Ready To Love: Season 6/ Episode 6 “The Backup Plan” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

With Tommy tasking the men to go on a date with their second choice, some realize they are done with the journey and just want to settle down – perhaps too early.

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Aired	3/4/2022
Network	OWN
Directed By	TBD
Written By	TBD

Recap

I Feel Like I’m Wasting My Time – Tory, Precious, Paul, Joi

With the men tasked with going out with their second choice, Tory tries to see if what was going on with Precious at the mixer could be renewed, but it flops. Why? Well, because Tory was being weird. He kept talking about hitting some kidneys, and there was just no path to a serious conversation he was willing to take. What can he say? He is stuck on Sabrina.

Switching to Joi, she is pretty much locked into Clifton, and Paul is just the homey. But, being in the zone with Clifton might bite Joi in the butt since it makes the men think she isn’t trying to be on the journey anymore.

There Could Be Something Here – Demetrius, Tina, Eric, Carmen, Donovan, Dakiya, Clifton, Sabrina, Laverne, Ace

The journey for many is still active and hectic. Donovan, for example, playing catch up, goes out with DaKiya, Carmen, and Sabrina and clicks with each one, though Sabrina takes his heart. For Laverne, seemingly, he didn’t understand the assignment since he decided to go out with Ace. Who, as we’ve seen previously, he gets along with well, but it seems Joi, who matches his energy, was his top previously. Though, as with most, it seems Clifton and her are such an obvious choice that he had to look into his alternates.

Continuing on, Demetrius goes on a date with Tina, and seemingly, this is when the player vibes begin. It isn’t clear what or who started up, but Tina opens up with trying to figure out Demetrius’ end game here, and he gets offended and defensive real quick. Yet, in time, things cool down, and he makes it seem he appreciates the discomfort that led to them getting somewhere.

Which leaves Eric’s date with Carman and Clifton’s with DaKiya. As shown, Carmen has the confidence we may often see on this show, but Carmen seems to have garnered enough interest to not seem delusional. Yes, when it comes to Eric, she does get a bit shady towards DaKiya, but it isn’t like Eric isn’t entertaining her in a way that makes it appear he could shift towards her direction.

Then with Clifton, while Joi’s kiss put everyone on notice, with hearing about DaKiya’s adventurous side, he seems a bit more interested than before. Not enough to knock Joi off her padded pedestal, but he seems to be peeking around a little bit more than before.

So You’re Done With This Journey – Joi, Precious, Demetrius, DaKiya, Eric

So the bottom two in this episode are Joi and Precious. Precious’s issue is that party girl rumor hasn’t died, and she hasn’t made any connections beyond Phil, who doesn’t fight for her as she did him. As for Joi? With her honing in and not trying to waste her or anyone’s time, it has turned the men off because they are feeling rejected, it seems. And in the case of Demetrius, him being the person to sit with her definitely throws her off and makes it so, once again, he is on the defense because a woman asks him why is he here, with the implication that it isn’t for love.

But, despite the criticism, Joi isn’t changing, and she isn’t leaving. Precious is since Demetrius, in her mind, poisoned the well. And no sooner does she leave, we strangely see the women gather to start the week and learn something happened between DaKiya and Eric that has made her not want to interact with him, and even sound like she may want to quit the show! As for what happened? Well, we won’t find out until next week.

Things To Note

• Unexpected Content Advisory: Sexual Content (Massive innuendo)

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Carmen knows she is being recorded, and there will be a reunion show, right?

What Could Happen Next

1. Bottom 2 Elimination (Men): Phil, Laverne, and Eric (depending what DaKiya says)
2. Bottom 2 Elimination (Women): Ace and Joi
3. End Game Couples: Joi and Clifton – That’s the only match I am sure of

Review

Highlights

People Narrowing Down Their Choices Early

Often Ready To Love can seem more like open to date or looking to date, which can feel like it is in conflict with what the show is about and the age range it focuses on. For as shown, it can seem like you are being punished for honing in on people too early on and not stringing a few along. Hence the issue Joi has since Laverne and Clifton are her only interest, and then Demetrius’ potential issue since he gets called a player twice – even though it doesn’t seem like he is entertaining many.

But from what we see, this show gets petty quickly based on you knowing how to play the game or not. Because we’ve seen many women make it to the end despite focusing on one guy. But with Joi, you can tell being friend-zoned or rejecting the men is a driving force in her being part of the bottom two. Never mind her having the strongest connection with someone of the entire cast. They didn’t get a chance so she can get the boot!

This helps explain, to me, why so many men didn’t necessarily like Laverne’s idea of getting too serious too soon. They want to play the field, accent on the play, and until things whittle down and they are forced to make a decision, that is not a priority in their minds.

The Drama Is Beginning

Dating can be a major boost or blow to the ego, and to have that on camera is why we see Carmen talk about DaKiya like she does, or Laverne give speeches because he feels good about his match. Yet, whether in the journey or reunion, a lot of the things people say bite them in the behind. Demetrius talking about Precious and putting that party girl thing out there will likely be a reunion show topic. Carmen and DaKiya’s cast interviews will likely be something brought up as well.

However, the real drama always comes when someone like Tory has run out of options and has to step up. It’s an unfortunate thing to see, yet it helps you realize how this show is set up for love to be a potential side effect, but drama, heartache, ego-crushing? That’s the real goal. The next few episodes will definitely make that clear.

On The Fence

Has There always Been This Much Innuendo?

Does anyone else feel like they kept it cute when it came to flirting before? Yes, there was always one or two characters who seemed sexualized, almost to a comedic way, but now everyone is testing the waters and not being subtle about it either.

Now, I get it. Everyone is grown. However, it further pushes the need to question can people find love on this show or just more baggage?

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