‘Soulmates’ Recap: ‘The (Power) Ballad of Caitlin Jones’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season one finale of ‘Soulmates’.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, the AMC series, Soulmates, has offered up some incredible explorations when it comes to matters of love. For this intrepid and bold saga has taken the time to show us how communication and hard work are key elements in maintaining a healthy relationship with our partner (or partners if the case may be), along with providing us with some dynamic and powerful lessons on how love can be used as a weapon or send us into some dark places when we seek it out for all the wrong reasons. But while it has been quite amazing to explore aspects of love and romance that few televisions shows ever bother with, it turns out that this particular series was saving its most powerful lesson, for last. 
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Because there is one particular aspect of love that no one likes to discuss and is often considered taboo, simply because to do so removes the wonder and the majesty of a notion that we all seek. But the harsh fact of the matter, is that sometimes, love Is something that is quite unhealthy for us. For there are partners out there that quite frankly; bring out the worst in us. Because their abusive and manipulative tendencies tend to put us in a dark place often, or they motivate us to reciprocate the negative emotions that are sent our way, creating a cycle of emotional violence and abuse that never seems to end. Or in the worst case scenario, the ugly that this sour kind of relationship brings to the surface, motivates us to do something we will forever regret when we feel trapped and unable to escape and exploring all of these elements made ‘The (Power) Ballad of Caitlin Jones’ the show’s darkest and most shocking entry to date. 

Now in this particular tale we are introduced to a woman named Caitlin Jones, who is in quite the sorrowful place when we catch up with her, here. For she is in a loveless and hollow relationship with an old friend named Doug, and she’s accepted this as her reality because of some horribly abusive relationships in the past. But that doesn’t mean that she’s necessarily given up on love, in fact… she’s eager to find the right man and settle down and enjoy everything that a real relationship has to offer. Which is why she takes the test and is over the moon when a match finally arrives in her inbox, and to make matters better, dear Nathan appears to be everything she could ask for and more. For he’s smart, handsome and put together and eager to help her grow as a person. But as is sometimes the case in life, looks can in fact, be quite deceiving and it doesn’t take long for Caitlin to learn that Nathan has a horrifying secret. One that he is choosing to reveal to her, because he firmly believes that they are alike in more ways than the test leads on. 

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So, at this point, it is definitely safe to say that none of us saw the twist in this particular tale coming in the slightest. Because the thought of falling in love with someone that is capable of causing great harm to others seems impossible, but it’s put on display here and it makes for a horrifying and shocking experience for certain. One that definitely leaves the audience uncomfortable from the instant it is revealed because we are hoping that Nathan is wrong about Caitlin and her actual desires in life, and watching her devolve right before our eyes into something so primal and so twisted really does leave the viewer in need of a stiff drink and a hug once this particular tale has come to its end. Because it wasn’t supposed to end in this manner and it wasn’t supposed to go this dark, but it does, and it is a downright brilliant decision to take the story in this direction. Simply because it truly does allow for the lesson that this is story is trying to get across, to be properly explored.
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Because Nathan really does serve as an enabler for Caitlin’s darker side. For he is eager to have her embrace her pain and the fury that comes from being marginalized and abused and use it to her advantage. Which should be a positive thing for certain, since we are taught to transform our past into something positive. But he does it in that perfectly manipulative manner that only a toxic partner knows how to do. By offering his lover a positive path forward before gently corrupting those positive thoughts into far bleaker ones and that is what allows for Caitlin to indulge the darkness and embrace it and become an equal to Nathan in every way imaginable. Which in essence, makes her particular journey a grand tragedy when all is said and done, one that feels woefully familiar and painfully relatable, unfortunately. For we have known women like Caitlin in our time on this planet, or we’ve been her and indulged in that darker side and we try to not think upon it.

Because it reminds us of how weak we can become when the wrong lover promises us the world and happiness untold with a come-hither look or an electric kiss. If anything, her journey in this tale just serves to remind us, of how easy it is to lose ourselves in matters of love and how terrifying a prospect that can be, especially when the person we love is bad for us. But alas, that is perhaps the finest lesson of all that this episode sends our way. In that, love is powerful and intoxicating and when the circumstances are right, it will indeed consume us and whatever happens after that, happens. Yet we will still search for it, regardless of the emotional danger because it can set us free and provide us with endless joy and in the end, those are some powerful lessons to find in a series about love. The kind that will stay with us and haunt us until the next season of this dynamic series arrives and it should be interesting to see what kind of powerful lessons await us in year two, since year one… held nothing back. Until next season.    

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