Love to See It with Emma and Claire

The “Love Island” USA and “Let’s Marry Harry” reunions finally dropped this week, after we’d finally allowed our brains to move on. The two-hour “Love Island” reunion was shapeless, often boring, and felt as though it would never end. The cast re-litigated endless minor beefs, and rarely introduced new information or found any resolution – though we did finally establish how many times Sol was pied (two, as shown on TV) and how many times Bryce pulled Kayda (one, as shown on TV). Melanie had issues with half the cast, while Sincere just popped up every twenty minutes or so to issue a blanket apology. The women’s behavior is hyper-scrutinized, while the men skate by. Overall, the cast seems sad, tired, and defensive after a summer of being analyzed to death. Please, let’s put this season to bed! Then, we dip into the “Let’s Marry Harry,” where the women are aggrieved and Harry is up to his old tricks: reciting softboy emotional platitudes in order to distract from his proven track record of douchey behavior.

Season 20 of “Married at First Sight” is safely in the can, and, as we hoped, six of the seven couples are safely separated from each other! In this recap, Claire and Leigh talk about Decision Day, from the reveal of Felipe’s vile off-camera comments to Tori to the oddly timed gifting of a Ninja Creami, before diving into the action-packed reunion. Relationship experts Paul and Dr. Lisa have taken off their therapist hats and donned their tea-spilling host ensembles, and they’re ready to take stock of the emotional wounds inflicted on the show’s cast by their mostly short-lived marriages. Mecca and Bellé discuss their post-show split, while Michelle and Cam share mostly happy updates from the first year of married life. Marissa is finally ready to share her truth: She despises Adam and his cooking. Tori wants to know why she was ever even placed in Felipe’s vicinity. Adam makes fun of Courteney’s pickleball skills until she cries, all while wearing his most attention-seeking ensemble yet. Caitlin and Devin somehow slide under the radar, but Nikki and Shawn? They have no shortage of grievances to air.

This batch of “Married at First Sight” episodes leaves us at the brink of decision day – and teasing a scandalous off-camera conversation between Felipe and Tori. But first, the remaining six couples head off on a couples retreat that is more fratty than therapeutic. Felipe leans into his womanizing reputation, and expects Tori to be as tolerant of his foibles as his mother is. Mecca and Caitlin get flirty, and somehow Bellé is the last person anyone is concerned about. Nikki is ruminating on why Shawn told her she was a Seattle 10, but a New York 7. Adam is more focused on stirring the pot than finding compromises with Marissa. Michelle and Cam seem fine, but everyone else is fed up with their meddling and judgment. Even us! Should any of these couples actually stay married – and will they?

As “Married at First Sight” season 20 draws closer to decision day, the pressure on the seven couples is growing – and one has, blessedly, buckled underneath it. After Nick and Courteney wisely remove themselves from the experiment, we’re left with six couples who, in Adam’s parlance, are trying to just vibe and full send it, but are mostly cooked. Adam has imperceptibly tweaked his intensity level downward, while Marissa looks more dead behind the eyes in every scene. Mecca decides that a group dinner is the perfect time to announce that his first impression of Belléjolie was, “she’s not pretty enough for me.” Caitlin is trying to lean into her feminine by introducing Devin to Taylor Swift. Nikki and Shawn put intimacy on the agenda… and hit their KPIs. Felipe realizes that commitment just means thinking Tori is hot in this moment. And though Cam has begun to waver at the idea of a relationship lasting longer than six months, he and Michelle are feeling sufficiently superior to the other couples to put themselves in charge of who should say “yes” on decision day.

Harry Jowsey has had a long and winding road through the world of reality dating TV, most notably “Too Hot to Handle” and “Perfect Match.” He rode his success from these Netflix hits to a podcast deal with Alex Cooper’s Unwell network – and now, his own reality dating show, “Let’s Marry Harry.” In this bonus, Leigh and Claire discuss a show that promises to marry the inveterate womanizer off for good. From its gimmicky concept (all 20 contestants are immediately given engagement rings and referred to as his “fiancées”) to its ill-fated attempt at a redemption arc for Harry, this show is wildly entertaining, frequently alarming, and offers much food for thought about the current state of the reality dating space and masculinity discourse.