Did the experts completely blow it this time around? While there's always some risk involved with marrying a stranger (duh), it seemed that this season of Married at First Sight, the couples were struggling more than in the past. By the Tuesday, September 20, episode, the newlyweds were just beyond the halfway mark, yet one couple had already opted for divorce (a first in the show's history), and another was quickly headed in the same direction.
Till 10 Days Do Us Part
Though Derek Schwartz and Heather Seidel had already effectively ended their union, the experts still seemed intent on checking in with them and offering guidance. It felt a little pointless, since they weren't married anymore, but as they say, the show must go on, and apparently two couples weren't enough to carry it themselves.
Dr. Pepper Schwartz paid visits to both Derek and Heather to see how they were doing and offer some unsolicited advice. Heather explained that the marriage ended for her somewhere around the time that Derek told her she was stuck on a high horse, trapped in the 1940s, and an alcoholic. She had taken off her ring and was obviously over it, but agreed — at the doctor's urging — to write Derek a nice letter telling him what she appreciated about him. (It was probably a short letter.)
Derek, in contrast, just seemed sad and was still wearing his ring because he was embarrassed to tell his work colleagues that his marriage had ended after only 10 days. He, too, agreed to write a letter. Then he went to break the bad news to his mom, who was truly surprised. "I am truly shocked that she gave up after one week," his mom said to the camera. "I can't believe that she could throw everything away after a week!"
Lillian Makes Things Special for the Birthday Boy
On a much happier note, things continued to go swimmingly for Lillian Vilchez and Tom Wilson. Tom's birthday had arrived, and Lillian was determined to make it special. The real estate agent went all-out, cooking him breakfast and organizing a party on his behalf. More than that, however, she arranged for his brother to fly out from Colorado to surprise him — and was Tom surprised!
His face lit up like a kid in a candy store when his brother showed up at their house, and his joy continued through the party, which was attended not only by Tom's family and friends, but by Lillian's as well. The festivities included a piñata, chocolate cake and a slew of games. "My birthday's amazing," he said to the camera before adding, "And my wife is awesome!" Reflecting on the day, Lillian said that she could definitely see a future with Tom and could see herself falling in love with him.
Nick and Sonia Try to Bond … and Fail
Things weren't going so well for Nick Pendergrast and Sonia Granados, though. Sonia believed that sleeping together would bring them closer, but Nick didn't seem ready. (To the camera, he argued that he would be ready when he felt she was ready, but she was clearly ready, and he seemed to have missed the memo.) Nick admitted that living with Sonia was "weird," and that he was struggling to figure out how to be a husband.
In an effort to bond a bit as husband and wife, they tried a variety of activities, including cooking breakfast together (they managed to burn an empty pan), having a lesson with a dog trainer (which Sonia clearly hated but tolerated because she knew the dogs were important to Nick), redoing the fire pit (which Nick seemed to do by himself) and cooking dinner (during which Nick revealed that he was "reassessing" whether he wanted to be married to her). In other words, these bonding activities weren’t really having the desired effect. In fact, it seemed the more Sonia tried to get close, the more Nick pulled away.
Nick Explodes
Late one night, Sonia made a final push to reason with Nick, expressing her desire to move their "friendship" forward. (She clearly used the word "friendship" instead of "marriage" or even "relationship" in an effort to avoid freaking him out. It didn't work.)
"I think that would be beneficial for both of us," he began. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I still think it's going to be hard to forget everything that's happened." (Huh? That seemed to come out of left field.) "Who's to say we're not going to go back to the other way, and we never resolve anything because you walk away every time."
Sonia said she didn't want to harp on the past, but instead focus on the future. "I just want to be happy," she added. To the camera, Nick expressed his frustration. "When we first got married, I thought she was beautiful, but my level of attraction to her is not as high as it was initially. We were matched by the experts, but maybe there is underlying things that I didn't say or that you didn't say or that they didn't know or that never came up that is a big deal and makes us not as compatible as we thought we were," he lamented.
To Sonia, he argued they were working too hard. She said she never expected for their marriage to be so easy that it required no effort. Apparently, that's exactly what Nick had expected. "My own expectation was that we were going to get along and that they matched us correctly and it was going to be f--king flowers and rose fields, and it's not!" he shouted. "You shouldn't have to work at anything! There should be no f--king effort involved! You should just match! It doesn't make sense to me." As he stormed out, a producer on the show could be heard telling him that everything takes work, but he didn't respond.
He then told the cameras, "I don't like her! That's opening up! I can't open up any more than that. I don't think she's attractive, and I'm not attracted to her, and that is me opening up to the fullest f--king extent."
Sonia packed her bags and left, but first she had a message for his dogs: "You have a s--t father," she said. "Sorry."
Do you think there's any hope for Nick and Sonia?
Married at First Sight airs on FYI Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET.