We are truly only done with week one. There is a lot of transition in this episode. When I complained about episode 2 just being that place-holder? Episode 4 doesn’t have a ton of juicy action and for a little bit, I felt like we were on HouseHunters checking out apartments in NYC. But, the couples move in with each other. Committed couples who have been dating months and years have a hard time moving in with each other… These guys now have to figure out commutes, current living arrangements or finding a new place altogether. Moving, Finances, Jobs, Security, while it’s not juicy action, it is the deep, real issues couples face and talk about. Where do we live? Why do you live with your parents? Who pays the bills? It is a completely different form of intimacy. No one talks about their debts on the first date. These couples didn’t even know what the financial situation of their partner was until now. How scary is that?!
Monet & Vaughn
Monet & Vaughn have some issues. We know this. Monet lives in Harlem, Vaughn in South Jersey… I’ve lived in New Jersey and I’ve lived in Manhattan. It took a special occasion to visit someone who was more than a few subway stops away or even just across Central Park. Completely different worlds. Commuting time in a car vs. public transportation in the city is a huge variable.
Monet takes a trip out to see Vaughn’s place but it’s an hour and a half away from her job in the city. That makes for a 12-hour day and really doesn’t leave time for working on a relationship. Vaughn shows Monet where “the magic happens” and thankfully he doesn’t answer her question… How many women have been bedded here…
The next day he visits her place in Harlem and in the end, Monet is able to convince Vaughn to move into her apartment. Even her cute little yorkie approves of the new man in the house. How cute is that dog!!!
Hopefully they can keep it together because if night one together is any indication of how bumpy it’s going to be… sheesh!
Doug & Jamie
Doug still gets butterflies… every time he sees Jamie. Did I say I love them?
Jamie has an apartment in the city, Doug lives with his parents in New Jersey. It seems like we know what they are going to do (move into Jamie’s) but they surprise me by deciding to go together and get their own place to build together. This is how it’s supposed to be people! While surveying each other’s current living situation, Jamie gets to spend some more time with Doug’s family.
I think Doug’s mom is skeptical of Jamie. I understand that in the 8 days she’s known this girl, first impressions were not working in her favor. But hopefully Doug’s Mom will come around!
Jason & Cortney
Jason is a Brooklyn boy, born and bred. He already commutes 45 minutes to his EMT job. Cortney lives in Manhattan but in a tiny apartment where her room is actually curtained off by the living room. It’s a typical make things work in an NYC space. I had a curtain in the living room of one of my apartments. It was a large living room we cut in half. There is no privacy. All Cortney wants? A door. Jason’s situation with his mother isn’t ideal either. So he needs to be near her and near work. Jason takes her to Bensonhurst’s finest pizzeria, Lenny’s Pizza, only to discover there may be a deal breaker or two…
- Cortney has never seen Saturday Night Fever – filmed at said Pizzeria and
- Cortney’s favorite pizza? PIZZA HUT! And she’s lived in NYC for 2 years. This is a sin to all people who live or have ever lived in NYC. A plain pie in a brick oven is the only way to go!
Cortney and Jason decide to find their new apartment together since neither living situation is conducive to newlyweds.
Let’s talk about money, baby
This is the serious part of the show. Jamie shares her concerns about growing up in poverty and Doug has to explain why he was living with his parents at the age of 30. We all know that 2007/2008 the economy took a hit. People lost their homes, their jobs. Unemployment was crazy high. When you add those circumstances to dating, it’s a whole other layer of finding your appropriate mate. I honestly think non-marrieds and maybe even marrieds watching will reevaluate how they approach this section in the serious dating stage. Who shares their debt stories to someone they’ve known for 9 days? Money represents security and how often do people put of dating until they “appear” as a viable option in the dating pool. Monet and Vaughn discuss how bills will get paid and who takes care of what. This is a completely different kind of intimacy. Going into a relationship with debts is scary, going to into a stranger marriage, probably scarier. Cortney has some debt, but it looks like Jason is willing to get past that.
The Apartment Hunt in NYC
I don’t know where you live, but apartments in NYC are at a premium, and listed at crazy prices. I paid $500 for ½ of a room that was the width that a twin bed is deep, no closet and my loft bed had me 8 inches from the ceiling. And I shared the room with another girl. Ahhh… Hell’s Kitchen! All Cortney wants is a door.
Do you see a door in this Crown Heights Jr. 1BR/loft $2500 eeek! They see two other apartments a $3000 1BR in Cobble Hill and a true 1BR in Park Slope for $2400. In the end, Park Slope is where this couple will spend the next month.
I think looking to add some drama to the Cortney Jason storyline, Jason gets mad at hangers… all of Cortney’s hangers. I see wire hangers- is he channeling Faye Dunaway in “Mommie Dearest”?
Doug & Jamie are looking where Doug can easily get to Jersey, and Jamie needs to be near a train. They look in East Midtown at $2650, the Upper West side for $2800 and Harlem for $2300. How can you tell if it’s a good house? Doug did say the dog would poop in the house… Sure enough… They pick the 1br in Harlem. (I wonder how close they are to Monet & Vaughn!)
I feel like I have whiplash from some of Vaughn’s mood swings. In Puerto Rico he wants Monet to be more attentive. Now when she tries engaging him, she’s smothering him? I’m so confused. We have some serious communication issues people. Monet does a Sunday brunch thing. Vaughn says he enjoys time not talking, his personal space. He doesn’t want to go to brunch, Monet wants him to meet her friends. He said all the talking is making him feel like an interrogation and now he’s ready to draw back. He also says he’s still looking at this as a “potential” match and not one he seems committed too.
We end on the cliff hanger of what will happen with Monet and Vaughn?
My burning questions… One, during filming do the couples know about each other? Have someone going through the same thing they are to talk to? They move in on day 10, but they started this on day 8. What is happening when they aren’t filming. Where are they staying those two days? Are they spending more time with families? Has Cortney met Jason’s mom yet? Did they have to sign a lease for the apartment? Did the network do it for them? Who paid the broker’s fees?
Do you have any questions you want answered?
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Married at First Sight is on the FYI Channel, Tuesdays at 9 ET/ 10 PT
Screen caps by Emily courtesy of FYI
