Ready To Love: Season 5/ Episode 11 “A Reason, A Season, A Lifetime” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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We got another self-elimination this episode as the guys meet the ladies’ families.

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Aired	12/31/2021
Network	OWN
Directed By	TBD
Written By	TBD

Recap

The Bad – Frank, Mumen, Sidney

Maybe calling Frank’s meetings with Mumen and Sidney’s families bad is taking it a bit far. More so, I think Frank’s honesty made things awkward. He didn’t downplay with Mumen’s family he was dating Sidney. Then with Sidney’s family? Well, the way he talked made it seem like he was already leaning towards Mumen, but he didn’t want to lose Sidney if he made that choice.

This, for Sidney, is fine since her sister has her in the mindset of seeing Frank as a good guy friend anyway, especially since she doesn’t get butterflies and all that with Frank.

The Good – Donta, Aisha, Phil, Sidney, Walter, Sabrina

Just as Frank’s situation shouldn’t be seen as bad, I wouldn’t say we should see Walter and Sabrina’s as good. Does he pass the test with her cousin? Yes. But there remain issues that Sabrina has spoken about in the past, and seemingly things haven’t gotten better. Walter appears to still give her the vibe of being his only choice, hence her being the choice.

As for the others? With Phil dropping out when it comes to pursuing Aisha, Donta is the only one who meets her family, and with him not entertaining any other women and her not entertaining any other men, the only issue is him having multiple baby mommas. However, he squashes that quickly with noting their relationships with him are good, and two are even remarried. So, from there, it is smooth sailing.

Now, as for Phil? With gifts of flowers and bourbon, he wins over Sidney’s parents with ease, and with Sidney feeling all the butterflies, it seems Phil could have a hard decision to make.

The Self-Elimination – Shiloh, Tommy, Phil

Well, that was until he and Shiloh had a fight. From what it seems, Shiloh fell to the problem of picking someone too soon (sounds like the problem Tyrone had). But, rather than respect Phil’s process and the journey everyone is on, she tried to force an answer out of Phil, which didn’t go well. In fact, those two were going back and forth until 5:00 AM!

This led to Shiloh needing to walk away, and with it being DC, her walking away into an alley, one that even Phil wouldn’t feel comfortable walking down as a man of his stature? He decided to lift her up and take her back towards the car for her safety. Shiloh didn’t like that AT ALL.

So, Tommy gets involved since all kinds of red flags are going off, and while Shiloh makes it clear she doesn’t think Phil meant to hurt her physically, she does believe he did want to hurt her emotionally. And with that in mind, she skips having Phil meet her family and decides, since there is no way back to where they were for her, she will self-eliminate.

Things To Note | Question(s) Left Unanswered

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. When did Phil stop pursuing Aisha? He just seemed to stop without it really being noted.

What Could Happen Next

1. Final Couples: Aisha and Donta, Phil and Sidney, Frank and Mumen. I think Sabrina is raising far too many red flags when it comes to her and Walter, rightfully so, and while the age thing has been handled, him wanting a child hasn’t been brought up and

Review

Highlights

Frank Being Honest, Despite How Uncomfortable That Is

One of the things I appreciate with the final cast members this season is that most of them are honest. Frank could have danced around or lied about seeing Mumen or Sidney, but instead, he owned up to it. Now, did it lead to reactions he wanted? Hell no. Mumen’s family was definitely taken back, her sister especially, with her not being his automatic choice, his number one, and damn who else was interested.

Then with Sidney, you can see once he answered that question without Sidney being a definite, that provided her the answer she needed, and you can see a shift. One Frank recognized, hence him trying to clarify that while there is something there with Mumen, he doesn’t want to lose her in the process. For with them being so similar, you can see as business partners and friends, they could kill it together.

It’s just, as partners in love? It may not go the distance.

Sabrina Being Honest About Walter, Despite How They Appear When Together

We love Sabrina’s confessionals because it helps you understand how things are in public, be it on camera or with other people, is not how things are in private. To me, this dispels the possibility of them making it to the end, and then we learn something happened or things fizzled out once the cameras were off. An issue that has happened a multitude of times and honestly makes the reunion shows very entertaining but almost as disheartening as watching the show during the elimination process.

For how many times have we seen someone broken-hearted and crying on the couch? How many times has there been a surprising and dramatic reveal that two people didn’t make it, and sometimes it was because of another cast member? It happens nearly every season like clockwork – and it is usually the people you were led to think were good.

So I appreciate Sabrina making it clear that, while she and Walter are cute, it isn’t all sunshine and daisies. For that allows us to see their relationship as something real and something complicated, compared to many of the others who seem firmly in the honeymoon stage, and not at that point where you can believe they are in love, warts and all.

Shiloh’s Reasoning For Leaving

I won’t pretend that I didn’t get why Phil did what he had to do, just as a guy. However, you have to respect where Shiloh is coming from. With her being a life coach and someone who does intimacy coaching, alongside all the trauma she had in her childhood? Little things like Phil picking her up are going to be handled differently. Just him, in that moment, controlling her body and movement, sets up a red flag that he could and would do it again and justify his actions for doing so.

Now, does Phil seem like the type? No. As Sidney said, it doesn’t seem like his character. However, a lot of men don’t seem emotionally, mentally, or physically abusive to other people. Yet, behind closed doors, or if they feel bold enough, they can and will show that side to themselves. And when it comes to Shiloh, I think once it got in her mind Phil could be that guy, that was the end of it, and you have to respect her exiting rather than going against her gut and going against her peace of mind.

After all, what reason would she legitimately have to stay? Because of a television show? One where, after the moment they had, she could stay and still not be chosen? All the while, she’ll have people questioning her part in the situation? I mean, it’s bad enough YOU KNOW Tommy will bring that up again.

And with mentioning Tommy, can I just say, with all respect due to his life experiences, I felt triggered. Mainly in thinking about Kimber and Jimmy and how Tommy was still trying to create a connection, even after being fully aware of what went down between those two. But, what do you expect? This show needs a relationship therapist or counselor, not just a man who has been married a long time. Yet, they’d rather stick to Tommy, who does his best to be empathetic, but I don’t think he fully appreciates what the ladies are going through and how this process can cause quite an emotional toll.

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