We learnt a little about Connie during episode 1 and tonight we finally got to see her special day. Having already liked her from our first introduction I really enjoyed getting to know more about her tonight.

At this rate, I think she is the most sincere participant on this season. While being a very introverted and self-conscious girl, during her confident moments in the episode she really shined. You can truly tell what sort of girl she is and that she is on the show for the right reasons.

Hearing Jonethen remind us a few times that he wants a girl with brains did get a bit tired but the guy doesn’t seem bad. The two of them looked like they were having fun and not forcing anything. The fact they were both nervous and didn’t feel pressured to mask that must mean that already there was some comfort at first sight, if you will.

We were introduced to Connie’s mother as that parent who is disapproving of the un-traditional process and who thinks the show is a sham. But um….Rina? You still went on it love. She tells us about her disgust in the show and how all the contestants turn catty. However, the fact she still agreed to go on TV and air this just begs me to believe that even Rina wanted to lap up some MAFS spotlight.

Production even gave her a pretty good character arc. We witness Rina go through this journey of acceptance for her daughter’s decision. At first she’s cold and thinks Connie joining the experiment is laughable. She even gets pretty cruel. When I saw the previews for this episode I was ready to hate this woman when the episode aired tonight. But then Rita had some really redeeming moments when she saw for herself the joy that Connie and Jonethen were sharing. She says she hopes it works out for the two and that she’s glad they’re both happy. Rina you were a delight, in the end.

In my recap of episode 1, I mentioned that Ivan came across like a gentleman. I mean..I PARTLY still agree.

There were moments when a strange caring side of him came out and these times really seemed genuine. But there’s no denying that the man is arrogant, and he’s aware of that. I think Aleks was a good match for him in that regard because of her jousty sense of humour. She gives any s**t she receives right back, and that was actually fun to watch between them.

During the photoshoot the pair began to look like one of the more stronger couples in my eyes. Despite Ivan’s cocky moments, there was something about their playful bickering that really made me like them. Right when I thought I had my new favourite couple, Ivan planted that very creepy kiss on Aleks. I was brought back to earth after that and continued to observe as a partial viewer rather than a fan. And probably for the best because of what was about to happen.

As the night progressed, Ivan’s darling mother was called up to perform a song. The whole moment was very fun and wholesome. Ivan however was very humiliated by the moment and packed a sad…like a toddler.

Like us all, Aleks is a little bewildered by her husband’s behaviour. She gives Ivan a reality check right before he goes and wallows alone for a bit. We all have regrettable moments in the heat of anger or humiliation so perhaps it was just that for Ivan. Or, we might have just witnessed his absolute true colours. It certainly was an unnecessary reaction. Guilt did get the better of him though and he came to his senses in the end.

After some rocky and also mediocre honeymoons I enjoyed this episode. Can’t wait to see the outcomes for these new hopefuls! I can see Aleks and Ivan most likely butting heads about something soon.

Tonight we witnessed the first lot of honeymoons. Some couples flourished while others took a tense awkward turn. We’re truly starting to enter the grit of the season now.

It was terrific to see Poppy calm down and start to enjoy herself. She’s been given a very caring husband and it would have been unfortunate for her nerves and doubt to ruin that for her. Her and Luke are so well matched and I hope their journey continues to progress well. Its evident that Poppy just needed to hear her boys voices again and know that they’re safe.

As for Tash and Amanda, it seems Tash has done a full 180 with her initial attraction to Amanda. It was so hard to watch them this episode because it really does appear to be too broke to fix, even before it started!

Amanda just could not catch a break with Tash on this honeymoon. Tash has very obviously made up her mind. She continuously danced around the truth during every conversation the two had, most likely fearing that the truth would cut Amanda too much. And as we saw, by trying to hide the truth she’s ended up hurting Amanda just as much.

Tash needs to stop sugar-coating. Amanda is just going to continue to get dragged through it if Tash is flaky and unsure of her feelings. I really hope they talk this out and get back on track. I’m liking them both and it’s been sad to watch this decline with them.

In my last recap I mentioned the bad rap with editing that Vanessa is getting, and after this episode, it’s getting irritating. I’m really hear wondering, is this production pushing a storyline or can this girl literally not think about anything else?!

Vanessa and Chris really don’t seem interested in each other, so while their dynamic is already boring we also had to listen to Vanessa, again, speak about nothing else besides feeling ugly. Does she need Chris to kiss the ground she walks on? I don’t get it. He thinks you’re gorgeous Vanessa, now enjoy your honeymoon.

This being said, I believe these two find each other attractive but whenever either of them said they were romantically interested in each other, I didn’t see it. This could be a case of early nerves but neither of them really behave like they’re interested in the relationship.

You really see the connection and sparks with the likes of Cathy and Josh as well as with Poppy and Luke, it just doesn’t look like it’s there for Vanessa and Chris. For now, they’ve been added to my list of couples who “ain’t it”.

It’s really cute to see Cathy and Josh thriving and making progress. The only note I really jotted down about them while watching this episode was “Cathy got horny”. Nothing else was overly explored but go off sis, consummate that marriage!

Natasha and Mickey are so boring. It’s clear that there is no immediate conflict or tension between the two so the production crew are clutching at straws to create any sort of interesting narrative for them. I really couldn’t care less if Mickey does or doesn’t become “man enough” for Natasha. Definitely filler couple.

It surprised me seeing Hayley and David’s sudden turn for the worst. Hayley has obviously hit a nerve by speaking up about income, although she did claim that David brought it up. I’m left unsure after witnessing their fall out. It did happen off camera so no doubt there are pieces we are not seeing.

Both of their more stubborn sides peaked their heads during this conflict. They’re both not going back on what they think the other said and quite honestly, the whole thing looks a train wreck. I’m interested to see more development given to this conflict as well as to both their strong sides. At this stage it’s still a bit difficult to take sides with what little we’ve been handed.

I loved hearing Amanda’s story during this episode. There are definitely a few LGBTQ people that would have been able to relate to her experiences, I certainly did.

It broke my heart seeing her speak about how she doesn’t always feel accepted by her family as well as about the constant feeling she had in herself to work harder to fit into society because she is gay.

With stigma towards homosexuality still existing it’s common for some people in the LGBTQ community to feel like they are underserving of a normal successful life, love being a part of that. Amanda spoke about this perfectly and explained how despite wanting love for herself, she felt made to believe she wasn’t deserving of it.

This narrative about dealing with her family and not feeling worthy enough was so important to include. Constantly craving that acceptance from family members and not always receiving it can definitely break people.

It was so encouraging to see her say, despite these hardships, she is still aware that she is more than enough and she’ll always remember to remind herself of that.

Thank you so much Amanda for sharing your story, and reminding anyone in the LGBTQ community that needed to hear it that we’re absolutely more than enough. You are definitely what this show needs.

We were introduced to Mickey as if he was a bit of a Mumma’s boy and just a general cutie. I’m not sure if I buy it yet, partly because he reminds me of someone who would have definitely bullied me in High School. As well as that, he didn’t come across very genuine with a lot of his words.

His wedding with Natasha was so awkward. Nothing looked like it was landing between the two of them when they were attempting chat. I’m curious to see what progress they make, if any, but as of right now Natasha and Mickey ain’t it.

We didn’t learn as much about Amanda’s bride Tash as we did about Amanda. But Tash still comes across as a switched on girl who will be a good match for Amanda. They really looked like they were enjoying being around each other.

It was so funny seeing the intimidated faces of Tash’s bridesmaids while they were attempting to grill Amanda. Those girls were so out of their depth going up against her and it truly showed! I’m sure Amanda knew she’d be able to finish them while going into that conversation.

Lastly, big ups to the production crew for giving Natasha’s friend Lincoln a spotlight. “Trust actions, don’t trust words” was truly some very inspirational advice. Did you also tell her to “live, laugh, love” that night as well Lincoln?