Married at First Sight Season 5 is quickly approaching its final descent, as the decision day for the three couples of this season draws near. Considering that the current season is ending, it seems pertinent to voice out something that many viewers and avid fans of the hit reality TV series have noticed over the past few months — MAFS Season 5 has been pretty messy, and it’s not the contestants’ fault at all.

That’s right. While Married at First Sight still makes for great television, MAFS Season 5 featured many moments that were difficult and almost painful to watch. While these uncomfortable scenes were partly due to the contestants’ actions, it was actually the typecasting of the three couples that ultimately made this season particularly challenging to go through.

First off are Sheila and Nate, a couple that quickly became a favorite among MAFS fans due to their effective dynamic and their strong, engaging personalities. Over the course of the show’s run, a pattern eventually emerged from the couple. They would fight, then they would make up. Sheila and Nate’s fights became so volatile, however, that soon, it almost became clear that they were an angry couple altogether.

This was particularly more prominent with Sheila, who appeared to have rubbed the producers off the wrong way at some point during the filming of this season’s episodes. After her meltdown in front of the cameras and her confrontation with a producer, Sheila had been consistently depicted onscreen as an unstable, violent, nagging wife. This was something that Sheila had contested on Twitter. Even Rachel DeAlto, one of the experts on the show, ultimately took Sheila’s side, telling her critics on the microblogging platform that what viewers see on MAFS is but the tip of the iceberg.

They'll try to tell you our story and convince you who we are and you're welcome to believe that... But love doesn't lie pic.twitter.com/sTzRHC66sQ — Sheila Duhon (@SheilaLDuhon) July 18, 2017

Cody and Danielle are yet another couple that seems to have been treated rather unfairly by Married at First Sight producers. If Sheila and Nate were the angry couple, Danielle and Cody were the couple with sex problems. Over the course of the season, Cody and Danielle’s segments in the show focused on one thing and one thing only — Cody’s whining about the lack of intimacy in the relationship, followed by Danielle’s annoyance at her husband’s complaints.

Recently, Cody has taken to Twitter to finally air out his frustration about the way he was being depicted on Married at First Sight. Since Cody was painted to be quite pathetic in the series, the MAFS contestant was actually bullied online, to the point where he stated that joining the show was arguably the worst decision he has ever made, as mentioned in a previous report from the Inquisitr. Cody even added that producers actually told them to talk about their intimacy problems multiple times a day, which only added to their already mounting disconnect.

Even Ashley and Anthony, arguably the most compatible couple this season, did not escape this season’s typecasting. While the two had largely clicked since Day 1, Ashley seemed to become more and more unstable as the season went on. She would walk out on Anthony, start fights, and act in a generally irrational manner. One particular incident, which involved Ashley disappearing on Anthony in the middle of a meeting with friends, has managed to incite some controversy among viewers and avid MAFS fans, with some viewers being scandalized by the way the former acted.

As it turned out, however, Ashley revealed that the incident did not happen the way the Married at First Sight episode made it out to be at all. In a statement on People Magazine, Ashley explained that Anthony’s frustration on camera was caused by her taking too long to get drinks, not because she abandoned him without a word. Despite this, however, the depiction of Ashley on the show had not changed much. Even until the last episode, she was still depicted as a woman that generally sees problems even when there are none.

Married at First Sight is a show with a great concept and a ton of potential. This season could have been one of its best runs to date, had producers of the hit reality show avoided depicting the couples as stock characters with set personalities. While angry couples, sex-deprived pairs, and insecure wives make for some interesting segments, they do become tiring to watch after a while.

There is no doubt that Married at First Sight would be renewed for another season. Next time around, it would definitely be better if producers of the hit reality TV show would step back and really think about documenting the contestants, not manipulating the series’ storyline.

[Featured Image by Lifetime]