another season love is blind It’s come and gone, and in its wake we’ve had two marriages, five breakups, a villain who takes beatings, a gold-digging hero, and at least one secret father who never mentions his children to his partner.
Initially, season seven didn’t look like it was ever going to top it — a minor letdown since it was shot in DC, and DC is notoriously one of the most boring places ever. But it ended up being one of the more memorable seasons love is blind. The mess, the drama, the dysfunction—this season had it all.
The season’s slow build, the ensuing shenanigans, and finally its attention and discourse bring up a question underlying the show’s existence: What do we mean when we say it? love is blind Was there a “good” season?
Contrary to the show’s mission, a good season doesn’t mean couples find love, it means people find strangers to break up with. The more outrageous and gruesome the breakups, the more viewers watch and keep the show in conversation Higher ratings for Netflix Negatively correlated with marital happiness for anyone on the show. love is blind Love was never really about being blind; It’s just a window for the audience to get a glimpse of some tragic relationship. Now, in season seven, we’re getting pure chaos, the real, unvarnished stuff.
But while romantic success may not be on the table, it’s still possible to win the show in a sense. And it is definitely possible to lose. With that in mind, here’s everyone who came out on top, who came out looking awful, who got love, and who didn’t make it to season seven. love is blind.
Loser: For the 7th season running, the test to see if love is really blind
Since its inception, love is blind He calls it a “test” to see if true love is a real thing that can transcend the superficiality of physical attraction. Also since inception, love is blind It’s never really been about what it says it is. The hit Netflix series has always been about messiness, and with each season it’s allowed more messiness to blossom.
In this seventh installment, several contestants seem to have been chosen for drama potential rather than their desire to be chosen. From men who claim to be insecure about having so much money, to corporate HR speak about their relationships, to men with trophy wives and living in their parents’ basements, it seems the casting department has gone out of their way. To find a group of people who could make the most incompatible couples and the messiest breakups. That’s fine — and it makes for great television — but we’re still rooting for the scientists a bit.
Winner: Netflix
Two weddings took place at the end of the season. Both couples — Garrett and Taylor, Tyler and Ashley — got married. According to the show’s body count of people rejected on the show, it’s a successful end-season! No one was left out in front of their families, and everyone seemed very happy at the end.
What is unclear, however, is whether Ashley and Tyler will stay together. On the show, post-pod, Tyler finally told Ashley that he had donated his sperm to a gay couple. During the telecast of the show, Tabloid reports That the relationship between Tyler, his children, and their mother involved more than just Tyler. Now, in the post-show post-tabloid phase, it’s unclear whether these new revelations will affect their marriage.
But the engine of the show is messed up. Sure, there were two happy endings, but there were seven couples to begin with. That means five relationships ignited. It’s great for Netflix! Here’s how they ended up:
- Stephen texted a random internet woman behind Monica’s back and tried to excuse himself from being drunk on a sleep study.
- Ramses told Marisa that after being with him for weeks he did not vibrate with her power
- After weeks of berating her about having a baby, Hannah finally calls it quits with Nick
- Tim told Alex that he was being disrespectful to his parents because he was sleeping, even after he promised his father, who has MS, that he would take care of his daughter.
- Brittany and Leo haven’t even been to Mexico!
These love implosions are much more watchable than happy endings, and they keep viewers interested in the show. Maybe they’re tuning in to see Hannah come to terms with the person she was with that season, or figure out what really happened between Brittany and Leo, but everyone wants to know the details of why things didn’t work out and what really happened to the show’s victims. And of course, that’s why a Netflix reunion special (and its participants. Contract signed)
Winners: Immature Men
To be clear: reality TV shows are heavily edited. The show has had a few seasons where the men (see: Season 5 Cole) are portrayed as innocent but good-hearted idiots and the women as tough shrews. Moreover, one of the longstanding criticisms is that of love is blind And other dating shows are that producers and editors are tougher on women than men. Season seven, in all its turbulent glory, followed that pattern.
Nick, Tim and Stephen were all too immature for a relationship. Whether it was an inability to talk about a problem, not telling your partner The children you have fatheredOr sending lewd texts to a random woman off the internet, men were no prize team this season bar for love is blind Men are underground, Yet they managed to scoot under it.
Yet, there was also a lot of focus on how the women in their lives were highly condescending, if not bullied.
Hannah seems to delight in being mean to Nick instead of dumping him. Alex, Tim’s partner, got into an off-camera fight with him where he allegedly covered his face with his hand. Monica, Stephen’s partner, gets mad at him for talking too much and grows up not buying his flowers (multiple times) that he promised Pod.
Even though only two people in this relationship know the whole truth about the ups and downs of their love, it felt like the show spent more time portraying the women as tougher and tougher than the immature men they were with. How easy it is for women to capture active confrontations and complaints on camera with passive, less visible behavior from men — such as being inattentive or lacking initiative. The takeaway is that it felt as if being an absurd fool was better than an overly serious scolding, with some men coming away from the show looking less guilty. Not Stephen or Tyler though; Those were still at fault.
Defeated: Hannah
every season love is blind There is a villain, and this series is that The title belongs to Hannah. The 26-year-old quit her job as a medical device sales associate to be on her “dream” show, and it was worth it because she gave us a show. After rolling through the pod — where she strategically dropped hints about how good-looking she was (like telling men she’s a cheerleader who dates athletes, that she doesn’t want to look “hot,” etc. ) — she paired up with Nick. , a real estate agent and former football player. In fairness, he also raved about his looks (Nick claimed to look like a “less buff” Henry Cavill).
To call this connection a disaster is an understatement and unfair to the disaster. So why is Hannah the bad guy?
Yes, Nick is a grown child and should not be in a relationship. Still, nagging Hannah about everything from 401(k)s to boiling water to phone bills, from ordering her to walk a dog that isn’t hers to telling her that riding on hotel pool furniture would make her ick, it was painful to eke out an evening. Later, Hannah leaves a cryptic, bulleted note of eight or so spells for Nick to find, with each bullet representing one thing she hates about him. At one point, he tells her that he will not address her as an equal because he does not see her as an equal.
What Hannah was doing was unlike the one or two aforementioned instances where some of the women on the show were calling out their partners for dropping the ball. It seemed like every segment that focused on the two was Hannah beating Nick. Again, this could all be part of an edit, but Hannah sure gave them a lot of substance.
The more this season went on, the more I wondered why Hannah — who was talking about how unhappy she was and reminding her partner that she was inadequate — didn’t shut the whole thing down sooner.
The thing is, Nick has the opportunity to learn how to boil water and contribute 15 percent to his retirement. And it seems that Hannah will learn quickly from the unpleasant behavior she displayed on TV.
Winner: Britney, Trophy Wife
On a show that’s deceptive (see: Tyler), it’s nice to know that there are participants like Brittany who clearly and honestly say they’re there for all the wrong reasons. When we first meet Brittany, we learn that she wants to be a trophy wife and has only dated high-profile, highly successful rich men. Brittany doesn’t care about finding love or meeting her soul mate. Brittany wants a man who will take care of her and let her live a life of leisure, shopping and unlimited group fitness classes.
Fortunately for Brittany, she connected with Leo. Leo’s backstory was that he felt insecure inheriting tons and tons of money from his family’s art business. In Brittany, she found someone who would listen to these concerns. He was so happy that finally someone would help him in his life’s troubles!
Granted, Brittany was probably just trying to figure out how rich Leo was, but she was very invested in every conversation. Although the two eventually chose each other for marriage, the producers said the cameras would no longer follow the couple – a real loss for the show and viewers at home.
Winner: Ramses and Marissa had an argument about politics
If there was one moment of the show that felt real and important, this was it Marisa and Ramses had a fight on his military service. Synopsis: Ramses vociferously condemns the actions of the American military, particularly in destabilizing less-powerful countries and inflicting violence on the people living in those countries. Marissa served in the Navy and is proud of her service, although she said there were moments she regretted “pushing buttons” (such as military actions that harmed civilians). She said she didn’t want her child enlisted and she disagreed. While she said she felt he judged her military tenure, she said she sympathized with him as she expressed her concerns about his participation.
Although Marissa and Ramses eventually moved on with their relationship, conflict seemed to burn beneath the surface of all their problems. Ramses, who said he didn’t vibrate with Marissa’s energy after being with her for a few weeks, called off the relationship before the wedding.
Although they don’t end up together, Marissa and Ramses thoughtfully reveal the politics of a serious and complex subject. Their disagreement is the type of goods love is blind Said it wants to be about — falling in love with a person or not, based on who they are, what they believe and shared values. And sometimes, just like in real life, there are some deal-breakers that no matter how much you love a person, you just can’t get past them.
