It’s time for episode 2 of The Courtship!
Lady Pudding, my cantankerous, opinionated, 16 year old Siamese, has retreated to her cozy bed with her catnip egg to watch tonight’s episode.
(Yes, I know she needs to be brushed. I get about 3 strokes of the brush in before she slaps the fuck out of me. Springtime shedding will be a work in progress.)
We open with Nicole and her family having tea.
Nicole reflects, “Young Nicole wouldn’t find herself in this position because she didn’t feel beautiful. She didn’t feel seen.”
Pudding: You are gorgeous, my dear.
We cut to the Suitors Quarters (they are staying in a separate building). Himbo Mr. Saffa says he’s not worried about the other guys because he’s 6’3″….
Okay.
They get a paper called The Daily Tea that tells them about the events for the day.
The Suitors, Nicole and her Court go boating on a lake. Mr. Hunter says he and his family lived on a sailboat for awhile when he was a kid. Mr. King says he used to take his mom out rowing. Nicole says “That’s so sweet.”
Mr. Saffa and Captain Kim take the boat with Mr. and Mrs. Rémy, recognizing that impressing the parents is an important thing in this show. Mr. Saffa says his strategy is “suns out, guns out” and takes off his shirt.
We need to talk about Captain Kim’s hair. It’s very tall. My working theory is that they had their cellphones confiscated and he’s hiding a burner in there.
There are a bunch of swans on the lake which upsets Lady Pudding because she had a feud with a swan back in ’08 and she’s still not forgiven them as a species.
Pudding: Vile birds.
Captain Kim says that when he was in boot camp, his high school sweetheart broke up with him via her Facebook relationship status.
Pudding also has a thing against Facebook.
Pudding: Fuck Zuckerberg.
There are three guys without a family member in their boat so they serenade the group with Row, Row, Row Your Boat.
Nicole says of Mr. Shanklin, “I don’t need to hear him sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in a sexual way.”
Then they throw themselves in the lake making their shirts transparent.
Next up they have a picnic and Mr. Chapman impresses Nicole with his “piercing” blue eyes. Nicole says she loves to read, which makes me adore her more. She struggles with whether or not Mr. Luxe is “too cool.”
Mr. King tells her he was raised by a single mom, and that she passed away three months ago. A month after that his brother passed away. He tears up and Nicole tells him he’s strong. His story makes her cry as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Rémy pick Mr. Hunter to go on a one-on-one date with Nicole. Mr. Rémy was impressed when Mr. Hunter talked about his willingness to relocate for his wife’s career. Mrs. Rémy is a physician and Mr. Rémy had to move to accommodate her work. He believes that a strong and mature man is willing to make changes for his wife’s career.
For their date they tour the castle. They even see her bedroom.
Pudding: THE SCANDAL!
Mr. Hunter says that when he was 9 his parents moved the family onto a sailboat. They spent the next six years traveling the world. Later, Nicole and Mr. Hunter kiss.
Back at the Suitors Quarters the dudes speculate about who will get the first kiss. Mr. Bochicchio doesn’t reveal that he already kissed Nicole.
Pudding: A true gentleman.
The narrator and host, Mr. Edwards says, “As the house staff stare ominously out into the darkness, it’s time for the Farewell Ball.”
I love this host.
Five of the suitors are on her dance card, facing possible elimination: Mr. Cones, Captain Kim, Mr. Mumbray, Mr. Luxe and Mr. Kesseler.
Nicole tells Mr. Mumbray that she wants him to spend more time with her family. Mrs. Baker tells Ms. Cleary she really likes him.
Nicole tells Mr. Cones that he’s only on her dance card so she can spend more time with him.
She says farewell to Mr. Luxe, saying she doesn’t feel like he sees her. The other suitors don’t like the fact that he isn’t respectful enough to say goodbye to her family.
Pudding gives him such a glare.
Captain Kim and his giant hair stay. Mr. Kesseler says farewell.
That’s it for this week. Are you watching?
I’ve been meaning to watch this; it sounds like my flavor of cheesy.
The host’s comments are hysterical. “While the driver waits, cursing this production…”
There is a sense of fun in these two episodes that seems missing in certain other reality shows. That her “court” are clearly having a good time with the fantasy adds to that. (And that they acknowledge this is all fantasy.)
Given the previews, there’s clearly going to be drama with the himbo, and I’m hoping the “twist” teased isn’t either her boyfriend or the obnoxious doctor from episode one returning.
Oh, and I get you about Pudding’s allow brushing for only a moment. Same behavior with our orange kitty.
Hopefully Pudding does not slap you with claws.
I don’t understand men and height. I know there are women out there who discriminate based on height and that sucks but men discriminate about a lot of stupid things when it comes to women they’re willing to date. Anyway I don’t think being 6’3″ is going to save Mr. Himbo.
Our cats also fought all hair brushes. Now we use a dollar store version of Tangle Teezer without handle. One cat tolerates about ten strokes, the other looooves it and will stay for 20 minutes.
Nothing to contribute on the show, I’m afraid.
I feel for you with the spring moult, although mine’s a German Shepherd, long haired. He is a lot better than he was when we got him (rescue) but there is just So. Much Fur. I get a bags worth off him at a time and call it a day.
I will continue to enjoy your and Lady Pudding’s recaps without watching the show.
Based on your recaps, this seems a lot more palatable than the Bachelor and Bachelorette shows. Of course, it would be far better if you and especially Pudding were able to join the host to provide commentary. I’d definitely watch that!
The men are putting on quite the courtship display. Between the shirtless himbo, wet shirts on the rowing dudes, and all the dancing, I’m strongly reminded of birds of paradise mating rituals.
I remembered that I have Peacock and watched the 1st episode. Is it part of the parody that they mentioned “the right reasons” at least 6 or 7 times toward the end? I will totally watch more of the show because it’s funny (the host!) and Nicole and her family are terrific. The Jeff Spicoli wannabe needs to go immediately however, and I now know what a ‘hard part’ is because so many of the guys have one.
I’m so here for Lady Pudding’s comments. Thank you LP for your input! I may even watch some of this just to get to know the host, he sounds like he could be fun.
Per metacritic: “The Courtship (NBC) has effectively been canceled after 2 episodes. The remainder of the season will air, but on USA (Wednesdays at 11p) rather than NBC.”
Oh no, I’m sad to hear about the cancellation. I stopped watching The Bachelor a few seasons ago but with these first two episodes of The Courtship I found myself laughing out loud and thought it was a lot of fun. I was also happily surprised with the eliminations so far, as it seemed Ms. Remy was actually eliminating the people she didn’t feel anything with even if they would have perhaps provided some entertainment. I really like the tone of having fun with it and not taking it too seriously.
I went searching for this episode’s recap after the latest Captain Kim drama. What else can you expect from a man with such fabulous hair…
Btw this post seems to be missing the “Courtship” tag.
Ah! My fault – thank you for the heads up.