Dear beloved readers,
And so we enter March, and as promised, we will be diving into the reunion episode of Love is Blind this week. When I tell you I rushed to get every single grad-school assignment yesterday’s morning so I could watch the episode in peace, I am not kidding. And let me tell you, it certainly did not disappoint.
We begin by learning that the couples that did in fact get married, are still together and thriving, which I was actually pretty surprised, some of them had such a bumpy ride, and saying “yes” at the altar felt just, too premature of a decision. But alas, they are still married, and the one I was the most unsure about, the guy already said they are in couple’s therapy, so there is hope that they did in fact grow as humans to be in this relationship.
As for the single people, I was a little surprised that the ones that didn’t get married, aren’t dating right now. At least a few of them, I was pretty sure they would at least try after the show, see where it would go, but nope. I guess it was a lot to expect from them, considering they all had to watch themselves on the world’s most famous streaming service, doing a lot of shit. And I mean real shit, the talking behind the backs, the shit-talking with friends, the other contestants they’ve dated on the pods…It has to be a lot to swallow, and for that, I can’t judge. Probably for the best. I guess the persona’s we see on TV can’t be held as their truest self, but still, I don’t think we are crazy to assume that, to at least a certain degree, that is a fair representation of who they are. But perhaps the most tragic thing about reality TV is, people who are portrayed in a certain, unpleasant light, feeling compelled to blame the editing.
Ah, yes…Let’s talk about the villain of the season, or at least, the worst of them. Shake, if you are reading this (you are not), dude, why?! What I felt yesterday watching that show, it was just the deepest level of second hand embarrassment I’ve ever, ever felt. It was so bad, I had to pause, yell, and play again. In fact, it got me introspective. So let me dive into that.
Shake, obviously bitter for his performance on the show, his reputation on social media, and above all, his exclusion from the apparent intimate relationship among cast members, woke up on the morning of this reunion and probably thought to himself: Well, they already don’t like me, so what can I possibly do or say that will make them loathe me even more? And I will tell you, having watched the show already, and assuming he probably got some visibility from important internet people like a PR agent or something, maybe a brand deal, that is not the craziest idea, though I won’t take it to be a good one.
Here is the thing we have to have at the back of our minds the whole time we are watching a show such as Love is Blind, despite the purest of intentions the participants must have when entering the show, it is still mostly for entertainment. And last week, while I questioned and questioned some more, the true intentions of the so called experiment, seeing that same behavior, and speech, being mirrored by one of the contestants, during the reunion, in front of the hosts of the show, made me really question if I had the right to do that. Obviously, you guys are aware I am opinion blog, and although I have a degree, my journalist credibility is not involved when I write these posts. In fact, the only thing I feel responsible for is fact checking so I don’t say some shit, but besides that, the rest of this shit, is 100% my opinion, and not by any means a universal true. Shake was bold to say the things he said, and the things he said, said a lot about him and his intentions of joining the show. Do I believe that can be translated to everyone else’s intentions in the show? No, I cannot. And that’s where I was wrong last week.
Even though we are led into the story of these couples, literally from the day they meet to the day they marry, and feel involved with their relationships, we know by now that we don’t get to see even ⅓ of their stories. Not that I am advocating for longer episodes, Netflix, I swear I do not have the time for it. But, basically what I am trying to say is that some things we won’t ever know, the behind the scenes that was brought up during the reunion, all of that. And in a way, I am glad I don’t. It, for some reason, makes these relationships more real, less clout-chasing, if you will.
I know it is silly, because obviously clout is involved in the decision of entering the show, and maybe I am being manipulated by the production, the cast, whatever, but I want to give them more credit than that. It is advertised as an experiment and if they enter it, it must be because they truly believe in the possibility of finding love sight unseen. All of that to say: Who the hell knows?! As long as they are happy and not hurting each other, I am here for the entertainment they provide and that’s all.
Speaking of not hurting each other…Enters reunion Shake, your eligible asshole, with a personal vendetta. Shane hurt every single person sitting there. He interrupted, he disrespected, he trash talked it, and above everything, he was inappropriate to the show’s host Vanessa Lachey, while disrespecting every other woman – his ex-fiancé included – that was sitting there. It was a shit show, but a shit show done so tragically right, that my marketing background only confirms to me that this dude, had more than a vendetta in his belt, he had a mission.
What’s worse than being a villain? You may ask. And I will tell you, a villain without the fame. Because remember, if Love is Blind = Love is Fame, then there would be nothing more tragic than entering this reality show, full of cruel intentions, hurt a woman’s feelings, humiliate yourself, be hated online, and then have your career just die. If you are wondering what I mean, let me tell you what happens when a reality show happens, and the villain clearly is not concerned about any media training, apology video, whatever else they can do to restart with a clean slate. You know who else was watching that reunion yesterday besides us? Reality TV scouts, that know the ugliest truth about our human kind: There’s nothing more profitable than drama. And I am guilty for that.
Shake, we will probably see you in a future survival, or whatever other crap you find yourself to be qualified to do. In the meanwhile, while your tactics are far from amateur, I think you should be aware of karma, and you will be paying for how hard I cringed when you said the only woman present you’d fuck is Vanessa Lachey. And for all the shit you did to Deepti, and for every dumb shit you said. I am not pro cancel culture, but in my book, you are cancelled.
Anyways, I am so annoyed by the amount of airtime this man ended up getting by interrupting every person he could. But, if his following count goes up, we can only be certain that next season of Love is Blind, we will have to deal with asses like Shake again, and as I know I will be watching, I gotta wish myself good luck. Beloved readers, I hope you could sense how annoyed I am from this rant alone. Truth is, I have more reasoning than Shake’s attitude to be annoyed about, but I don’t feel like getting personal about that today. All I know is that I hope things to get better soon, but until soon isn’t soon enough, well I guess I will just keep hoping, and filling my free times with mind-numbing reality TV, at least it’s quality content right? Stay safe and out of trouble, but if you don’t – oh my god, tell me all about it.
– Your Girl on the Go