We are halfway through the eight week process and the couples are all in different places along their marital paths as they celebrate their one month anniversaries. I spent twenty minutes thinking I had missed an episode because they showed all these previews in the front where most shows give a quick recap of the prior episode.
Molly & Jon
Are coming off a major fight over Molly’s lack of desire to have the least bit of intimacy with Jon. Jon has bought her flowers as a peace-offering. Molly is so full of mixed signals. If it is not the editing, then the sudden swings back and forth between Molly saying she’s done to Molly claiming they are back on the same page is weird.
Molly and Jon celebrate their anniversary at a farm drinking apple juice and beer and go apple picking. Molly has never made apple pie before, and yet she is an expert and says baking is so much easier than cooking. Foreshadowing the apple pie fight? Later they have the top of their wedding cake. That is clearly production’s script. Normally the cake is a one year thing. Jon thinks it is a ten-year thing. Molly says they will never make it that far. Oh, Molly.
The next day they make an apple pie together. She has a cool apple peeler that she gives to Jon to use. So I am a bit more hopeful. She seems to be making her own crust. They may actually pull this off! And they did! Their pie was good! They start talking about how many kids they want. Does she realize how babies are made?
Shawniece & Jephte
Shawniece talks to her cousin who is her best friend while folding Jephte’s boxers. He’s a slob and she’s a neat freak. I need a wife.
Shawniece and Jephte get dressed up and go out to a fancy restaurant. Jephte tells us that he wants to be counting years and not just months. He brought the production required top of their wedding cakes. Shawniece gets him a lot of nice socks because apparently that is his thing and a new shirt. Jephte tells us she doesn’t know him well enough to know what to buy him. Le sigh. He got her a snow globe with a bride and groom inside with the inscription, “One month down and forever to go.” He got a her a pretty wall hanging that says Mr. & Mrs. Pierre. She cries. The girl is just so happy to be married.
The next scene we see is Shawniece and Jephte going out to a nice dinner again. I know the show pays for this, but they are living a lifestyle the can’t support. Then they start arguing about baby names. Jephte wants to go all George Foreman and name all of his kids Jephte.
Jaclyn & Ryan
Jaclyn is struggling with Ryan’s busy schedule and active social work. She wants him to make more time for her. She talks to Molly about this. At least I think that is Molly.
On their anniversary, Ryan brings the top layer of their wedding cake with scrambled eggs for breakfast in bed. He tells her he would make the same choice to marry her again. She gives him a book of photos of their life together. He gives her a couples massage. And perhaps a chest. These two seem fine for now.
Ryan takes Jaclyn to an indoor soccer field for a soccer lesson on their anniversary. I mean apple picking is better than this. After having Ryan kick soccer balls at her for a few hours, Jaclyn whips out a picnic for the soccer field.
Do the other couples all seem to be having an extended anniversary celebration, Ryan has gone out with the boys. He apparently asks to go out almost every night at 11 pm. She’s unhappy with this. She is there alone folding laundry and being sad when my DVR cuts off. Have I mentioned I hate my DVR?
Next Week: They work on communication. According to the episode guide the couples are asked to trade cell phones for an hour with no prior warning. This has never happened before on this show to my knowledge, so I feel like production has a nefarious reason for this.
I love Jephte and Shawniece. I think they may be the only couple that stays together — but with this show, what looks promising turns out to be anything but. I’m not sure why Molly signed up for MAFS, but she is not at all interested in John — he was right when he said that if they were in a bar, she would not notice him. I think he’s cute, funny and invested in this experiment — they don’t even seem to have chemistry together cause she seems to hold herself back — he would have been a good match for Shawniece or Molly.
I want to say in public that I’m sorry I once said that Jephte is probably gay and that Shawniece is his unwitting beard. Not about the gay part cuz that’s not an insult, but about the dishonesty part. It seems that he’s straight and was telling the truth about wanting to take it slowly.
Yeah, the previews of the spur-of-the-moment phone switch. I can’t think of anything other than nefarious reasons why production would do this. If these kids are smart, they’ll make a stand and refuse to look thru each other’s phones. But they’re kids, and they’re probably too young to know, yet, that if you go looking hard enough for something, you’ll find it. Nefarious or nah, I’m gonna be glued to the next episode to see what happens.
I think the phone exchange shouldn’t even happen, and personally feel if you have to invade privacy for a healthy relationship, maybe you need to deal with your own trust issues.
Can’t imagine asking someone for their phone to nosey around.
Agreed.
I’ve been married for 25 years and have never gone thru my husbands phone or wallet and he hasn’t gone thru mine. Its called TRUST
I think (hope) they all stay married at the end.
Just to let you know, TT, I always read your commentaries on this show! But you’re so “on point,” I have nothing else to add.
Thanks for commenting mary!
Thanks for commenting mary! It’s nice to know you are reading. Who is your favorite couple?
I really like Shawniece so I hope she gets her happy ending. She came in very hot, but I think they are both starting to settle in to a routine.
Did anyone else find it weird that Ryan opted to go to dinner with a grown ass man rather than be with his wife? You really left her at home to go to dinner with a friend? I love Shawniece and Jephte together.
The phone exchange is weird AF…I have always been the more dude in my relationships. I’m not a snooper never look at my partners Facebook. I still make it clear I am an adult and do not require access and passwords and email entry. I’m sorry I’m probably an awkward person my husband still insists I’m one or two chromosomes from being a male. I hate cards, flowers and do not need to click my lovers every move.
I think Molly just is simply uninterested. Ppl today want fire and fucking and orgasms all the damn time every second. That chit is amazing but gets super exhausting after a year or so. I wish they knew the partner should inspire you stoke a desire in you in a very many ways besides looks and sex.
I guess that’s why they are on MAFS and I’m just a insomniac chica reading the interwebs😁.
Ryan said he didn’t want to change who he was or things he did before. Well, why get married? He has no clue. Marriage is not a bed of roses, pun intended. Jaclyn may bow out. Who wants to be left home alone that many nights out of a week, especially when it’s not necessary?
Molly wants reassurance she’s going to still be married at the end of the experiment. She can’t end up with egg on her face after everyone knows she gave up the goods. Her reasoning for lack of intimacy or attraction to Jon, makes no sense. She talks in circles. I’m left totally confused & scratching my head. I know she said something, but what? I like Jon, jobless and all. He doesn’t seem stuck on himself.
J & S, I like the way things are turning out. They’re a little more realistic except J makes me skeptical at times. Can’t put my finger on it. S will be devasted if this doesn’t work out. She is so happy being married and is really trying to make it work. I like them and hope they last.
Watching the show on On Demand and Ryan really bothers me. They go out for a special day and he takes her to a soccer field so he can relive his “high school glory days”? I thought that was a thoroughly self-centered thing to do, and it made him seem a little insecure in my eyes. He seems way too self-absorbed and really needs to listen to the experts and make some changes. Jaclyn was a really good sport but way too sweet and patient with the whole deal. Also, what’s with the going out with the guys every night and coming home whenever? He talks the talk about wanting to make the marriage work, but it seems very lopsided to me so far. I don’t see long-term happiness for them. She’ll get tired of smiling all the time and making it seem like she’s happy, but I don’t think she is.
Shawniece and Jephte are so cute together now. I really didn’t think he was into her at first and thought that was why he was being so reluctant. So glad I was wrong. Really hope they make it, or I think Shawniece will be brokenhearted. I still think she looks like a totally different person when she has makeup on and straightened hair. Is it just me?
Up until late in this episode, I didn’t think Jon and Molly had a chance in a million of making a connection. It seemed like his heart was in it and he actually looked at her very tenderly, at times but she looked like she was just going through the motions. They acted like pretty good friends, but I didn’t see her being ready to be intimate any time soon. When they were in the park and he pulled her towards him, you could see her go rigid, and when he made a comment about being together for a long time, she said, “yea, right”. She might have kind of laughed when she said it, but she wasn’t giving off good vibes. Of course, there’s always editing which can completely give us the wrong idea of what’s really going on – I’ve fallen for that many times, and they did seem to have a lot of fun when they made the apple pie and were joking about kids. It would be nice to see them make it., but I get the feeling she’s still holding back big time.
Wow, just saw the end of the show and the whole swapping phones thing. What’s going on to make the producers even suggest that? The reactions from Jon and Jephte were very negative, which makes you wonder what, if anything, they’re hiding. Also, Ryan’s reaction to Jaclyn’s criticism of his going out at night was completely clueless. He just doesn’t get that he’s married now – once in a while is fine, but all the time? No way. Next week should be very interesting.
I don’t like how much production is driving things this season–making all the couples do the same things: brunch with family, fantasy week, celebrate their one-month anniversary, complete with cake tops. It just makes it all seem staged, like they’re just going through the motions or role-playing. In the older seasons, the relationships felt more natural, like the couples were doing things they thought of, not what production told them to do, but it has gradually gotten worse and worse.
The phone-swapping is a terrible idea. Also, 6 weeks ago, all these people were completely single, so it would not be bad form if, say, Jephte had texted with a girl–but it would hurt Shawniece now to see that. There is no good purpose for making them switch phones–there’s a lot of potential downside but no potential upside.
Production has done this every season. It just becomes more and more obvious. I think for this show they sort of need to have boundaries to push them in the right direction and force them into new activities. The couples do have some input about what the do within the loose script. For example they all have to celebrate their anniversary. They probably had an allowance for the gifts. They had to do the cake thing. But they chose the gifts and decided on the activity at least within some options.
Phone swap – where did this idea come from? Previous shows participants siting to post production ppl that there were undocumented issues with former flames texting while being married on the show? Or production KNOWS there is potential conflict having been around the couples 24/7.
Should be interesting …
Well, if you remember David who has sort of a similar situation to Jon this season and who returned for a disastrou flame out on the crappy second chances show, he was texting for facebooking other women trying to hook up during his season.
Also, I believe the cute black girl on the second chances show who also was much less likeable on second chances, her husband was also on the phone with other women during their time on the show and that didn’t come out until after the show I think.
It would not shock me if Jon was getting laid somewhere. Also Ryan sneaking off late at night all the time is suspect, and Jephte’s strict no sex policy might have been because he still had a girlfriend when he went on the show.