Spoilers for The Ultimatum season one + reunion special
During the reunion special of The Ultimatum, Vanessa Lachey tells the cast, “We really just want you guys to be happy. We don’t wanna see you in pain.” This was said after playing a clip that absolutely devastated one of the cast members, and it was, of course, the kind of clip that you know is gonna rock someone to their very core. After I finished laughing my ass off about that blatant reality TV show lie of “we’re not here to try and manufacture drama, we’re here for you” I realized why this show feels a bit too messy compared to Love Is Blind.
The Ultimatum is a disaster from the start, with twenty-somethings who have only been together for one to two years talking about something as severe as an ultimatum—something Vanessa Lachey herself waited five years into her relationship with Nick before issuing out. We’re told that couples who are uncertain always wonder if the grass is greener, even if the couples here have issues that revolve around finances, children, and not even living together yet. The situations they’re put in are destined to lead to explosive confrontations, but it’s under the guise of “simulated marriage” so they can have those “hard conversations.”
Ironically, during the reunion special of the second season of Love Is Blind, series villain Shake worried about how he’d been edited because he knows that reality TV be like that. Of course, watching the special showed that he was genuinely rotten toward Deepti, no editing required. The Ultimatum, however, feels purposely staged to get the most “holy shit” results. There’s no way anyone’s walking away from this unscathed—save for the ones who left early.
This is why it’s so surprising that, technically, more couples got together in this show than in Love Is Blind (which only had two per season). Though it could be because two of them had the sense to run the fuck away.
Alexis and Hunter
The first couple to get engaged, Hunter proposed to Alexis during “The Choice” portion of the show. Instead of picking someone else to spend three weeks with, Hunter decided to propose to Alexis. She said yes, and they left together. Currently, they’re in the middle of wedding planning, in fact, Hunter’s mother is a wedding planner and is helping the couple out. Very smart of them to leave the show before things could get real messy—though Alexis being mad about Colby not being attracted to her lives on.
Lauren and Nate
Probably one of the most surprising moments is when Nate proposed to Lauren during “The Choice” and she said yes! Not only was this a shock because he’d whispered to Madlyn that he was going to pick her (after losing out on Shanique and April), but he was very adamant about wanting children while Lauren didn’t want children at all.
Still, they get engaged, and Nate is accused of stealing Alexis and Hunter’s moment. During the reunion, we find out Lauren and Nate are still together, and she’s agreed to have at least one kid. They’ve also gone to therapy together, which is a better alternative than going on a reality show.
Madlyn and Colby (and his hat)
I honestly expected these two to break up. Madlyn was already tired of Colby when they got there and was immediately interested in Randall, so much so that she had no problem talking about the boner he’d get around her. That conversation happened in front of Shanique when the girls hung out together, by the way. Madlyn was definitely going after Randall, one hundred and ten percent.
But then Madlyn got upset about Colby talking to other girls, so what do I know?
At the end of the series, Colby proposed to Madlyn. She said yes. He then, um, asked if she’d be okay with getting married that day. She said … yes?! So they got married on the spot?!?! And at the reunion, we find out that she’s pregnant!
Shanique and Randall
While these two didn’t get married on the spot like Madlyn and Colby, they did get engaged … only to break up after the show. However, it sounds like it did them some good, as they were separated for six months and are now back together. Shanique went on a couple of dates. Meanwhile, Randall had a lot of personal tragedy going on, but Shanique stayed close as a friend to support him which led to them becoming a couple again.
April and Jake
The prime example of “I brought him on the show, oops, he’s falling for someone else,” I didn’t expect them to get back together in the end and, well, they didn’t. Jake wasn’t ready to marry April, so she walked away from him. Instead, he went and told Rae that he wanted to take a trip with her and to see where their relationship went (more on this later).
At the reunion, we find out that April and Jake kind of “coasted” with each other. They were together, but NOT together, because they were so used to being around each other. In the end, April found love with someone else, and Jake remains single. What about Rae, you ask? Well…
Zay and Rae
So Rae tells us that she and Jake decided to not take their vacation because they didn’t want to be like “fuck y’all we’re going on vacation.” However, we find out that Zay and Rae ended up back together (according to Zay, that’s the REAL reason why the trip never happened). Things didn’t work out between them, and now Rae is in a relationship with a woman, revealing that she wasn’t comfortable with her bisexuality for the longest time and is now working on embracing herself.
That’s not the end of their story.
Later on during the reunion, Nick and Vanessa play a clip that reveals that Shanique and Zay were physically intimate with each other. Shanique has no shame in it, especially since Randall and Madlyn had reached “boner” status in their relationship. However, Shanique had told Randall about this. Zay? Didn’t tell Rae.
This leads to the most explosive moment of the reunion, as Rae reveals that Zay had accused her of sleeping with Jake when she didn’t. Not only that but Rae and Shanique have become friends. Rae isn’t angry at Shanique, her anger is directed at Zay, who accused her of doing something that he himself did. This is the part of the reunion where Vanessa said the bit about not wanting to hurt the cast, which, lol, but she went on to say that Rae and Zay could work this out privately … after being the one to reveal it publically.
Anyway, The Ultimatum is a dumpster fire, and the second season is gonna have an entirely queer cast. I thought us gays were safe from the disasters of reality TV as we so rarely are a part of it, but I guess I’ll have to stop asking if the straights are okay once the next season has queer couples issuing ultimatums.
(Image: Netflix)
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