A tale of love, confessions and revenge dresses
I never used to understand the draw of reality television. Scripted TV shows have always just seemed like a better choice for entertainment, allowing me to cling to characters and storytelling in a way that I thought was unreasonable for reality TV. I fed into people saying that reality shows are “trash television,” and could not understand why shows like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and “The Bachelorette” have such enormous audiences. That is, until this summer when “Love Island USA” had a renaissance season that revitalized the show, pleasing old fans and bringing in new viewers.
I knew of “Love Island” before and had seen episodes from the UK version of the show, but it wasn’t until this summer that I, along with many others, saw the vision for the first time. Season six of the US version took off, so much so that it even managed to outperform the original, and most of that has to do with the casting. Key cast members like Rob and Leah went viral for their on-and-off-again relationship that took over the first half of the season. While social media and TikTok edits contributed to the rise in viewership, the islanders managed to maintain the drama all summer long, forging tight female friendships, falling in love and fighting until the last episode and beyond.
While the romantic entanglements are supposed to be the star of the show, the bonds created between the women outshined their dynamics with the men and catapulted islanders like Leah, Jana and Serena into internet darlings. The trio of girls, who call themselves PPG, have maintained their influencer statuses and all three left the show in committed relationships.
Serena’s friends-to-lovers arc with Kordell won over the hearts of America, going on to win the entire season. Serena has been celebrated as a role model for standing on business and holding men accountable for their actions, all while unconditionally supporting her friends and sporting a revenge dress. Jana was part of several lackluster pairings throughout the season before finally coupling up with Kenny and getting third place. Leah went through a lot on the show, mostly due to miscommunication and drama with Rob, but eventually, she coupled up with Miguel and they ended up placing second, mostly due to Leah’s popularity among fans. PPG continues to show off their friendship on social media and are all still in their relationships, but not everyone got their fairytale ending.
Islander Kaylor was paired up with Aaron for almost the entire season and viewers had to watch as she continued to take him back after he love-bombed and lied to her. However, she befriended Liv while on the show and the two girls are now inseparable, showing how in season six of “Love Island USA,” the love between the women transcended the romantic pairings that are supposed to define the show.
These dynamics were most prominent during the season’s most infamous episode: the Casa Amor recoupling. Towards the end of each season, the show separates the men and women in the main cast, putting the men in a new villa called Casa Amor. They bring in new people for the islanders to get to know, without the prying eyes of their couple to keep them accountable, which almost always incites drama, and this season was the pinnacle of this. All but two of the men returned to the main villa with a new girl while the original girls only had one new pairing. The episode where the men and women are reunited was the magnum opus of the season, and everyone played their part to perfection. From the women’s monologues, the production’s editing, the boys’ reactions, the girls supporting one another, and Ariana Maddox as the host, this episode hit all the right marks.
While this past season of “Love Island USA” thrust the show into the spotlight, I do not foresee them being able to recreate the magic. There was just something about this cast that captured the hearts and minds of viewers and forced me to rethink my stance on reality television. Season six of “Love Island USA,” you will always be famous.