Two years after their debut season on Feb. 13, 2020, “Love is Blind” returns to Netflix for another round of bringing soulmates together to live happily ever afters.
Hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, “Love is Blind” is a social experiment that attempts to answer the age-old question: Is love really blind?
Unlike the hit television series, “Married at First Sight,” couples actually get to date potential partners over a span of a few weeks before saying “I do.” Each single is put in a cozy private pod separated from the others by a wall where they can have conversations with other singles on the show. Eventually, if a couple finds they have a connection, a marriage proposal is the next course of action (which also takes place before seeing the other person). After the proposal, the couples finally get to see each other and prepare for a honeymoon with the other singles who made connections. The couples later move in together to assess what “normal” life is going to look like with the other person leading up to their wedding day where they decide whether they would like to legally get married or call it quits.
Season one of “Love is Blind” was chaotic but authentic. Fans got to witness genuine love connections between couples like Lauren and Cameron Hamilton, who are still married four years after the show, alongside sympathizing and rooting for singles such as Mark Cuevas who endured the annoying mixed signals from the season’s villain Jessica Batten.
Not once during season one did I feel like the cast was there for the wrong reasons, but I can’t say the same for season two.
After watching the first five episodes that were released on Feb. 11, I immediately felt uneasy about the cast. There’s only a handful of singles I can list that I feel should’ve been a part of season one, but the rest should’ve just stayed home. The chemistry between some couples is lacking, and it gives us fans second-hand embarrassment while watching the couples trying to ignore the obvious absence.
Instead of watching a reality television show, I feel like I’m watching a poorly scripted drama series because many scenes feel forced, especially with certain cast members seeming a little too similar to season one villains. Specifically, the similarities between season one Jessica and season two Shaina are not uncanny; it’s obvious the show was trying to replicate a reaction fans had in season one.
Despite my initial reaction to the show, I was curious to see how the couples would get along after leaving the honeymoon, so I tuned back in on Feb. 18 when they released four more episodes before the finale.
Seeing how the couples adjusted to each other after the honeymoon, I can honestly say I only have faith in one couple who will probably last after decision day. For the others, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
As of Feb. 21, “Love is Blind” is trending at number two on Netflix’s top 10 list, speaking to the fact that it has a chokehold on viewers who want to know whether the experiment worked for more than two successful couples. I’m not as eager to see what will happen on decision day like I was during season one, but I will tune in on Feb. 25 to see if my predictions are correct.
If the show decides to do a season three in the future, I hope they take the criticism fans are generously giving and produce something better than whatever this is they had the audacity to publicize.
Aaliyah Alexander is a junior studying journalism and international studies. Follow her on Twitter @aaliyahdanyell.
