“It’s supernatural, man… love.” – Max Hodges
The Millionaire Matchmaker, “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”: Patti meets the clients
Chris Manzo of The Real Housewives of New Jersey fame tells us that while it’s been six years since he last appeared on The Millionaire Matchmaker*, “I don’t know if I’ve matured a lot.”
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Sounds about right in terms of Patti Stanger’s typical clientele standards.
* We’ve got you covered here at Pop Thruster on all things Millionaire Matchmaker (lords help us) – see “Jersey in the House.”
Chris, 25, is still “living back at home,” which is a “hard sell” in terms of trying to woo the ladies.
Speaking of living at home: Chris emphasizes that it’s critical that his mother approves of any woman that he’s interested in dating.
“Chris, you’re like a man,” Patti tells him when they meet – with Chris’ mother, Caroline Manzo, at The Millionaire’s Club office, of course.
Patti then appears to be shocked when she learns that Chris has never had a serious girlfriend.
Patti assesses that while Chris “talks a good game… you don’t got game.”
It’s here that I realized that Chris’ New Jersey accent reminds me a great deal of Jackie Aprile, Jr.’s from The Sopranos (he’s the one who dated Tony Soprano’s daughter Meadow for a bit before eventually getting whacked after a botched attempt to rip off a poker game attended by connected guys).
Next up we have Max Hodges, 33, from Manhattan Beach, California. And my man is 100% a Manhattan Beach bro, with long blonde hair, scruff, and SoCal surfer bro drawl.
“It’s supernatural, man… love,” Max says on the topic of falling in love.
We learn that Max has recently gotten out of a “heavy gnarly” relationship, and that his dad thinks he attracts “crazy people.”
When Patti and her team observe Max on video, they speculate if he owns a shirt with sleeves and whether he’s ever taken as shower.
“The ocean is a shower,” David quips.
Patti meets Max at Hal’s Bar & Grill, and on route that after working for TMZ, Max became an “investor/entrepreneur” and surfs (of course) in between sessions of “watching the stock market.” He was able to segue into this career, he says, by “saving a lot of money.”
Make of that what you will, people.
Max has a reputation of sleeping with lots of women, but he says he’s looking to change his ways and settle down with the right woman.
Patti combines one of her worst qualities – being unnecessarily crass – with a cringey mistake (trying to talk bro with a bro) in asking the following: “If you can get pussy on every street corner in America, what the f— do you need me for, dude?”
Max smiles and something about it being “an exciting process” in response.
Then something hilarious happens: Patti tells the camera that she’s surprised when people get defensive when she asks “tough questions.”
The Millionaire Matchmaker, “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”: the recruiting session and mixer
Patti has both Chris and Max meet some kind of Internet celebrity named Jenna Marbles at a place called Paiche in Marina Del Rey, telling them that they “need to get some goddamned testosterone in your balls.”
Marbles seems like the female equivalent of the male dating coaches that teach dudes how to aggressively pursue women. What’s absolutely clear is that her mode is to “neg” these guys into changing their behavior.
And then weirdly she instructs (demands?) Chris to “staring contest” the women he talks to.
Because we all know that women love when dudes get creepy stalker-y with them upon first meeting, I guess?
There’s a weird twist during the recruiting round, where Patti has a large group of women each do some kind of drawing that shows off something about themselves (or something?). Anyway, Patti and Caroline Manzo narrow down Chris’ choices to Amanda, who stars in a “superhero cosplay web series,” Karly, a “cute as a button” 21-year-old bartender, and Samantha, a sound engineer who is into hip hop and R&B.
Meanwhile, for Max Patti chooses the Brazilian Muriel, the Bolivian Susy, and Sam, “a perfect girl next door type.”
After the “mini-date” round in which each guy chats with the three selectees for a bit, The Millionaire Matchmaker does the dumb thing where they hold you in suspense about who the two women are who are chosen for the “master date” round by Chris and Max.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”: Chris and Amanda’s first date
Therefore, we learn Amanda is Chris’ selection when the two meet at a stable near Will Rogers State Park.
“Is your mom gonna pop out anywhere today?” she asks him, and laughs.
The two chat easily as they take a slow horse ride up a trail to a gorgeous view of West Los Angeles.
In an… unusual move, I guess(?), Amanda changes into her superhero cosplay getup at the top, where we learn that her character’s name is Trinity. The two then do a role playing-meets-improv thing, and to be honest I was not completely sure of what was going on for a little bit.
Chris ends up playing the “villain” in the scene, and after getting vanquished by Super Amanda, the two head back down the trail on horseback (Amanda still in Super Costume).
Over dinner, Max asks Amanda more about her acting career and what it was like to meet his mother. Amanda tells him that she enjoyed the process and separately tells the camera that she feels a good match was made here.
Max tells the camera that Amanda is “bubbly and contagious, and that’s not something I’m going to forget for a while.” I suppose one could argue that last bit there is a bit flippant, though it depends on one’s definition of “a while.”
However, Max does emphasize to the camera that we would like to see Amanda again.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”: Max and Susy’s first date
As Max waits for Susy to meet him near the water, he tells the camera that he chose her for her beauty “inside and out.”
When Susy arrives, the date on tap involves standup paddleboarding. It turned out to be Susy’s first time doing this activity, but she’s a natural.
“I think I was born for this, actually,” she quips.
When they jump off their paddleboards in shallow water, they soon see a stingray in the water. This causes Susy to literally jump into Max’s arms for protection.
Later, they clean up and head to a restaurant, where Susy talks about her family in Bolivia. Max is an attentive date, and the two seem to at the very least seem to enjoy spending time together.
“She’s a fascinating girl,” Max tells the camera. “I like to learn everything there is about her.”
And likewise, Susy tells the camera that Max is “really fun and really himself” and that she wants to get to know him better.
When Susy tells him that she doesn’t kiss on the first date, Max good-naturedly lobbies for a kiss on the cheek, and it turns into a cute moment.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”: post-dates upshot
Patti calls Susy to find about her date with Max first, who gushes, saying, “Oh my god, it was so much fun!” Later in the office, Max frames Susy as a “rad chick.” More importantly, he reveals that plans are in place for a second date.
Patti and Candice then call Amanda, who relays that “a kiss on the cheek” was the culmination of their date. However, she has not been asked on a second date as yet.
Patti prods Chris that he should have moved “a little bit faster” to “seal the deal” with a “big kiss,” and that if he proactively moves to ask Amanda on a second date, a real kiss could be in his future.
The editing here feels a bit rushed, but then again, this is a trashtastic if compelling at times reality dating show, so you get what you get sometimes.
The end of episode credits then tell us: “Max and Susy have been seeing each other. It seems he’s found his perfect girl next door.” And: “Chris and Amanda keep in touch regularly. Chris is planning a trip to California to see her again.”
Some stats and info about The Millionaire Matchmaker – “Chris Manzo and Max Hodges”
TV SHOW – The Millionaire Matchmaker
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 8, Episode 7
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Bravo
AIR DATE – February 5th, 2015
GENRE – Reality TV, Dating Shows, Trashtastic TV
GOOGLE PLAY DESCRIPTION – Caroline Manzo from “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” helps Patti set up her youngest son, Chris. Patti has tried to help Chris in the past, but six years later is he still too much of a mama’s boy to find love? Max Hodges spent years working on air for TMZ. Now that he wants to settle down, will this self-admitted “surfer dude” put in the actual work it takes to romance a girlfriend?