I don't know man, all she was ever able to say was "BLM", or "Equality" without really being able to describe what isn't working today.
I think a producer promoted that comment in the car. Also, the shit eating grin on her sisters face was hilarious.
I think some of that has to do with the show's editing and the fact that her partner had no opinion on George Floyd or the events of 2020. That's a problematic spawn point to be in with something that clearly doesn't want to do the work on learning her values.
My full thoughts on the finale and this season: Spoiler The LiB post mortems are always so interesting and make me curious what was left on the cutting room floor. If we learned anything from this season, it’s that men who don’t have opinions on things are MASSIVE red flags. They more than likely know what they stand for is controversial and don’t have the fortitude to stand on it or be questioned by their partners. Ben/Sara: I think she handled that entire situation gracefully, and we got some genuine insight into how she feels about Ben when she commented, "There was no curiosity on his part. I want to be with someone curious about my brain and shows me that.". It's very clear to me that Ben wants to put up the front and be open to everything, but when push comes to shove, he is locked in on his hardcore beliefs and expects the women to follow suit with what he believes. I hope we get footage of the vaxx or not vaxxed conversation during the reunion. She's a healthcare professional after all. Virginia/Devin: Devin with the biggest bag fumble in LiB history. Virginia dodged a bullet. That man did not see this coming at all. (We need to have a further conversation about his suit game.) Similarly to Ben and Sara, Devin believes what he believes and is unwilling to dive deep into controversial topics with his partner. Looking back on what we know now, that bedroom scene was a defcon 1 moment for Virginia. I do think the theory that Virginia was trying to protect him from having a terrible image. Virginia seemed very intentional in what she described as issues with Devin. This isn't the first time in LiB history that a black female has gone above board to defend/protect a black male from a poor image. The entire situation where he was hiding a wedding gift check screams scammer without a job to me. I want to know what her family thinks about that whole scenario. Devin's mom absolutely called Virginia outside of her name off camera. I NEED that footage. I feel bad for his niece who probably believes all weddings are like this now. Joey/Monica: these two talk past one another in many ways. I don't think Monica realizes how much her sister smothers her relationships. Likewise, I find it interesting that Monica made note of Joey not wanting to be physical with her or give her affirmation. Daniel/Taylor: Nothing really to say here. They seem to work out. I was pretty surprised that they hadn't hooked up before the wedding. I still think Daniel is a weirdo for the IG Christmas stuff.
Spoiler I looked Devin up and the company he works for helps 12 and under kids. The varsity team isn’t a real high school team, it’s an all star team for youth basketball. He’s making no money and he’s so low on the coaching totem pole that someone as smart as Virginia would see right through that. And the comment about the wedding check makes complete sense. He’s enabled by his family and Virginia is better off.
Out of all the people on this show, I think Vanessa Lachey is easily the most annoying one of them all. Nick isn’t much better but he seems like he’s kind of playing up being a dork.
Will spoiler since it’s just released Spoiler Joey’s sisters looking like total clowns in the crowd lol the sisters of these people not having great showings this season
Ben is a fucking ghoul, and I sorta think he got off lite compared to Devin. I know the raw footage of Devin/Virginia’s wedding is too juicy for public consumption
Madison is one of the craziest people that has been on the show. She is very hot and says she loves creampies...but drop your load anywhere else as that's not someone you want to be tied to in the long run. You could tell when she spoke that nobody took any of it seriously. Dave seems to have been humbled a bit as he kept his mouth shut for the most part. Lauren was fantastic when talking to him. Virginia is just in an entirely different league than Devin. Neither Ben or Sarah are very smart people. It's a chore to listen to them talk on this show.
So I have mixed reviews on her. I think her explanation about acting a different way with each guy is valid. I believe Alex got off on toying with Mason, which was never addressed in the reunion. Madison is just entirely too erratic at times and probably shouldn't have been on the show. Did he really? His whole reasoning about realizing over the last 3 weeks was just super odd to me. Lauren figured out her self worth No notes here. I just want the hot mic footage from the wedding. Sad we didn't get the vaxxed or not question. I think Sara meeting up with him for a week was dumb. Ben is the reason those "Are we dating the same guy" FB groups exist.
I thought it was odd that Alex said maybe ten words? Seems like there’s more to tell but as IvanTheTerrible notes above, Madison can’t keep her story straight and that’s bad reality tv. Sara strikes me as someone who really tries and she’s plagued by bad decisions. Her sister seems in a different galaxy maturity wise and Sara needs to wake up. Ben is the definition of white privilege, fucking loser. Dave is just as immature a year later when he left the pods. Lauren handled herself well. Virginia talked with confidence and put Devin into a grave, kudos to her. Devin was so shook he couldn’t form a thought without repeating himself. Devin’s parents are some real chuds. Joey didn’t belong the show.
One moron trying to help another. The way they were all so worried about who the former cast member was, kind of sums up why the reunions for this show annoy me. Just totally worried about the details that don't matter. Jimmy is an idiot but at least to me trying to offer advice to Ben wasn’t a big deal or something he should be called out for. The point was to say Ben only reached out to “rehearse”, and to me confirmed what it looked like all season which is Ben is full of shit and just trying to give answers people want to hear.
I think Jimmy reached out to several of these dudes on having their stories together. We've seen a consistent trend in the recent seasons where the women are aligned and have their shit together. The guys are all ways ill-prepared. Which it kind of annoys me that Nick and Vanessa never redirect questioning in the moment. Ex. Virginia explained her values, what annoyed her, and off-camera events. They never asked Devin point blank about his opinions on other religions, LGBTQ+, or equality in relationship dynamics. Likewise, they never question Ben on his serial ghosting behavior.
I get that it may have come off as homophobic, but I don't necessarily agree. I think Devin was/is insecure and he couldn't handle it from that perspective.
are you and I watching the same show? All of the girls are highly credible. All of the guys, sans Daniel, are terrible people. There was no humbling of Dave. That was all for the camera.
At 28 years old, that's pathetic. He also gave off the energy that Brittany had red flags because of this personal discovery. This is why redirect during the reunion is so important. Devin has never had to articulate his beliefs with detail. Instead, he uses the same tired/predictable card: "I'm a Christian. I love everyone. We don't have to agree on everything"
Madison is pretty clearly bat shit crazy imo. The texts were maybe the worst use of "receipts" I've ever seen. She was clearly trying to railroad Alex, but I don't think it was nearly the gotcha moment she was looking for. I don't think any of them trusted Madison, and she's on the list of cast members from this season who clearly need therapy.
Something that just crossed my mind... Ben said that he never had to think about equality or LGBTQ+ people in his church because it was not part of his everyday life. So why did he introduce Sara to his gay friends during the second installment of episodes?
I think we're only saying Madison needs therapy because she's a woman. Devin, Joey, Dave, Alex, and Ben are lightyears more shitty than Madison.
eh, I think she gets a bad rap. Alex was clearly talking shit. She definitely played herself in the pods, but she wouldn't have ended up with either of those dorks anyway. Mason is a hornball that picked cream pies over a true connection. Alex is quite a manipulative douche. His antics outside of the show are very concerning. I have no sympathy for the dudes from this season, at all.
No, he comes off as an unemployed Christian fundamentalist who doesn't know how a mortgage works. That being said, some of the simplest people I've ever met can still actively listen to others when they are vulnerable. Devin doesn't have that ability.
I'm not dismissing the issues of all of those guys. Devin and Joey seem like they're dumb as rocks, Dave is Dave. Alex is 100% a walking red flag and we know about Ben. That doesn't dismiss Madison actively sabotaging Mason and Meg in the pods, or her manipulation in it's own right. I also question the interactions with Joey outside of the pods. Madison pretty clearly has deep seeded issues based on what she shared about her past in the pods, and was begging for commitment and affirmation from 2 different guys simultaneously.
I will have more thoughts poste in a bit, but wanted to jump into the Madison conversation first. There is no doubt that most of the men from this season have their own issues, and I would not fight you on that. However, Madison trying to play the victim with 3 different men/situations should clearly show you the type of person she is. She got mixed into the Joey/Monica situation (more on that later), she tried to flame Mason who seemed to be universally like, and then tried to take down Alex. All the while, she was claiming to be innocent and a victim in it all. Madison 100% pressured Mason and was manipulative in the pods, to both Mason and Alex. Mason felt that pressure and made a mistake, one that he immediately regretted and made efforts to fix. To have her then try to turn on Mason and paint him as some misogynist is disgusting because he never did anything wrong. Madison didn't like that she wasn't Masons #1 and did whatever she could to push herself ahead, only to then end things right after. Also, her use of "receipts" was awful as they proved nothing other than Alex did some shit talking.. about what or who, they didn't prove.
I dont know about questioning the stuff with Joey. Molly very clearly backed up her story and Joey looked dumfounded. I dont think Joey was ever attracted to Monica and sought some of that Madison freaky shit and thought he could get away with it.
That’s a good point about how most of the guys come into the reunion vs the girls. I don’t think there’s anything “wrong” with preparing for it, given it’s mostly their first time in a “live” setting with the audience there. In Ben’s case it just seemed like every answer he gave during the show was very vague and wishy-washy in an attempt to not get himself in trouble but also have a claim he wasn’t fully lying. Hence saying he doesn’t remember random details. So I could see why Sara framed it more as a rehearsal vs preparing. Your point on the hosts is easily my biggest complaint on the reunion. They have the ability to at least press the issue a little bit and if they still dont want to answer that probably speaks for itself. Instead every time things got to that point last night they’d just bail and show another Top 5 moment lol It did make me laugh how Virginia approached it though. Basically saying “I won’t go into details but we disagreed on some ideas, like I support all religions, I support women’s rights”…saying it without saying it.
Everything about Madisons personality screams the type of person that would 100% be flirty with nearly anyone, and then use it against them. Joey never gave me the impression he ever would have convinced himself, let alone others, that he would have a shot with Madison.
Doesn’t help dispute the people online that were joking about how he hired those people to look diverse lol
Lol ...Madison is not credible. Dave kept his mouth shut for the most part. That's something he had an issue with in every other episode.
She has extreme levels of main character syndrome. That being said, Joey (more than any of the other guys on this show) comes off as the most manicured person when the cameras were on.
Dave let it be known that he didn't deliver a letter that Lauren wrote to his sister until weeks later. Staying quiet during the reunion isn't a redemption arc in my mind. It just raises more questions about an already greasy individual.
Yeah most of the guys on this season were especially terrible, but Madison definitely has issues too. Which she discussed during the dates. Probably just hasn’t processed them fully, and it’s shaped how she behaves (I know from experience lol). She definitely couldn’t handle not being the guys #1 choice and definitely seems like one who mostly likes the validation of guys being interested. I can’t remember the full story, but it seemed like her childhood was pretty traumatic so that would at least excuse some of it compared to the guys who appear to just be religious freaks/mamas boys, but definitely don’t think she’s completely innocent either. The receipts thing was stupid just because the texts didn’t really unveil THAT much dirt on anyone but I guess at least she was trying to standup for herself. I just don’t think it hit as hard as she thought.
Her "receipts" were hilarious. I think everyone was expecting a bomb to drop and instead it was Mason, Meg and Alex being like "ok?"