Diksha Sundriyal
Based on Rachel Van Dyken’s romance novel of the same name, ‘The Matchmaker’s Playbook’ follows the story of a playboy who starts a dating service to help hopeless women woo their crushes. He has built this business with his friend, and their success, even via word of mouth, has brought enough clients to their doorstep. At the same time, they have created rules to ensure things remain as professional as possible. One of the cardinal rules is never to get involved with the clients. For the most part, the rule is easy to follow, but then the arrival of a unique client undoes everything. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Matchmaker’s Playbook Plot Synopsis
Ian Hunter was primed for football stardom. He was recruited for the NFL and had already made quite a name for himself as an emerging talent. But then, his knee sustained a career-ending injury in an accident, and he had to reconsider the purpose of his life. While his dreams may have been taken away from him, he remained a heartthrob. He knew how to get girls, and because he knew what men wanted, he figured he could use this expertise to help girls who would otherwise be considered hopeless cases. This leads to the creation of Wingmen Inc., co-founded with Ian’s best friend, Lex. They make an exhaustive list of rules, techniques, and whatnot, creating files on their clients and calculating their compatibility with their crushes.
Soon, they make a name for themselves, and one day, a girl named Blake hires them to win over her crush, David. Ian’s first interaction with Blake happens at his friend Gabs’ place. Blake is the new roommate, and somehow, she also seems entirely impervious to Ian’s charms and tricks that usually work on other girls. Blake is also a tough nut to crack because her clothes are all variations of sweatshirts, and her footwear is limited to flip-flops. This is the reason why David seems not to have noticed that she is a girl, even though they have known each other for years. Appearances, however, can be changed, and a minor makeover turns Blake into the beauty that not only gets David’s attention but also makes Ian’s heart flutter.
Does Blake Get Together With David? Does She End Up With Ian?
Ian’s coaching to help Blake get David’s attention works too well. Things escalate faster than expected as David not only becomes interested in Blake, but also starts making a move on her right in front of Ian. In any other case, it would have been just another marker of his battle-tested ways, but since he has fallen for Blake himself, the idea of her being with David revolts him. Still, he cannot simply give up the plan because she is his client and they have signed a contract. Things take a turn when David invites Blake to dinner with his parents, only to claim later that his parents have canceled and it’ll just be the two of them. Clearly, he is ready to take things to the next level. She, however, is not ready for it.
The thing is that before all this, Blake hadn’t even kissed, let alone slept, with someone. By the time David plans the dinner, she and Ian have already kissed multiple times. As a trial run, Ian takes her out on a date, which ends with them having sex. This is when Ian confesses that he doesn’t want Blake to be with David. While their fake dating turns into real dating, the dinner with David still looms over them. Blake thinks it would be wrong not to go forth with it, but she assures Ian that nothing will happen. He believes her, but then his anxiety gets the best of him, and he drives with Lex to spy on her. From a distance, he sees David kiss Blake, and though she pushes him away, Ian doesn’t see that. He thinks Blake had been using him all along, and he is heartbroken.
Blake tries to clear things up, revealing that she let the kiss happen because she wanted to make sure she didn’t have any residual feelings for David, and she could leave him behind for good. She also says she loves Ian, but he refuses to listen. Later, she seeks him out at the gym, where he tells her to stay away, talking about how their pairing had been doomed in the first place, according to the compatibility test. Things get worse when David joins the conversation, leading to a physical altercation. By the end, Blake decides to leave Ian alone since he is not interested in hearing her out anyway. This doesn’t heal Ian’s heart anyway. To end his misery, Lex tells him he manipulated the compatibility test between him and Blake. However, he also points out that the numbers should not be taken as the final verdict.
At the end of the day, one’s heart and feelings are the only real indicators of whether one should be with someone. If Ian is in love, that should be enough. He also reveals that Blake was not lying when she said she didn’t have feelings for David. Because at that time, David is out partying and making out with girls while Blake is at home watching TV with Gabs. This means that, like many other guys, he has also developed a god complex at the thought of having stolen the girlfriend of someone like Ian. If David really cared about Blake, he would be with her right now, but he isn’t. Ian realizes how wrong he has been and calls up Blake, apologizes for his behavior, confesses his love, and gets back together with her with a kiss.
Does Ian Leave Wingmen? Do Gabs and Lex End Up Together?
Ian’s reunion with Blake teaches him that numbers and tricks might help you woo a person, but falling in love is all about feelings. In his apology to Blake, he confesses that he was held back by his own wrong beliefs about what it means to be in love, but now, he knows better. She forgives him and decides to give him another chance, but this also means that Ian cannot continue working at Wingmen. The sure-shot strategy to get their clients the attention of their crushes was to make it look like they were being courted by Ian. The guys almost always paid immediate attention to the girl next to them. But since he was actually dating someone now, he couldn’t fake date other girls. Now, he wants his entire focus to be on Blake, so he decides not to be the wingman anymore.
Still, he cannot completely abandon their business, so he has found a replacement for himself. Since Lex is still at Wingmen, the female clients will still be catered to, but perhaps they could expand the business by bringing in male clients as well, for which they need a woman. Hence, instead of bringing in a guy as a substitute, he surrenders his position to Gabs. While his reasoning makes sense, Gabs’ presence at Wingmen also complicates things a bit. The thing is that they despise each other. Or at least, that’s what they themselves and other people say. Working with your best friend makes things fun, but working with someone you hate can turn even the best things into a pit of misery and despair.
However, despite appearances, Lex and Gabs have something between them. They disguise it as hatred, but neither can deny the attraction they feel for one another. The ending leaves their story on a cliffhanger. However, fans can find their answers in Rachel Van Dyken’s ‘The Matchmaker’s Replacement.’ The novel follows Lex and Gabs as she starts to learn the ways of Wingmen, while they wrestle with surprising feelings for one another. The book ends with them getting together, but the real fun is in the banter and conflicts they indulge in along the way. Much like Ian and Blake, they go through several ups and downs before they realize they are in love with one another.
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