I find that when I come home from school I often like to binge watch shows. I honestly think there’s no better way to get your mind off of school and relax than to getting comfy on the couch, get some snacks and letting a whole season of a show play. For every break that I get from school as soon as I get settled down I already have the remote in my hand looking up the latest season of the reality show, “Are You The One?”.
“Are You The One?” is a game show on the Music Television Network, MTV, where 22 singles are put in house and challenged to find their “perfect match”. There are 11 single males and 11 single females who are put through an extensive matchmaking process where they are then paired dating experts. All the contestants move into the house to play the game where the objective of the game is to simply find your match in the house. At the end of each week you are given the chance to find your match. If everyone finds their match; they win 1 million dollars. Sounds easy, right?
It sounds simple on paper but we all know that any MTV show is going to include lots of drama, and that’s why we love them. Ultimately everyone one on the show is terrible at relationships; that’s why they’re there to begin with. They go week by week going on randomly selected dates and conversing throughout the house to see if they can find their match. They don’t get any clues so they really do have to follow their hearts.
Bria, from season 7, says from Day 1 that Zak is her match…
She hooks up with him and threatens any girl that tries to go for him. She literally goes crazy for him and she actually falls in love with him. Zak, who is said to be “addicted to drama” is the player in the house this season and he lives for all the commotion he causes. He goes from woman to woman and does nothing but hurts Bria’s feelings in every episode… as well as all the other women in the house that he’s had relations with. This only upsets Bria more and more but she still does not let go. Although Zak reminded Bria multiple times that she reminded him of all his exes… they still continued to have relations; they argued all day and still tried to have a relationship. This only further complicated the game for others and themselves. Anytime Zak showed attention to other women, Bria was there ready to fight. They were sent to the truth booth, which is where you are picked by everyone in the house to find out if you and said person are a match; they obviously were not a match.
Womp, womp, womp. They were hurt but we all saw it coming. They were bad for each other anyway. Another couple that was strong from the jump was Tevin and Kenya. The first night in the house Kenya said she knew that Tevin was her match and, vice versa. They began learning about each other instantly.
They were my favorite couple. In all honesty, as a black women I root for anything black. Which is why I had so much faith and admiration for Tevin and Kenya’s relationship. From the jump they knew in their hearts that the match makers had put them together. Early in the season Tevin did slip up a couple times when he was having relations with Jasmine. Tevin claims that he had no feelings for Jasmine, only Kenya. He apologizes, and he and Kenya makeup. They find out at the end of the season that they are a confirmed perfect match and they even go on to pursue a relationship and move in with each other outside of the game show. I honestly think they’re a beautiful couple. After all, the game does work.
But with all this being said, I truly wonder how that dating experts pair the couples. If I were to go into a room for my interview questions and answer them truthfully, how can someone, down to every detail, find another person who is “perfect” for me? I think that’s what makes the show so intriguing. There were 3 couples on the show that with no hints or information given, actually found their matches before the last week. It takes season 7 up until that last week to find out a majority of the matches, where even then they were not sure if they could win the game. Somehow, after only being able to get to 4 matches at every match-up ceremony, they get all 11 matches the last episode. To sum it up, season 7 wins out of luck and strategy. They walk away with love, and 1 million dollars. I think I could go on this show if given the opportunity. The couples that don’t stay together after the show learn valuable lessons that they take back home to fix old relationships or even start new ones.
I would recommend this show to my friends. It’s fun, entertaining and it has its lessons about love and relationships. It just goes to show you that love is very real and available to everybody if you’re willing to open your eyes and look. If you’re willing to open up your heart and be vulnerable, it could be the best thing for you.
If your perfect match was standing right in front of you, would you even know it?