I am an avid television watcher; it’s becoming a major problem in my life. My roommates joke that I will watch basically anything, and yet, I have never really been a fan of reality TV. I have dipped my toes in shows like Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Real Housewives and yes, even The Bachelor (one of my greater mistakes).
When quarantine first started, my roommates and I had a difficult time finding a show that we could all binge watch together because of my mildly problematic TV addiction. While scrolling through Hulu in searching of something I haven’t yet seen, we stumbled upon one show that was an extreme, even for me: the wild, wild world of Love Island.
If you’ve never heard of Love Island, let me break it down for you. This show brings a group of attractive, overly confident, 20-something year old party kids to a luxurious villa on an exotic island. The main objective of the show is to find a romantic partner, get to know each other through many challenges and make it through four weeks without getting voted off. Stay with me here; if you do that and beat out all the other competition, you win $100,000 to split between you and your partner. What do the islanders do to occupy their time you might ask? Well, they tan, drink, chat and refuse to swim in the gorgeous swimming pool in front of them. With virtually no rules and nothing else to do but create relationships (and then ruin them in the same day), why not stir up some drama? Every single moment on the island is recorded and we, the dedicated viewers, get six new episodes a week. I know what you’re thinking. What a stimulating and educational television program!
After flying through all the UK seasons and US season one over the summer, the lack of new Love Island episodes left an empty hole in my life. Thankfully, Love Island announced that season two would be filmed and released DURING QUARANTINE. This means that all of the contestants I talked about earlier now have another layer added to them: they have all been socially and emotionally isolated for months, and are now surrounded by people who are just as desperate for love and affection as they are. And as I am.
They have only released seven episodes at the time that I’m writing this, but let me tell you, it is getting JUICY! Don’t believe me? I guess you don’t have to because again, I’ll watch anything… But listen to the thoughts of my roommates who have significantly more normal watching habits (they are hooked).
“I just think the show is fantastic to watch because it’s absolutely ridiculous. Also, who wouldn’t want to live in a mansion on the beach for a couple of weeks, get free food and drinks all day and have a chance to win money at the end of the stay? I like to live vicariously through the Islanders.”
“It’s just such a super unrealistic show given that many of the couples don’t actually stay together afterward, so it’s okay to have absurd thoughts and desires for people to couple up. Also, everyone has pretty killer style which is BIG for me. Super addictive and easy to binge, you can put it on in the background and you don’t have to worry about missing every little detail.”
Listen, I know this is not the most convincing review of the show. I make it out to be like a dumpster fire, and well it is; it transports you out of your living room to this gorgeous villa full of very attractive and very desperate individuals. It is mesmerizing, ridiculous and so stupid that it’s good. If you want to watch young adults make stupid decisions, get drunk and cheat on their significant other of 6 days, this is definitely the show for you.
If you made it to the end of this article and are thinking about watching it, cheers to you! You are a real hero. Now sit down, pour yourself a drink and start getting to know the new islanders.
