Are Jamey & Ari Catfishing 'Catfish'?

Catfish just cannot stop going meta in Season 4. First there was Whitney and Bre, who were caught Faceook-handed trying to rig Catfish to foot the bill to help them meet each other. Then this week's episode of Catfish introduces Jamey and Ari, who straight up ask Nev and Max if they can back them up in their first in-person union. At least these two are being a little more upfront about their intentions, I guess.

As shown in the episode's sneak peek (below), Jamey is the one to reach out to Max and Nev, saying that he and Ari met on Plenty of Fish, the same dating website where his mother met her new husband. He trusted the site, but wasn't expecting too much out of it until he met Ari almost immediately. The relationship they formed seemed open, loving, and deep, but when they began considering meeting in person, Ari said she thought it would be a good idea if they met on Catfish. I repeat, Ari thinks it would be best if they met on Catfish. Nev calls this "a bold move," I (and my soulmate Max) call this a red flag the size of Texas.

I don't know what to expect from this totally planned Catfish meeting. Could it really just be that Ari feels she looks differently that Jamey is expecting her to and so thinks of herself as catfish-ing him in some way? Has she been lying about deeper things like her job or things that have happened in her life? Is this just a way to get on TV? Only time with Nev, Max, and their selfie cam will tell, but here's what we do know, starting with the preview.

Things Escalated Quickly

Since meeting on Plenty of Fish, Ari and Jamey have only been talking about five months. And they must have been considering the idea of meeting in person for a while, because after Ari brought up the idea of meeting on Catfish, they put some effort into making their schedules work to meet in person, but Jamey eventually came around to applying for the show, which surely takes time. Jamey says from the moment they started talking it went "from blank slate, to talking, to Skyping."

They Skype!

In everyday life discovering that a couple video chats wouldn't be a huge deal, but on Catfish, this is practically unheard of. Jamey says that Ari looks the way she does in her pictures — "she's really pretty" — but she always keeps the camera really close to her face.

They Live in the Same City, But Haven't Met

Max and Nev were probably a little wary to get mixed up in another couple that just wants to use Catfish to make meeting possible. But since Ari and Jamey both live in the same city, Houston, that wasn't really a consideration here. Their close proximity does make it even more odd that they haven't met, though even Jamey admits that his schedule is pretty difficult to work with.

Jamey Didn't Want to Meet On Catfish

So, it all comes down to Jamey. Ari is the one who said she wanted to meet on Catfish, which means Ari is the one who has something to hide. And yet, it's Jamey who is getting in touch with Nev and Max. He tells the guys that when Ari first brought up meeting on the show, it made him push even harder to try and meet in person another way. But those attempts were unsuccessful for so long that he decided "maybe [Catfish] is the right way to go about it." I sure hope so, Jamey, I sure hope so.

Images: MTV (5)