'Dating in the Dark' Pretty boy blues

Last week, the girls fell in love in the dark and out of love in the light. Can 'Dating in the Dark' provide less shallow fodder this week? Is it possible to find someone more shallow than Sasha?

We meet Jeff, who believes his career as an aerospace engineer intimidates women, Amit, an internet nerd (hey!) from Israel, and Cormac, a paramedic. On the girls side, there is Shannon, a brand manager for a margarita company who wants an old fashioned guy, Misty, who owns a marketing company, and Kelly, who is a surfing waitress. The group date is the usual, complete with the girls keeping quiet to surprise the guys and the guys pointing before realizing the room is totally dark and no one can see who they are pointing towards. But right away, this group seems to pair up more than any other. And the groups are Amit & Misty, Shannon & Jeff and Kelly & Cormac.

Instead of looking through wallets or suitcases, they get a video tour of each others houses. Misty's looks like it was featured on a design show on Bravo, while AMit looks like he lives with his parents. Kelly's house is bright and sunny, while Cormac's is standard bachelor pad fare. Jeff's house is clean and seems feminine to the girls, while Shannon's house....well.  It has ants. When Misty gets a date with Amit, she immediately asks who he lives with, and he admits it's a guest house. Cormac asks Shannon about the ants and she says killing them made her karma hurt, so now they are her pets. Her gross, infestation of pets.

We see a mercifully short of secondary dates that seem painfully boring before we get to the Compatibility Dates - which pair them up just as they paired up themselves. Jeff makes a platter of sweets for Shannon, which makes her squeal "ohmigodthat'ssooocute!!!!!" He leaves with a face speared with red lipstick. Amit and Misty hula hoop and box in the dark and she makes some of the goofiest faces ever during those activities. Cormac brings his guitar, leading to the best sentence ever uttered on this show: "Music is an important part of exposing myself".

The final date is themed around dancing in the dark, which makes Shannon squeal again since tap and swing dancing are her biggest hobbies. And Jeff is less than interested in them than learning salsa. Shannon agrees, but when he gets grabby and tries to turn it into dirty dancing, she is less than charmed. And when he presses her for a kiss, she is uncomfortable. When Amit and Misty dance, she realizes their height difference is more than a pair of heels. Kelly and Cormac prove how very white they are by having no moves whatsoever.

They do the sketch artist bit again, but really this seems pointless because all it does is showcase how lousy the sketch artists are, since the images are marked by massive foreheads, eyes too close together, and chins that are not seen outside a Barbie doll factory. And all the girls look angry, so I am guessing the guy's sketch artist has some issues with women in general.

The Final Reveal has Jeff feeling insecure for the first time, which is ironic as Shannon says his looks might not mean a thing based on how aggressive he was with her on their last date. When he sees her, he seems more than pleased and she cries and trembles and declares him "adorable". Misty looks taken aback by Amit, admitting he's cute but the height remains an issue. He doesn't look sold himself. Cormac looks pleased with Kelly, but she seems put off, and later admits that her mom would like him but he's too pretty for her.

Which is why the ending is surprising. Shannon opts to take the front door, deciding that Jeff's good looks didn't make up for his overly assertive moves on their last date. Misty tearfully admits that it may make her shallow, but that she cannot date a man shorter than she is - a reality that seems to take Amit back to a childhood marked by being judged on his appearance. Yet, despite her initial dismay, Kelly joins Cormac on the balcony. Maybe prettiness was overcome by personality?