Source: Lifetime / lifetime
While Jasmine and Will continue to meander slowly through the friend zone and gender role disagreements on Married at First Sight (seriously, they’ve lost whatever fire was there and we’re not sure if it’s coming back), Kristine and Keith are in full warp speed in their relationship. She is not only his loving and supporting (and sexually compatible) wife, but sis is also his personal chef, and when he’s not serious, which is most of the time, his maid.
We predicted early on that Kristine, who makes more than Keith, would eventually get weary of picking up all of the slack in their marriage. It only took about three weeks since that revelation for Kristine to get sick and tired of being sick and tired.
While doing an exercise from the experts, which forced both parties to open up about something that impacted them in their past, Keith talked about his relationship with his dad, who has struggled with alcoholism and because of that addiction, hasn’t been reliable or much of a father. It was sad.
But what was also sad was when Kristine opened up about being previously engaged, and how her ex expected her to take on a lot of the responsibility that Keith expects of her as well. The only difference was that her former fiancé was covering all of the bills. While that should have been a sign that Kristine was trying to tell him something, like, she needs him to contribute more, Keith complained about how she could make things easier when he washes dishes after she cooks.
“I wasn’t expecting so many dishes.”
The complaint about something so petty annoyed Kristine, as it would anyone, and she put her foot down.
“I don’t think me cooking all of the time and you cleaning all of the time is working,” she told him. “I feel like you think I replaced your grandma.”
From there, Kristine, both in Keith’s face and in the confessional as she cried, let out her frustration about his high expectations (three meals a day) and his nerve to take issue with the small bit of cleaning he has to do.
“It’s just such a throwback mindset, almost sexist, and it bothers me.” Facts.
“It just feels like I’m doing everything and you’re complaining about anything else that’s not done.” Facts.
“I’m not going to be the breadwinner and then come home and still have to take care of home, too. It doesn’t make any sense and it’s not even fair.” BIG FACTS.
Despite her valid points and the calm way in which she vented her feelings, Keith just stared at her and responded to what she said in condescending tones. For example, when she said she wasn’t “a housewife,” he responded by saying, “I see that.”
And when she finished sharing her grievances, he told her he made the comment about the number of dishes she creates because, “I just wanted some help,” to which she responded, “Help where?! Because I feel like I’ve been doing everything.”
As with all of their disagreements, it would take for the experts to intervene. In this case, Dr. Jessica. However, the advice she had to offer Kristine was pretty disappointing.
Keith’s past and relationship with his father came up in their couple’s conversation with Dr. Jessica, and it came to her attention that in his attempts to look out for his dad, Keith did more fathering of his own parent than the other way around. Therefore, when it came to the women in his life, they would try and overcompensate for what Keith wasn’t getting from his dad by taking care of him fully (meaning he contributed nothing) and providing a safe space through food. And while it made sense that Keith finds comfort through food, and he tends to want it more in stressful times (like the early weeks of a marriage to a stranger), Dr. Jessica didn’t have any suggestions on how he could temper his requests of his new wife, since she didn’t sign up to be mama #3. It was as though Dr. Jessica made Kristine feel guilty about being upset about doing all of the cooking instead of a compromise being discussed. This was clear in the fact that Kristine’s takeaway from the conversation was that “I need to practice more patience.”
While one could feel Keith’s pain, it’s just a really tired concept on this show, this idea of a person coming into a marriage with some serious issues that therapy probably could have helped with, and their stranger wife or husband having to adjust and be made very uncomfortable to help the person with the deeper issues feel more comfortable. Some stuff needs more than to just be talked through.
Overall, Keith seems like a nice guy, but father issues or not, he is grown and needs to step up and be more of a help to his wife — especially if he isn’t paying any real bills.
Check out what Twitter had to say about Keith’s desire for three meals a day and Dr. Jessica’s advice for Kristine below, and by hitting the flip.
https://twitter.com/RubyLarkspur8/status/1098090703828238336
https://twitter.com/Saleen_MartinTV/status/1098044105500905473
https://twitter.com/Icepole4/status/1098045137521917953
https://twitter.com/JillsobsessionH/status/1098049458707841025
