Whenever I mention that I tuned in to watch Season 2 of the popular Netflix Original reality television series Love Is Blind, I am immediately asked, “Was it good?” You would think this would be an easy question to answer, having watched the entire season start to finish within a week. However, I’m usually left with an inability to respond with a one-word answer, and instead decide to go with a “Well…it was…interesting.” Although the show was somewhere in the middle of great and heinous (I can’t pinpoint exactly where), it sure was entertaining. Here is a low-down of the second installment of Love Is Blind, so you can weigh the pros and cons of watching it for yourself.
For those of you who haven’t heard of Love Is Blind before, I’ll provide a brief summary of what the show is all about. A group of single men and women looking to finally settle down are individually placed into two “pods” across from each other, which are private rooms in which they can speak to one another through a wall without ever seeing one another. Their cell phones are taken away in the process and they are not allowed to discuss superficial attributes about themselves, like their weight or appearance, in order to maintain a level of physical anonymity. They are, however, encouraged to dive deeper into personal topics like childhood, relationship end goals, career, etc. to cultivate a more meaningful relationship. Once they feel like they have found their perfect match, one of the individuals proposes. If both parties agree, they will finally get to see each other. They are then flown to a vacation spot where they can get to know each other more outside of the pods and plan their weddings. Finally, a wedding ceremony will occur, and we as viewers get to watch in suspense and see if both fiancés will say “I do”, or if one is left at the altar. Say it with me— drama!
You may be able to guess one of my largest critiques of this show in general: the couples often rush into engagement without establishing a strong relationship foundation. The way the show is designed is at fault for this—they are only given a few days in the pods before the show moves forth to the vacation plotline, so couples only get maybe a solid week to gauge if they are ready to be married to one of their fellow contestants. Let me say that again— one week to find a spouse that they will spend the rest of their lives with. If that doesn’t sound crazy to you, you may need to rethink your relationship boundaries (no offense). Some couples quickly bonded on aspects of their lives that were similar, like growing up in a divorced household or having similar career goals. However, they used these similarities as proof that they were fully compatible in the long term, and rushed into engagement after 2-3 of these similarities emerged. Even though many contestants enthusiastically said “yes”, I find it hard to believe that any of them would agree to an engagement after two or three “normal” dates in the real world. The level of commitment and readiness the couples expressed after knowing only tidbits of information about their partner certainly seemed unrealistic, but nonetheless was laughable and entertaining, which is partly what made me want to continue watching.
The number of red flags that came up at record speed in Love Is Blind was, for lack of better words, crazy. Sure, most couples started in the honeymoon phase (as they should, since they were engaged in a matter of days), but their relationships quickly unraveled as soon as they got to know each other for real in person. Warning: there will be some very minor spoilers ahead. When contestants were flown out to a lavish resort in Mexico to lounge and further bond with their future spouse, there was almost immediate tumult in every one of the relationships. Couples found that they had awful communication skills, that one person was secretly uninterested in the other after getting to know them, that one found their partner completely unattractive, that there was an attraction to other contestants outside of the relationship, that there were jealousy issues, and much more. Yes, I said much more–-as if the long list of red flags above wasn’t enough. I hate to say it, but the reason for the influx of disagreements is because these couples rushed into engagement and/or a relationship at all, when some of them lacked any compatibility. Secondly, it’s important to note that in romantic relationships physical attraction is a huge component. No matter how shallow it sounds, you cannot be completely impartial to looks. You could find someone who is perfect for you, but if you have no attraction to them physically whatsoever, there will be a huge roadblock in your relationship. Unfortunately, many couples in Love Is Blind found this out the hard way.
One of my favorite parts of the season was when contestants had to meet each other’s parents/family and ask for their blessing in the marriage. I find that I enjoy watching painfully awkward experiences on television, and these scenes were exactly that: painfully awkward. From parents who were blatantly off-put by the way the couples met, to sisters who pried the couples for personal information on their relationship, these scenes were certainly entertaining. Another portion of the show that was worth watching was, of course, the actual wedding scenes at the end. Here, we get to see whether each partner in every couple will say “I do”. Not to spoil any specifics, but there are some huge surprises in these scenes.
Although I don’t agree with the premise of the show, which is that falling in love blindly (without seeing the person) is the best way to make more meaningful relationships, I guess you could gather some meaning from the show. For example, a lesson could be to try to pay less attention to the physical attributes of potential partners and more attention to their personality, goals, and emotional attributes. That being said, even though contestants didn’t pay attention to the physical attributes of their partners in the pods, they also ignored some huge personality red flags–so it ended up being one big disaster. All in all, I say that while season 2 of Love Is Blind has its faults, it is worth watching for anyone who enjoys a mindless TV show that is full of drama.