Review: The Ultimatum Season 2
When the first season of The Ultimatum debuted in 2022, critics and viewers shredded the series.
The Netflix reality show introduced viewers to six straight-presenting couples. In each, one partner issues an ultimatum of marriage: Either we leave here engaged, or we break up. Then — rather than bringing in licensed therapists to help the participants work through their issues — the show turns into a modern-day Wife Swap. The Ultimatum shuffles the existing couples into new pairs, hoping they’ll either form new connections or realize they miss their original partners and commit to marriage. What resulted last year was chaos.
The Guardian called the first season of The Ultimatum “absolutely terrible” and “creatively bankrupt.” Vanity Fair deemed the show “so torturous it should probably invoke ethical review.” The series, “with its brutal sincerity, maudlin soundtrack, and extensive footage of long, tearful conversations, seems to think it’s midwifing personal growth.”
Given that the first season’s messiness bordered on cruelty, I watched the screeners for the first eight episodes of season two with a healthy dose of apprehension. The title this time around — The Ultimatum: Queer Love — certainly gave me pause. (The first season wasn’t called The Ultimatum: Straight Love. 😒) Netflix also doesn't exactly have a great track record of challenging binaries or handling queer stories with care. (Remember the Carlton/Diamond debacle on the first season of Love Is Blind?)
But I found myself pleasantly surprised by the show’s sophomore season. All of the participants are women and nonbinary folks, and their queerness necessitates conversations that were absent during the first season. They talk about non-monogamy and upending the heteronormative structure of marriage. They communicate better and grow together. They identify the absurdity of the experiment they’re in. They call each other out. And they showcase, at times, impressive capacity for generosity.
I found myself genuinely moved this season, rooting for people who seem to be honestly trying to identify their values and improve themselves for the sake of succeeding in partnership.
New host JoAnna Garcia Swisher is also a wonderful contrast to cursed hetero duo Vanessa and Nick Lachey, in that she’s barely present.
The premise of the experiment is still absurd and cruel — how can participants possibly be expected to compare their multi-year relationships with three-week “trial marriages”? And how can a serious partner whose flaws you’ve seen in full win against the allure of a new person whose faults you have yet to uncover?
There’s still mess, to be sure. But for once, as a dating reality show connoisseur, I don’t feel like all the participants are miles behind in terms of emotional intelligence (perhaps due to the lack of men!). While certain contestants are sure to polarize viewers, there are also no real villains, just complicated people. And I ended episode eight feeling conflicted about who should end up with who — everyone deserves love this time around, and everyone has worked for it.
Watch The Ultimatum: Queer Love on Netflix, May 24, 2023.
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