. Dunno what Stephen said, he doesn't delete threads but deleted all of those messages? So how'd Monica see them?!! WHAT'D HE SAY?!! He sabotaged his engagement cuz she stopped having sex with him!!! SAY THAT!!! The way Alex had 5 words to say about what happened in Cabo is highly suspicious, like she was in the wrong. WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU WANTED A SHOWER & SLEEP?!! 😕 Crying on the floor?!! Name calling was inappropriate. WHY'D HE SAY HE NEVER WANTED TO SEE HER AGAIN??? Cuz she said he had tantrums. 😂 He collected issues to leave! Neither were getting what they wanted. Hannah & Nick, SNOOZE!!! Be most famous on LIB, HOW??? HOW WAS HE READY TO BE MARRIED??!!! HOW WAS SHE?!! THEY WEREN'T!!! Um. BRING OUT THE BABY MAMA!!!! WHERE'S THE DIVORCE PAPERS?!! I wanna hear her side!!! No bloopers??? 😕 Reunions never answer the questions! 😒