“Too Hot To Handle” is a reality show that recently was released on Netflix. The premise of the show is to encourage a group of adults to form meaningful connections without engaging in any sexual acts in the hopes of winning $100,000. This proves quite difficult, as you can imagine, and it provides ample opportunity for drama to ensue. When I initially started watching the show, I was expecting it to be as entertaining as “Love Island” and “The Bachelor,” but I obviously had my expectations too high. Since I couldn’t leave my home because of the pandemic going on, it was a moderately entertaining show to watch to pass the time, but the show left a lot to be desired. There wasn’t much drama, the relationships didn’t develop, the participants would blow money at any chance they got and the participants themselves were just quite boring. Now, to fully explain how awful I found the show to be, it’s important that I address all of the relevant participant’s contributions to making the show as bad as it was.
- Francesca
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Francesca was probably one of the more entertaining characters because she did everything in her power to make everyone else lose money. She never even really tried to restrain herself from having sex, and she even went out of her way to kiss Haley just out of spite. She was never really concerned about the money, even from the beginning, and just seemed like she was there to do what she wanted. She was pretty self-centered, but I do think that she deserved better than her main love interest Harry. He lied and threw her under the bus to save himself at the beginning of the show, and never even genuinely apologized afterward. That was a huge red flag, and she should not have given him another chance after that. Then he had the audacity to get mad at her for moving on to someone else and tried to flip the situation to make it seem like he was the one that deserved better. Just watching the two of them interact was exhausting, and they just have a really toxic relationship. Even though most of the drama in the show involved Francesca in some way, her drama wasn’t enough to carry the show. Her actions were entertaining just because I found them annoying. Nothing about what she did really had me on the edge of my seat or screaming at the screen.
- Haley
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Haley just seemed to try to create chaos wherever she could. She hated all of the people in the show besides Francesca, and she was really pessimistic about the entire process. She never tried to form a romantic connection with anyone, and I suspect that was because she was too caught up in her unrequited infatuation with Francesca. The only time she even kissed anyone was when she was trying to get back at everyone by breaking the rules. Then she had the gall to try to blame what she did on Rhonda and Sharron just to try to create conflict. She just seemed like she enjoyed stirring the pot, which was mildly entertaining, but it also made me dislike her. She ended up leaving the show early, but her absence wasn’t even significant enough for the producers to show initially.
- Kelz
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Kelz was the accountant of the show and tried to ensure that everyone didn’t spend money. I respected that he wasn’t a hypocrite and didn’t try to enforce the rules for everyone else and let himself break them. He seemed like he cared more about the money than forming meaningful connections, but to be fair, he didn’t seem to have anyone he was genuinely interested in on the show. Nothing he did really made the show more interesting, but he did at least seem to be the voice of reason amongst the group.
- Harry
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Harry was a troublemaker. He didn’t care about the rules, and even when he pretended to care about them, the guise didn’t last long. Besides being the reason that the group lost a significant amount of money, he also was a liar. He lied to the group about who initiated the kiss that marked the first instance of the group losing money, and he lied about someone he claimed to care about. Everyone on the show seemed to find him to be a lovable and genuine guy because they were unaware of everything that he’s done, but I just found him to be sneaky and deceptive. I’m not at all sure what Francesca found appealing about him.
- Rhonda
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Rhonda seemed like she came on the show to create a connection with someone. Whether or not she actually did, well, that’s not for me to say. She had two love interests, and she was one of the few people that actually developed a romantic relationship with someone. She initially connected with David, and I personally thought he would be the best match for her. However, she ended up choosing Sharron, who seemed to be less sure of what he wanted. Her romantic journey was slightly interesting, but it wasn’t very dramatic.
- Chloe
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Chloe was a firecracker and was the only person on the show who had an interesting personality. She mainly just had failed romantic ventures throughout the show, but watching her fail was pretty entertaining. She never seemed to give up and seemed to know her worth. I found myself rooting for her to find someone throughout the show.
- Sharron
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Sharron seemed like a decent guy; he just has some stuff that he would need to work through before he could be in a healthy relationship. He’s been through some things, so he understandably has commitment and trust issues, but he almost missed the opportunity to connect with Rhonda because of this. He was probably the only person in the show who actually grew from the experience, so watching his development did give this show a bit more substance.
- David
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David got to know multiple people on the show, and watching him try to make it work felt like an uphill battle. He seemed like he wanted to form a connection with someone, and he abided by the rules for the majority of the show. After watching his efforts to connect fail, I did become slightly invested in seeing him eventually succeed, so that was one of the only aspects of the show that kept me watching until the end.
The other people I didn’t mention that were on the show just didn’t contribute to the storyline at all. Only a few of the participants even left with a relationship, and the majority were just there having a vacation. The drama centered around the same people every time so it got old really fast. I was just expecting more from the show, and I am not completely sure how I got through it.