Is Love Blind? No! I don’t think it is. On March 4th, Netflix released the final episode of Love is Blind Season 2. Don’t worry fans of the series, Season 3 has already been cast and filmed. Watching the reunion brought up a lot of thoughts. Not good ones but thoughts nonetheless.
‘Love is Blind’ Review Season 2
When I first started to write this article, the focus was going to be on how Shake and Shayne presented traits only a therapist could fix. I still believe that. However, the object of Shake’s non-affections, Deepti, when recounting the experience in an interview mentions that Shake got a good edit. If you’ve had the pleasure of watching the show, you’d know how impossible that seems. So, instead, I’d like to focus on the environment that allows us to peek into Shake and Shayne’s minds. If this show, Love is Blind, focused on friendship or brotherhood, we the viewer would have gotten a different edit of these guys entirely. In post final episode, Shake has received the majority of the negative attention, and rightfully so. He has a way of making the narrative about himself and openly airs his grievances regarding the show and the authenticity of his cast mates. Shayne has gotten to skirt behind a bigger mess-magnet to avoid accountability.
He is not better than Shake. The way that man in the pod spoke to Natalie was very gas-lightly. That’s neither here nor there.
I watched Sarah Z’s The Horrible Panopticon of West Elm Caleb earlier this week. Where they talked about how everyday private citizens become the spectacle — every true crime fan’s bread and butter — until the next time this happens again. In this case of TikTok’s most infamous cases, The Couch Guy and West Elm Caleb. The latter had his name, face, job all leaked within a week of them hitting the internet. The former had to have his girlfriend publicly declare that no wrongdoing had been done for the hate train to slow down. Why does this relate to Love is Blind? I asked myself what the point of shows like this are. Love is Blind couples follow the same formula as Married at First Sight but those shows have staff therapists and evaluate their cast before the camera is ever turned on. Is it the job of shows like Love is Blind to denounce behavior like Shayne and Shake. This can be applied to lots of shows like Love Island, Temptation Island, as well as Love is Blind.
The way that Shayne and Shake acted both on camera and off had effects on the woman they interacted with romantically: Deepti, Natalie, and Shaina. In the Reunion, both men are objectively horrible. Is the topic on hand their treatment of the cast including their romantic partners? No! It must seem as though I’m asking shows like LIB to be the moral compasses of modern society and I’m not; that would be giving them too much credit. Modern dating shows are genuinely the visual depiction of the dating market in the 21st century. Dating Apps are filled with men like Shayne, Shake, and West Elm Caleb. Love is Blind Season One for all of its flaws was at least earnest in its stupidity. This dumpster fire of a season felt like a bullseye of how truly screwed we are because the other contestants in comparison to Shake and Shayne aren’t that much better. Kyle is living his most delusional life thinking his atheist beliefs would work with Uber-Christian Shaina. Jarrett wanted Mallory and got rejected only to then propose to Iyana. Mallory had a lukewarm attraction to Sal and that didn’t get any better. Don’t get me started on Danielle and Nick. Are the woman in this blameless? No! Are the men worse? Absolutely!
In the words of Shake, Is Love Blind? No! Love is Blurry though. It’s messy and highlights you’re worst traits. The show’s creators have vowed to vet future castmates to avoid the Shakes and Shaynes. I think it is a step in the right direction.
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