RECAP: “Love Is Blind” Season 7, Episode 12 (The Weddings)
As I watched the wedding episode for Season 7, I just kept thinking, The producers and editors of this show must have been sweating bullets the last few weeks of filming. Leaving the pods, they had a surfeit of storylines; so many that they opted to not follow one of the messiest pairings in Leo and Brittany. But over the intervening weeks, these couples have self destructed at an alarming pace. We almost always have engaged couples flame out before we get to the weddings, but MOST of the couples at least get to the aisle before either saying “I do” or melting down spectacularly. That’s, like, the whole big drama of the show.
But this season, out of the six engaged couples we followed, only TWO made it to their weddings. Just two! Those odds are TERRIBLE. Granted, three couples made it to the final episode, but 50 percent of the main pairings this season opted to end the experiment before the final episode, due to terrible behavior by one or both of their members. I don’t think we’ve ever had a season with such dysfunctional couples. I don’t know if that’s related to the show maturing over the years, and couples just not being willing to put up with bullshit because Production wants them to, or if it is a condemnation of the ethically dubious people of the Washington, D.C. area. Possibly it is both.
Read on for my takes on the wedding episode, starting with the couple that broke up at the start of the episode and continuing to the two that made it to their ceremonies. Disagree with my takes? Leave your thoughts in the comments. SPOILERS AHEAD!
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SPLIT: Ramses & Marissa
We left the last episode with this couple on very shaky ground. Ramses was allegedly thrown by a phone conversation with friends and family and suddenly had intense doubts about this relationship. We got slightly more context here, as Ramses told Marissa that he didn’t realize how much his previous divorce devastated his ex-wife, and he doesn’t want to hurt Marissa the same way.
Frankly, I find this difficult to believe. You really didn’t know that your previous wife was hurt by your divorce? Not buying it. I think something closer to the truth came out soon thereafter, when Marissa — trying desperately to understand how this situation was unraveling so quickly — hit on something that Ramses more or less seemed to acknowledge: he finds her energy level overwhelming. She said this has happened in every relationship she’s ever been in. Guys find her intensity fun and sexy at first, but then it overwhelms them and they inevitably pull away. You could see the anguish on this woman’s face as she found herself once again reliving this apparent pattern. And Ramses didn’t even attempt to deny it, he just made mealy-mouthed excuses and apologized for hurting her.
My take is that Ramses realized this wasn’t going to work prior to this scene, and this phone call with his friends and family was a smokescreen to make his exit seem more reasonable. Marissa seemed to think something similar. She even explicitly stated that she anticipated that phone call would lead to him pulling out of the wedding, so she sensed something was going on. And don’t get me wrong, this couple should not have gotten married. They have massive philosophical differences that are, I think, insurmountable. But I am surprised that Ramses just hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete out of seemingly nowhere. They were fighting, but this massive shift in attitude really did feel like it was out of nowhere.
I found watching this break-up especially difficult. Marissa put it all out there. She was completely genuine in her confusion over how their situation had imploded so quickly, her pain over once again trusting a man who told her one thing and then went back on it, and it sure seemed like mixed in was a fear of never truly being loved. I felt awful for her. Marissa deserves so much better than this, and I hope she finds it. I don’t think Ramses was being truly honest about his feelings, and timed this to get out of the even more humiliating wedding rejection. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the impression I am getting. The last few episodes were a bad look for him overall, in many ways, but this had serious fuckboy energy.
Tyler & Ashley
If we are basing impressions solely on what this show has showed us, Tyler and Ashley’s wedding was perfect. The ceremony was beautiful with a touch of whimsy (contemporary dancers as flower girls?). They both looked incredible. Their families and friends seemed so happy for both of them. Their vows were lovely.
So, on its face, super successful, and they are a lovely couple. But if you have any awareness of the meta discussion about this show, it is impossible to watch these episodes and not get the ick from their scenes. If even half of what has been reported about Tyler and his past is true, this doesn’t feel romantic and charming; it feels predatory and gross. It feels like a woman has been sold a false bill of goods by her would-be husband, who is keeping critically important details of his life away from her, so as to not blow up his spot.
We don’t really know the truth about Tyler and his children. Maybe it is as he finally — FINALLY — confessed to Ashley at the end of Part 2, that he was simply a sperm donor for a lesbian couple so that they could have a child. If that’s true, it’s still a problem that he withheld that information so long, especially given his seeming obsession about having children as soon as possible. If it is more than that, if he was actually involved with one of those women and was involved at some point in the childrens’ lives, his actions are indefensible, and seriously call into question his character. This woman entered into a lifetime contract with this man. And he is alleged not who he has been representing himself to be.
This reunion is going to be messy for many, many reasons, but I think this storyline is going to be the most shocking and dramatic. I’m actually desperate to know how it all worked out.
Garrett & Taylor
After a brief wobble in the last group of episodes, it was smooth sailing for Garrett and Taylor as they became man and wife. Their whole segment was lovely from start to finish. The two of them have seemed like a great match from the start, and in fact only seemed more simpatico this episode. Their little moments with the notes at the altar, or in the horse-drawn carriage at the end, are total relationship goals. They seem like two of the coolest, most genuine people I’ve ever seen on this show, and it was nice that at least ONE couple this season seems to have gotten a legitimate fairy-tale ending. Because it sure doesn’t seem like any of the others are.
I was also happy to see both Garrett and Taylor’s parents present for the wedding, and everyone seemingly having a great time. Everything seemed perfect. (Can we take a moment to cry over that hospital baby bonnet Taylor’s mom saved for her wedding day?) My only quibble is that the segment went on far too long, but I think that was unavoidable since there were no other weddings to follow. Seriously, filling this episode must have been a nightmare for the editors, especially if the Tyler rumors come true (and the editing this episode sure made me feel like the editors knew exactly what was going on with Tyler). So we got scene after scene of Garrett and Taylor and their families being happy and lovely and blissful, which is so wonderful for them — what a great wedding album. But it did get repetitive for the viewer, even those of us who are obsessed with this couple and want only the best for them.
I think Taylor and Garrett have the stuff to go all the way, to have a long, happy life together. Based on what we’ve seen, they are the exact kind of story this experiment is about finding. It’s funny that the seemingly ideal result for “Love Is Blind” is coming out of one of its messiest, most chaotic seasons. But good for them, I guess!
Next: the reunion, which better be absolute fire given all the insanity that transpired with these messy-ass couples.