The Ultimatum: Queer Love 2.0, REUNION
thoughts, feelings, and reflections on the madness 💍
At long last, it’s time for the final episode of The Ultimatum: Queer Love season two and in the grand tradition of reality dating shows, the lesbians and Joanna “straight-presenting lady“ Swisher are gathering for a reunion/high-stakes processing sesh. Everyone is smiling and sashaying down a runway onto set, except for Marie who is practically vibrating with rage. I have so many questions, mainly: did Marie ever find out that Mel and Dayna had sex and are Magan and Dayna still together? Also, has anyone learned anything from this experience?? Have I learned anything? Have you?? If you’ve learned anything from this, please let me know in the comments or chat.
Once on set, the couples who are still together are seated on love seats while the couples who have broken up are sent to individual chairs on opposite sides of the room. This seating chart is both a visual cue and a safety precaution. Magan and Dayna are still together. Mel and Marie are not. Ashley and Marita, the only couple to not leave engaged, are still broken-up.
JGS kicks things off with AJ and Britney, who are looking couple-y in coordinated aquamarine outfits (I love how AJ styled this tweed PTA mom blazer into an A+ masc look.) AJ says that being engaged has deepened their relationship with God and each other. She bought Britney a bigger ring (I guess the Netflix-provided engagement ring was underwhelming if they were even allowed to keep it.) Britney says she’s learned the importance of work-life balance. Next, we get a supercut of AJ referring to herself in the third person—”There’s no days off for AJ. Like, it’s all the time.”
JGS asks the group: “Now that you’ve watched everything back, do you think AJ was a little too forward during Dating Week?“ Ashley is immediately like, “Yes, 10 out of 10. No one else was as sexual.” Marita immediately shuts Ashley down by saying, “That’s just what AJ is like! She’s going to find the heart and soul of everyone that she’s talking to.” This is interesting because Marita was actually was quite hurt by AJ’s flirting and called her out on it during the first Switchover Ceremony. Bridget and Britney confer: AJ is a harmless flirt!! My Older Wiser Lesbian read on AJ is that she’s a garden variety people pleaser. Even though she has a heart of gold and genuinely cares about other people, she overpromises and comes on too strong because she feels inadequate.
Next, JGS turns to Marie and asks if there’s more that AJ could have done as a trial wife, since Marie had such a rough time on the show. Marie is simply seething in her seat. She’s giving terse, rage-inflected answers—NO, she and AJ did not stay in touch after the show. AJ and Britney chime in that they want to be friends (they all live in Orlando). This next part is confusing and has to do with AJ stepping out of her trial marriage to spend time with Britney. Marie says that Britney had a supportive best friend in Marita, whereas all she had was Absent AJ. This seems to be an attempt at some kind of gotcha on Marie’s part, but it doesn’t really land.