TV

MAFS NZ Episode 9 Wayne and Ksenia reach crisis point and Gareth fails to impress Ottie’s friends

"I can't figure you out," Wayne says in exasperation to Ksenia. "I thought that was a dick move," Ottie says of Gareth.

We’re right in the thick of home visits now and in Cromwell Ottie and Gareth have arrived to spend time with Gareth’s family. On entering the house they discover Gareth’s mum has suspended Ottie’s decaying wedding bouquet above their bed and we don’t know if that’s a good omen or not but the couple have a giggle about it and move on to the pub, where Gareth’s family is waiting.

Someone jokingly asks Gareth if he has any more tattoos but there is no laughter when Gareth tells them he and Ottie added 11 to his thigh when they were in Bali.

The conversation seems awkward but Gareth’s mum declares that she loves Ottie.

In the meantime Wayne and Ksenia are back from their home visit, which was in Wayne’s home town of Taranaki. Wayne is so disillusioned about how it went he’s called in the experts for a counselling session.

It doesn’t take long for Tony and Stephanie to uncover that Ksenia does not have feelings for Wayne and this is why she has not been opening up to him. But they also point out that this couple seems shrouded in confusion and miscommunication.

When Wayne suggests that doing more things together, like going to the beach to watch the sun set, might help Ksenia see the X factor in him, Ksenia pulls a face. What was that face? Steph asks and Wayne answers, “Oh, she hates the sand I think.”

He’s wrong. The face was because Ksenia doesn’t enjoy doing romantic things like watching suns set.

This is exactly what we’re talking about, Steph offers – your level of communication and the fact you can’t make assumptions.

Expert Tony suggests they both go away to do some solitary soul searching before coming back together to talk.

Moving right along, next we’re with Fraser and Monique, who have just arrived at Fraser’s flat in Wellington. “You’re in for a treat,” his flatmate warns Monique before she enters Fraser’s legendary bedroom and we see what she means because he doesn’t even have a bed.

On the floor is a single mattress and he still has one of those door signs with colourful letters spelling out his name.

Our hearts sink and obviously so does Monique’s, until Fraser announces he’s booked them into a hotel and we breathe a sigh of relief.

Back to Ottie and Gareth now, who have moved from the pub to a winery, only this time they are on their own.

Ottie is worried about the fact she doesn’t want kids and Gareth is still open to it. She knows from her previous 13-year relationship that Gareth might say it’s not an issue now but he’s only 26 and might feel differently in a few years’ time; then it will be her that is hurt.

“You can ignore it and ignore it and ignore it and resentment builds and there is no way I’d ever do that again.”

We leave them to catch up with Tayler and Sam, who are on their way to Tayler’s place in Christchurch. Tayler is anxious and his nerves are not calmed when Sam shows disgust in Tayler’s messy wardrobe and mocks his penis pasta (left over from a party, guys) and bowling shoes.

When Tayler’s flatmate arrives home Sam is overcome with lust. “Oh my god, he’s a beautiful creature,” he splutters.

He asks to see flatmate Tony’s abs and even enquires if he’s single.

Tayler takes this remarkably well and does a smart thing by providing Sam with a distraction. He takes him to a high ropes adventure park.

Back to Monique and Fraser, who’ve met up at a bar with some of Fraser’s close friends. It’s straight down to business with one of Fraser’s friends asking Monique: “So have you seen his dick?”

The good thing about going to the treetop adventure park is that Tayler tackles those high ropes like a boss and by the end of it Sam is no longer telling him he needs to go to the gym.

The electrician was in his element and it left Sam a little sulky.

In Wellington Monique tells Fraser she really likes him but doesn’t have that feeling you have when you have a crush on someone, but they both philosophise that maybe it’s because of the circumstances in which they met and agree they’ll continue dating to see how things unfold.

In Christchurch we now see Gareth and Ottie arriving at Ottie’s “natural environment”.

Ottie’s natural environment is unusually decorated. It’s full of bugs (mounted on card and framed) and there’s a candle in the shape of a creepy doll’s head. New artwork has arrived with a drawing of an eyeball on the end of a fork that is captioned ‘watch out boy she’ll chew you up’. Gareth thinks it’s funny.

The pair go out for dinner with Ottie’s friends and Ottie invites them to “grill” Gareth.

“So Gareth, what’s important to you in a relationship?” “Honesty,” he replies.

“And loyalty? How do you feel about loyalty?” he’s asked.

“It comes and goes. I’d buy a dog for loyalty.”

“I thought that was a dick move,” Ottie says afterward. He’s blown it. Ottie’s friends can’t imagine them working out as a couple AT ALL.

It’s a different story for Monique though. When she and Fraser arrive in Christchurch (which is also where Monique lives) her friends tell her that she and Fraser are a perfect match.

Leaving Christchurch behind, we’re now in Dunedin with Julia and Dave. It’s Dave’s home town. First impressions, Dave’s house is too cluttered for Julia and she absolutely hates his drum set but did she check out his sweeping view of the city? It is amazing, Julia! She’s hoping she’ll see evidence of masculinity here and Dave is confident he can bring it.

Dave’s sister and friends come over for drinks and Julia gets on with them famously. They reassure her that Dave does have a masculine side.

But the next morning, and in the final scene for this episode, we see the couple fighting. Dave is tired of hearing that his wife is not attracted to him and Julia is tired of feeling pressured to progress their relationship from friendship. Some of the other couples are “doing things”, Dave says and our ears prick up but Julia reckons none of the other couples are having sex and they should stop talking about it anyway because it’s no one else’s business.

Back in Christchurch Sam and Tayler meet Tayler’s friends for drinks and the friends like Sam and try to explain to him that Tayler is not one to confront you straight away if you say something he doesn’t agree with.

Tayler needs Sam to be more patient with him but we can see that Sam is not showing patience. God, it’s a roller coaster with these two. We thought they were good.

We return to Wayne and Ksenia who are, quite frankly, up sh*t creek. After their counselling session they reunite to discuss whether they have a future.

“Do you think we can develop and progress or do you just think we’re two different people? Wayne asks

“It seems like you sort of give up and I’m the sort of person it doesn’t matter how much I’m in love with that person I’m never going to chase that person,” Ksenia replies.

It sort of unravels from there and the conversation is so confusing we’re having trouble explaining it. Suffice to say, Wayne feels like he’s tried to give Ksenia space but she feels like he’s showed her no interest. She wants him to compliment her so that she feels like he likes her. The wife jackpot comment he’d made on the wedding day, which came up during their first commitment ceremony, had made her feel like he’d claimed ownership of her.

But Wayne is so confused. “I can’t figure you out,” he says. “I’m going to go before I go on a rant.”

In the next episode we find out if they decide to stay together, and there is a confronting dinner party.

Married At First NZ airs on Sundays at 7pm and continues Mondays and Tuesdays at 7.30pm on THREE.

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