L'Ultimatum: On se marie ou c'est fini (USA)

Boy howdy. It would be easy to give this show a 1/10 if you rate it on the people in the show alone, because nearly ALL of these cry baby lunatics are truly deplorable. But if you watch it with the intention of exploring the completely malformed psyches of the 20 somethings that are walking the streets today then you won't find a better show. I wanted to hate this show, I wanted to not be able to bear a second of the vapid, insipid pseudo intellectual musings of self absorbed morons, but then something brilliant happened. I found myself drawn in and watching with the same mode that I would a Ben Stiller cringe comedy, the likes of "Meet the Parents" or "Something about Mary." It's a feast of watching selfish self absorbed people with virtually zero self awareness try to convince themselves that they are ready for a lifetime commitment to each other. It's a hysterical, laugh a minute slow motion train wreck. And the fact that some of these morons think that they're ready for the responsibility hey of having children makes this feel like this show is teetering on tragedy. Don't get me wrong, there are three kids who don't complete suck, in particular a guy named Randall. With some more experience and maturity under his belt he will make a fine addition to the real world, but he is the only one that can even remotely articulate how he actually feels, what he wants and his rationale behind his beliefs. But watching him to to relate to a bunch of immature spoiled cry babies makes the shows cringe factor reach all new heights of hilarity. ALL and I mean ALL of these people NEED and would be better served with intense therapy than wasting nearly two whole months on a reality tv show is evident. How these people function and are able to hold down employment of any kind is incomprehensible. But enough. Watch it and enjoy how your life can't be anymore messed up than These peoples.

They are not even real couples, very lame reality, totally staged... Who think this is real is blind, i checked all their instagram and there is no poctures before the show...

Five couples swap partners for 3 weeks essentially living as married couples while doing so. Without the sexual activity for the most part, though some couples do get tactilely intimate.

Obviously this disrupts the various relationships and the outcome is pretty predictable. I wouldn't necessarily call it toxic since all it is doing is exposing the nature of human interaction on a very personal level. True, some people consider this a societal low, but realistically its really only exposing human nature in a very blatant manner, stripping away the the underpinnings of intimate relationships for all to see.

Actually I think it's quite a healthy way to explore the realities of serious romantic partnerships; especially since so much of what constitutes healthy pair bonding is really undisclosed misinformation with honesty and truth buried under pretence, façade and fluff.

Having said this, I'm not sure it's for everyone. If you don't want to colour your notions of love and romance, or explore the reality of what exists under the covers of perceived romance, then give this a miss. Even though it isn't uncouth, dirty or 'for the most part' tasteless, it is pretty raw in places with notions of love and compatibility unearthed for the reality of complexity that actually exists between the various couples.

I liked it, no real surprises, and exactly what you'd expect from a modern reality series. In fact given what's on offer, its actually a pretty good production.

As a woman who doesn't want to have kids, it was pretty offensive to watch a woman who's main boundary was to not have children (she said she doesn't feel comfortable around them!) have her FIRST conversation with a man be plowed over and ultimately be asked to overcome it, as if it's a fault, and despite not fully understanding where she's coming from. He was eager for her to admit it was about pregnancy affecting her body, rather than the lifelong consequences of raising a human being that she's not comfortable with. Then for her to actually acquiesce to it like it's not even that important of a concern, is absolutely mind blowing and reinforcing of the persistent sexist mindset that still exists. So much for women representing the rest of us, not that I should have expected it from such a shallow show.

As a drama vampire I draw sustenance from the delicious drama. I wish I could watch all the tasty divorce hearings down the road. It's like watching a drawn out swinger party full of broken codependent narcissists.