Mamamia recaps MAFS: I think we need to put everyone in time out.

New day, new episode of Married At First Sight — and to me, the tone of this one feels noticeably more serious.

We open with a complete turnaround for Brook and Chris, who are suddenly getting along like a house on fire.

Brook, of course, is doing all the heavy lifting. Her confidence means she needs nothing from him, which makes him feel safe enough to finally lower his guard. Excellent!

But I can't shake the sense that making other people comfortable is her default setting and, like a rom-com character hired to romantically and/or sexually educate a hapless man, she knows exactly how to manage the dynamic. He's putty in her hands — but she's playing her cards very close to her chest, and I'm yet to see what she's actually getting out of this beyond a few compliments.

Image: Nine.

Meanwhile, Mel and Luke are still stranded in Small Talk Purgatory. If couples are meant to bring out the best in each other, all these two are bringing is the cardboard. Highlights from their lunch conversation include: "Do you like pizza?" and "Do you like travel?" At which point a small piece of my soul quietly dies.

Just as I'm losing the will to live, Luke brings up gastro, triggering the world's most stilted exchange about antacids. (If "That's why I use Mylanta" doesn't become a viral meme, I will be devastated.) When even that dries up, they stare silently at their pizza crusts.

No music. No jokes. No hope. There is no doubt: this is the worst date ever.

Image: Nine.

Over in Fiji, Bec is in a world of hurt. Following the grand tradition of men emotionally shutting down after sex, Danny's former warmth has cooled to a deep freeze. By his own admission, he'd be long gone under normal circumstances — so it's perhaps deliciously karmic that they're trapped on a desert island together. Which may also explain why he keeps swimming.

While Bec sits alone on a lounger, Danny takes dip after dip after dip in the pool, disappearing beneath the surface like a hunted whale. What is he trying to do, hide? Escape? Does he think she can't see him in there? What a tool.

Thankfully, we're reunited with Rachel and Steve, who get delightfully silly at a wine tasting. He pretends to be posh and calls Pinot Noir "Peanut Nor". She laughs so hard wine almost comes out her nose. They pound glass after glass, things get rowdy — and then, like kids crashing after a sugar high, it all falls apart.

Here's how: Rachel mentions enjoying football, and Sweet Steve gets carried away imagining her as a full-blown bogan sports tragic. It starts as flirtation, but he overshoots — badly — and suddenly she's sobbing. Because he's… making fun of her? Maybe? It's not entirely clear.

"I don't want you to paint me in this negative, huge light," she says. "That's not who I am."

Steve's face falls. "But it's just flirty banter," he replies, as Rachel hunches forward as if she might hurl.

"I'm hurt," she says. "I'm falling down, I'm making myself smaller."

What follows is a soggy emotional mess we can probably attribute to extreme pressure and too much wine — because we've already seen these two handle conflict well. But here, it's all too much and they deploy their own personal parachutes. Rachel emotionally outsources. Steve turns inward and self-blames. Coping mechanisms are now flying at full velocity, and I just want to send the poor things off for a coffee and a warm bath.

At this point, I'd like to quickly note that banter is emerging as a real theme this season — one fraught with danger. With great bants comes great responsibility, people. Engage at your own peril.

Next up, a brand-new wedding and our token Older Couple.

Image: Nine.

Rebecca is a glam 51-year-old leasing manager and recent empty nester whose dating experience has been "awful", possibly because she thinks the best way to meet men is to hang out at Bunnings on a Sunday. She's looking for a silver fox with kids of his own, who enjoys a drink and can bring the banter (again: see warning above).

Enter Steve! No, not the car doctor who is married to Rachel — a different Steve. He's just turned 50, has four daughters, and a dad called — wait for it — Steve. I'm not joking.

The wedding is genuinely wholesome. Both bride and groom seem grounded and comfortable in their own skin. Silver Steve's dad and sister are a delight. Rebecca's relationship with her son Austin is beautiful; his support appears motivated in part by the entirely reasonable hope that his mum finds someone else to talk to about sex, but on the whole he makes her feel safe and appreciated.

Image: Nine.

Their mutual caretaking at the altar is a joy to watch, and something we haven't really seen yet this season: two people acknowledging that this is a weird, stressful situation and that helping each other through it is the smartest move.

The vows are excellent. Silver Steve is a standout: respectful, dignified, compassionate in a very girl-dad way. Despite some emotional overwhelm, Rebecca is open and unapologetic about who she is, "unique" laugh and all. As they head off to the Whitsundays, they settle into an easy, comfortable dynamic — and honestly, these two are so soothing I could watch a whole season of just them.

Their pairing feels like a throwback to earlier seasons, when the experiment leaned more towards sincerity than spectacle, and I can't help but wonder if their inclusion is an intentionally placed example of a healthy, functional relationship — a control group against which all others can be measured.

Which brings us back to Bec and Danny, where things are going from bad to worse.

Image: Nine.

Danny is still icing her out, and Bec is so tightly locked into her own pain I'm worried she won't ever escape. Over cocktails, she accuses him of spending the entire day perving on another woman. He pushes back. She storms off to the bathroom. He stares at the ocean.

When she returns, they play a truly horrific game of Truth or Truth — and it's hard to know what to say. It's really painful. The edit is confusing. Their answers swing wildly from brutal to generous, and it takes genuine mental gymnastics to connect the dots.

Danny's survival strategy is dissociation and diplomacy. Bec's is defensiveness disguised as humour. He presses on all her bruises. She can't let anything go. The "other woman" keeps resurfacing like a chronic illness — and because the footage never confirms what actually happened, we're left to decide for ourselves.

Personally, I'd say that edit isn't kind to Bec, and we're encouraged to take Danny's side: she's making it up, inventing things, it's all in her head. But is it?

"It happened," she insists later, and her wild insecurity shouldn't be the reason we doubt her.

Join me next time for what's being teased as a historic first for the show: a bisexual bride. Goodness me, MAFS — ground-breaking stuff.

We'll also meet new couple Stella and Filip, whose wedding promises a swift return to the drama. Catch you then!

Keen for more? Read the rest of Anna's Married At First Sight recaps here:

Episode One: A Christian rapper, a boat doctor and our first villain.

Episode Two: "I wasn't even there and I'm uncomfortable."

Episode Three: "I feel like I just got scammed."

Feature Image: Nine.