The Ultimate Love Test: Episode 7, And Now, The End is Near

Welcome to this week’s show. But first, let’s look at last week’s show . You can read my recap from last week, or I can just give you the short version; testing continues… Jayre quits… loves Carolyn… Diego fearless… Heather romances C.R.… Frank moves in.

Before we move along, let me correct one thing I wrote last week. Tonight is only technically the last week of the show. Next week will be a reunion of sorts so that we can find out what happened to these players in the five months since filming ended.

So, let’s look at this week. We start with Heather and C.R. They’ve now traveled from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Heather says all her old feelings for Frank are rushing back, just like all her old feelings rushed back for C.R. a week ago. Next week, all her old feelings for her Junior Prom date will come rushing back. Anyway, they spend the day at a spa, both of them nearly naked together.

Meanwhile, Frank gets the band together for a little jam session. After a few songs, Julia, the girlfriend of one of the band members, asks the question that everybody’s been wondering about for many weeks now - what will happen to the band if Frank and Heather split up? Frank, in his typical naïve way of thinking, says that nothing will change with the band. He figures he can get over her in, like, a week. Julia muses that it would be more like a couple of years.

Also headed to Los Angeles, are Roy and Amber. Roy was brought up in the area and Amber is eager to see his home territory. They spend the day at an art gallery. Amber confesses that she’s never been to an art gallery before. She says they don’t have galleries in Vermont. I have to step back and wonder about that. She’s not a particularly dedicated artist if she’s never made the effort to travel to larger cities near Vermont. Montreal is only 90 minutes away and Boston is only three hours away.

Anyway, she says that seeing other people’s work really inspires her. She tells Roy that she’d like to have her own little gallery someday.

Back in Vermont, Diego is wondering what he can do to take the next step to show Amber how much he loves her. He thinks that marriage might be a good idea and, apparently, he’s taking action. He’s meets Amber’s mother, Ali, at a downtown café. He spills his guts to her and expresses concern that Amber might not have the same feelings for him. Ali just nods here and there and tries to remain neutral. He says that her biggest issue is that she wants everything to be perfect before she is willing to take a chance on anything. I have a feeling he may soon regret wishing for her to take the risky path in life. Ali says that she (Ali) was an easygoing mother and that Amber had an easy life growing up, so maybe that’s why she always insists on taking the easy and comfortable options in life.

He then drops the bombshell and asks Ali if he can have her blessing to get married to Amber. Ali, being rather easygoing, says that she thinks that’s a wonderful idea. Later, however, Ali confides to the camera that Amber may be too much of a free spirit to ever get married.

But, Diego has already sprinted out the door with a spring in his step. He heads down to the shopping mall and buys Amber an engagement ring. He hopes this will demonstrate to her how much she means to him.

In Los Angeles, Roy has a special day planned for Amber. Everything they do will be focused on her. He takes her clothes shopping and shoe shopping and then drops her off for a professional beauty makeover, while he tends to some secret business.

Also in Los Angeles, C.R. has decided to take Heather back to the old neighborhood where they both used to live. They take a walk through the streets and Heather, in a voiceover, tells us that she has suddenly realized that she’s told everyone her feelings about Frank, except for the one person who matters the most, Frank.

C.R. tells us that it’s difficult to be with Heather and not be able to do anything more than tell her he loves her. He says, though, that her happiness is his main goal, and if that means she ends up happy with Frank, so be it. Heather suspects that C.R. wants to rekindle their old relationship. Hmmm. I guess Frank’s not the only naïve one on the screen tonight.

They finish up their walk and find themselves at C.R.’s apartment. They step inside to reminisce about old times. But Heather keeps bringing the discussion back to Frank. She really needs to talk with him and get some things cleared up.

Meanwhile, Frank is finishing up moving into Heather’s house. He knows she’s coming home soon, so he is busy cleaning up the mess he’s made living as a bachelor for the last three weeks. You can almost hear him whistle while he works. He just can’t wait for Heather to return.