TEXAS: The final two episodes of 'The Ultimatum: Queer Love' were released on Netflix on June 7, covering Ultimatum Day, when the couples choose whether to be engaged or part up, and the reunion. While viewers were likely expecting a dramatic reunion with updates on each of the couples, they were most likely unprepared for what happened between Tiff Der (they/them/theirs) and Mildred Bustillo (she/her).
Despite the chaos, it was beginning to appear like 'The Ultimatum: Queer Love' would have a mainly joyful conclusion. Four of the five couples got engaged in the finale, which is a fairly impressive success rate for this type of reality dating program. But, since this is a reality dating program, nothing is finalized until the reunion. And boy, did that reunion rock the boat. The episode's headliners were Tiff and Mildred, whose explosive split reached new heights of drama as stunning charges poured in continuously. It was so overwhelming that fans turned to social media to blast the network for allegedly aiding a domestic violence abuser.
Tiff left reunion set in tears
Tiff and Mildred's communication and anger difficulties were obvious from the beginning. Both sides of the pair carried baggage into their trial marriages, from Tiff's outburst at Sam Mark to Mildred's assertiveness, which caused Aussie Chau to abandon the experiment. Tiff's friend Natasha was the one who eventually pointed it out to them: their combustible relationship could never be sustained. Despite this, Tiff went down on one knee at the end of the experiment and proposed to her long-distance girlfriend.
Needless to say, the engagement was short-lived. The true twist is what transpired to precipitate the split. Mildred accused Tiff of a million and one flaw at the reunion, most of which Tiff disputed or dismissed as gaslighting.
Tiff and Mildred confessed during the reunion that they were no longer together after being engaged on Ultimatum Day, blaming their "unhealthy" and "tumultuous" relationship as the cause for their separation. Mildred also acknowledged that she was detained when the duo became aggressive, including one incident in which she hurled a pet gate at Tiff. Their reunion quarrel eventually became so heated that Tiff had to leave in tears.
'How on Earth would the producers allow this to happen?'
Watching the whole fight go down on their screen, fans quickly took to social media to not only slam Mildred but also call out the network for enabling such behavior on-screen. One viewer tweeted while tagging the network, "I’m so sad after watching the reunion of the ultimatum: queer love. It was completely irresponsible of @netflix
to invite Mildred onto the episode. There’s no way that they didn’t know she was arrested for domestic violence. I’m here for mess, but not like that." Another person chimed in, "@netflix you petty af making this the cover page for The Ultimatum 1) knowing that Mildred was arrested for dv against Tiff & 2) how Mildred bullied Tiff on the reunion." One user asked, "@netflix any reason why you lot glossed over domestic violence on the ultimatum?? mildred literally abused tiff and you let her on the reunion, why??? lmao." Also calling out the rest of the cast, one person wrote, "Mildred literally admits to domestic abuse and nobody says a WORD about it. Sure let’s get back to rent & board games."
On Reddit, one user started a thread addressing how the network failed Tiff. One person commented under the thread, "How on Earth would the producers allow this to happen? If Mildred was a male this would have been an entirely different conversation. What in the world? They also cut Aussie's feelings about it because Mildred flipped a switch during their trial marriage." Another person noted, "Sad truth is producers WANT this exact thing to happen because more drama = more viewers. It's ethically disgusting, but that's reality TV for you." Disappointed by the network's lack of spreading awareness, one user noted, "There was no trigger/content warning, no DV resource links or phone numbers, nothing. The production team and cast seemed like friends in some of the BTS footage and photos and I just can’t believe that they let Tiff (and really all DV survivors) down so badly." A fourth user wrote, "The producers needed to separate them once they found out there were verifiable domestic violence issues."
'The Ultimatum: Queer Love' now airs on Netflix in its entirety.
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