Marriage Boot Camp - Season 4 - *Sleuthing Spoilers* - Discussion

Totally agree mindless, as hard as it can be in the heat of the moment. :halo:

I get the feeling that they went in feeling above the therapy and all the drama when clearly they needed some of it too, albeit much less than the others. I wonder how long all of that light spreading in the dark house lasted .

Cat said herself that they needed to learn how to fight, and I can totally relate, I found the first 1-2 yrs of marriage pretty dang rough. Idiot was said on a good day, haha.

I never knew Sean was a drinker, either -- and certainly not someone who wants to get drunk after an argument! That's a very toxic and immature way to deal with conflict. I never cared for Sean but this makes me likes him even less.

From what I've seen, the couples are working hard to fix themselves and their relationships. They are using what they learn in the exercises and it translates to less yelling, swearing and fighting. It would be easy for viewers to negatively judge these couples, but they aren't just crazy tattoos or enhanced "features". They are real people that weren't raised in upper middle class homes by two loving parents - except for one couple.

One man's issue to overcome involved being shot by his nephew while he was on his way to his mother's funeral. Another man watched his father & uncle nearly kill each other in a knife fight. Another man tried to hold in his friend's intestines after he was sliced open in a hood fight. One lady on the show revealed she has trust issues because she was sexually abused by a female babysitter. Truly horrific issues! It is heartbreaking and I admit I can't listen to some of it. 

Despite all this, each one of these people have reached out to help and encourage others. It is done with compassion, without judgement or condescension. Except for one couple. 

I think what started off as just one more reality tv money grab became much more than what SeanCat bargained for. I also think many viewers or "followers" as Sean calls them would be shocked and disappointed to see these two in action. JMOAA.

It sounds like Sean and Cat actually needed to be on MBC - and not just for the money.

Thanks for the recaps - I'm always a few days behind in watching but I've seen most episodes and also watched last year when Ryan & Trista were on.  That was much less trashy btw, with just one off-the-wall couple IMO.  I think T&R had fewer issues than S&C but they took the therapy seriously and cast and crew clearly loved Ryan - he seemed to be their go to guy and the other "stars" looked up to him.  Contrast that with Sean who does not appear to be well liked or respected.   He also appears very passive to me, which must drive Catherine nuts as she's the opposite.

I found that last episode haunting in a way. As someone said above, these are for the most part people who did not have an idyllic childhood, in the sense of two loving/rational parents without want for (unconditional) love, encouragement, attention, food, safety, shelter, adult modeling of conflict resolution, etc. So I can barely stand to watch them yell and attack and act like a bunch of Arrested Toddlers (not even Adolescents).

SO, turning to the last episode, one had to say that Jim/Elizabeth were doing real therapy, of the sort that these people never would have been exposed to otherwise. The participants have to choose to stay on a path toward healing, but I will give the show "credit" that these exercises and the overall experience really builds understanding between couples, even if only to illuminate that the challenges/conflicts outweigh the benefits to staying together.

The bridge exercise recapped by others above was quite powerful, by any measure, reality TV aside.

With regard to Sean, denial and his "faith" is the means he has previously used to cope with his shame/guilt for failing in "real life" after Athletic Success, IMO. And as a Christian, I respect the power of that path to forgiveness, etc. But clearly, he has some work to do ... I think he's one of those that went on this program thinking he could pick up some cash, judge others, go through the motions of "therapy", and ended up (as any of us would, all being human!) learning a lot about himself and his relationship. Catherine was always pretty forthcoming that she'd had a rough childhood (father, etc.). I am glad for them they could go through this. The other couples are right that Sean/Catherine "act" toward one another and in front of the others and the cameras as a perfect couple, and that is exhausting and impossible to live up to in the long run.

MBC IS sort of a just another (crap) reality show in its own way, but at the core (and maybe that's what Trista/Ryan said about their experience) no one could deny that last week's episode involved actual therapy. It was powerful to watch for a few of those individuals, for sure.

Just watched Friday's episode and I have to admit I just love Mama June. Never watched a eposoide of her show but seems sweet and very caring. Sean did not surprise me one bit he wants this perfect image of him and their marriage and it is far from that. I agree what another poster said that they really needed counseling . To me Sean did not take this seriousis and did not learn anything because of his arrogance .He should just thank his lucky stars that he has two wonderful parents . JMO

I think being the only Bachelor to marry his f1 and all the Bachelor royalty/goals comments puts tons of pressure on them to appear perfect and sweet. I'm not even watching the season but have seen several clips where the other cast members pick up on it too.

I think they got an extremely good edit during that puppet part in the week before last. I wonder how though? If you take what was left of it, it fits with that magazine article about their dysfunctional sex life imo. Now we find out Catherine doesn't want him to see her naked, this combined with Sean's issues... yikes! TMI!!!  Personally, I think Sean expected Catherine to keep a lid on their extremely private issues and just collect the paycheck. I think he miscalculated what a loose canyon Catherine is.

This week with Ick, is that his name? Catherine is shown having another useless fight and Sean would just like to hide under a pillow. The other couples on the show don't seem to have the combined intelligence of my dog, so Sean is just wisely (imo) not joining in on the nonsense. If that makes him a snob, so be it. He just wants it to end and for Catherine to remember that there are cameras on her. I can't blame him for that.

Catherine calling Sean an idiot was the worst for me. I hope Jay wasn't watching.   Name calling will take a toll on their marriage. She needs to chill out. Even from their SM, there are hints that she hassles him too much imo. I really am rooting for these 2, but their differences seem to be giving them some challenges. She's realized/acknowledged that he comes from a happy and loving family and wants her kids to have the same, but I'm thinking that she may need to take it one step further by examining how her own actions could prevent her from having the same. Mostly, I just have 2nd hand embarrassment for them. Very cringe worthy stuff.

I wouldn't necessarily blame Sean if this was the first time he behaved like that, but he said on the very first episode that he has a tendency to walk away and say "I can't do this anymore" when it comes to fights or confrontations. I can totally see how that would be frustrating for Catherine to deal with. And, I understand his wanting to avoid showing drama in front of the cameras, but at the same time, if his wife needs him and is hurting, I would think that's more important than his image. 
And, let's be real, if he was that worried about his image he wouldn't be throwing around profanity and threatening to get drunk. I think that's way worse than "idiot", TBH. 

I didn't want the episode though, so this is all based on the recaps. I was wondering what that fight that Catherine/ink had was about. In general, I do find Catherine to be emotionally immature and Sean to be be unable to deal with any emotion or drama, so they just really need to learn how to communicate and hear each other, IMO.

Well if Sean was being extra passive and ignoring Cat because he hoped she would just robot her way through it, he sorely miscalculated. No one to blame but himself. I hope it's because he's clueless, and not because he's annoyed or pissed.

Between this show and wife swap I am no longer impressed by either of them. I know both are edited but I really hope this is it for them and TV and they just focus on their new family and live a quiet life in Dallas.