After a recent string of untraditional episodes, Catfish finally got back to basics with "John & Kelsey," an episode that put a romantic online relationship at the forefront and then completely tore it apart. John was the one who called Nev and Max, hoping to find out if the girl he'd been chatting with, Kelsey, was the real deal before he moved to San Diego. It may not have been quite as intriguing as watching Kidd Cole continue his charade after being caught or Tracie Thoms fear an alter-ego-creating superfan, but the episode brought a pretty big, if not predictable, twist: Kelsey was actually Adam, a guy with a catfishing habit.
All of this drama started in a chat room, where John and Adam both met a girl named Ellie. Adam already had experience catfishing, so when he saw John getting along with Ellie, he created Kelsey basically to distract John and keep him away from Ellie, and befriend her in the process. There were a few other details involved, including a fake case of body dysmorphia, angry Max, $6,000 in gifts, and a dick pic, but the most important part of any Catfish episode is what happens next. Will the catfishee be able to get over the betrayal? Will the catfisher stop lying online? In the case of John and Adam, both men seemed to have learned their lesson.
Though John still visits the chat room, he has forgiven Adam and moved on to dating someone he's met in real life. In fact, when Nev and Max caught up with him two months later, he was in Illinois visiting her. Meanwhile, Adam claims he's stopped catfishing people and deactivated the "Kelsey" profile. Both John and Ellie have forgiven Adam for his lies, and he told Nev and Max that his relationship with Ellie is "better than ever."
So a sort of happy ending, at least by Catfish standards. "John & Kelsey" wasn't the most exciting episode, and John and Adam aren't quite as fun as to catch up with as Tracie, so let's hope next week's "Solana & Elijah" makes up for it.
Image: MTV
