Catfish Season 4 Finale Recap: Tough Love

Since this is the Season 4 Finale of Catfish, Max is back to take his position in the Catfish investigating. The guys get an email from Brittany, who is a 24-year-old stay-at-home mom of three. She lives in Arizona but is looking to find answers about her perfect guy who lives in Indiana. Bryon is a 27-year-old Marine who has captured the heart of Brittany. She’s worried her perfect guy might be hiding something since he never video chats and she had to practically beg him just for a phone call. Brittany’s also worried that Bryon will get deployed back to Iraq and she’ll never be able to see him. She doesn’t push things with seeing Bryon because he suffers from PTSD and she cares for him.

With recently going through a divorce, Brittany doesn’t want to lose Bryon. He’s okay with the fact that she has three kids, which is pretty rare to find. Bryon calls Brittany in the middle of the night when he thinks he hears bombs going off due to his PTSD. Brittany’s kids even know who Bryon is so Nev and Max need to get to work fast. Now that Brittany has her kids involved, it is clear things are more serious than expected.

 

Nev and Max start their investigation by looking at Bryon’s Facebook page. Right away they realize that the photos on Bryon’s page have been used on other websites. This doesn’t look good for Byron. Nev checks the name of a night club that Bryon’s photo was taken at. Since it’s located in New York, the guys have their suspicions that something isn’t right. On the club’s Facebook page, they find another account using Bryon’s photo. The account is for someone named Joseph. On Joseph’s profile, they find out that he is in the Marine Corps and also has a more convincing page. The phone number for Bryon is linked to a girl named Heather in Kentucky. Could it be that Bryon is actually a girl?

Catfish-Season4-EP20-BrittanyWith the information they’ve found, Nev and Max head to Brittany’s house to share the news. Brittany’s cousin Renee is also there to support her cousin during this awkward time. The guys show Brittany Joseph’s profile which looks a lot more realistic than Bryon’s. They also point out the fact that during the entire time Brittany has been talking to Bryon, Joseph hasn’t been in the United States. Joseph is currently living in Japan, which would make it hard to communicate with Brittany back home. It’s hard for Brittany to hear that everything she’s been told has basically been a lie. I don’t understand how someone can lie about dealing with such a serious situation such as PTSD. Having a father that was in the Marines, I know this situation isn’t taken lightly.

Brittany wants to know who it is that she’s been talking to. Nev calls Bryon to let him know the current situation but has to leave him a voicemail. Shortly after leaving Brittany’s house, Nev gets a call back from Bryon’s phone number. The weird thing is that Bryon isn’t on the other line but it’s his sister Heather. Bryon’s sister lets Nev know that right now might not be a good time for her brother to be on TV. She confirms that the phone is registered to her because they are in a family plan. Before hanging up, Heather lets Nev know that she’ll pass the message along to Bryon.

Catfish-Season4-EP20-Brittany-CarSince Nev never heard back from Heather or Bryon, the gang decided to take a trip to Kentucky. Brittany sends Bryon a text, letting him know that they’re on their way. Later that night, Brittany receives a text from Bryon, letting her know that he’s not sure he can follow through with meeting her. He tells her that if she loves him, she won’t make him go through with it. That’s one lame excuse if you ask me. Brittany doesn’t back down and lets Bryon know everything she’s been through to meet him. I’m glad she stood her ground and didn’t listen to Bryon.

Bryon promised Brittany that he’d send her a text the next morning to see if he was up for meeting. Since Bryon is a huge liar and never texted her back, Brittany sends him a text. She lets him know that they’re in town and ready to meet. Bryon replies by saying he lives with his parents and would prefer to not get them involved. Instead, he asks for them to meet him at his aunt and uncle’s house. He claims there is a back alleyway that leads them to the back of the house. It looks like Bryon doesn’t want anyone seeing him meet up with them. All I know is that I wouldn’t be too comfortable meeting some stranger who has been lying to me, in a back alleyway.

Catfish-Season4-EP20-Nev-DoorThe gang shows up to the house to be greeted by Heather, not Bryon. Immediately, Brittany recognizes the voice and Heather comes clean about being Bryon. I don’t understand how Brittany thought Heather was this tough Marine Sniper. The voice clearly doesn’t match the photos and I could tell Heather is a girl just by her voice. Turns out Heather isn’t even a Marine. It’s disgusting to know that she lied about being in the Marines and having PTSD.

Heather lets the gang know that she made the Bryon profile as a way to escape what she was dealing with at home. She’s a security officer and currently going to school for law enforcement. She’s 25-years-old and surprisingly didn’t lie about her mother being dead. Brittany is so overwhelmed with emotions that she walks back to the car. It’s clear her heart has been broken, yet again. She doesn’t want to hear anymore lies that Heather has to say. After getting her kids involved, she’s upset with herself and Heather for allowing that to go so far.

Catfish-Season4-EP20-Meet-UpNev gets to talk one-on-one with Heather to hear her side of the story. She tells Nev that she’s never been accepted for being a lesbian. Heather lives with her parents at home who also don’t accept who she is. She noticed that she would get a lot more of a response with the Bryon account versus her own. Heather knew that she and Brittany could never have worked out.

Nev convinces Brittany to go back and talk with Heather. Brittany and Heather are left alone to talk things out before going their separate ways. Heather opens up about never being accepted in her community or family. Brittany connects with Heather over the fact that people disapprove of her being a single mother. She tells Heather to forget what everyone else has to say because that’s how she learned to stay strong as a single mother. Brittany also thanks Heather for getting her through such a rough time. While she’s happy Heather was there to help, Brittany lets Heather know that she could never be friends with her.

Two months later, Brittany hasn’t had any communication with Heather. Her children have also seemed to forget about Bryon since they don’t ask about him anymore. It’s a good thing they don’t question where he went because that would be one tough conversation to explain everything to them. Heather started dating someone and is focused on getting a job as a police officer. It’s good to hear that both are doing fine.

What were your thoughts on this episode? Did you believe Bryon’s story from the beginning? I thought the person behind the Bryon account would at least have been a Marine themselves. I was shocked to find out that Heather wasn’t even in the military but was able to lie about it and pretend to suffer from PTSD. Do you think it was wrong of Heather to lie about such a serious topic? What would you have done if you found out Heather was the person you were talking to this whole time? Since this is the final episode for Season 4, what were your thoughts about the season? Was there a specific episode that you liked the best? I’m sad that this season had a lot more disappointing outcomes versus happy ones. In the end, it’s the drama of the story that keeps me coming back each week. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Photos: MTV

2 Comments

  1. Sorry, but I always thought the two creeps who host this show are disgusting opportunists taking advantage of weak minded people. These two dudes need to man up, get real jobs and stop living off the misery of other people.

    Also, all you people need to stop watching this crap. It is nothing but garbage. Usually about pathetic souls looking for love and affection in all the wrong places.

    Leave these losers alone and move on people.

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