People enter into marriage with both expectations and baggage — emotional baggage, that is. While it’s a nice idea to check that unwanted luggage at the door, it’s a tall order, and one that few successfully achieve. On the Tuesday, March 29, episode of Married at First Sight: The First Year, the couples discover this firsthand as they each deal with the ghosts of relationships past.
Jamie Just Can’t Forgive Doug
Upon returning from her sister’s wedding, Jamie Otis was still fuming that Doug Hehner had arrived late and left early. She didn’t wait two seconds before laying into her husband, accusing him of having messed-up priorities.
“I do have you and your family and my family as a top priority, regardless of whether it looks like it or not,” Doug said from the sofa.
“It looks like you have you as a top priority and what you want to do and what’s important to you without thinking what’s important to anybody else,” Jamie replied. “I don’t feel like you really love me or care about me.” Doug continued to insist he did, in fact, love her, but the Bachelor season 16 alum basically said she didn’t believe him and was “weary” of his apologies.
In a further effort to make peace, Doug took Jamie out to what was supposed to be a romantic dinner, but it didn’t go as planned. After admitting (again) that showing up at the last minute for the wedding was “irresponsible,” Jamie repeated that she didn’t feel like he “really” loved her.
At that point, Doug shrugged and said he really had no idea what to do to convince her, adding that he thought “it would be good to go see somebody” to discuss her trust issues. It probably goes without saying that Jamie didn’t like that suggestion very much.
Dr. Pepper to the Rescue
A downtrodden Doug went to visit his dad to ask for advice on how to deal with Jamie. For the most part, his father agreed that Jamie needed to go talk to someone. Doug predicted that if she didn’t, it would be the “demise” of their relationship — but Doug wasn’t ready to give up just yet, and he arranged for Dr. Pepper Schwartz to make a house call to help them work through this rough patch.
Schwartz conceded that it was “bad for Jamie to make unfair comparisons” between Doug and her mother. “Doug is not your mother!” she said to the camera.
Once in front of the couple, however, she was a bit more diplomatic, and asked Jamie why she hadn’t gone to see someone as they’d discussed the last time she was there.
“Quite frankly, I looked someone up, and I haven’t followed through,” Jamie admitted. Doug chimed in to say that it was a “huge concern” to him because he felt that if he were the most important person in her life, she would have taken that step.
That’s when Jamie admitted that the thought of therapy was “scary,” but also added that she hadn’t realized how important it was to Doug and that she would (finally) follow through on this.
Later, during a girls’ trip to the nail salon with Doug’s mom, Jamie received a bit more encouragement when his mother revealed that she too had been to therapy and that it had saved her marriage. “You have to do it for you,” she told Jamie. “Not so you and Doug can stay together.” Still, his mom was the first to admit that doing something like this for yourself could really help the relationship.
Jason Faces His Mother’s Death
But Jamie wasn’t alone in having to face her unfinished business with her mother. Jason Carrion was ready to get some closure with his mother’s death, and Cortney Hendrix was by his side to help.
After telling Cortney the good news about hearing back from his half sister, who said she wanted to see him, he told his wife he’d made another decision too: He wanted to honor his late mother with a special event. He was thinking of organizing a show of her artwork with ice cream, pizza and wine. (All are things they used to enjoy together.)
Cortney praised Jason for taking “the first step” in coming to terms with his mother’s passing and told him, “I’m proud of you.”
Jason worked hard to organize the logistics and pulled off a great event at a local art space to benefit Hope Lodge just the way he’d imagined. Jamie and Doug dropped by to show their support, along with with Neph Rodriguez and Jasmine (who was still extremely sore about Neph buying a house without consulting her and wasn’t optimistic after he showed her a few pictures).
Midway through the celebration, Jason shared a bit about what the night meant to him. He reported that when his mother (who died of cancer) was really sick, she told him, “Jason, I have so much more to do.” He lamented that moment. “She did have so much more, and I couldn’t really help her,” he revealed, “but tonight I helped her.”
Once it was over, Jason was still processing everything he’d done. “It was beautiful,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from this.” Then it was time to prepare to meet his half sister, who he hadn’t seen for nearly 18 years.
“I haven’t seen her for so long,” he mused. “I can even imagine how things are going to be, but I honestly don’t know how it’s going to play out.”
Tell Us: Is Jamie unfairly hard on Doug, or are her frustrations warranted?
Married at First Sight: The First Year airs on FYI on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
