I am not ashamed to say that I grew up in a TV-watching household. The voices of late-night talk show hosts and NBC sitcom characters faded into white noise as I grew older. I inherited this trait from my parents and it is one of the reasons I am an avid binge-watcher today. However, growing up, I realized that not everyone was raised in a similar household. During my middle school years, I would be stunned when my friends revealed that they’ve never heard of Grey’s Anatomy and that they actually don’t watch American Idol with their family every night.
Of course, as streaming platforms gained popularity, these shows that I had already been so well-versed in did as well. It seemed as though everyone started to play catch-up while I was stuck waiting for the next hot series to be released. Amateurs, I would think to myself.
first impressions.
This past summer, however, was different for me in the realm of popular television. As soon as the summer heat hit, I was being badgered by classmates, friends, and coworkers asking if I had been watching season seven of Love Island USA. I hesitated to tell them that I had zero clue what they were talking about. The typical reaction I would garner was a combination of astonishment and excitement as they’d eagerly begin to summarize the plot for me. I’d play along and listen to their long-winded explanation of a show that seemed way out of my zone of interest. However, as the first few days of summer became agonizingly long, hot, and mundane, I succumbed to the Love Island allure and filled my days by listening to Iain Stirling’s clever commentary and watching bombshells pulverize the villa.
To my surprise, I was hooked from the very first episode. I watched this show religiously before bed, during each meal, during my breaks at work, at the gym–you name it. My free time became Love Island time. I was oddly excited to see these strangers couple up, explore their connections, and ultimately find love. June me was so naive.
where is the love?
As new relationships blossomed and old couplings perished, I started to wonder as a novice Love Island viewer, is it always this…cutthroat? I knew that there was a monetary prize of $100,000 waiting for the winning couple, but I was also under the impression that they were all there primarily to find genuine love. Unfortunately, very few couples affirmed this belief of mine.
As the intensity of the challenges started to ramp up, and power, perhaps too much of it, was given to the islanders, the show turned into a game of Clue as fingers were being pointed every which way. I, along with the rest of the nation, took note of a strange power imbalance amongst the men in the villa that created this unavoidable tension and had me second guessing the intentions of the islanders. In a similar vein, I was disappointed in the lack of sisterlike companionship between the women in the villa. One of these women in particular shook things up inside and outside of the villa.
hurricane season
One of the female islanders, Huda, took the nation by storm with her dramatic “crashouts” and erratic behavior, eliciting the nickname “Hurricane Huda.” She had the nation’s viewers split between Huda defenders and Huda critics. As I witnessed her behavior only intensify night after night, I could not understand why there were so many Huda apologists. Although she graced us with some hysterically meme-able moments, her actions and words ultimately had everyone around her walking on eggshells.
Unfair-wells
A moment that stunned many viewers was the dumping of Hannah and Jeremiah at the hands of their fellow islanders. To me, this night solidified what the season had unfortunately turned into–a race to the $100,000 prize. At the time of their elimination, Hannah was at the peak of her relationship with Pepe, and Jeremiah had begun to explore his connection with Andreina after his emotionally draining experience with Huda. Sending these two contestants home caused confusion and controversy for the viewers, and in the end, broke that line of trust between the fans at home and the contestants in the villa.
Despite the commotion that this season stirred up on social media, season seven of Love Island USA did provide plenty of hilariously memorable moments, and for that, I am thankful. Although I didn’t feel the love between the islanders, I bonded with my friends, family, and even strangers over this unique show, which gave me that “kid feeling” (IYKYK) again.