Editorial note: Spoilers ahead for season four of “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On.”
When the finale of season four of “The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On” dropped on July 22, we finally learned the fate of couples Luke and Monica, David and Casey, Blake and Hayley, and Killian and Ashley.
But we still have one unresolved question: Is 6’8″ professional basketball player and ultimatum-receiver David Jewish? Given that he wore Star of David and hamsa necklaces throughout his experience doing a trial marriage and ultimately getting engaged and married to partner Casey, it’s a fair question.
So, let’s investigate!
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If you’ve been following along with our previous investigations of this nature, you know that we’re looking to check at least one of two boxes. Does David Atkinson identify as culturally or religiously Jewish? And/or, does David Atkinson have Jewish ancestry? If the answer to either of those questions is a resounding yes, he’s a member of the tribe!
Let’s start with the first question. On “The Ultimatum,” David shares that his dad’s side of the family is Mexican and his mom is white. Could that mean that his patrilineal line is Mexican Jewish, his mom has Jewish ancestry or both? Unfortunately, he doesn’t elaborate.
So let’s turn to the second question. On a date with Monica in “The Ultimatum,” David asks if she identifies “as a God-fearing woman.” When she replies in the affirmative he responds, “That’s what I look for in a spouse,” indicating that religion is important to him. But is that religion Judaism? The answer to that is unclear. David’s choice to wear a Star of David necklace could indicate Jewishness or an affinity for it, as could his choice to wear a hamsa necklace. However, the hamsa is also associated with Christianity, Islam and generally Middle Eastern and North African culture. To confuse matters more, David also has a tattoo of a cross on his right arm and a tattoo in Arabic on his right thigh.
Interesting… So is David perhaps a Christian appropriating Jewish symbols? Is he a Christian with Jewish ancestry that he’s attempting to honor with the Star of David? Is he trying to follow all Abrahamic faiths? What is happening?!
At the very least, we can rule out that David is an Orthodox Jew. During a date with Hayley, David expressed that he loved seafood after she mentioned cooking shrimp. The combination of all the tattoos (let alone a cross tattoo) and eating treyf rules out that possibility.
With all these questions and no clear answers, I reached out to both David and Netflix PR to clear things up. At time of publication, neither have responded to our requests for comment.
Verdict: Still undetermined! We’ll update if/when we hear back from Netflix PR or David himself.
