The Big D's Thakur Is Already a Strong Contender for D-Bag of the Summer

[Editor's Note: This post contains spoilers for The Big D series premiere, "The Big Day One."]

Whether you prefer to call them "FBoys" or "douchebags," it's shaping up to be a summer of male debauchery on TV. Wherever you look — streaming or cable, scripted or unscripted — there are sleazeballs lurking, waiting for the right moment to turn on the charm and wheedle their way into the lives (and in many cases, beds) of their unsuspecting victims. With so much of the summer ahead of us, it's too early to crown a D-Bag of the Year, but USA's aptly titled dating show The Big D has already offered up a strong contender: Thakur, a serial philanderer who shamelessly lies to his new housemates in order to save himself from elimination.

Like many of his co-stars, Thakur agreed to participate in The Big D — which sees recently-divorced couples move into a tropical villa and begin dating one another in hopes of finding "a second chance at love" — to win back his ex-wife, Dede. (For her part, Dede wants to find a path toward friendship, and nothing more.) A game of Never Have I Ever on night one exposes why they split up 10 months prior: Thakur drinks on every turn, revealing he became "addicted" to lying and cheating on Dede. While he seems to understand the "damage" he did to his marriage, he says he still "resent[s] her for leaving," a glaring red flag if there ever was one.

After the drinking game, Thakur's controlling nature becomes evident. When Dede expresses a desire to move on from their marriage and fall in love again, whether that be in the villa or in the real world, he accuses her of wanting to "hook up with somebody's ex-husband." Nevermind the fact that Dede, who's probably the most introverted woman in the group, is never shown so much as talking to another man one-on-one; and even if she were, she would be completely in her right to do so. As Dede tells the camera, "It's super inappropriate for Thakur to be making comments about me being here just to hook up with other people because that's what he was doing our entire relationship."

Thakur, his eyes half-open, then crashes a conversation between Dede and Gillian and berates his ex-wife for trying to "flaunt" a new relationship in front of him. Poor Gillian is stuck between them as Thakur maintains that he respected their marriage, while Dede lays out all the ways he treated her "like dirt" by "cheating on [her] every two f*cking seconds." Thakur's posturing isn't lost on Gillian, who uncomfortably laughs off his "hypocritical" attitude in a confessional after the fact.

But Thakur isn't content to just exploit his ex-wife — he also manipulates the other participants after he and Dede perform poorly in the first challenge, leaving them at risk of elimination. (The women are tasked with presenting their exes as potential suitors, but Dede understandably has a hard time finding something positive to say about Thakur.) When two of the women, Ally and Ariel, confront Thakur about his feelings for Dede, he plays the victim. "I know that she's not interested in being with me anymore," he says, wiping away a non-existent tear. "I am afraid of seeing her with somebody else, but I think I kind of have to rip the Band-Aid off."

Ally and Ariel praise Thakur for being "raw and honest," but the truth comes out when no one else is around. "I really have no intention to stop pursuing a relationship with Dede," he says. "I just told everybody what I thought they wanted to hear. I started believing it myself, and I was like, 'Thakur, that is not true. You are just bold-faced lying.'" He offers up a devilish smile, confident he's pulled one over on the women and will live to see another day in the villa.

Shockingly, Ally and Ariel fall for his scheme. At the elimination ceremony, they argue that Thakur deserves to stay because "there's some unfinished business there" with Dede, and instead advocate for sending home Brooks, who threw a tantrum when his ex-wife Casey opted to go on a jet ski date with another man. (To be clear, Brooks is also a controlling jerk, but at least he's upfront about his desire to reconcile with Casey.) The two ultimately convince the group of Thakur's potential for growth — save for Gillian, who calls him a "bullsh*tter" — and Brooks is eliminated.

It's certainly possible that producers played a role in saving Thakur — they would never let such an obvious villain slip away in the first episode — but if his unconvincing waterworks are any indication, it won't be long before the women catch wind of his duplicity and send him packing. Until then, though, viewers can expect The Big D-bag to continue stirring up trouble, giving him even more content to add to his FBoy Island audition reel.

The Big D airs Wednesdays at 10:00 PM ET on USA.

Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.