The following is a review of each couple from season 1 as well as a numeral rating based on how entertaining they were overall throughout the course of the show.
Katie/Kolton - This couple was a snooze-fest for the majority of this season. The main drama that occurs in this relationship is that Kolton is much younger than Katie and met her through being friends with her daughter. All of the classic "I'm dating my friends mom" tropes are present and offer nothing new to the questionable sub-genre. It's a weird situation and it kind of doesn't work out and then it does and after the show ends it falls apart again. I wish I had more to say about this one but that's really it. 2/10
Shawn/Kate - These two weren't overtly interesting, however their final segment did leave me a bit more surprised than what I had anticipated. Shawn is a bit of an influencer type, hosting bombastic events to promote his services and make new connections. Our first source of minor conflict appears when Kate tries to make a big deal out of Shawn shooting artificial currency out of his money gun during a party. IF hE's WiLLiNg To sHooT FaKe mOneY, wHaT eLsE iS hE LyinG aBoUt? Kate makes a big deal out of Shawn not wanting to get married after only a year of being together which I find to be pretty downright absurd, but that may just be my personal take on the matter. Filler drama aside, Shawn gets Kate a gold necklace which she ends up liking. Down the line they end up at a jewelry store to potentially have said necklace melted down into an engagement ring. Plot twist incoming! The necklace didn't contain an authentic diamond, rendering its value to be much less than what had been anticipated. Shawn goes into what seems to be an unscripted fit of rage, complaining about the employee's credentials and yelling at the producers to stop filming him, boldly exclaiming that he's done with the show for good. This reigns true, as it was the last scene which would be filmed of the couple for the rest of the season. 4/10 just for the wacky ending.
Bill/Bri - This couple is likely to draw the most attention throughout the show, as their age difference is a staggering 40 years apart. Bill has a complicated history of past marriages, relationships, cheating scandals, etc. Other than the fact that he is a self-proclaimed multi-millionaire, I don't see the appeal in spending more than 5 minutes in this guy's proximity. Bill is a player by the books, and most likely has cheated on more partners than he's willing to admit. He is extremely controlling, and can never take no for an answer. Having to bear witness to his constant snark and contempt for those around him was grating to say the least. Bri definitely gave me very conflicting vibes throughout this season. While she can easily come off as stupid and naïve at a surface level, I feel like she's in it for the long con and is trying to secure her share of Bill's wealth by any means possible. There are scenes like in the jewelry shop where she is notably enticed by the ability to afford just about anything she wants in the shop, where just one jewel she mentioned had a price tag of over a hundred grand. While I can't necessarily blame her for going the route that I assume she has chosen, the mental fortitude it must take to hang around that old geezer all day is worth a monetary prize of its own. 6.5/10, compellingly awful content.
Rosie/Drew - There's a decent bit to take in between these two, and most of it for me was just feeling bad for Rosie the entire time. She was sheltered almost her entire life by restrictive/religious parents, was never able to hang out with friends unless it was at school, and the list goes on. In comes our hero Drew, who seems like an OK-ish guy for a decent chunk of this season, despite his occasional controlling and somewhat manipulative approach to some of Rosie's problems. One of their main points of drama comes from the fact that they met on a sugar daddy website, which should offer some insight on Drew's initial intentions of expenditure over love and commitment. The other main conflict between them is that Rosie's parents don't approve of Drew. We never truly get their perspective on this because the parents refused to make a single appearance during the entire show. While I probably wouldn't like her parents given how they have been described, it's hard to blame them for not wanting their reputation in the mainstream to be solely reflected in this god forsaken program. It does leave this character arc pretty stale though, as nothing too interesting happens other than Drew doing what he does best, which is using vast amounts of money to buy his way into a "meaningful relationship" with Rosie. 5/10, in retrospect this one really wasn't as interesting as I thought it was.
Sean/Megan - Interactions between Sean and Megan seem to be going pretty smoothly at first, but confrontations get progressively tense with this illustrious romantic duo. I should note that Sean comes off as a surprisingly decent guy given his wealthy upbringing. Being the third heir to a publishing company, he obtains a large quantity of generational wealth whilst pursuing a second child with his girlfriend Megan. This pair of lovers find themselves in a quarrel of commitment vs finances, a situation in which even the utmost devout may be familiar with. The prenuptial agreement, a form that litigates the fate of finances and properties shared between a married couple in lieu of a divorce. Sean's dad is hellbent on protecting his family wealth, having gone through a difficult divorce and settlement in his former marriage. Worried that Megan may one day run for the hills, Sean's dad gives him an ultimatum in which he either gets a prenup or risks never speaking to him ever again. Megan sees this as an act of distrust, and absolutely disavows any near mention of the prenup contract. Sean is left in a harrowing situation, stuck between his dad cutting him off or Megan cancelling the wedding and potentially ending their relationship. After a bitter family dinner and a stressful lead-up to the wedding ceremony, things ended up working out for Sean in the end. His dad decided to attend the event despite lacking the prenup he so heavily embellished on. In addition to this, Sean finally got married and was able to move forward with building the family he's always dreamt of. 8/10 I was honestly pretty invested throughout the entirety of this one.
Brian/Gentille - Brian and Gentille start off with a rather captivating connection despite maintaining vastly different social lives and income streams. Our first main source of conflict occurs when Brian is scared to let Gentille know that he lives with his parents. Gentille makes great attempts to come to terms with this, however it's Brian's lack of confidence and persistent ability to be open about these situations that leads him to his eventual demise. Gentille is very reasonable throughout this entire ordeal and is constantly giving Brian second chances, always looking at the positives in their relationship. Fast forward a bit, and Brian is given an opportunity to meet some of Gentilles' close friends who are very important to her given her lack of a remaining family. Brian is heavily introverted and is understandably nervous when confronted with a social situation such as this. While I personally find most of her friend's to be reprehensible at best, Brian manages to come across as the most unlikable person in the room by a longshot. He belligerently complains about having to buy a handful of drinks for everyone to help break the ice, eventually going as far to tell one of her friends to get a penis and date Gentille themselves. After that absolute disaster of a night, only a bigger one was yet to follow. Not only did Brian show up an hour late to her upcoming birthday party, but Gentille also gets a call from a friend who informs her that Brian had previously been engaged to a different wealthy woman, something he has omitted from speaking about thus far in their relationship. Keep in mind that this was after he promised that he wasn't going to be secretive about any important details regarding his current or past life. Brian gets desperate and proposes to her in an effort to keep her at bay, despite all of his now oblivious shortcomings. While Gentille is still accepting of him in this current state, her suspicion and trust issues with Brian are mounting up to be a lot more for her to take on than previously thought. The big day arrives, and both Brian and Gentille are preparing to tie the knot once and for all. Behind the scenes however, unbeknownst to Brian, Gentille is getting pressured by her friends to think about what she truly wants out of this whole situation. Brian is informed that Gentille wants to speak with him before the ceremony, a move that should likely be a signal of bad things to come. After some short deliberation, Gentille admits that she just can't do it anymore, calling off the wedding at the last moment possible. Brian awkwardly grabs her face in the cringiest way before leaving in a pitiful display of self-inflicted disarray. 8.5/10.
I'd give this show a 6/10 overall, probably would've been a 5 if I didn't write all of this for some reason. ¯\_(._.)_/¯
Katie/Kolton - This couple was a snooze-fest for the majority of this season. The main drama that occurs in this relationship is that Kolton is much younger than Katie and met her through being friends with her daughter. All of the classic "I'm dating my friends mom" tropes are present and offer nothing new to the questionable sub-genre. It's a weird situation and it kind of doesn't work out and then it does and after the show ends it falls apart again. I wish I had more to say about this one but that's really it. 2/10
Shawn/Kate - These two weren't overtly interesting, however their final segment did leave me a bit more surprised than what I had anticipated. Shawn is a bit of an influencer type, hosting bombastic events to promote his services and make new connections. Our first source of minor conflict appears when Kate tries to make a big deal out of Shawn shooting artificial currency out of his money gun during a party. IF hE's WiLLiNg To sHooT FaKe mOneY, wHaT eLsE iS hE LyinG aBoUt? Kate makes a big deal out of Shawn not wanting to get married after only a year of being together which I find to be pretty downright absurd, but that may just be my personal take on the matter. Filler drama aside, Shawn gets Kate a gold necklace which she ends up liking. Down the line they end up at a jewelry store to potentially have said necklace melted down into an engagement ring. Plot twist incoming! The necklace didn't contain an authentic diamond, rendering its value to be much less than what had been anticipated. Shawn goes into what seems to be an unscripted fit of rage, complaining about the employee's credentials and yelling at the producers to stop filming him, boldly exclaiming that he's done with the show for good. This reigns true, as it was the last scene which would be filmed of the couple for the rest of the season. 4/10 just for the wacky ending.
Bill/Bri - This couple is likely to draw the most attention throughout the show, as their age difference is a staggering 40 years apart. Bill has a complicated history of past marriages, relationships, cheating scandals, etc. Other than the fact that he is a self-proclaimed multi-millionaire, I don't see the appeal in spending more than 5 minutes in this guy's proximity. Bill is a player by the books, and most likely has cheated on more partners than he's willing to admit. He is extremely controlling, and can never take no for an answer. Having to bear witness to his constant snark and contempt for those around him was grating to say the least. Bri definitely gave me very conflicting vibes throughout this season. While she can easily come off as stupid and naïve at a surface level, I feel like she's in it for the long con and is trying to secure her share of Bill's wealth by any means possible. There are scenes like in the jewelry shop where she is notably enticed by the ability to afford just about anything she wants in the shop, where just one jewel she mentioned had a price tag of over a hundred grand. While I can't necessarily blame her for going the route that I assume she has chosen, the mental fortitude it must take to hang around that old geezer all day is worth a monetary prize of its own. 6.5/10, compellingly awful content.
Rosie/Drew - There's a decent bit to take in between these two, and most of it for me was just feeling bad for Rosie the entire time. She was sheltered almost her entire life by restrictive/religious parents, was never able to hang out with friends unless it was at school, and the list goes on. In comes our hero Drew, who seems like an OK-ish guy for a decent chunk of this season, despite his occasional controlling and somewhat manipulative approach to some of Rosie's problems. One of their main points of drama comes from the fact that they met on a sugar daddy website, which should offer some insight on Drew's initial intentions of expenditure over love and commitment. The other main conflict between them is that Rosie's parents don't approve of Drew. We never truly get their perspective on this because the parents refused to make a single appearance during the entire show. While I probably wouldn't like her parents given how they have been described, it's hard to blame them for not wanting their reputation in the mainstream to be solely reflected in this god forsaken program. It does leave this character arc pretty stale though, as nothing too interesting happens other than Drew doing what he does best, which is using vast amounts of money to buy his way into a "meaningful relationship" with Rosie. 5/10, in retrospect this one really wasn't as interesting as I thought it was.
Sean/Megan - Interactions between Sean and Megan seem to be going pretty smoothly at first, but confrontations get progressively tense with this illustrious romantic duo. I should note that Sean comes off as a surprisingly decent guy given his wealthy upbringing. Being the third heir to a publishing company, he obtains a large quantity of generational wealth whilst pursuing a second child with his girlfriend Megan. This pair of lovers find themselves in a quarrel of commitment vs finances, a situation in which even the utmost devout may be familiar with. The prenuptial agreement, a form that litigates the fate of finances and properties shared between a married couple in lieu of a divorce. Sean's dad is hellbent on protecting his family wealth, having gone through a difficult divorce and settlement in his former marriage. Worried that Megan may one day run for the hills, Sean's dad gives him an ultimatum in which he either gets a prenup or risks never speaking to him ever again. Megan sees this as an act of distrust, and absolutely disavows any near mention of the prenup contract. Sean is left in a harrowing situation, stuck between his dad cutting him off or Megan cancelling the wedding and potentially ending their relationship. After a bitter family dinner and a stressful lead-up to the wedding ceremony, things ended up working out for Sean in the end. His dad decided to attend the event despite lacking the prenup he so heavily embellished on. In addition to this, Sean finally got married and was able to move forward with building the family he's always dreamt of. 8/10 I was honestly pretty invested throughout the entirety of this one.
Brian/Gentille - Brian and Gentille start off with a rather captivating connection despite maintaining vastly different social lives and income streams. Our first main source of conflict occurs when Brian is scared to let Gentille know that he lives with his parents. Gentille makes great attempts to come to terms with this, however it's Brian's lack of confidence and persistent ability to be open about these situations that leads him to his eventual demise. Gentille is very reasonable throughout this entire ordeal and is constantly giving Brian second chances, always looking at the positives in their relationship. Fast forward a bit, and Brian is given an opportunity to meet some of Gentilles' close friends who are very important to her given her lack of a remaining family. Brian is heavily introverted and is understandably nervous when confronted with a social situation such as this. While I personally find most of her friend's to be reprehensible at best, Brian manages to come across as the most unlikable person in the room by a longshot. He belligerently complains about having to buy a handful of drinks for everyone to help break the ice, eventually going as far to tell one of her friends to get a penis and date Gentille themselves. After that absolute disaster of a night, only a bigger one was yet to follow. Not only did Brian show up an hour late to her upcoming birthday party, but Gentille also gets a call from a friend who informs her that Brian had previously been engaged to a different wealthy woman, something he has omitted from speaking about thus far in their relationship. Keep in mind that this was after he promised that he wasn't going to be secretive about any important details regarding his current or past life. Brian gets desperate and proposes to her in an effort to keep her at bay, despite all of his now oblivious shortcomings. While Gentille is still accepting of him in this current state, her suspicion and trust issues with Brian are mounting up to be a lot more for her to take on than previously thought. The big day arrives, and both Brian and Gentille are preparing to tie the knot once and for all. Behind the scenes however, unbeknownst to Brian, Gentille is getting pressured by her friends to think about what she truly wants out of this whole situation. Brian is informed that Gentille wants to speak with him before the ceremony, a move that should likely be a signal of bad things to come. After some short deliberation, Gentille admits that she just can't do it anymore, calling off the wedding at the last moment possible. Brian awkwardly grabs her face in the cringiest way before leaving in a pitiful display of self-inflicted disarray. 8.5/10.
I'd give this show a 6/10 overall, probably would've been a 5 if I didn't write all of this for some reason. ¯\_(._.)_/¯
