Every six months, Netflix sends me a notification that “Love Is Blind” has released a new season. Since 2020, the reality dating series has been matching couples up attempting to answer the age old question: Is love really blind?
What began as a somewhat wholesome social experiment has quickly devolved into a masochistic mess and I tune in every time. Something about watching people fall in love without seeing one another, getting engaged in two weeks and possibly making it to the altar draws me in.
Every season, there’s been at least one happy and healthy couple to root for. Two people clearly match well and with generally normal behavior. In the latest season, that would be Garrett and Taylor. Of course in season seven, they may just seem normal because everyone else is utterly unhinged.
I could say I watch every season for that one heartwarming couple who gives me hope for love. Of course, that would be a lie and I can’t risk my credibility. I watch every season for the inevitable descent into madness and revelation that (Gasp!) reality TV stars are terrible people.
Every season escalates the level of absurdity, to a point that I’m in disbelief every time. In season two it was shocking if a man cheated. Five seasons later, it’s common for one of the men to be engaged to other women, cheat or abandon their children to be on the show.
Somehow, I’m shocked every time. Call it naive optimism, but I go into every season believing these people are truly looking for a spouse. As the show continues, the contestants become more questionable until only one or two couples get married a season.
For the couples who do get married, the audience gets to follow along as they inevitably quit their jobs to become influencers (with a few exceptions). The first “Love Is Blind” baby was born recently to season four couple Zack and Bliss. Their kid is going to have a wild time watching that season in the future.
Even for those who got abandoned at the altar or dumped prior to the weddings, “Love Is Blind” offers a career in coming back to reunions twice a year. Speaking of, the additions of the reunions in recent seasons have been the cherry on top of an already entertaining mess.
Despite abysmal hosting by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the reunions manage to give the audience a sense of closure and justice after the rollercoaster of a season. I watched the most recent reunion on the Amtrak, glued to the screen. At every corner, someone is being interrogated, someone has to come clean about something, and someone ends up acting like a complete idiot. This season’s highlight had to be either the “grenade” debate or Stephen attempting to take accountability for cheating on his fiancee during a sleep test.
At the end of the day, “Love Is Blind” has become exactly what it was trying to avoid, and I love every minute of it. Trashy reality TV has always had its place in culture since its inception, appealing to the most juvenile and immature side in all of us. “Love Is Blind” makes you long for love, then remember why people avoid it.