Married At First Sight season 18, viewers have watched as David’s marriage to Michelle has continually gone of the rails. As two of the ten of the MAFS cast this season, David and Michelle were both hopeful they’d be matched up with someone who met their expectations and wanted to build a genuine relationship.

While Michelle has been tough in moments this season, she’s been reactive in ways that most MAFS viewers have found understandable. Michelle came into the experience hopeful she’d be able to meet her match in her new husband, but David wasn’t what she was expecting. David, who ed the Married At First Sight season 18 cast under the falsehood that he was doing well financially and lived with his parents as a way to help them, has been maintaining lies throughout their relationship that have been puzzling to untangle. While MAFS viewers have villainized Michelle, the show has protected David.

MAFS Season 18’s David Has Been Treated As The Good Guy

He’s Gotten Off Scot-Free While Michelle Has Been Trashed

Although Married At First Sight season 18 hasn’t been easy on any of the couples in the experiment, the majority of the MAFS season 18 cast has had things relatively simple in comparison to David and Michelle. Throughout the season, Michelle has been struggling with her relationship and though viewers have been consistently pushing back against her opinions of her MAFS groom, it’s been clear that her problems were coming from somewhere. While Michelle may not have been the most pleasant MAFS cast member, she’s always seemed reasonable in nature. Her issues with David weren’t coming out of thin air.

While the things Michelle took issue with may not have all been the most sound, it was clear that her time on the series was a major struggle because of the mismatch between her and David. When Michelle discovered David lived with his parents she didn’t seem interested in trying to hear him out, but stayed the course of her marriage. It was clear from early episodes that there was context missing for Michelle to feel so strongly about David’s living situation and finances, but it’s obvious he had to look like the good guy to make the edit work.

MAFS Has Edited Michelle To Be The Villain While David’s Been The Victim

The Show Didn’t Show His Shortcomings Early Enough

Although Michelle has come off like the villain of Married At First Sight season 18 throughout its run, it’s now obvious that the show had to edit her to be the villain to make David look like a victim. Michelle’s disdain for David’s living situation and difficulties in life had to come off more abrasive than it was in order for the MAFS season 18 edit to work. David, who may have the best of intentions living with his parents in his 30s, tried to hide his situation in a lot of ways from Michelle, which made him look shady.

In order for David to come off like the victim, Michelle’s attitude about David’s situation had to seem harsh and overwhelming. The Married At First Sight season 18 edit was clear from the start, making Michelle seem over-dramatic and demanding when it came to David’s behavior. Throughout the season, Michelle has found out small issues about David that have raised question marks about his life, even catching him in lies from time to time. Understanding David’s behavior isn’t as pristine as it seemed, it’s clear to me that Michelle had to take the fall for Married At First Sight’s edit.

MAFS Season 18 Protected David All Season Long

They Wanted To Be Able To Shock The Audience

As Married At First Sight season 18 is getting further along in the season, it’s obvious now that Michelle isn’t the villain she was made out to be, and David has been protected by the edit for far too long. The show has been allowing David to step out on his wife and move freely into new relationships with other women, holding Michelle able for feeling overwhelmed and underimpressed by her MAFS husband when she was able to tell that he wasn’t actually interested in her. By projecting a “good guy” image, David got the chance to rally .

Rather than taking any ability for the fact that he’s been lying to his wife throughout the season, David’s been trying to play off his behavior and make Michelle look like the bad guy. As David may be part of the historic MAFS cheating scandal and couple swap, his behavior may have been so poor that Married At First Sight wanted to pull the rug out from under its viewers, flipping their relationship dynamic on its ear in time for the season finale. Regardless, I feel terrible that Michelle has taken so much heat when she was being duped.

Married At First Sight airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.

Source: Married At First Sight/Instagram