'Married at First Sight' recap: Newlyweds Neil Bowlus and Sam Role deepen connection and finally become "a unit"

Married at First Sight couple Neil Bowlus and Sam Role had a breakthrough in their relationship, while David Norton and Ashley Doherty found a way to make baby in their tumultuous marriage.


During Tuesday night's Married at First Sight episode, which chronicled up to 28 days into this extreme experiment, Sam and Neil deepened their connection and built intimacy when Sam decided to cook her husband a traditional Jewish dinner in honor of her heritage. Neil helped Sam in the kitchen as she prepared latkes and matzo balls.

Once the couple sat down to eat, Neil opened up about his past including his strained relationship with his parents. Sam was ecstatic that Neil finally felt comfortable enough to talk about personal matters and emotional topics.

With that said, Sam shared a touching story with Neil in return that made her cry. Neil believed their ability to communicate was a huge step forward in their marriage.

"[My grandmother] started to deteriorate, and then the day that I went and saw her, there are things that I never got to say to her that I always wish I could have said, but it was too late. It was too late," Sam explained.


"I am telling you that as much as you think you don't need to say certain things or you don't need to express certain things because you're going to be able to have that time, it's not true."

The special moment made Sam feel like she was "growing closer" to Neil, whom she's had trouble getting along with and finding an attraction for this whole process.

"I feel we actually are a unit now," she told the cameras. 

Meanwhile, David and Ashley still have a long way to go.

David was still reeling from the idea his wife didn't find him attractive, but he was more upset he had to hear about it from the show's psychologist rather than straight from her mouth. He was also getting increasingly more frustrated by Ashley's lack of effort in this process.


"I didn't sign up for 'Best Friends at First Sight,'" David told the cameras. "That's not what I wanted. I wanted a wife."

Married at First Sight's spiritual advisor Greg Epstein then gave the couple an assignment: To sit with their knees and hands touching and reveal three things like they about one another.

David dug deep and gave Ashley some beautiful compliments, but then she choked and couldn't think of one thing to say. Ashley's behavior sunk David into an even deeper depression.

"I expected that someone who went into this [show] would have known, 'Hey, I'm marrying a complete stranger, and yeah, this is going to be weird' but have been willing to face this head on," David told Ashley, before she broke down into tears.

David asked Ashley if she was just waiting for the clock to wind down on their marriage, and Ashley couldn't deny it.


"I can't answer that right now, but I can say that I feel like things are stacked up against us," she admitted.

However, the grim situation took a positive turn when the pair looked through their wedding album filled with photos from the day they said, "I do." The couple bonded over laughter, as many of the pictures appeared awkward and unnatural. David and Ashley followed that up with a kickball game outdoors, which just allowed them to have fun and let loose.

Ashley acknowledged the key to potentially making this work might be to stop overthinking things, while David, once again, became fully optimistic about his relationship blossoming.

As for Tres Russell and Vanessa Nelson, their marriage only continues to improve and strengthen. The pair talked about having kids, and Tres sweetly cooked Vanessa his famous "Taco salad," which she clearly didn't enjoy eating. However, she loved her husband's kind gesture.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski