Marriage Bootcamp : Reality Stars S3E5 Daters & Traitors Recap Review

Above is my video blog of the episode, definitely check out it and you can see my totally kitschy wall paper.  Below is my written blog which is also ok.

We pick up where we left off last week, Roger is upset with Jenni for faking it for the camera.  He pulls off his mic and storms out of the room.  Jenni talks with the counselors and they ask if she is there for the paycheck/cameras or to work on her marriage.  She admits it is a bit of both and I can respect her honesty.   One of her issues is putting for career before her relationship so her admitting it makes it feels like she is trying to work on her marriage too.  She apologizes through the door to Roger and Jim asks to talk to him.  Roger asks for no mics and after conferencing with a producer (Hey I know Adam from Twitter)  Jim goes in with no mic though we still hear stuff.  Everyone agrees to continue on with the caveat that Jenni will get kicked out for faking it.  And we are back to the Bootcamp experience.

Today they are discussing wants versus needs.
Traci need more faith in her career and Kevin needs more instruction and communication
Trista needs trust, Ryan need physical affection
Gretchen need Slade to get a better job, he needs communication
Tanisha needs him to take control, Clive needs a chance to do that
Roger needs honesty and Jenni needs affection

One big reveal was that Tanisha and Clive have been separated for 1 and 1/2 years and she says she doesn't love him.  They have been together for 8 years but when she started appearing on tv he feels like she never had time for her.  Uh oh.  If they are already separated and she doesn't love him then why are they here?  I am guessing she just wants to be on tv.

Tonight the couples are switching it up.  New couples are formed from those that have something to learn from each other and doing an activity.

Jenni and Slade will have a dance lesson
Traci and Clive will get a couples massage
Trista and Roger do acro yoga
Tanisha and Ryan make desserts

Gretchen and Kevin go to a fancy dinner except Gretchen has a prior commitment?  What!?!  If you don't know I hosted and produced a reality show in 2013 (Nock Out, now available on iTunes) and I have HUGE issues with people that sign up for a reality show, commit to the dates then (after it is too late to recast) suddenly miss filming.  Production doesn't have many options,  they could kick her off the show but the show is more important than anything.  But they can't just extend the production window and say "Oh no worries, we will just do this tomorrow"  So this really pushed my buttons.  Not only did she commit for this charity event but she expected Slade to skip out as well.  Slade said that actually he would like to stay.  Huh, I agree with him.  Maybe he isn't as bad as I have thought.

In the end they decide that Kevin will just go with Gretchen to her event.  They show clips of everyone else laughing, talking, having a great time then cut back to Kevin sitting in a limo listening to Gretchen talking about Slade, how fun for him.  As they get close to the event Gretchen hears that TMZ is there and she doesn't want to be seen with Kevin instead of Slade so she suggests that Kevin gets out in some alley down the block... at night... in LA.  Wow, she really has a heart of gold and thinks of others.  I was pretty dumbfounded by the suggestion. Even if they can't be seen together for contractual reasons she demonstrates zero concern for his safety or comfort with that suggestion. 

In the end he just sits in the limo with the camera man while she gets out and poses for the TMZ cameras.  It really bothered me that she treated him like a non-person.  She didn't seem to consider that this evening was supposed to be a treat for both on them but rather that her happiness and needs were all that matters. I like to imagine that after she left, Kevin and the camera guy gossiped about how awful Gretchen was.

Everyone else seemed to have a good time.  Tanisha and Ryan were hilarious.  She was laughing, relaxed and a real joy.  She even taught him some Swagoo which was hilarious.  Clive and Traci talked about life goals.  Trista and Roger discussed being more attentive to their partner though she pulled back emotionally a little bit.  Jenni and Slade danced and discussed taking and giving control.  Overall I thought it was an amazing little exercise that everyone (but Gretchen) embraced.  Even Kevin committed that he learned that he needed to be more supportive of Traci though I have no idea how he learned anything from his limo ride.

They had their evaluations which was basically summarized above and they are told to prepare for the next exercise.  Jenni gets a text that someone sold a story, Jenni thinks it is  ----- but Roger says this is her own fault.

Who do they think did it? Who did it? What is the secret? (I assume her now not-so-secret pregnancy) 

Marriage Bootcamp : Reality Stars S3E4 Tip Your Bartender Recap Review

Above is my amazing, life changing (please watch it) video blog about the episode.  But I also wrote the recap review blog below.

The morning starts with all the couples waking up and emerging from their bed cocoons except for Slade who is so depressed from the exercise that he refuses to get up.  Every time Slade talks on camera I am overwhelmed by how fake it feels.  Like watching a badly acted play.  They have a one on one with the counselors and both talked in circles.  Slade keeps mentioning: I can't give you want,  I want you to be happy, Find someone else.  She needs to take his advice and move on.

The first exercise of the day is Tocix Reality where the castmates get to pick which 3 of the ten of them should be saved in the event of a gas world war event or something. It doesn't really matter the scenario, really it is just about telling people their faults.  Since each person has to address every other person that means there was 81 interactions and probably lasted for hours.    Traci goes down the line sniffling and we see all her picks (Ryan, Kevin and herself) but after that the editors only hit the highlights which is mostly the negatives.  Gretchen does not bother to give herself a gas mask and when asked she claims it was because she wants others to be happy but Jim calls her out on "Stop trying to make yourself look good" Big round of applause for Jim. 

Tanisha is told by her castmates that she has a chip on her shouldar, emotional, not very sure of herself.

Roger is told that he is stubborn, selfish and should be more supportive.

Jenni is told that she is selfish and that she doesn't need to broadcast everything she does. She gets a bit snarky back at Tanisha but Jim tells her that she is just supposed to listen. 

Kevin gets nailed for his infidelity but Ryan gives him a gas mask saying that he has a rare combination of Wisdom and Compassion. I thought that was a really sweet comment but Kevin didn't seem to even remember it later in the interview. 

Gretchen is seen as selfish and struggling with the truth (which later clarification means that she is unwilling to accept the truth in front of her)

Ryan is seen by a lot of people as caring, nice and worthy of living.  I think the fact that he is a fire fighter and has actual life saving skills helped.



But the highlight of the whole thing was when Clive told Slade that he was hiding something.  Ding ding ding, we have a winner!

Now the whole group broke into two groups (each couple was separated) to talk about an event from their past that still affects them.  This was a heavy time and we got some real insight into where some of these issues come from.  Slade's parents divorce, Gretchen was never good enough, Kevin's dad was in jail and Ryan's old girlfriend was caught in bed with another guy.  Trista had a friend that tried to kill herself in Trista's bathroom using her razor and now she feels responsible for everyone's happiness.  Roger had a friend that committed suicide. Then Jenni shared her story about getting fired from a job as a kid which everyone demeaned as a bit underwhelming and unemotional.

When they get out of the exercise Roger is really upset to hear that Jenni didn't share any of the stories from her childhood.  He feels that she is just phoning this in to get a pay check.

We head into final evaulations. Trista/Ryan - they are lacking intimacy from trying to be too nice
Clive/Tanisha - Clive is perceptive about people ;  Traci/Kevin - they have allowed their resentment to build up  ; Slade/Gretchen -  Gretchen is a successful woman and codependent

Jenni and Roger get pulled into a one and one.  Roger is still mad and says he is there for their future marriage if she is not then he might as well go home.  He pulls off and mic and storms out.  END OF EPISODE!!

Will he stay? Will he go? 

Marriage Bootcamp : Reality Stars Season 3 Episode 1, 2 and 3 recap / Review

Here are my review / recaps for the first 3 episodes of Marriage Bootcamp : Reality Stars season 3.  Our couples are Gretchen/Slade both from Real Housewives of Orange County, Clive and Tanisha where Tanisha was on Bad Girls Club, Trista and Ryan who were on the Bachlorette, Jenni (Jwoww) and Roger from Jersey Shore, Traci and Kevin from Braxton Family values.

The couples range from 17 years together to just engaged. Many of them are secretive due to their desire to protect their image. 

We have seen very little of Trista and Ryan these first few episodes.  They have problems but it is not really clear what those are.

Jenni and Roger are by far the funniest couple which is something I love.  The struggle they have discussed the most is Jenni's obsession with working, fame and money while Roger would appreciate more privacy and to be a priority in her life.

Tanisha and Clive have demonstrated their issues every chance possible.  Their vocal fighting has been a distraction to the other couples.

Slade and Gretchen are being accused of being fake and neither want to say too much in front of the cameras.  But Gretchen is more than happy to discuss the other couples.

Kevin and Traci have some long standing issues with infidelity and trust.


I go into detail about each episode in the video above.  I would love to hear your feedback.