This season of Love Is Blind on Netflix had the messiest cast I’ve seen so far. Whether it’s just a coincidence or there’s something in the Colorado water, it seemed like this season was destined to fail from the beginning. From Patrick and Anna to Megan and Mike, I watched every couple I thought had actual chemistry fall apart before my eyes.
Chaos in the pods
Anna, Blake, and the Irish goodbye
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one person from each gendered group leave the season until now. Two people getting ghosted in one episode was cruel, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in feeling that way. Both Blake and Anna left the show in the middle of forming connections. I would say they ‘said their goodbyes,’ but they didn’t. Anna left Patrick sitting in a room alone for their scheduled meeting, and Blake did the same to Megan. This was devastating for me, Patrick’s biggest fan, because I genuinely thought he and Anna would be endgame. Patrick seemed to think so, too, as later in the season, when the pair reunited, he mentioned he would have proposed to her had she stayed. The woman Patrick ended up proposing to, Kacie, decided she could not go through with the relationship shortly after their engagement, making the whole situation even worse. Blake’s exit, on the other hand, was ultimately the catalyst for one of the final couples, Jordan and Megan. When Blake left, Megan revealed that he was her number one choice. It was his absence, for better or for worse, that forced her to focus more on developing her connections with Jordan and Mike.
The Nick fiasco
One of the most viral moments from this season was the conversation Nick and Annie had in the pods. He asked how she would react if their child came out as LGBTQ+. Pretty reasonable and acceptable question, right? Well, her answer was in the ‘I wouldn’t cheer but fine I guess’ direction. Not as enthusiastically accepting as I would have liked, but sure. However, Nick, for some reason, thought a hilarious anecdote to bring up at this time would be the time his own mother asked if he was gay. Little did Nick know, the internet was having a conversation of its own at the time. A decent amount of the internet was also wondering if Nick was, in fact, gay. It is never okay to actively speculate on someone’s sexuality on the internet or try to pressure someone into coming out, but the uproar online would be hard to understate. Nick’s behavior later in the season only worsened speculation, but this was the moment that struck the match for sure. Nick has since stated that this overall conversation was heavily edited, and he has been personally affected by the backlash. The conversation also came after he broke things off with Kait when he found out their relationships with religion weren’t aligned. Before that conversation, he had told Kait he loved her, so the rather immediate U-turn towards Annie after ending things with Kait also raised some eyebrows.
Two last-ditch efforts
Two more big moments came this season in the last few days of the pods. Everyone was making their final choices and getting engaged. Megan had not chosen between Mike and Jordan, and Annie had not chosen between Brenden and Nick. Both women unknowingly faced the same problem, vulnerability. Megan said multiple times that Mike is what she usually goes for in the outside world, so she ultimately decided to choose Jordan. When Megan was breaking things off with Mike, he decided now was the best time to get vulnerable. In a truly admirable, emotionally charged conversation, he honestly and truly told Megan how he felt. Even I was moved. Watching that scene honestly made me believe that if he had presented that side of himself sooner or more often, Megan would have chosen him to get engaged to. The same thing happened to Annie and Brenden. He wasn’t giving her the reassurance she needed until she was breaking it off. In that final conversation between the two in the pods, it really did seem as though he had completely fallen in love with her, but it was too little too late.
The warning signs
Edmond and his emotions
Edmond and Kalybriah were the only couple I knew for a fact were not a match from the start. The way Kalybriah discussed her past relationships and what she was currently looking for in a partner made me wonder why she chose Edmond. She discussed how she was constantly doing emotional labor in the past. One of the things she admired about Edmond was how in touch he was with his emotions. To me, an outside viewer, it seemed like she was mistaking emotional instability for emotional vulnerability. The way Edmond communicated and dealt with his emotions as well as conflict, ended up being a major factor in why the relationship failed in the finale.
Drunk Joe at the beach
This one was honestly hard to watch. At the first post-pod meetup, the group had a super cute beach party at their honeymoon destination. Everything was going pretty well until the drinks started flowing. Both Jordan and Joe started to act a little loose, for lack of a better term. Madison seemed to get increasingly annoyed and concerned as the party went on, while Joe got less and less coherent. He decided to take himself to bed alone, frustrating Madison even further. When he woke up, still drunk, the conflict got worse. The fact that she ended up kicking him out and he didn’t really admit to any wrongdoing showed me they probably would not be getting married. I was right.
Anton and Ali
Now, while Joe seemingly couldn’t handle alcohol well, Anton had no problem drinking at all. Being able to hold your liquor is not concerning on its own. What bothered Ali, however, was that he couldn’t seem to remember (or wouldn’t admit) exactly how much he was drinking at home. It was obvious that the amount Anton drank, or the amount Ali thought he drank, seriously upset her. In the final episodes of the show on the bachelorette trip, a few of Alis friends sat down for a conversation about her relationship. During which, Ali mentioned she was fine with Anton being a truck driver because he had so many future goals and ambitions. Her friends warned her that she was marrying the man he is now, not the man he could become. If she was going to commit to him, she had to be comfortable with him being a truck driver forever. Judging by the look on her face at the end of the discussion, she was, in fact, not comfortable with that. This was one of the main conversations that foreshadowed her decision at the altar.
Two couples call it quits
To the relief of probably everyone watching the show, Nick called off his engagement to Annie. The entire situation felt off, and even during the actual breakup, it seemed like Annie refused to take no for an answer. Nick and Annie were the first engaged couple this season to end their relationship before the altar. The next couple to end things was Joe and Madison. The pair seemed committed to talking through their problems, but at the suit fitting before the wedding, I became sure the relationship was over. While Madison was tearful and excited over her wedding dress, Joe completely walked out on the suit fitting. It seemed like the entire idea of being married overwhelmed him, and he called it off the next day.
Saying “I don’t”
Not a single couple on the show this season actually got married, a first in Love Is Blind history. Ali and Anton were first up, with things looking pretty good overall. That is, until Ali’s sister showed up. A few episodes prior to the finale, it had been established that one of Ali’s sisters did not approve of her participating in Love Is Blind. To everyone’s surprise, she actually did come to the wedding, and the two shared an emotional moment before Ali walked down the aisle. Her sister explained she was proud of her no matter what, and should do what makes her happy. Evidently, Ali came to the conclusion that marrying Anton is not what would make her happy, leading to her saying no at the altar. The next couple up to bat was Kalybriah and Edmond, my least favorite pair, but my favorite individuals. The wedding was off to a rough start, as Edmond felt the absence of his mom, who had other obligations on the day of the wedding. Aside from that, the lead-up to the wedding was normal. Kalybriah didn’t have any conversations during that day that implied she was facing any kind of doubt. Until the pair reached the altar, even I thought she was going to say “I do.” It turns out, though Edmond is a great guy, their incompatibility had been nagging at her. Kalybriah ended things very gracefully at the altar. Edmond was understandably hurt, but ultimately, the relationship ending was for the best. As for Megan and Jordan, they didn’t make it to the wedding at all. I think Megan realized their lifestyles were fundamentally incompatible. They had talked about a possible future together, but quickly realized Megan’s extravagant schedule would be unmanageable for Jordan. Because of his job and his son, he would be unable to travel with her to the extent I think she was hoping for in a partner. This led her to call off the engagement before their wedding.
Just a show? Or more than that.
This being the first Love Is Blind season to not result in a single marriage could mean a lot of things. It could mean people in Colorado are somehow different than the other states the show has taken place in so far. It could also mean relationships are getting harder for people to establish in a short amount of time. Or maybe people are becoming more wary of commitment and boundaries. Or, it could mean nothing at all. Regardless, I’m excited to see if this becomes a trend next year or if this is just a one-time thing. Maybe love is blind, but it definitely wasn’t this season.