For every reality TV gathering, there must be a sacrificial lamb – a person who becomes a target for fellow participants and producers alike. Normally it’s pretty obvious who gets the hero cut and who will be the heel, but we’re going in The ultimatumI actually wasn’t sure about the last few episodes, the finale and the reunion. Would it be Nick, the moody artist who completely lost it when he realized he actually had chemistry with someone else? Could it be Sandy, the friend in question, who somehow forgot to tell Nick how many times she and her litigation partner kissed? Or would it be the litigation partner himself, JR, who always just seemed like a…? few too concerned with, as he puts it, “getting the most out of the experience”?

In the end it was JR – which makes sense because it turns out the producers captured one much of moments in which this pastor’s son comes across as less saintly than he probably would like. As if that wasn’t enough, his original partner and now ex-girlfriend Zaina was ready to bury him with high-tech receipts – more specifically, a QR code taped to her fingernail?! Yes, apparently that’s a thing now, and I’ve never felt so old.

And just in case the emotional feeding frenzy wasn’t enough, Netflix also gave us some dirt: One of the two couples who left the show early revisited why they packed their bags so abruptly. Luckily, it was Vanessa and Dave who really mattered to us. (No offense, Chanel and Micah; you seem like lovely people, but true to your graciousness, you didn’t make a mess for us at all!) You might not have thought that Nick’s trial partner, Vanessa, would become such a compelling ally to Sandy. But you know what they say: All is fair in love, in war and in war The ultimatum.

Nick and Sandy (and Vanessa and Dave)
Let’s start with our biggest source of chaos: the love maelstrom between Nick, Sandy, Vanessa and Dave. (We’ll get to the JR of it all in a moment.)

They knew things would get ugly when Nick and Sandy went with their ultimate answer. From what we saw, there was simply no way for Sandy to say “yes” to a proposal, and I was only 50/50 sure Nick would even pop the question. When he reached into his jacket pocket, her face said it all – and he wasn’t happy. I don’t know if Sandy wanted to abandon Nick or what, but she said, “I want nothing more than to get out of here engaged to you,” after she did it this face As he reached into his jacket, he pushed my soul right out of my body. Nick wasn’t having it either and just said, “That doesn’t sound like it.” No joke!

Nick’s jealousy of Sandy’s connection to JR has consumed him all season, but at the reunion Sandy found some support from Vanessa – Nick’s test partner, who left the show early without explanation. It turned out that she couldn’t bear to live with him for even 24 hours.

Vanessa and her original partner Dave appear to have joined the reunion just to confirm they were still together and to confront Nick. According to Vanessa, their first day together as a “married” couple was a nightmare. Nick became very upset over Sandy and JR, and when she tried to comfort him, he became “ugly” and lashed out. She also referenced an unresolved trauma that Nick is dealing with that, without further explanation, seemed to baffle even Sandy. We have no further clarity on this.

Nick didn’t deny any of it, admitting that he drank too much as a coping mechanism; After the show, he said, he recovered. He and Sandy are separated now, and to say that’s for the best would be the understatement of the year. Apparently they weren’t making each other happy, and when they met again she couldn’t get through a single sentence without him rolling his eyes or interrupting her. Thank you very much, continue!

On the bright side, Dave took Vanessa ring shopping – so maybe wedding bells are ringing for the couple who decided this “experience” wasn’t for them.

JR and Zaina
What else can I say about these two? SHOT? JR kisses with his eyes open, so I never trusted him, but it was still nice to see him call Zaina “the love of my life” after everything we saw. (To recap: several kisses between JR and Sandy, and several comments from JR suggesting that he would like to consider going with Sandy if he had the chance.)

Apparently the two didn’t get engaged and JR was torn to shreds at the reunion. JR claimed Zaina was manipulative and tried to stop him from meeting other people, but Zaina called him a liar. Her The truth is that he kept their relationship in a gray area for months, only to arrange a date with her on her birthday and then cancel it on the day of the year without rescheduling – an accusation further reinforced by her claim becomes more hideous she had treated him to a steak dinner and a massage at the Ritz be Birthday. JR says he was sick on Zaina’s big day, but that doesn’t explain the lack of follow-up care. The strangest thing about the whole thing is that when they moved to separate places, they continued to live across the street. Didn’t they learn anything from it? The ultimatumIs this a housing nightmare, or is this some kind of real estate Stockholm syndrome?

When the dreaded Hall Pass debacle occurred, producers snubbed JR by playing a clip of him making lewd comments to various contestants before literally joking about how excited he was he was over the Hall Pass. Zaina’s verdict? “Gross.” I have to agree; After JR approached Sandy about “juicy” salmon, I’m not sure I’ll ever eat fish again.

And if all that wasn’t humiliating enough, Zaina used cutting-edge technology (the QR code on her fingernail, which still amazes and amazes me) to upload screenshots of her text to JR on the subject of “floor pass.” ” As with most of the “receipts” on this show, the text messages weren’t the convincing evidence Zaina thought they were, but they at least proved that she never told JR that Scotty had claimed he was there for a ticket .

JR was visibly upset about this, and although I’m not sure, it looks like he walked off the stage the moment the meeting ended without saying goodbye to anyone. I guess that’s what happens when a pastor’s child turns out not to be a believer.

Scotty and Aria
Despite the many, many problems in their relationship, Scotty proposes to Aria in the finale, and against all odds, she says yes. But shortly before She said yes, you could see a glint in her eyes – something that looked a lot like panic.

In fact, during the reunion, Scaria confirmed that they had broken up. A day after accepting Scotty’s proposal, Aria realized she had made a mistake. As he rewatched the engagement, Scotty said he too could see Aria’s hint of insecurity. They tried to live together, but after a series of personal tragedies (Aria’s grandmother died and she had a miscarriage), the two separated. Aria also tearfully explains how much begging it took to get Scotty to go to couples therapy – a year to be exact.

Scotty was pretty contrite during the reunion, but Aria was visibly heartbroken. She cried at how emotionally drained she was and wondered aloud why she always had to apologize to him. (Based on what we’ve seen throughout the season, this is understandable; Scotty often seems to be a fan of the “I’m sorry IF…” apology – a rhetorical construction that should be illegal because it is damn it’s annoying.) Both Scotty and Aria agree that they’re better off single, at least for now.

Caleb and Mariah
Finally a good result! Caleb may have been the one who dragged his feet in the relationship as Ultima Tea, but in the end he wrote a very sweet proposal, got down on one knee and proposed. “If you’re ready,” he said, “can we start forever?” fainting.

When they met again, the couple seemed to be doing well. We watched the requisite montage of their “adventures” and they confirmed their plans for an overseas wedding in the summer of 2026. Unfortunately for Caleb, Aria arrived at the reunion full of energy and ready to show the receipts that proved he “liked” her “. Instagram Stories – which made Mariah cry because it was painful to re-watch the show and see her husband emotionally connecting with someone he had only described to her as a friend.

I have to say, I feel like Aria went overboard here and stirred up conflicts that didn’t need to exist. After years of watching Netflix dating shows and the emotional carnage of their reunions, liking a few Instagram stories, blocking and unblocking them seems like pretty tame behavior. Her insistence that Caleb and Mariah seem “wrong” also seems like an exaggeration.

But there was one interesting revelation. In the middle of it all, Aria said that Mariah called Caleb every day and that they talked for hours – which neither of them denied. Why didn’t anyone mention this at the beginning of the season? Surely the fight this could have caused could have been more interesting than those lifeless meetings between Mariah and Nick at the gym! This is a growing phenomenon on Netflix dating shows, which increasingly seem to hide the real drama until the reunion. Yes, it makes for some great shouting matches, but in this case the “big reveal” felt lackluster and unnecessary. But hey – all’s well that ends well, right?

• From his mocking of the idea that he might feel romantically “threatened” by Nick to his perfectly rehearsed joke about Vanessa’s farts at the end of their performance, Dave really wanted in on this reunion, didn’t he?

• Good thing Zaina is freezing her eggs! I hope we continue to see them Perfect match next summer, where her emotional maturity, impeccable style and overall hotness could be properly appreciated.

• I know I said earlier that we don’t care about Chanel and Micah, but for those who are curious, they still seem to be together. At least they just posted some date night content on IG.