Carlo Boszhard had come up with something fun. At first he had wanted to ask for a grade – he did that often. Then he asked the newlyweds in Married at First Sight during the couples dinner: what grade do you give to your marriage? But because he had already asked that question in previous seasons, there was a risk that the partners had coordinated their answers in advance. If you give our marriage seven points, I will do the same. Marital Consensus.
This way you avoid horror scenarios: one spouse opting for a roaring nine and the other for a controversial four. And that everyone watching – Carlo Boszhard, all the other couples, three love experts, whole MAFS-loving Netherlands – then puts a hand over his mouth in shock. Oh! what all those people do: how awful! The greater the distance between those two numbers, the greater the embarrassment. See how such a deep gap of shame and difference in insight can once again be bridged.
So yes, it was obvious that the couples, out of self-preservation, had secretly discussed how to grade their marriage. But Carlo Boszhard cannot be taken for granted. He then simply comes up with a new assignment for the first couples dinner. For readers who never MAFS watching and not being familiar with the jargon, I should perhaps explain the last term: at the couples dinner, all couples dine together. I hope that’s that clear.
‘A word about your marriage’
Six couples were lined up at a long, narrow table; the meals had not yet been served, but the wine glasses had already been filled. That was necessary to toast love. At the head of the table stood Carlo Boszhard. He said: “We are going to do something different. I ask… one word. One word about your marriage.” The image changed to another place in the restaurant, where the three love experts sat in a row next to each other and commented live on the behavior of the couples they created. Look: our Luigi is still a real gentleman. Look: our Anton looks a bit defeated today. They also wrote down some instructions that they could give to the participants later. Ask a question, try to flirt. It was like playing The Sims together, but with real people.
“That’s nice,” said one of the experts when Carlo Boszhard announced the word plan. “That it is less predictable.” A number of couples wisely chose options such as “trust,” “respectful” and “nice” – the word alternatives for the safe seven. But other couples were less aligned. How do you crawl into bed next to your husband if you write down “agreements” as a word to describe your marriage, and he writes down “fight”?
It was worst for Anton and Linda. Or actually just for Anton. He had really done his best for his new bride, even though she had indicated early on that she did not find him attractive and had not wanted to maintain contact after the honeymoon. Anton – sweet, good Anton – was happy that Linda had shown up for the couples dinner at all. On his piece of paper he wrote very diplomatically: “connection”, especially because he still missed it a bit in this marriage. That’s what you get when your wife doesn’t want to talk. Then Linda held up her piece of paper. In grim black letters it said: “Nothing.”
Oh!, said the couples, and the experts, and the viewers at home, and Carlo Boszhard. And hopefully Linda too, when she sees the images again. Nothing, that’s zero. She had found a way to give her marriage less than a failing grade – without grades. It was quite nice. But fun is different.