Episode 10: The Cyber Guy
This week the cast examines the role the Internet plays in dating and picking up. Is this relatively new avenue of cyber courtship a product of our time-starved lifestyles, and how ethical do most people find it?
Maurice sees the Internet’s allure lying in voyeuristic nature, and a fairly sad state of affairs dictated largely by time pressure, “It’s a dream tool for the loser.” Henri views it as a conservative way of finding dates, and it’s just an evolutionary branch of pen pals, a “wonderful tool to meet people.” Kaizer meanwhile thinks people hide behind the computers.
Maurice responds to an Internet add, putting the lady on loudspeaker and enquiring about casual sex though it amounts to naught. Henri manages to set Trevor up with on of his facebook friends, his idea of a blind date is to suppose them as potential friends, thereby alleviating the pressure that accompanies first dates. Trevor’s taken with Tamo’s profile picture, accidently blurting out, “I’d do that.” Maurice revisits Hannelie, inviting her on a second date, and her acceptance prompts a series of high fives from the cast.
Date day arrives and Henri’s decided to serve up a curve ball and take Daniel on a boat trip to Seal Island. The guys know each other from gym, and after a little social flirtation decided to see each other on a date. A high-speed boat ride to a rather stinky seal island, an accompanying school of dolphins on the return trip and an afternoon coffee ends an almost perfect date. Daniel admits Henri is not his type physically, though his shining personality more than makes up for physical attraction. They’re intrigued by each other, though both parties are hesitant when discussing the prospect of romance.
Trevor and Maurice decide to double date at the Moullie Point Putt-Putt course. Maurice is feeling a lot more at ease on his second date, presuming there to be a certain amount of buy in from Hannelie, though having Trevor and Tamo there, Maurice suspects it’ll be Putt-Putt laden with innuendos. Trevor on the other hand is growing weary of Maurice’s constant chatter, and expects Maurice to usurp all the conversation on the double date. Maurice doesn’t quite know how Trevor feels about him, does he find Maurice a hindrance or in fact a useful diversion? As suspected, Maurice steers most of the conversation away from Trevor, until Tamo points this out. Trevor thinks Maurice is a good guy, but he just needs a lot of help, he stops short of calling him socially stupid. However, having a double date definitely eases the nerves, and alleviates some of the pressure on first dates.
Kaizer, takes Alenca on a helicopter tour of the peninsula. A nervous passenger, Kaizer’s keen to be back on the ground, while his date is finds the trip exhilarating, overwhelmed by the views and a pod of whales. Impressed by the risk Kaizer took in asking a first date on a helicopter ride, Alenca is quite taken with Kaizer’s softer side, she likes the fact that he’s “a little bit of a pussy sometimes.” Kaizer admits to being captivated by Eastern European women, the way they move and dance is sensual, and he loves the accent, he attributes this to probably, “spending too much time at Mavericks.” Apart from Alenca’s aversion to the burger joint they eat at the date creates a tangible sexual chemistry between the couple.
The guys meet up at as the episode concludes, discussing Maurice dressing up in his mother’s clothes. The conversation steers back to the presence of cyber space and its role in society. Although it makes communication easy and instant, it takes away the personal touch and effort face to face interaction has. Speaking of interaction, Kaizer brings up the topic of sex chat lines and what is on the other end of the line, apparently its unattractive and about four times bigger than you imagine.
