Catfish: Average Joe Meets Princess of Fake Profiles
Have you seen this week’s episode of MTV’s Catfish? If you don’t know what Catfish is, then read about it here, but if you have seen the episode, let’s talk!
Every episode of Catfish starts off the same way. We meet a hopeless romantic who believes they’ve found their soulmate online. Only problem is, they’ve never actually met. In this week’s episode, we meet Joe, an adorable farm boy who was convinced his luck had turned around after receiving a Facebook message from a gorgeous stranger – Kari Ann Peniche, former Miss Teen USA. I know what you’re thinking: has to be fake, right? Well, three months into the relationship and suspecting it was too good to be true, Joe contacted Nev Schulman.
Nev and his camera guy, Max, show up in their super tight jeans – after a bit of investigation, we discover that Joe and Kari Ann share a mutual friend, enters Rose. Rose confirms that Kari Ann is real and expresses how happy she is for the two. Such a great friend. Further investigation leads Nev to Kari Ann’s agent and he too confirms that she is real. Sweaty and excited, Nev contacts Kari Ann to arrange a meeting between the two lovebirds. After getting over the initial shock of being questioned by a stranger, Kari Ann agrees to meet Joe. Cut to commercial.
And we’re back! We see the guys standing in the driveway ready to meet Kari Ann and watch the two run off into the proverbial sunset. Then suddenly, we see a car – yay, it’s finally happening. The car is slowly getting closer, coming to a stop, the door opens and out pops…ROSE! Yes, Joe’s friend Rose. Needless to say, our adorable farm boy is a little confused so, we give Rose a chance to explain – because, people make mistakes. In previous episodes, some confessed to being depressed and insecure, and while that’s no excuse, we can understand severe insecurities. But Rose wasn’t depressed, no sir. “For me, it’s kind of like entertainment,” Rose said. “I don’t know why everyone’s making a big deal about it.” She didn’t care at all if anyone was hurt by her “entertainment,” and was actually deceiving several people online in multiple fake relationships. We need a break, we need to process – cut to commercial.
When we come back from commercial, we see that Rose has asked Nev for some one-on-one time where she finally decides to open up. Less than a minute into this heart to heart and it starts to feel like an episode of Intervention. Rose admits to having a problem. She says she is addicted to creating and maintaining fake profiles and shows little remorse for the ones she has hurt. She apologized but admitted and claims to have “mastered” being a catfish. Nev tries to find the underlying cause for this addiction and eventually convinces Rose to close her fake profiles – and she does – for one whole day.
In the end, Rose moves to California to live with her boyfriend whom she met through the fake Kari Ann profile. He was surprised when he found out the truth but accepted her anyway. Joe and Rose haven’t spoken since filming ended. I’m glad Joe didn’t see beyond her crazy and forgive her because its clear she has a whole lot of baggage. So, Run Joey! Run!
Personally, I want more details on Rose. I want to know how many people she tricked. I want a deeper look into her mind and the way it works. How many famous people did she pretend to be? Why would anyone invest so much time and energy into something so ridiculous? We’re left with too many unanswered questions and I think MTV should do a “Where Are They Now” episode, ASAP!
Do you think Rose had an addiction or was she just crazy? Let me know!
Image via MTV.com
