For the first time ever, we’re covering “Married at First Sight”! The franchise’s 20th season, set in Seattle, kicked off last week with three episodes. The first batch of episodes introduced us to seven couples – including one semi-professional reality star (hey there, Nick from “The Circle”), a man who only travels via jet ski, and a woman who claims not to remember January 6th – as well as a handful of problematic dads. It’s an overabundance of couples, and most of them seem doomed from jump. Leigh and Claire discuss the threads of conservatism in this cast, how many of the men are bursting with ego or can’t stop pushing their new wives’ sexual boundaries, and how hopeful we are that each couple will find a love story together. (Spoiler: Not very!)

After an epic season of “Love Island,” we have a lot of catching up to do! This episode, we get into some Bachelor Nation news, as well as the post-villa drama and gossip that has already begun to percolate from our new “Love Island” alums. Then, it’s time for book club! We read the new memoir from former “Bachelor” producer Julie LaPlaca, “The Love Producer” – and took in some of the discourse about it. So we dig into her revelations about the inappropriate relationship she claims to have developed with Peter Weber while producing his season, her romanticization of the entanglement, and her preoccupation with becoming the Bachelorette herself.

It’s “Love Island” graduation week! Emma pops back in from maternity leave this episode to offer her hot takes on this final batch of episodes. The families come through to offer their blessings or curses on the couples (for Melanie and Sincere, it’s a quadruple hex that still isn’t strong enough to destroy their connection). The couples partake in one final grotesque challenge, romantically transferring mushroom soup and mayonnaise from mouth to mouth and then making out on a slip’n’slide. They are sent on EPIC final dates to remember, like making pizza together on a floating bungalow, reading a love story written about them in a fairytale bower, or eating hard sandwiches tied in twine next to a swamp. Zach shows his devotion to Kayda by promising to follow her wherever she goes, presumably so he has a place to stay, and Bryce and Trinity level up their relationship even further. It all builds to a finale that warmed our romantic hearts.

There’s a lot of dopey financial advice out there. Jill Schlesinger is here to call it out, answer your questions, break down the financial news that actually matters, and help you manage your money without losing your mind. No jargon. No judgment. Just clear, actionable financial guidance about saving, investing, buying a home, managing your career, and deciding how to spend your hard-earned dollars.  When it’s time to panic, Jill will tell you. When everyone else is panicking and you shouldn’t be, Jill will tell you that too. Your money. Your move. Let’s go.

Movie Night, the cataclysmic climax of “Love Island,” has come to an end, and the islanders have spent the week sweeping up and sorting through the emotional wreckage. Apologies are made and accepted, old grievances aired out. Dylan finally lets go of his resentment that Kenzie didn’t commit to the boys she met before him, and Melanie, under pressure from her castmates, lets go of her no-kisses-for-Sincere boundary. The couples find out how America ranks them – which leaves Zach and Kayda unmoored, but KC and Titi bolstered. There’s a flurry of commitment conversations, and even a remarkably poorly executed scavenger hunt. We all have a rousing debate about the difference between a “situationship” and “dating exclusively,” and end up even more confused. The finale looms! Who will emerge victorious?

Grab your popcorn, our favorite film is on: “Love Island” production exposing the manipulations of red-pilled creeps! Our temporary co-host Leigh Blickley joins for her first episode of Emma’s maternity leave, and we look back on the entire bleak week of male misbehavior, callousness, and gaslighting. We consider the lack of true boy-girl friendships this season, the boys-will-be-boys mindsets of the islanders, Zach and Sincere’s manipulative mind games and KC’s pivot to manosphere rhetoric and macho swagger. At least we have Brinity and Carniya – and, even better, the new villa sisterhood.

It’s time for Casa Amor, babyyyyy!! Claire is joined by Lizzy and Chad, cohosts of Game of Roses, for some deep analysis of this week’s episodes. The first half of the season has dragged a bit – stagnant, uninspiring couples; underwhelming bombshell arrivals; no dates to speak of – and just as the energy was about to fully dissipate, the boys get the fateful text to head to Casa Amor. This time, there are a few big twists to up the emotional ante… and get the girls to stop weeping about their couples and explore. The minute KC enters Casa, he throws caution to the winds and shows us exactly why Aniya couldn’t quite trust his intentions; Corbin has found a good reason to shed Kenzie (lustfulness is one of the seven deadly sins, after all); and Bryce realizes that Trinity is worth yearning over. The girls get double the guys for their trouble, but it may not be enough to tempt them from their mediocre couples. Is Brinity our best hope for a happy ending?

This week on “Love Island,” the love triangles started percolating – and those who aren’t in love triangles clearly got a firm nudge to start making some more villa geometry happen. Bryce randomly decided to pull his best friend’s girl, which gave everyone a hearty laugh. Zach keeps feebly insisting that he wants to stay open for a hypothetical bombshell he likes better than Kayda, while Kayda is ready to fluid bond. Aniya and KC enter a death spiral of miscommunication. Melanie actually does everything everyone has asked her to do – give Sincere space, explore other connections honestly and respectfully, regulate her emotions – and Kenzie still feels personally victimized by her existence. After all, Melanie’s existence is making it marginally harder for her to monopolize the attention of both men she likes! Plus, we learn the perils of outsourcing a generation of brains to ChatGPT. No one can write and no one can make scrambled eggs!!!!

Three farmers, six women, and one enormous tractor: In the last two episodes of “Farmer Wants a Wife,” it’s time to find out who is destined for a future together. We get into the final two episodes of season 4, where our three farmers meet their final two contenders’ families and/or besties, and then ask one of them to… continue figuring out if they maybe want to move across the country and join the farm life. We also reveal which of these couples are still together and how the relationships seem to be faring after seven months of secrecy!

We’re officially into week 2 of “Love Island USA,” which means that we have six full episodes to discuss! We get to know six bombshells, learn about the nuances of Gen Z “loverboy” culture, define “attributes,” and explore one of the greatest romance tropes of all time: Only One Bed. In this week’s recap we get into everything from the toxic dynamic that has bubbled up between Sincere and Melanie, to why Zach says he’s closed off and then immediately backtracks, to the slow burn appeal of Trinity and Bryce. And we close with America’s first opportunity to vote on the fates of our fair Islanders.