The Next Joe Millionaire, Episode 6, Part 2: Linda’s Return

It’s part two of this week’s The Next Joe Millionaire. In the first part of the episode, Linda wanted to come back on the show, so David booted Anique to make room for her. If you want more details, you should check out my recap here.

Petra and Cat are alone in the house. Since the two of them weren’t getting along very well in part one of the episode, it’s an uncomfortable dynamic. Cat says, “It feels strange because all the others are missing.” Petra says that Cat can be hard to deal with, and now she has to deal with her alone. The two of them are eating a meal together again without talking. Cat says in an interview, “I think she doesn’t like me.” Was her first clue when Petra told her that she found her rude? For her part, Petra decides that if Cat doesn’t want to be friendly and talk to her, she’ll distance herself as well. In lieu of talking, she rifles through her handbag. If I were Petra, I would also give up on the possibility of having a nice conversation during meals with Cat and would just start bringing a book to the table with me. Paul arrives and sends the women to the grand salon for an announcement from Samantha. This really underscores Samantha’s uselessness on the show, because why couldn’t Paul have just told them himself?

Petra and Cat go to the grand salon. Samantha joins them and says that David has been given the opportunity to invite back one of the women he previously eliminated. The woman David picked will join them in Venice. I think that Samantha’s word choice was really misleading, if not an out and out lie. No one came to David and said, “You can pick one of the eliminated women and have her come back.” Instead, Linda said that she wanted another chance, and David was given the choice of either keeping Petra, Cat, and Anique or eliminating one of them so Linda could come back. It really bothers me that the situation was presented dishonestly to Petra and Cat. Granted, the entire premise of the show—that David has eighty million bucks and is looking for love—is a lie, so I probably shouldn’t be expecting honorable behavior. But I really don’t understand why they felt the need to lie to Petra and Cat. The best explanation I can think of is that since none of the other eliminated women got the same opportunity to quit and come back, it’s not really fair that Linda got to do it.

Once they learn the new twist, Petra and Cat leave the ballroom. Petra is very excited about the change and immediately starts trying to guess which woman will come back. Her first thought is Giada, because David always liked her. She doesn’t think it will be Olinda, which makes sense, since Olinda was way too much for David. Petra declares that she likes this change and happily chatters on about who might be coming back. She seems to notice that Cat hasn’t been chiming in, and asks her who she thinks the mystery woman will be. Cat is annoyed and says, “I don’t like to speculate. That’s too stupid for me.” Petra responds to this snide comment by guessing that it’s Linda, madly in love with David, and desperate for another chance. Hey, she hit the nail right on the head! Cat disagrees, because Linda actually asked to be eliminated, so she surely wouldn’t be returning.

Petra finally notices Cat’s bad mood and asks her why she’s upset. Cat doesn’t want to talk about it. After this scene, I am officially rooting for Cat over Petra. Cat is obviously upset because she likes David and wants him to ultimately choose her. She doesn’t like the idea of having more competition or of David liking another girl enough to want her back in the game. Petra, on the other hand, is so enthusiastic about the prospect of having another woman back that I am certain that she doesn’t like David. It’s not that she dislikes him, or even that she’s in it for the money. Petra thinks David is a nice guy. What she is really enjoying, though, is living in a mansion, going on fun dates, and hanging out with a bunch of other girls. That doesn’t make her evil, but it also shows she’s not falling for David.

The women arrive in Venice. Petra talks in a voiceover about how beautiful and romantic the city is. Their boat pulls up to the hotel, where Paul is waiting for them. The hotel is very ornate—Cat notes, “Gold everywhere!” Petra confesses that she’s starting to get used to this lifestyle. The two women are led to a sitting room, where they wait to meet the mystery person. Meanwhile, Linda unpacks in her room. In an interview, she says she wondered if she was missing the biggest chance of her life by leaving. Cat and Petra feel the anticipation, wondering who the woman will be as we cut to commercial.

It’s not exactly suspenseful, since we already know that it’s Linda. Finally, Linda enters the room. Petra is thrilled to see her, all squeals and hugs. Cat is visibly less excited, but is still nice to her new rival. In an interview, Cat says she’s surprised to see Linda because, “She had her own reasons to go.” Petra and Cat waste no time in asking Linda why she came back, since she wanted to leave in the first place. Linda is uncomfortable and stammers, “I was sad.” She says in an interview that she feels uneasy talking about her feelings with the other two women.

Linda asks what she missed. Cat says in an interview that by leaving, Linda cheated herself out of a lot of excitement. Petra tells Linda all about her trip to Sardinia with David. Linda smiles politely, but says in an interview that she feels awkward, like she may be interrupting a blossoming relationship between David and one of these women. It really doesn’t take much to make Linda feel uncomfortable, does it? Cat tells Linda about her trip to Capri. In an interview, Cat says, “She missed the whole experience, the whole journey.” Cat then tells Linda about her sauna date. “Naked?” Linda asks. Cat smiles and says, “Yeah, kind of.” Kind of? They wore swimming suits! That’s kind of naked if you’re at the office, but not kind of naked in a sauna. Cat is clearly trying to make Linda jealous, and from the looks of it, it’s working.

Nevertheless, Linda hopes that David will be pleased to have her back. She notes that the other women don’t know about the time she spent with David at the ranch. I notice that Linda, who wanted to know all about Petra and Cat’s dates, hasn’t bothered to share that little tidbit.