Some thoughts on last night’s episode:
-It was clear as day who had the best date between the three guys. I mean, sailing in the ocean on a catamaran versus a horseback ride and zip lining? Yeah, no contest. And no, it was not coincidental that the guy Michelle ultimately ends up engaged to is also the one who got the best date of the three.
-I’m trying to give Brandon the benefit of the doubt here and maybe say he hasn’t had a ton of relationship experience, but good Lord, the two men she’s taken to the final 2 couldn’t be more opposite in their approach if they tried. Nayte is the one who struggles to open up and Brandon just love bombs her all day long. It’s one thing for Brandon to have fallen for Michelle and can see a future with her. But I’m sorry, some of things he’s saying to her are so over-the-top outlandish and almost like he’s saying it because he thinks that’s what she wants to hear.
-We’ve watched this show long enough, and seen so many people come in and out of this show to know by now, you BARELY know this person that you’re dating. You’ve spent maybe a total of 3-4 days with them once you add everything up. So for Brandon to make all these love declarations to Michelle so soon is just a bit much for me. I’m sure he’s fallen for her and I’m sure he wants to let her know how he feels, but he’s saying waaaaaaay too much. It’s cringey.
-They never used to do this until Peter’s season where they have all final 3 in the same hotel and just sitting there while one leaves and comes back from their overnight date. Yes, I get it’s being done for TV purposes, but that still doesn’t make it any less awkward or uncomfortable. And they didn’t do it in the bubble seasons because they never went anywhere – La Quinta, Neamcolin, and New Mexico. But yeah, the last non-pandemic season we had, Peter’s, was the first time they’d done it where Hannah Ann, Madi, and Victoria all had to sit there and discuss the previous nights date and what not. And now the first season since then where they traveled, they did it again making Joe, Nayte, and Brandon all go through it. Sounds like this could be the norm going forward.
-I think you can see now why Joe was sent home. While he isn’t the love bomber that Brandon is, nor is he the closed off one that Nayte is, Joe just doesn’t exude much of anything when he speaks. I get that’s his personality and some people are just like that, but Michelle seems to be someone that needs more than that. Joe just doesn’t give her enough and that was clear. While she said he opened up more on their date, it STILL wasn’t enough. And also, Michelle gave the dreaded line of, “our relationship has moved slower than the others,” which is a line that’s always been uttered towards someone about to be sent home. Without fail. And yet again, it happened last night. This is show is speed dating on crack. If your relationship with the lead is a “slow burn,” or “progressing slower than the others,” you’re screwed.
-Do I believe Nayte when he says he can “get there with an engagement,” which Michelle was practically begging him to say? Ummmm, I mean what’s he gonna say in that situation? If he says “no” or “I don’t know,” then Michelle isn’t happy. Of course anyone in that situation, if they don’t want to be sent home, is gonna say they can see themselves getting there. Only time will tell if Nayte is serious about what he said and they make it long term. The odds are certainly against them.
-Nayte took a lot of heat on social media last night for his actions, and I can’t say they were all unwarranted. But on the flip side, if Nayte was saying the things to her that Brandon did, he would’ve been criticized for that too. I think he’s a guy who’s very confident, has never had a hard time getting women in the past, is in a completely bizarre experience, and is just there in the moment riding it out. I have no idea what their life has been like outside of the show or how serious the two of them are post-show. Nor do we for any of these couples. We’ve seen couples love bomb each other on social media and weeks later end an engagement. So I don’t put much stock into really anything these people say publicly. So my stance remains the same: until these couples move in together, that’s when I’ll take them seriously. Until then, it’s just dating that so happens to have an engagement attached to it because it’s what the show wants you to do.
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