With the announcement of lockdown which commenced on Boxing Day 2020 and the next few weeks off grad school, there was both the promise of potential relaxation but also pure boredom. The reality was the next few weeks needed to be jam-packed with binge-able TV shows until the real world began again with all its responsibilities. Anxiety about spending the holidays with only my parents was creeping up along with the sadness concerning the inability to see friends and socialize– which is what I look forward to during the holidays normally. Therefore, the hunt to find the best distraction TV show possible was on and reality television seemed like the only valid option.
I had previously watched a season of Love Island in the past during the initial spring 2020 quarantine era and knew it had promise. First, let me be clear that in my mind there is only the UK version of Love Island. The U.S. version is overall passable but doesn’t possess the same amount of entertainment and incredible accents which makes it the inferior stepsister of the UK version. If you were unaware until now, allow me to be the first to let you know that UK reality television is comedically elite and much more special than its American counterparts. Aside from the comedy aspect of the show, Love Island is perfect for extended TV binging due to the fact it has over 40 hours of content per season. The show itself is premised on the blossoming love lives of young, attractive people who are forced into a villa together and forced to find attachments with others, or else they get kicked out of the villa. Each episode is essentially a day in their lives as they grow closer and chaos ensues as jealousy and competition inevitably arises.
There are so many great seasons of Love Island so it would be impossible to pick just one, each having their own roller coasters throughout a 40-day period over the summer. It is almost impossible to not become attached to the relationships and people who you like the most, and equally devastated when couples disintegrate as new people arrive in the villa and put existing connections to the test. At the end of each season, the winners are announced once they’ve proven to the outside world (aka us normal people) that they are the strongest couple. Although there are many couples who leave the villa and never end up together, there are a surprising number of couples who make it work on the outside which you can easily determine by checking the contestants’ Instagram pages. There are so many great TV shows out right now, but here has been my bid to make you consider checking out UK Love Island if you are in need of distraction and some British accents.