RECAP TIME The MAFS girlies are at war and ironically Clint and Lauren emerge as the winners
BY: Tahlia Pritchard
The MAFS dinner party episode opened with the narrator telling us everyone was feeling “refreshed and ready” post-retreat, which is a hilarious way to keep constantly lying to the audience. First, they lie about matching people for love, and now they’re trying to say the Byron Bay retreat was a relaxing time for everyone, not a screaming match over a fire.
The fallout of Byron continues and in an experiment first, Lauren and Clint decide they’re going to ditch the dinner party and have their own at home, despite the fact that any conversation between the pair is about as riveting as watching paint dry.
Really, the only thing we’re all observing with Clint is that he’s going through a tough lesson of what it’s like to be a simp. He’s conformed to Lauren’s viewpoints, believed her story, and was high-school bitchy to Jamie, which, dare I say it, was not very ALPHA of him.
We waste 20 minutes of precious time watching everyone discuss their various nerves, feelings, or avoidance of the dinner party. Jamie is still hurt after Rhi and Carina didn’t stand up for her during the retreat. Rhi is nervous about where her friendship with Jamie stands. And somehow, Jacqui and Ryan are one of the strongest couples right now, which truly is a terrifying thought.
Let’s not waste any more time and get into the nitty-gritty of the dinner party.
Carina and Rhi have a quick debrief at the cocktail party about feeling uneasy towards the impending dinner party with Jamie, and talk about how it’s one big misunderstanding. I’d have more to say on this conversation seeming like it’s staged so the experts can understand what TF is going on, but I got distracted wondering why Carina is dressed as Princess Jasmine when she tried to escape the palace and go incognito at the marketplace.
At dinner, Jamie explains why she felt the way she felt, and shit explodes from there
The weirdest part for me in all of this, is the fact Carina, Rhi and Jamie have not had any sort of conversation prior to the dinner party. Even weirder is that none of the girls approached Jamie head on when she first arrived.
ANYWAY.
Despite her passive-aggressive approach asking Rhi and Jeff where their “mate” (aka Lauren) was, Jamie ends up giving a reasonable, inside voice-level, well-articulated speech about why their actions made her feel the way she felt in Byron. This is the moment Jamie should’ve gotten her apology and we all could’ve moved on, but unfortunately, things are already too heightened.
Carina comes in saying she’s not taking sides because she “listens” and calls Jamie out for coming across as aggressive. Unfortunately, Carina’s admission earlier at the cocktail party (and later again in this episode) that she’s an “empath” is lost after she ignored Jamie’s speech about why her feelings were hurt. Look, there’s still a way to validate your friend, apologise for their hurt feelings, then maybe gently tell them “next time, perhaps don’t yell directly in my face and point your finger, pretty please”.
Carina and Jamie go head-to-head
Things really kick off when Jamie questions Carina’s “stupidity” and tells her to sit there and eat her bread. Carina doesn’t take her advice and leaves her bread untouched, instead going head-to-head with Jamie by calling out her “Mean Girls” behaviour. All the while, Rhi focuses on staring intently at the table, perhaps debating if anyone would notice if she just ducks underneath it and hides from the chaos.
Look, the punchline is that Jamie and Carina yell at each other. A lot. And while Jamie actually did have a very strong point to start with, it gets lost as she absolutely demolishes Carina, who only ever wanted to be Switzerland, or bake a cake full of rainbows and smiles so everyone can get along or whatever.Â
God gals, at least just get up and do the Jingle Bell Rock or something.
Jamie begins shutting Carina down at every opportunity, and things get nasty. While yes, Carina has absolutely missed Jamie’s point entirely, please show me any girly conflict that has been resolved by calling your friend stupid.
Should Carina have apologised? Yes!!! Is Jamie right now handling this incident well? No!!! Two things can be true at once!
The one thing I will say though, is that Carina can excuse Paul for punching a hole in the wall because it’s “European”, but can’t excuse Jamie’s tone? I’m not sold on that logic.
Veronica comes for Jamie and Jamie throws her under the bus to Eliot
“You slag your husband off, and that’s why you protect Lauren!” Jamie yelled at Veronica, after Veronica told Jamie her communication style was aggressive.
I think Veronica was actually talking about Jamie’s communication style like, right now, as she eats Carina for dinner. But why not keep making things about Lauren? I’ve never seen someone be such a main character at the dinner party without even having to attend!
The funniest part of this is when Veronica tells Eliot that Lauren was playing “devil’s advocate” during their chat about Eliot, as though Lauren didn’t call him a narc.
I want to believe they are ALL actors at this stage.
Rhi apologises to Jamie
We have a quick circuit breaker where Awhina and Adrian bask in the glory of their newfound love. It’s confusing and I’m scared and I want to go home except I am home.
Rhi has come out of her dissociative state to apologise to Jamie and also reiterate that she did speak to Lauren about her behaviour but sometimes struggles to process things and speak up in group settings.
Jamie then manages to insinuate that Carina is stupid again and tells Rhi she puts her and Carina in “different categories”, and that her friendship with Carina is now a waste of time. Carina hears all of this.
Carina walks off in tears and somehow Lauren and Clint emerge victorious in their decision not to attend the dinner party
Carina sobs to a producer about not being smart enough and says she feels like the “dumb girl” and tbh, it’s heartbreaking to watch.
Let’s remember these girls are now just fighting over someone who literally wouldn’t care if they lived or died. Meanwhile, Lauren’s just at home, being bored out of her brain by Clint and drinking margs.
This episode did not feel nice. I want a refund and a valium.
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