On last nights’ episode of Married at First Sight, the experts ask the couples to talk about love, their past relationship history, and how they need to receive love.
Some of the couples walk away from the exercise feeling good about their relationships, but others… well, not so much. There’s still trouble in paradise.
Meka and Michael: Breakthroughs or broken trust
We see Meka and Michael hanging out together in their apartment. Meka is trying to take her weave out and having trouble. Michael is playfully laughing at her and offers to help.
He’s excited that he’s taking them out because, as he’s mentioned before, he is “a sucker for natural hair.” It is a cute bonding moment for them, and Meka says she’s finally starting to feel comfortable with him.
After this nice moment between them, Michael tells Meka that there’s been a change in his schedule – that he’s decided not to take the principal job.
She questions why. He tells her that the “requirements changed,” so he decided against it — different hours, different pay, etc. She doesn’t believe his story.
He then tells her that he decided to take a director position at another school.
She is confused. Did he have that new principal job that he told her and the experts about, or was he lying? She thought he already had the offer letter and accepted it.
How could the terms change after he’s already accepted it and received a start date? It just doesn’t make any sense to her, and she feels like he’s lying – again.
Later, they talk about their love history. Michaels tells her he’s been in love a few times and that he needs to be able to “express love openly” in a relationship. We all know what that’s code for: physical affection and sex.
Meka replies sternly with, “my biggest thing is honesty.” At this point, all she needs is for him to be honest. I’m pretty sure this strong statement from her was a direct result of her feeling like he just lied to her about the whole job situation.
In the evening, Michael takes Meka out on a date. He tells her he usually doesn’t have trouble having difficult conversations. Meka says when Michael doesn’t engage and shuts down when they’re having tough talks, she feels abandoned, and it’s not fair to her.
He tells her she is a very determined, strong, and stubborn person and that he is the same way. Sometimes that makes it “tough to meet in the middle.” She understands and agrees.
He tells her he appreciates her sticking with him through the rough patches and apologizes for not communicating better.
It seems like everything is somewhat smoothed over between them, but you can tell Meka’s wheels are still spinning about the job change story. She tells him she needs clarity and asks, “What went wrong with the principal job?”
He clams up and almost looks like he’s going to get up and leave, but he doesn’t. You can tell he’s thinking about what the correct reply should be.
After a few moments of silence, he says, “I don’t feel 100 percent comfortable with you yet. There are certain things I would rather keep to myself.”
Really, Michael? Or is it that you lied to her and the experts about the principal job and then had to continue lying until a new job opportunity came along?
I think this guy may be a habitual liar. Or, maybe he was just embarrassed about his current career or salary and was just trying to flub his way through it until he could do better?
Either way, he has just given Meka another reason not to fully trust him.
She basically calls him a liar; he gets frustrated and says “there’s just no pleasing her.” Meka is afraid that she’s going to fall in love with him and find out later that it was all lies.
Valid concern.
Katie and Derek: Ups and downs
Katie and Derek get their note in the door from the experts and are instructed to “have an open conversation about love.”
As we know, Katie has been struggling with the fact that Derek has never been in love and sees this as a big red flag for their relationship. She asks him, “what do you think it will take for you (to feel like you’re in love)?”
He says he’s not sure.
Katie tells him she’s “too old to keep going for the chase,” and Derek says he’s right there with her. She expresses to him that in the past, she has fallen for guys who didn’t feel the same for her as she did for them, and she’s scared of letting herself be “all in” and then have the same thing happen with him.
He understands what Katie is saying but is frustrated that his lack of experience in the love department is always the main topic of conversation when he thinks things are going very well between them.
He gets a little attitude with her saying he feels like she is always holding this against him.
Later, we see them in the car driving to an Aerial Acrobatics class/date that Derek set up for them. Derek apologizes for snapping at her, and she tells him she sees that he is putting in the effort.
He tells her he really does like her (with a big smile on his face), and that has a “crush” on her. She blushes a little and apologizes to him for dwelling on the never being in love issue and says she will stop doing that.
They made up. Yay!
They go to the Aerial Acrobatics class, and it is hilarious. I don’t think either of them knew what they were in store for or how difficult it was going to be.
We see them trying the different moves, getting stuck, etc. and it looks like they are having a lot of fun. At one point, Katie is hanging upside down, and Derek gets under her to give her a little smooch. It was adorable!
Katie makes a comment that is was kind of a “nerdy” move, but then reciprocates when he is upside down and plants one on him, too. Just too cute.
I think if Katie could just relax a little and get out of her head, these two would have a great shot at making it.
Next, we see them having dinner at home. Katie gets serious again. She asks Derek, “if we were going to get our own place together after this, have you thought about where?”
Surprisingly, he replies “um… I actually kind of have.”
Her face immediately lights up when he says this. He tells her that he was thinking about the different places they each work out and that it might be nice to live somewhere in the middle. “Maybe Mosaic or Falls Church?”
As icing on the cake for Katie, Derek then mentions that she previously told him she was going to be getting off her health insurance. He said he’d been thinking about that, too. He investigated it and can add her to his.
You can tell Katie is truly shocked and happy about this conversation. She says when Derek can talk about “future plans” it makes her feel very optimistic about their relationship.
Austin and Jessica: The love birds
Austin and Jessica start talking about their love history, and Jess seems to keep getting stuck on the saying “I love you” subject.
She asks Austin how long it took him to say the L-word in his previous relationship, and he said about one year. Jess said for her, that is a long time and that she hopes he will say it to her sooner than later.
They then start discussing their love “styles.”
Jess says she needs words of affirmation and pretty much for him to be able to “read her mind.” She is half-joking and half-serious and seems to be OK with that.
For Austin, he says its “acts of service” and “physical affection.” He tells her, “that’s why I hug you so much.” She admits she never really noticed that and said she would make a conscious effort to give Austin more affection.
Next, we see them in the car driving somewhere. Jessica has set up a date for them, and it’s a surprise. No hints.
Austin loves baseball, so she decided to take him to some batting cages. He is super excited and appreciative that she did this for him. We see him hitting ball after ball having a great time.
Jessica is watching him get all sweaty and calls him sexy. She is excited that he is having fun and says there are so many moments when she just wants to tell him, “I love you,” but she won’t – because she wants him to say it first.
These two seem like a match made in heaven, and I hope things keep getting better and better for them. If Jess can just try not to push the L-word so much, I think Austin just might surprise her with those words she wants to hear — sooner than she thinks.
Mindy and Zach – Will Zach ever move in with Mindy?
Mindy and Zach are out with Zach’s dogs, and they start talking about what it will take to fall in love in the real world and what kinds of things they need to feel loved.
Mindy says for her, “it’s thoughtfulness small gestures that show you’re thinking about the other person.” Giving examples like bringing someone their favorite snack, etc.
Mindy asks Zack about the idea of “making an intellectual decision to fall in love.” Zach pretty much avoids the question, and as he often makes replies with random babble, that doesn’t make any sense.
After a few more minutes of this, Mindy asks him, “Do you feel married?” and he says, “I don’t know… my focus is you and this relationship. Just putting the word marriage on it …” blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda here we go again, talking in circles.
Mindy gets frustrated because she can never really have a back-and-forth conversation with him. Every time she asks him a tough question, he always figures out a way to get out of answering it.
Mindy then tells him that she feels like she has been sensitive to his needs but would like for him to move in. There is a pause, he has a blank stare on his face, and then he starts calling his dog, who has wandered off.
I swear he brings those dogs with him every time for just this reason — an excuse to bow out when things get complicated.
While the other couples are off spending quality time together, we see Mindy doing yoga in her apartment by herself. It’s sad.
A little later, we see Mindy sitting on the couch playing something like solitaire, and I’m thinking, oh no, I don’t want to see her all alone again. I felt so bad for her.
And then the doorbell rings. It’s Zach! Yay. He’s there to spend some time with her. Maybe there is hope for them, after all.
They hang out for a while doing face masks, joking, laughing, and playing some games. They seem to be having a lot of fun together. Zach says, “it’s great hanging out with Mindy. Sure, its baby steps but it’s evolving.”
While they were hanging out, Mindy said she actually “feels married now” and she likes it.
Maybe there is hope for these two after all. It’s time to move in, Zach!!! Just do I already!
Taylor and Brandon: Social media, motives and madness
Taylor and Brandon sit down to try doing the exercise and talk about love. Brandon expresses to her that he needs “affection and thoughtfulness like it was in the beginning.”
She gets a bit defensive when he says this and tells him she doesn’t feel they’re “currently in the best space” for that. He says he thought they were on a reset and that he’s trying.
He said he usually knows when he’s in love when he constantly wants to spend time with that person, thinks about them all the time, etc.
She seems annoyed by this and makes a few snide remarks about it not seeming like he wants to spend time with her at all.
She says she feels like she is the only one trying to initiate communication and spending time together, and Brandon feels like he is between a rock and a hard place.
Later, Taylor is cooking dinner for Brandon. She admits that her attitude was causing a wedge between them earlier and it looks like we might have a fresh start at dinner.
Brandon is very appreciative of the meal, but again, Taylor is on her phone, and it frustrates him. He wonders if she is more invested in her social media than she is in him and is starting to feel like she has other motives for taking part in this experiment.
He talks about attitude and how he doesn’t feel like opening to her and spending time with her when she’s “catching attitude” all the time. It’s hard for him. She replies, “let it be hard. Still do it.”
He walks away.
I feel for Brandon because he feels like he’s walking on eggshells right now, just not to upset her about anything, but when he is being a smidge passive and agreeable (to keep the peace), it makes her crazy.
At some point, Taylor puts up a video on her Instagram story. She basically said she felt like “she has very minimal requirements for finding a man”– and then lists them:
• 6 foot 3 or over
• No record
• Sane
• Fine as hell
• Got a job
She ends it by saying, “I guess I’ll just be single forever.”
Brandon saw the post, and as anyone in his position would be — was upset by it. After the argument they just had, it was like adding fuel to the fire.
He felt this story post was a direct shot at him and their relationship and couldn’t believe she would call herself single. He was hurt and felt disrespected.
He says, “we can’t bounce back from this… our marriage is over with,” and walks out. We see him pack up some things, leave his keys to the apartment on the table and walk out.
Brandon texts Michael about the IG post, and we then see Meka in the park talking to Taylor. Taylor tells her side of the story. She doesn’t appear to feel bad at all about the Instagram story post and claims it had nothing to do with Brandon or their relationship.
Meka does her best to stay neutral and not say too much but then tells Taylor she understands how Brandon would be upset by it and that she should apologize to him.
At the same time, Brandon meets up with Michael. He explains what happened and how it made him feel and how he has reservations about her motives for being on the show. He is pissed that she hasn’t apologized and feels like she intentionally did this to hurt him.
The experts got wind of the Instagram incident, and Dr. Viviana calls Taylor. She asks her what her reason(s) were for posting that story. Taylor shrugs it off like it was no big deal and said she “thought it was funny.”
Dr. Viviana sternly tells her that it was not funny and was completely inappropriate. Taylor proceeds to rant on about Brandon and his behavior, blaming him for everything. She says she’s “over it.”
Dr. V ends the conversation with “don’t behave in a way that you’re not proud of.”
Normally a talking from one of the experts would make a person reflect on their behavior and make a change to do better – but in this case, Taylor still doesn’t seem to think what she did was wrong.
I liked Taylor at first. Now I’m not so sure about her. Maybe she does have ulterior motives for being on the show.
All I know is that I hope she apologizes to Brandon. What she did was wrong. Things aren’t looking too good for these two.
What does the future hold for the Season 10 Married at First Sight couples? I guess we’ll find out next week…
New episodes of Married at First Sight air Wednesdays at 8/7c.