*Warning: this article contains spoilers from Netflix’s The Ultimatum*
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to temporarily break up with your current partner and have a trial marriage with someone you met only a week prior? If yes, look no further than Netflix’s new dating reality show, “The Ultimatum.” This brand new dating show concept from the creators of Love is Blind sees six couples essentially become swingers for eight weeks, in hopes that being with others will ultimately make their relationship stronger. One partner in each pairing gave their significant other an ultimatum: get engaged or break up.
This show is f*cking wild. The most shocking part— no one on the cast is older than thirty. No couple has been together for longer than two and a half years. Where did they find these people? It was shocking to see so many young people desperate for marriage. If all these couples were in their mid-thirties or older I’d get it, but why are all these people in their mid-twenties in dire need to settle down?
In the beginning, we get introduced to each couple and learn who gave the ultimatum and why. The couples then spend a night together before breaking up the following morning and immediately starting to date the other contestants for a week. This week was basically an opportunity for each partner to vent to others about everything wrong in their relationship. Toxic, to say the least. The participants then meet over dinner with show hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey. Here, they make their decision of who they want to spend the next three weeks in a trial marriage with. My jaw was on the floor at this part. Two couples got engaged on the spot: Alexis and Hunter, and Lauren and Nate. Alexis and Hunter’s engagement was embraced by the group, but the same cannot be said for when Nate got down on one knee. Lauren does not want kids, a deal-breaker for Nathan because that is all he wants. Yet, seeing his girlfriend potentially date someone else made him want to propose, despite telling multiple other girls in the experiment that he was going to pick them. Not being on the same page about kids is a huge problem that they did not even talk through properly. Frankly, getting engaged before working through that problem was stupid. Even worse, they took the spotlight away from Alexis and Hunter, who got engaged a few minutes prior.
Four newly formed couples remained and moved in together for three weeks. While each new coupling seemed to have a connection, Rae and Jake stood out immediately. They had a lot in common, which they bonded over. They also were dating someone completely different from their previous partner. April and Colby struck up a friendship more than anything else. They were clearly still very much in love with their respective partners. Shanique and Zay and Madalyn and Randall gave the experiment a go but ultimately returned to their previous partners. Once the three weeks concluded, the original pairings were put back together to see if the trial marriages had done anything to either solidify or dissolve their relationships. Old wounds opened, and each couple argued, as clearly dating other people did not help most of them. Rae broke up with Zay before the finale, after he went out one night without a word and came home at 8am.
The finale was a shocker. Jake and Rae decided to give things a go after Jake ended his two-year relationship with April, Shanique and Randall got engaged, and Madalyn and Colby not only got engaged but got married immediately at the proposal site. Was it just me, or did Madalyn not like Colby? She constantly was disgusted with him and talked so much sh*t about him to anyone and everyone. And then at the reunion show, she came out from backstage seven months pregnant! My jaw was once again on the floor. I know that editing can do a lot, but you can’t tell me that Madalyn went from desperately not wanting to get engaged to being married with a baby on the way a year later?! The reunion also revealed that Shanique and Randall called off their engagement for six months but are now back together. Jake and Rae ended as quickly as it started as she went back to Zay briefly. Currently, they are on bad terms after a shouting match commenced at the reunion. She is now in a new relationship, as is April, who could not be happier with her new man. Hunter and Alexis are in the thick of wedding planning with the help of Hunter’s mom. Lauren and Nate are also planning their big day after going to therapy to resolve their issues and ultimately compromised on having one kid.
The Ultimatum was a train wreck that I could not help but watch. I thought Love is Blind or Married At First Sight was crazy, but this tops it (It’s already been renewed for a second season BTW). I love a trashy dating reality TV show, and this did not disappoint. These show creators continuously come up with new creative concepts that I always end up buying into. Plus, it was low-key successful for most of the participants, unlike most other dating shows. For the next season, I would like to see some older couples than the ones on this season. I assume the casting team selected young couples because they knew they were more likely to sway. However, it is bizarre to see all these young people want to get engaged so badly despite not being with their SO for not that long.