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Join lifelong friends Niq and Jess as they dive into the world of television on their podcast, "Next Episode." Each week, they explore popular TV shows, from the latest binge-worthy series to timeless classics, offering insightful commentary, hilarious banter, and candid reviews. Whether you're looking for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes trivia, or just a good laugh, Niq and Jess’ dynamic chemistry and shared passion for all things TV make this podcast a must-listen for any TV enthusiast. Tune in and become part of their cozy, fun-filled conversations that feel just like chatting with your own friends.
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How to Die Alone! (Hulu series review)
Our latest podcast episode delves into the complexities of Melissa's romantic troubles with Alex, exploring themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. As they navigate breakups and lingering feelings, the conversation covers the impact of unresolved emotions and the importance of accountability in relationships.
• Discussion of Melissa's initial meeting with Alex and their intense relationship
• Analysis of Melissa's reaction to Alex's confession of love
• Exploration of the aftermath of their breakup and emotional turmoil
• Reflections on the implications of Alex's upcoming wedding
• Commentary on inappropriate flirtation and complicated dynamics
• Melissa's character growth during her airport-hopping journey
• The importance of self-discovery in navigating love lost
• Closing thoughts on personal accountability in relationships
• Invitation for audience engagement and thoughts on previous topics
The desire to gauge listener support and interest leads us to encourage our audience to get in touch and share their thoughts following the episode.
*At the time of recording this review "How to Die Alone was set to have a season 2. Since that time Hulu has canceled the series and creator Natasha Rothwell is looking for a new home for the show*
Hi guys, welcome back to next episode with Nick and Jess and today is our final episode on how to die alone and I'm really excited because we're going to be talking about, we're going to start the conversation with her romantic journey on the show, and so I'm really really excited about that. Yes, okay.
Speaker 2:All right, so romantic journey. So are really excited about that. Yes, okay, all right, so romantic journey. So are we starting with Alex?
Speaker 1:Yes, I think we should go in chronological order. Okay, so she meets Alex when she starts working at the airport. He's her manager. Well, not when she starts working at the airport, when she moves to his department.
Speaker 1:When she moves to his department when she moves to his department and so she's his manager and they were dating and it was like pretty hot and heavy. And then, like three months in, he tells her that he loves her and she freaks out yeah, she freaks out in a way that I had never seen someone freak out before and she essentially tells him that she doesn't want to be in a relationship with him and that she doesn't have any feelings for him and that she only is like dating him because he'll touch her.
Speaker 2:That was the creepiest statement I've ever heard. I mean, even if you believe that, you said that out loud.
Speaker 1:I was like what. And so after that congress, of course they break up. And after that conversation she's talking to rory and she's telling him oh, it was exhausting being that person with him and in two months he would find out the real me and he was going to break up with me anyway, so it was better to do it now. That is some of the craziest stuff I haven't heard.
Speaker 2:It is, it is. I mean, it's hard to imagine somebody's self-esteem that low, but that's all I hear when what she says those words Like you think nothing of yourself. You don't think you deserve anything, Because this man is very clearly enamored with you.
Speaker 1:From the first time he saw her and I'm like, yeah, it was very unprofessional, but it was very clear from the first time he saw her that he was like yeah, I'm about that. It was more than just physical. He was physically attracted to her, but it was more than just physical.
Speaker 2:I think that they have a thing they get along really well, they make sense together. At that first time when they got together you know what I mean they both seem. The whole exhausting thing is, I think, her dealing with her negative thoughts Because, like they did seem to get each other and work well together and there's a natural rhythm to them.
Speaker 1:My question is what did not when? What did Rory not say Babe, maybe you should see a therapist. He grew up in a rich white world. I know he knows about therapy, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:I think part of that, his response to her and I guess why I'm not so hard on him for his response is because I think it's how she presented it. You know, like she almost presented it like oh, he couldn't possibly love me, but like I don't know that and I do think like if she had been talking to a woman, a woman would have heard it and would be like that's low self-esteem. I'm not saying like there's something wrong with him, but he took it as like oh, he's, there's something wrong with him to where he can't fully see it the way he responded to it. But again, I think that's how she's presented it. She's presented it. I don't even want to agree because y'all like Roy, but I think a lot of that is how she talked about that breakup. It's weird, but her whole issue and reason for breaking up was strange.
Speaker 1:it didn't it didn't, and so now they've broken up, and now two years have passed and she finds out on her birthday which I feel like was shady that he is getting married on New Year's, which I don't know what time zone Hawaii is in, because that was kind of confusing. They say he was getting married on New Year's Day, but on New Year's Eve the groom was in New York.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:She flies out the next morning and says the wedding is tomorrow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that definitely was a plot hole. Because I was like y'all got two or three days in between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, even with like, so Hawaii, yes, is in a different time zone. It's still a 12-hour flight too. That's the other thing that they you know, they said 12-hour flight.
Speaker 2:I don't know how far it is between us, but they said in the show it's a 12-hour flight. I'm like none of this makes sense. Like even with him purposely missing his flight, which he does later on I'm like you're supposed to get married tomorrow. You won't get there after the wedding. That doesn't make sense. So I think that was yeah. I think that was a mistake.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, I was like this is so confusing. And so she, she. You can tell as soon as she gets the invitation to Alex's wedding that she's not over him. Which is interesting because you broke up with him. So it's like, what did you expect him to do? Because she said oh, I thought he would have a rebound, I didn't think he would get married. It's been two years.
Speaker 2:It's been two years. It's been two years. And the other thing is like she made it like a. She made it like oh see, just like I thought he would find something else. Of course he would find someone else when you left him, but you're making this like. You're making it seem like this was that you were right, when it was not. You created the situation.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, I feel so, I feel like oh, I'm sorry, New York is five hours ahead of Hawaii. I still don't feel like that fixes all the timeline plot holes, but yeah.
Speaker 1:That makes it worse.
Speaker 2:Okay, so like no, it doesn't make it worse. Okay, so, right now it is, what time for you? 3, 2.40, something 2.50, 2.55.
Speaker 1:okay, so right now, it is what time for you?
Speaker 2:3, 2, 40 something, 2, 55 so it's 9 55 in Hawaii, 9, 55 am Sunday morning.
Speaker 1:I don't know if that makes it better or worse? Okay, it does. It doesn't explain it, but actually doesn't make it worse.
Speaker 2:Okay, explain right, no, okay, I'm sorry, go ahead.
Speaker 1:So I think that that was not explained, right? No, okay, I'm sorry, go ahead. So I think that that was really unfair of her to say, oh you know what, yeah, I was right and oh you know what. Like this, the lady that he's with makes more sense because he was very clearly into you and never gave you any indication that he was not. Also, it was only three months. Man like you are still pining over somebody. You left that. You only went for three months, girl, mm-hmm, you know, like that's crazy it is crazy, but he also never stops flirting with her.
Speaker 1:I was gonna say, literally, I was about to say okay, I was about to say okay, I've discussed all the ways in which she well, not all the ways, I'm going to get back to another way in which she was trifling when it comes to Alex. But let's talk about Alex. Yes, every chance he gets, he flirts with her and it's not here's the thing. It's not overly overt, but he, like you, can tell they had, like inside jokes and, like you said, there was a rhythm on how they talk to each other and I feel like he exploits that intimacy that they had and when he talks to her, I feel like he does things to trigger that intimacy which I would not have an issue with, except for the fact that you're in a new relationship you have a whole girlfriend you have a whole fiance oh yeah, that's
Speaker 2:true, you have a whole fiance there's a wedding planned, but people bought tickets to Hawaii right, and so it's like you are being incredibly inappropriate.
Speaker 1:you are being incredibly inappropriate. I do think he's inappropriate. You are not ready to be marrying somebody else. And I'm not saying that because I feel like he should have been sitting and waiting on Melissa to get her stuff together, because I don't think he should, but I think he never dealt with that situation.
Speaker 1:Neither one of them is over each other but I and I'm like so why are you getting? Why are you getting married to a woman who you the things that he complains about from his fiancee? Lets me know that you just married someone who would marry you and not someone that you're actually compatible with, because she has strong friendships with her girlfriends and they go out and they have adventures and they do stuff and it bothers him. Yeah, she's not me, she's not meek, she's not timid. He doesn't like that about her and I'm like but that's who she is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because I don't know how much he really likes her. I think she seems like outside of her trying to size up Melissa that one time she's probably a nice, good person.
Speaker 1:Here's the thing what she did with Melissa. There's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:The reason why you need to is in your man.
Speaker 1:Yes, but here's the thing Never forget she found out about Melissa. She had just found out that Melissa even existed. Then Melissa had spilled to the bride's best friend, not knowing that she was in love with her ex who works with her.
Speaker 2:And all that being true, your fiance invited his ex to the wedding and didn't tell you it was his ex you know what I mean. All of that can be true, because Melissa could be trifling and really trying to which I guess she kind of is trying to get back at him. The person you still need to deal with is the one that you are attached to.
Speaker 1:Oh, a thousand percent. But I understand her because she just like, let me get, let's just get this out the way. You just told my best friend that you are in love with an ex that you work with Is it my man? And Melissa's like no, she was like, okay, cool, you know what I mean. Like she wasn't overly nasty with her. She was very straightforward, you know what. And I'm like you know what, just for my peace of mind. I don't have an issue because you guess what. You're right there, I'm right here, let's have a quick conversation. She wasn't like. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:that's why you're nasty, but I'm just like, but very clearly you and Alex need to be having some conversations they do, oh no, they absolutely do because, like I said, alex complains about who she is to Melissa and it's just a core of who she is. She is a Right. She's just like a fun, loving, energetic, she has friends and if you think about how Melissa is when they are together, that's not the opposite. That's not. It's the opposite. Melissa did not have a lot of friends. She pretty much only had Rory. She was not even, she didn't go anywhere, she didn't do anything and that is the two of them right and that's what he.
Speaker 1:He likes that kind of woman. So now he has somebody.
Speaker 2:I don't think. That's why I don't want them to end up together either.
Speaker 1:That's what I said remember I told you off camera. I said they're not compatible.
Speaker 2:I agree with you. I agree with you. Well, I think they could have. It would have probably been, you know honestly now, like it would have been unhealthy. I don't know how much growth she would have been done in that relationship.
Speaker 1:Exactly would have been done in that relationship. Exactly. They are not for who she wants to be, because at the time when they are together, initially, the person she is is not the person she wants to be. The person that she wants to be is not compatible with alex. Alex is to be. You know how they have, like those trash cans, those trash bags that are like floral scented or minty scented to hide the smell of the garbage.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:He's a bag of that. It smells nice, you know what I mean, but he's actually garbage.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 1:He is Because you've proposed to this woman the entire time, though you're being overly familiar with your ex who you work with every day you're flirting with her, and then so to fast forward to the end of the show, he's supposed to get on the plane to go to Hawaii for his wedding and he intentionally misses his wife.
Speaker 1:Now what he tells Melissa is that he talks about how the wife is flying out early so her and her girlfriends can have one last girl trip before the wedding. And he's like, oh, with her cousins, her cousins. And he's like, I mean, I know it's small but it's a problem, you missed your flight, mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, no, no. You missed your flight, which also, to me, sets up with them. So, like you got this whole big wedding planned in Hawaii, why aren't you there early to help set anything up?
Speaker 1:Right, I did not understand that either.
Speaker 2:Instead, you're playing with your old girlfriend over ice, Like and I'll tell you if I found that out and I don't know that she will ever find that out, but if I find that out we're gonna have issues and complications here.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's set the scene the thai restaurant that he and melissa both frequent often. Melissa um introduced him to the restaurant, but it's a place that they frequent often. He's getting food. Melissa's already there At this point in the story.
Speaker 1:Melissa has decided that she's going to confess her feelings to Alex and she's going to do it at his wedding, which I have a huge problem with, but we can address it after this. So they meet after they end up running into each other at the restaurant and they then have the most intimate date ever. Let's just call it what it is. They're eating together. He's talking to her about his problems and all the things that his wife, that his future wife, does that he doesn't like. They go shopping. They're like two kids in a candy store, I don't know, but they're just having so much fun. They go ice skating without ice skates. I don't know how they did that, but they did. They were just all of these longing looks, long stares, but they did Like. There were just all of these like longing looks, long stares and close touches, and I feel like Melissa was reading the signals correctly.
Speaker 2:She was, she was, she was. That's the part where I'm like you, gonna pretend like you have not been flirting with this girl all night and you didn't bring up the fact that you all broke her bed and to act all flabbergasted when she kissed you. When she kissed you, you was dropping hints like bombs.
Speaker 1:you was, you know when she kissed him he absolutely freaked out as if it came out of nowhere. But then after that says oh you know what, if you want to be with me, then tell me that you love me. And I'm like she does, she can't and I'm like, wait a minute. If she would have told you that she loved you, were you going to call?
Speaker 2:her, because your fiancee already over there and your family. The only person is not at your wedding is you.
Speaker 1:Right, and that's why I said he's a bag of garbage that smells like Febreze, but he's ultimately a bag of garbage that smells like Febreze, but he's ultimately a bag of garbage. Now I would also like to talk about Melissa. In this moment is also a bag of garbage. The reason why is you professed your love for this man and your plan was to do it at his wedding, which, if her cousins would have beat your behind, I would not have even felt bad for you?
Speaker 2:I would not have felt bad for you. I mean, what's what they supposed to do but beat you? You know what?
Speaker 1:and so she, in that moment, she's good, she's kissed him, she's confessed that she still has feelings for him, and he looks her dead in the face and says, okay, well, do you love me? And then she's like, oh, um, I can't say that. What were you doing when you were sussing out your feelings and all of these longings and sleepless nights because you can't stop thinking about him? You didn't think about oh well, last time he told me he loved me and that was a problem. You didn't think about. Like, maybe I need to figure out how I actually feel about him.
Speaker 2:Because, like at this point, like it's probably more comfortable, she's in love with the idea of him. You know what I mean. Like she spent three years reminiscing over those three months and then having these moments where they kind of flirt with each other in the office. He's become an idea, the. And then having these moments where they kind of flirt with each other in the office, he's become an idea, the. Confronting the reality of him is where she still has a problem.
Speaker 1:And I know you know, in an earlier episode we talked about how healing is not linear, but that situation is. I know we've been using this word a lot, but it is what it is. It's very toxic Because they're stuck in this weird like loop. Right, oh, I want to be with you. When you don't want to be with me, I want to, you know, and back and forth, and back and forward, Both of you are stuck in this three months, like neither of you have let go of that three-month period, right.
Speaker 1:But meanwhile he's pulled another person in and she is playing games, because it's like you're so obsessed with him but you also don't know if you love him. Neither one of them need to be in a relationship at this time with anybody.
Speaker 2:And I do think it's more of an obsession. Alice is more of an obsession than love. She is yeah.
Speaker 1:Because she sees the Febreze garbage bag and not the garbage inside. Oh my God. Because I want to compare him with Terrence, and so I love Terrence. Although I saw it in the first episode, the first interaction, I said, oh my god, he likes her, like they were talking. You see him like scoot closer to her and I'm like, oh my god, he likes her, even throughout the series. You see him like scoot closer to her and I'm like, oh my god, he likes her, even throughout the series. You see him dating other people, but he always kind of has his eye on her. But the way that he approaches her, he's always like coming in and trying to lift her up and he is trying to affirm her. And it's not that Alex doesn't do that too, because he writes Alex with her a glowing recommendation you know, but everything that he does.
Speaker 1:It just seems draped in their relationship, in their past relationship. It wasn't like to me, like that recommendation was almost a love letter. I just it wasn't like to me, like that recommendation was almost a love letter. It just I just every day, anytime terrence I mean anytime alex talks to her, even if he's affirming her, it's it's just dripped in flirtation and that it wasn't like that with terrence. A lot of times Terrence was speaking life into her insecurities, helping her to move past them and just telling her. It's like Terrence is helping her to become the person she wants to be and Alex is looking for the person that she was.
Speaker 2:I can see that.
Speaker 1:And so, as the series goes on, you see like Terrence's feelings for her become more clear and the way that he manifests those feelings is just with like that support for her goals and that encouragement, and I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. And even like Terrence sees her hung up on Alex you know what I mean and I was like oh, that hurts me.
Speaker 2:After the simulation where she walks off with Alex and you see his face crack. Oh that was hard. I felt so bad for him because I was like girl, Girl, he organized this whole thing just to get you on this plane that would have been it for me?
Speaker 1:you know, that might have been it for me too, and I'm tough enough to crack, but but that was beautiful, you know what like, you know how, like if a man wants to do a romantic gesture, like they'll bring you some chocolates or a bouquet of flowers, like, very like generic, like. When I tell you, like, creating that simulation, like it was just like the most beautiful, like specialized show of love, and that he knows.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm like girl. Why are you looking in the past Like you're running off? Why did Alex show up? There was no reason for Alex to show up there At the end, because you didn't actually do anything. He did not, he did not.
Speaker 2:I guess you let Patty off work so that she could drive her over there.
Speaker 1:But like I was so frustrated. You have to show up and take credit, right. He's like oh, I had to be there for you and I'm like you.
Speaker 2:Girl. They're sizing each other up at her graduation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because Terrence is not crazy.
Speaker 1:No he ain't. Terrence is like there's no reason for you to be here, like why? Tance is like why there's no reason for you to be here, like why are you here? Like what's going on? You know what I mean. But once again Alex is inserting himself in her life because I think he heard that she had dated somebody else. Like when, you know, he did right. So he's trying to suss out what's going on and who she's dating. You have a wedding planned in Hawaii, like back off of her, you know, and I so I was very frustrated because I feel like the show poses Alex as a good guy Mm-hmm, you know and even I feel like the show positions him as her dream man. You know what I mean? And I'm just like no, he is garbash. He is garbash with a bow on top. It's Terrence.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's definitely Terrence. It's Terrence for me.
Speaker 1:Like she talks about the entire show. How nobody knows her, how nobody sees her. He sees her. Yeah, Good and bad, bad. He's trying to help her stop smoking. You know what I mean? Like he really cares.
Speaker 2:He cares it's a good, delicate balance between him supporting and uplifting her and then also calling her on her crap when she needs to be calling her on her crap yes, he does. It's all done in a very gentle way. You know he's not harsh with her, but at the same time he'd be. You know he's not harsh with her, but at the same time he'd be like.
Speaker 1:But once again, he's only holding her accountable to what she says that she wants. He's not holding, he's not like I think you should be this kind of person and these are the things that you should do to be the kind of person I want you to be. He's like this is who you say that you want to be and you're now she's looking back and saying I can't be that person. He's like oh no, you can. I see it in you. Let me help you bring it out. You know what I mean. Like he's gentle, parenting her into the person that she wants to be, but it's not in a way that's infantilizing. Yes, I love it and once again, it's a lot of times when it comes with her and Alex, it's very much her and Alex.
Speaker 1:Terrence rallies everybody around he's a part of her community if they ever got together, it would not be just the two of them in a wind tunnel in a dark corner he would add to her life, not be her life.
Speaker 2:Alex wants to be someone's life yeah, you know, it is all the way. It is Terrence for me. That's who I want her to be with. I do not want to get with Alex. I don't think I think you're right. Like talking to you, I feel stronger about it than I did. I think, seeing it because I didn't I didn't think of Alex as a bad guy, I just felt like they missed their moment. But I do see some things that I didn't see before, and how much he doesn't like the girlfriend. I don't think I think I missed that, like I felt like he was disrespecting the girlfriend, but I didn't.
Speaker 1:I don't think I really kind of fully like he does not like her, he doesn't. And so the girlfriend says something about how in the beginning she that she really wasn't feeling him and then he made her fall in love with her. And I think that that's a. That's a thing that he has like he wants. He wants to love a woman, he wants a relationship, and it's not necessarily about let me find the best person for me. It's like let me find somebody, and that's why it's like that's that, that's why they're struggling you know, what I mean, because they're not compatible.
Speaker 1:And the girlfriend I think they originally saw it, but he was like very persistent, I think he broke her down yeah and now he's like, oh, I got her, but she's not actually. She's got a life of her own, you know.
Speaker 2:I know because I'm like outside of this context, like she seems like cool people you and Melissa probably wouldn't even get along outside of him.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you he needs to be with Rory and the only reason why I said that is because Rory is also very tunnel vision and he only wants to be with his partner. I know that Alex is not homosexual, but I'm saying that's the kind of person.
Speaker 2:I like Rory and the soccer doctor.
Speaker 1:I do too. I like them together Because I think that he's healing something in Rory and allowing Rory to actually have a real relationship, and I think that they should run off into the sunset. He does not need to be in season two, I disagree.
Speaker 2:Okay so, alex, how do you think about? Okay, so the girl that Terrence is initially kind of casually dating, that kind of tries to hold him into a relationship because I feel like she does, they're very friends with benefits, kind of thing just starting out, and then she declares them with HR without telling him. She says that they didn't define the relationship but then she kind of keeps pushing to define it and then he eventually realizes, okay, she's more serious than I am and he's starting to really come to terms with his feelings for Mel and so he pulls out of it that girl which I don't you know, her and Alex might actually work. She does have a big, strong personality. She seems nice, you know, attractive, her and Alex actually might be a better fit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like he really needs somebody who's more bland, more plain, who kind of just wants to be in a love life with him, who wants to be in a relationship.
Speaker 2:I actually think, yeah, those two actually who kind of just wants to be in a love life with him, who just wants to be in a relationship and is just really into being in a relationship.
Speaker 1:I actually think, yeah, those two. Actually I can see that Right. Yeah, I don't think that Melissa is right for him Now. Do I think that she should have broken up with him the way that she did?
Speaker 2:At that moment.
Speaker 1:Right, that wasn't necessarily cruel the way that she broke up with him, that she broke up with him, the reason why she broke up with him, all of those things were wrong. But just because that she handled it in the wrong way doesn't mean that they were supposed to be together, because I don't think that they were Not.
Speaker 2:If she is to become the person she says she wants to be, I think if they had not missed that moment, that period, I can see them having a lasting relationship, but I think she would have been a very different person.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:She would have, she really would be working at the airport forever in that same job probably you know what I mean Like she wouldn't have grown, she wouldn't have developed the community which is some people's life I don't know if that's you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's a different life. I'm not going to say that that's a wrong life, but it's a different choice. I do like this life that she's building better for her. But you know, I just think her life would look really differently if she had chosen that. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I agree. The Melissa that exists today could not be in a relationship with.
Speaker 2:Alex, no, no, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:Okay, do you know what we did not discuss? What didn't we talk about? We did not discuss the brother-sister conversation at the bar. Oh, I think that warrants a discussion, okay. So to backtrack on Thanksgiving, you find out that, well, actually before Thanksgiving, to backtrack on Thanksgiving, you find out that, well, actually before Thanksgiving, to backtrack a little bit more, melissa finds out that her brother is on dating apps and he's married. So that's a big no, no. And so you find out that she starts catfishing him and on Thanksgiving she sets up a meetup and meets him first of all, catfishing. Your brother is insane, yeah, well, no, okay not her brother, I don't care.
Speaker 2:She sets up a meetup and meets him First of all, catfishing. Your brother is insane, yeah, well, no, okay, not her brother, I don't care. And you're cheating, so I don't feel anything for you.
Speaker 1:I don't know. So, like you got enough going on, do you really have time for catfishing, your brother?
Speaker 2:The catfishing did not bother me. The catfishing her brother did not bother me. I, the catfish thing did not bother me. The catfish and her brother did not bother me. I think the only thing is like taking his Social Security number. That's the thing that bothered me. But her catfish and her cheat net brother I don't care.
Speaker 1:So she confronts him about cheating on his wife at the bar and I loved that because you know what a lot of times in families you will know that, like, your family members are behaving badly and poorly and you will either not say anything, it's like, oh, it's none of my business, or like, in spite of it, you'll still see people support their family members, like how many moms do you know who support their toxic sons who are cheating on their wives and girlfriends and will cover for them and things like that. And so for her to confront him, I thought it was really great. How did you feel about the Black love conversation?
Speaker 2:Girl, I was so annoyed with him. I was so annoyed with him Because I don't like that and I feel like that. I'm going to say this I feel like I see this in real life with men, black men, who marry White women but want to cheat with Black women. So that's off the top. That's going to piss me off Because, like you made the choice, stick with your choice, right, I don't agree with cheating anyway, but don't act like something. You were wronged out of this Black love experience that you opted out of and to me he's like I love my wife, I love her so much.
Speaker 1:But it's like he was basically you're at an event and you have FOMO because there's all these. They let like create a special place for black couples to dance. You're like, oh no, I'll never have black love and that leads me to going create a special place for Black couples to dance, you're like, oh no, I'll never have Black love.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that leads me to going as far as to cheating on your like, starting this whole series of cheating with Black women on your wife that you are using to get this Black experience again that you chose not to be a part of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like you did not want Black love and that is fine. You got Sarah love. Enjoy your Sarah love. Enjoy your Sarah love. Why are you like you said? You're now like using and abusing Black women to try to get some little high that you feel like you're missing out on, Especially because his wife is really good to him. She is Like he is very caring and very understanding. She, you know, is trying good to him. She is, he is very caring and very understanding. She is trying to help him with his mental health and help him with the load that he says he has on him. She's a good, supportive wife. She doesn't deserve that.
Speaker 2:He's also usury to her. He treats women almost like an object. This is a need that I need to fill this Black experience. I'm just going to take these single Black women that are dating that you know want a relationship, and just insert myself in their life so I get my needs met, knowing that I could never meet theirs. And then you got your wife at home, who is raising your children, doing the things that you all agreed to, right, and you're not being a full partner to her. Even outside of the cheating, you're not being a full partner to her. She's like just this object that you planted in. This is the wife, this is what it looks like, but you're not really communicating with her, you're not opening up to her, you're not letting her into your whole separate life outside of her.
Speaker 1:You're also trying to have another baby.
Speaker 2:Exactly While you know that you're unhappy. So usury in nature to everyone. So to me, men like this. Women are objects, so I put Sarah in my life to fulfill this object role of a wife. And now these Black women. Now that I want to experience Black love, these Black women, I'm just going to date them and get this experience that I need to be met. But you're not treating anybody in here like they're a full person.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so even though I have empathy for certain aspects of his life like he's also garbage and I was like trying to justify the cheating was crazy to me right because like again you're complaining about normal real world, people.
Speaker 2:You know stuff right, like you mean, like you doing, um, yeah, like you're just you're.
Speaker 1:That's literally what marriage is right. Like you're working, she stays at home. You're just that's literally.
Speaker 2:What marriage is Right? You're working, she stays at home. What's your issue? You seem like apparently, you can afford it, so why?
Speaker 1:are you mad?
Speaker 2:Yes, I don't get it. And then if that's no longer working for you, if it's too much and you need her to go back to work, have a conversation with her.
Speaker 1:Right, because the kids are in school so she can get a little PTJ Right.
Speaker 2:Have a conversation with her. At least tell her what in the world you're brooding over.
Speaker 1:I honestly don't even think that it's her. I think that it's the mom putting all that pressure on him and, being his second wife, instead of putting boundaries in with his mom, he'd rather take it out on his wife. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Which is not fair to Sarah.
Speaker 1:It's not.
Speaker 2:Sarah don't deserve that Sarah don't deserve that. The Black woman that he's using don't deserve that. They deserve a fair chance at an actual relationship and I just I feel nothing for her. I think that's the other part, like I don't feel bad, like with Melissa catfishing him, because I'm like she's on the app for single people doing what single people do.
Speaker 1:It's not like just he shouldn't be up there, he shouldn't be up there, but just like having those Flirty conversations with your brother Is crazy. It's not like she got one of her friends To catfish her brother, she is doing it herself and that Is wild to me. That's wild. So I Want to make sure that we talk about her travel journey before the show ends, because once again I started the show thinking the show was all about her traveling and she does not get on a plane until I think the last episode she does Like on a plane until I think the last episode, she does.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, dang, it's the buildup to the travel.
Speaker 1:I know, but once again, this is just. It just wasn't what I thought the show was about. Did I say she was traveling on the show? I mean we were talking about, like, when we were discussing the show, you said, well, what do you in the show I mean we were talking about? Like when we were discussing the show, you said, well, what do you think the show is about? I'm like I think it's about a lady who's like never traveled before and scared, and like she like takes a leap or something and starts traveling. You're like, yeah, yeah, that's about right, that is not what this show is about.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I'd be afraid. I'm like I don't want to ruin the purpose. My bad, I didn't mean to mislead you, but she finally, you have more empathy for the brother than I do. I just don't feel like he's doing as much as he thinks he's doing. You know, and again, again, like he's not entirely wrong, melissa does need to get her shit together and she and there's some of her, a part of her that is like kind of refusing to get her shit together, um, but I also feel like he exasperates, like he makes it a much bigger deal than it actually is mm-hmm, yeah, I mean, I do think that he thinks that he's Superman, but he's definitely Clark Kent.
Speaker 2:Is he even Clark Kent? I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:So that's Melissa's airport journey. Okay, one of the things that I was very happy about was that she decided not to go to Hawaii. Was that she decided Not to go to Hawaii Because the Her plan To go to Alex's wedding Was dumb? It was terrible? No, like, here's the thing your feelings are your feelings and you are entitled to your feelings, but what you don't get to do Is destroy somebody's special day. No, because you don't have feelings, but what you don't get to do is destroy somebody's special day.
Speaker 1:Because you have feelings, but also you see that man every single day, you look him in the face. You fly all the way to Hawaii to bust up my wedding. I don't know that you're leaving. I don't know that you're leaving Hawaii unless you're in a box. It was incredibly selfish, incredibly self-centered, and it was, and I it. To me it. It did not make sense for who melissa is, because one of the issues that she's always had is like oh, I don't want to take up space, I don't want to take up space, I don't want to take up space. And so, once you decide, I'm going to put myself first. You're putting yourself first is ruining somebody else's wedding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that that part is always insane. But again, and I hate that trip I'm glad they didn't actually do it like they alluded to it. They didn't actually do it because I hate the breaking up wedding thing. That's my least favorite episode in a different world. What the way everybody's like oh my god, that robot. Though it's so romantic, I'm like I get pissed off every time and I, lightweight, feel like she should have married byron and I'm gonna move on. But I'm sorry we're going back, but I hate that trope. I'm glad they didn't do it.
Speaker 1:So I was terrified that she was, and also I never understood why she planned on going to the wedding either. Her reasonings did not make sense. She's like well, I want to put my toes in the sand. Do you know how many places you can put your toes? That points to her plan. With these feelings, I want to put my toes in the sand.
Speaker 2:Do you know how many places you can put your toes? That points to her playing with these feelings. You know what I mean. Because she wants to go to the wedding. She's still kind of dealing, because she's dealing with her feelings with Alex, but then every time anybody asks her she's like oh no, it's not about him. You going to somebody's wedding is not about them. You know what I mean, because there's nothing wrong with you going to somebody's wedding for them. That's the whole thing. That's what it is. But she makes a big deal every single time. Oh no, it's not about him. It's about me wanting to travel. Oh no, it's about me needing a vacation.
Speaker 1:I'm like you're still playing games. She could have went to the Bahamas, jamaica, anywhere. It would have been a shorter flight for your first flight. She could have went to Hilton hey, you want to put your feet in some sand? Like that's the thing I did not understand. Like I was excited that, okay, she's finally going to fly, but when I tell you I would have been turning up on somebody's island and it wouldn't have been Maui. Girl but it would not have been Hawaii.
Speaker 2:Not not not.
Speaker 1:Girl, but it would not have been Hawaii. No, no, no, I would have been in Miami. I would have been in Jamaica. Most likely I would have been in St Thomas, st Kitts.
Speaker 2:I would be turning up, but that would be St Kitts Nevis Girl. There's so many options.
Speaker 1:Right, that's what I'm saying. Why are you going to Hawaii? Why? Like it was like punishing, it was almost like she was punishing herself.
Speaker 2:It was weird, it was weird. It was a real weird energy around that. And again, the dismissal of going to somebody's wedding for them, which is weird Because, again, if you were over him it wouldn't be a deal to say yeah, I'm going to go support Alex. This is my friend.
Speaker 1:I just I didn't think that she was ever going to make it to that wedding. Even if she would have been to the wedding, I didn't think she was going to make it to the wedding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm glad she didn't, though. No, you don't need to be at somebody else's and it's weird. I don't like the whole thing. Why would you invite exes to weddings anyway? I don't get why people do that in the first place.
Speaker 1:I also did not understand why he invited her. I don't understand why he sent her the invitation on her birthday, unless he was trying to hurt her or get a rise out of her to see where her head was at. You cannot convince me it is anything else, because he tries to make this thing. It's like, oh, we're friends since we've broken up. But when she calls him on the phone after he gives her the recommendation, he's like oh my god, I thought you lost my phone number because you never called me, which also that conversation on the phone was inappropriate.
Speaker 2:Oh, so inappropriate.
Speaker 1:Very inappropriate. He was calling her Miss Jackson and all of that stuff. But this is the thing it's like they are not friends, they are exes, and it's very clear that they are exes. So I don't understand why he invited her and then to not tell his fiance who she was, you know until way later. Garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage. But I was. So instead of going to Hawaii, she ends up going like on a kind of like an airport hopping tour. She goes to Charlotte, from Charlotte, she goes to Chicago and she has a time in Chicago. She like sees the sights, she goes and she visits, like Elise's favorite restaurant and she ends up meeting someone who actually knew Elise. Did you think that it was weird that she confessed the credit card?
Speaker 2:to him yes, I thought that was so weird. I was like why did you feel like you needed to confess that? You didn't need to confess that?
Speaker 1:You don't know this man from Adam, and he knows Elise and loved her. Why would you tell this man from Adam why? And he knows Elise and loved her? Why would you tell this man that you stole her credit card and took yourself on a lavish vacation?
Speaker 2:Girl, it was so weird, you don't? Yeah, it was so weird. Why should she get that all the time?
Speaker 1:I'm telling you, Melissa makes decisions that I do not understand.
Speaker 1:Even at that point in the show where she's experienced so much growth, she still will come out and do some wild stuff where I'm like, girl, I'm rooting for you. We are friends in my head, but some of the stuff you do you can't make it to the inner sanctum. You're going to have to be on the outside because you are just unpredictable. You are wild. She do be wilder. She did the penguin swim or penguin dive. She jumps into the water, she does a cold plunge. I don't know, I was thinking, man, maybe before I die, at least once, I just think it was like that's like a once in a lifetime experience okay, um, I don't see a point in doing that, but if you do it, I'll do it with you yeah, I just think like it's sometimes you do stuff for the plot.
Speaker 1:you just do stuff just so you can always say that you did. And I'm like I think honey, I think honey, we do that before I die, so we'll make a plan.
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm down like four flight pass. You know I love Chicago.
Speaker 1:Right. So the beautiful thing about her trip is that she's like posting it on social media, sending text messages to her friends. I love to see her friends' reactions. Yes, everyone is like seeing her and they're so happy for her, even her mom.
Speaker 2:Her mom's reaction is oh, I guess I'm not going to get my Hawaiian coffee, but you know her mom is a big hater everybody else seems to be really, really, really excited her least favorite person was still excited and he tries to talk her out of going to the wedding which I think was the right thing in that moment yes, I do think that the best advice and the only good advice he's ever given her was yes, we all want you to take a flight, but it does not have to be this one.
Speaker 1:And so, yes, I think in that moment he was right. But so was a broken clock twice a day. So Roy has one hater, it's me. If he has no hater, it's RIP me. So she ends up having, like this beautiful and you see everybody so excited, you know about her, except for her mom. And so she heads back home and she, like, on the way on her trip home, she meets someone who works her same position at a different airport and she tells her that she met somebody on the trip and the lady asks who it was and she says I met me. Absolutely. How did that moment make you feel?
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that moment. I love that whole interaction between the two of them and her again like, okay, she's received so much from her community and she pours out into someone who needs a little bit of extra confidence, you know, to take it to the next step, her acknowledging that she met herself but she's not all the way there yet, because none of us ever are. I love that. I love everything about that.
Speaker 1:One of the things that she's been saying throughout the show is no one knows the real me. No one knows the real me and how she doesn't feel seen, and so it's like for her to say I met me and I'm like, okay, now at least you know, Know you right, and maybe that answers your earlier question as to why nobody knows the real her.
Speaker 1:Because she didn't know, yeah, and maybe that answers your earlier question as to why nobody knows the real her, because she didn't know, yeah, and so that moment was really beautiful, it was really touching, and now I want to talk about the last crazy thing that she does. Okay, once again it's another Melissa. What are you doing? Once again, it's another Melissa. What are you doing? Melissa decides to leave her brother a voicemail because she's very excited that she gets her. She gets a settlement from the furniture company that you know injures her, and so she gets seventeen thousand dollars, which I don't think is enough money. But that's neither here nor there.
Speaker 2:She was excited about it, but I'm like I'm gonna need a zero One more at least one more zero.
Speaker 1:It doesn't even cover her medical bills, but anyway she's so excited. She calls her brother and she leaves him a voicemail saying hey, like I got some money from the furniture company and so now I can take care of myself, which also $17,000 is not enough money to take care of yourself. But if you feel like it, hey, she's like, I'm no longer one of your kids. And then she says you won't have a third child unless you keep cheating on your wife. Girl, why would you do that? That don't matter. It says I love you. He listens to the voicemail in front of his wife and children Playing it to the car, which also is a weird choice. It is a weird choice when you know you're cheating.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Like you think you would just be a little bit more cautious about your phone especially because you know your sister knows you're cheating, but also why. Melissa strikes me hard as the do not put on speaker friend. She as the do not put on speaker friend. She's a do not put on speaker friend Like you should know that.
Speaker 1:Definitely. But I was like, why would you leave that? Why would you do that? Because even if he did not play it on speakerphone, what if the wife was checking his voicemail for whatever reason? Mm-hmm, I don't understand. Like I once again, it was crazy. Like, yeah, I love you and I'm trying to be your friend because the choices you make make it so hard. Yeah, that was a rough one. That was a rough one.
Speaker 2:Um, that was crazy work, and but that's also a reason why I think the brother is the one who turned her in. Yeah, that was a rough one, that was a rough one, that was crazy work, but that's also the reason why I think the brother is the one who turned her in.
Speaker 1:So I was going to talk about the ending. So the ending of season one. Melissa gets off of the airplane and Terrence is there to meet her and they were just about to have this beautiful hug. Right before they can hug each other, she's tackled by security, placed in the handcuffs, and she's charged for like credit card fraud and grand larceny and identity theft and forgery, all of those things because she stole Elise's credit card and so I had asked you earlier who did you think snitched on her?
Speaker 1:and you said you think it was her brother. So I'm like, well, maybe it was the man at the restaurant, even though he said that he wasn't.
Speaker 2:Oh, he would like to call the police though no, he's not that kind of old person that would. He's not like. He's the he. I don't think, even if she hadn't asked him, I still don't think that she, he, would have really called the police. I think he was just, you know, pushing a little back a little bit. I think it was the brother because it was credit card fraud and identity theft. She also stole his identity and she also told the brother that she stole Elisa's credit card.
Speaker 2:So he knew all of that, and he does like to see her fail. He does. I think the brother has more of a motivation than the guy at the thing at the diner, because what is he going to get out of it? At least he ain't got no kids, at least he ain't got no family. Nobody's going to have to pay that bill. You know, I don't think he did it, I think it's the brother.
Speaker 1:So do you think he told the police in retaliation for the voicemail that she left? Now knowing that when she for the voicemail that she left? Now knowing that when she left this voicemail she was not talking about his cheating, she wasn't trying to be malicious, no, she was actually trying to be lighthearted and funny. You know what I mean? Yes, it was very careless.
Speaker 2:It's very careless. The brother's a hater. He says he wants her to come up, but I don't feel it doesn't feel genuine to me from him. I think he enjoys seeing her being a failure like. There are certain situations, like if he's trying to get his identity back you know what I mean the fact that she stole it. There are certain situations where, like your, your insurance company or the thing won't unless you prosecute, like if you say I'm not going to prosecute this person, they won't, you know, go into the recovery. But I feel like if that was the situation, he would have prepared her for that but here's the thing.
Speaker 1:There's no need to go into recovery. She's not taking money. He's just a guarantor on her loan. Now it may affect his credit.
Speaker 2:It affects the credit, whether or not he can get another loan. We don't know what he's trying to do, but either way, I'm saying the only way that it's legitimate. He had no choice but to do it. To me would have been that kind of situation that I just described. That is not going on and you would have prepared somebody for that. Like hey, they're saying I can't get my identity back. I got to get my identity back for this reason and I can't listen.
Speaker 1:So it feels more malicious than I think it was, which is terrible because he was the one that was cheating and that witness was not like made with malicious intent, and why would you want your sibling to go to jail?
Speaker 2:both both mel and her brother have an issue with accountability. Both of them talk about everything like it just happens to them and like they're not active participants in their life. The same thing like when he talks about the cheating. It was like well, I got so much pressure on me, what am I supposed to do? I knew it's not going to fix it, but you're choosing to cheat anyway.
Speaker 1:You know like so yeah, no, he doesn't really take any accountability for the cheating. So here's the thing, although I was super upset to see Mel get arrested and in handcuffs like does she deserve it because she did steal that woman's credit card?
Speaker 2:I don't want to see her go to jail.
Speaker 1:I just really don't. But like she did a crime, so is going to jail part of her growth arc. I don't know crime, so is going to jail part of her growth arc?
Speaker 2:I don't know, I don't want her to go to jail. We need a season two. If she in jail, she can't be in jail all season two.
Speaker 1:It'd be a very interesting season. Mm-hmm. Okay, so that was literally like her getting arrested was literally like the last moment of the last episode.
Speaker 2:So let's talk season two and questions that we hope get answered okay I want to know more backstory on the father and what he did to be such a terrible person. Um, that's, that's one of the main yeah, just always context. I would also want to dive more into some of the background characters, which I think usually happens in season two anyway, and, of course, I want to know if she's going to go to jail. What's going to happen to her after she gets arrested?
Speaker 1:I want to know if Alex married that girl. I'm not sure he did. Oh, he definitely did. I don't know. I don't know that he did. I don't know that he did. He married her and I hope that he didn't, honestly because she deserves better For her sake.
Speaker 2:I hope he didn't, but like and it's so much you got all the family in Hawaii all that Like he did it, and she probably did it too.
Speaker 1:I don't know if they're going to stay together, though I also want to know what's going to happen with Brian and Sarah. Is she going to leave him because she found out that he's cheating? Is she pregnant already?
Speaker 2:I hope she's not pregnant already. Is she going to leave him? No, no question to be answered, but I don't think she's going to leave him.
Speaker 1:And so, in order to work at the airport, you have to have security clearance. So how is getting arrested? I think you have to have a certain level of security clearance, right? You usually have to run a background check.
Speaker 2:They definitely have to do a background check. I don't know. I would have thought that would have been more like TSA specific, like those type of jobs.
Speaker 1:But who knows? I wonder if her getting arrested is going to derail her upward trajectory.
Speaker 2:Oh goodness, Well, I mean it's got to in some way.
Speaker 1:How that looks, how that plays out, yeah, I wonder if they're going to explore her reconciling with rory um next year. I personally don't need it and I hope that her reconciling with rory does not stop her from continuing to build in her community?
Speaker 2:I don't think so either, I don't think it would, but like, yeah, I definitely want to see where. Where does, where does their relationship go from here, her and roy?
Speaker 1:okay, don't have any other things. Do you have any unanswered questions? I think that's it. I think we kind of yeah. So yeah, this was a oh, it was a great show. I know I uh had my reservations in the beginning because it was not what I expected, um, but I'm I'm actually really grateful that I watched it. I felt like they'd uh brought some things to the surface that I think I'm going to talk to my therapist about, which is that, like it's a good thing, you know I think that it's important, it I'm like, oh okay, you know what, I have some, some things I need to process out, so that's interesting.
Speaker 1:but it was an enjoyable ride and I did not know, um, at the time that I finished watching it, that there was going to be a season two. So I was like a little heartbroken, I'm like I need closure. Is she going to be a season two? So I was like a little heartbroken, I'm like I need closure. Is she going to get with Terrence? Did Alex marry that woman? What's going to happen with Brian and Sarah? So now I have an opportunity to find out. That's very, very exciting for me, absolutely. So, guys, I hope you enjoyed this series and look forward.