For every reality-TV reunion, there must be a sacrificial lamb — one person who becomes the target of fellow participants and producers alike. Usually, it’s pretty obvious who’s going to get the hero’s edit and who will be the heel, but going into The Ultimatum’s final episodes, the finale and the reunion, I actually wasn’t sure. Would it be Nick, the moody artist who absolutely lost his cool when he realized his girlfriend might actually have chemistry with someone else? Could it be Sandy, the girlfriend in question who somehow forgot to tell Nick how many times she and her trial partner kissed? Or would it be the trial partner himself, J.R., who’s always seemed just a little too eager to, as he puts it, “get the most out of this experience�
In the end, it was J.R. — which makes sense because it turns out producers captured a lot of moments where this pastor’s son comes off less holy than he’d probably like. If that wasn’t enough, his original partner and now ex, Zaina, came prepared to bury him with high-tech receipts — specifically, a QR code plastered onto her fingernail?! Yes, apparently, this is a Thing now, and I’ve never felt more ancient.
Just in case the emotional feeding frenzy was not enough, Netflix also gifted us with some dirt: One of the two couples who left the show early came back to dish on why they packed their bags so abruptly. Thankfully, it was Vanessa and Dave, the ones we actually care about. (No offense, Chanel and Micah; you seem like lovely people, but in keeping with your loveliness, you gave us absolutely no mess!) One might not have assumed that Nick’s trial partner, Vanessa, would become such a compelling ally for Sandy, but you know what they say — all is fair in love, war, and The Ultimatum.
Nick and Sandy (and Vanessa and Dave)
Let’s start with our biggest source of chaos: the love vortex between Nick, Sandy, Vanessa, and Dave. (We’ll get to the J.R. of it all in just a moment.)
You knew that, going into Nick and Sandy’s ultimatum answer, things would get ugly. After everything we’ve seen, there was just no way Sandy would say “yes†to a proposal, and I was only 50/50 on whether Nick would pop the question at all. When he reached into his jacket pocket, her face said it all — and he was not happy. I don’t know if Sandy wanted to let Nick down easy or what, but her saying, “I want nothing more than to walk out of here engaged with you,†after making that face as he reached into his jacket, punted my soul right out of my body. Nick wasn’t having it, either, and just said, “It doesn’t sound that way.†No kidding!
Nick’s jealousy of Sandy’s connection with J.R. has eaten him alive all season, but at the reunion, Sandy found some support from Vanessa — Nick’s trial partner who left the show early without explanation. It turns out she couldn’t stand living with him for even 24 hours.
Vanessa and her original partner, Dave, seem to have joined the reunion just to confirm they’re still together and call Nick out. According to Vanessa, their first day together as a “married†couple was a nightmare. Nick got all bent out of shape about Sandy and J.R., and when she tried to comfort him, he got “ugly†and lashed out. She also referred to some unresolved trauma Nick needs to work through that, without further explanation, seemed to stump even Sandy. We got no further clarity on that.
Nick didn’t deny any of this and admitted that he drank too much as a coping mechanism; after the show, he said, he went into recovery. He and Sandy are broken up now, and to say that that seems like it’s for the best would be the understatement of the year. They clearly weren’t making each other happy, and at the reunion, she couldn’t get through a single sentence without him rolling his eyes or interrupting. Thank you, next!
On the bright side, Dave took Vanessa ring shopping — so maybe wedding bells are in the air for the couple that decided this “experience†was not for them.
J.R. and Zaina
What can I say about these two besides WOOF? J.R. kisses with his eyes open, so I never trusted him, but it was still rich to watch him call Zaina “the love of my life†after everything we’ve witnessed. (To recap: multiple kisses between J.R. and Sandy and multiple comments from J.R. that seem to indicate he’d happily consider leaving with Sandy if given the opportunity.)
Obviously, these two did not get engaged, and J.R. got ripped to shreds at the reunion. J.R. claimed that Zaina is manipulative and tried to bar him from seeing other people, but Zaina called him a liar. Her truth is, he kept their relationship in a gray area for months only to make a date with her for her birthday and then cancel on the day of without rescheduling — an accusation made all the more heinous by her claim that she had treated him to a steak dinner and a massage at the Ritz on his birthday. J.R. says he was sick for Zaina’s big day, but that doesn’t explain the lack of follow-up. The weirdest thing about all of this is that when they moved into separate places, they kept living across the street from one another. Did they learn nothing from The Ultimatum’s nightmare living arrangements, or is this some kind of real-estate Stockholm syndrome?
When the dreaded “hall pass†debacle came up, producers threw J.R. under the bus by playing a clip of him making lewd comments to various participants before literally joking about how excited he was to have a hall pass. Zaina’s verdict? “Gross.†I have to agree; after J.R.’s come-on to Sandy about “juicy†salmon, I’m not sure I’ll ever eat fish again.
And as if all that wasn’t humiliating enough, Zaina used cutting-edge technology (that QR code on her fingernail, which still amazes and baffles me) to pull up screenshots of her text to J.R. on the subject of the “hall pass.†As with most “receipts†on this show, the texts weren’t the smoking gun Zaina thought they were, but they did at least prove that she never told J.R. that Scotty had claimed he was there for a hall pass.
J.R. was visibly pissed about all this, and although I can’t be sure, it looks as though he walked offstage the minute the gathering ended without saying good-bye to anyone. I guess that’s what happens when a pastor’s kid gets exposed as less than godly.
Scotty and Aria
Despite the many, many issues in their relationship, Scotty proposes to Aria during the finale, and against all odds, she says “yes.†But right before she said yes, you could see a glimmer in her eye — something that looked a lot like panic.
Sure enough, Scaria confirmed during the reunion that they’d broken up. One day after accepting Scotty’s proposal, Aria realized she’d made a mistake. Watching the engagement back, Scotty said that he, too, could see Aria’s flash of insecurity. They tried living together, but after a series of personal tragedies (Aria’s grandmother died, and she had a miscarriage), the two broke up. Aria also tearfully recounts how much begging it took to get Scotty to do couple’s therapy — a year’s worth, to be exact.
Scotty was pretty contrite during the reunion, but Aria was clearly heartbroken. She cried over how emotionally exhausted she is and wondered aloud why she always has to beg him for apologies. (Based on what we saw throughout the season, this is understandable; a lot of the time, Scotty seems to be a fan of the “I’m sorry IF …†apology — a rhetorical construction that should be illegal because it is so damn annoying.) Both Scotty and Aria agree that for right now, at least, they’re better off single.
Caleb and Mariah
Finally, a good outcome! Caleb might’ve been the one dragging his feet in the relationship as the ultima-tee, but in the end, he wrote a very sweet proposal, got on one knee, and proposed. “If you are ready,†he said, “can we begin forever?†Swoon.
At the reunion, the couple seemed to be doing well. We watched the requisite montage of their “adventures,†and they confirmed their plans for a destination wedding in the summer of 2026. Unfortunately for Caleb, Aria came to the reunion fired up and ready to show off the receipts proving he “liked†her Instagram Stories — which got Mariah crying about how painful it was to watch the show back and see her man emotionally connecting with someone who he’d described to her as just a friend.
I’ve got to say, I feel like Aria overplayed her hand here, stirring up strife where it really didn’t need to exist. After years of watching Netflix dating shows and the emotional carnage of their reunions, “liking†some Instagram Stories, blocking, and unblocking strikes me as pretty tame behavior. Also, her insistence that Caleb and Mariah seem “fake†also feels like a reach.
But there was one interesting revelation. Mid-rant, Aria said that Mariah called Caleb daily and that they’d speak for hours — which neither of them disputed. Why did no one mention this earlier in the season? Surely the strife that might have created could’ve been more interesting than those lifeless meet-ups between Mariah and Nick at the gym! This is a growing phenomenon on Netflix dating shows, which seem to increasingly conceal the real drama until the reunion. Yes, it makes for some great shouting matches, but in this case, the “big reveal†felt lackluster and unnecessary. But, hey — all’s well that ends well, right?
Notes for the Divorce Lawyers
• From scoffing at the idea that he could feel “threatened†romantically by Nick to his perfectly rehearsed quip about Vanessa’s farts at the end of their appearance, Dave really came to play at this reunion, huh?
• Good for Zaina freezing her eggs! I hope we see her on Perfect Match next summer, where her emotional maturity, impeccable style, and general hotness might be adequately appreciated.
• I know I said earlier that we don’t care about Chanel and Micah, but for those curious, they do appear to still be together. At least, they just posted some date-night content on IG.