If you haven’t seen “Love Is Blind,” imagine a group of unusually romantic singles sitting in private pods discussing, laughing, crying or arguing with the wall … well, with the person on the other side. The Netflix series aims to test the theory that love is truly blind through a dramatic experiment. Within a week and a half, men and women develop connections that might lead to marriage proposals. With incredibly high stakes, the show tries to prove that love is not skin-deep and may have no skin in the game at all.
Like with the last two seasons of “Love is Blind,” within a few days, the only boundary that exists is the wall. The contestants who have known each other for a few days start calling each other their best friend, their twin flame, their ride-or-die, or worse, the love of their lives. Only after getting engaged can they see their future,literally, and the few couples who end up putting a ring on it in less than two weeks have a month before saying “I do” and, more commonly, “I don’t.”
“Love is Blind” is almost as if a television producer read a Wikipedia description of the Stanford prison experiment and decided that strong red wine, immature bachelors and a sprinkle of romance and jealousy are the solution. Unlike last season, when every couple who got married filed for divorce shortly afterward, season three was more successful in upholding the phrase, “happy wife, happy life.”
While there were lots of messy breakups, running away in high heels, and sniveling — this season had a garden variety of romances and romantics. Some had slow-burn romances, while others had a whirlwind. This season, most love triangles ended up as love triumphs, and many couples quickly became fan favorites and are still together more than a year after filming took place.
The two central villains of the show are relatively evident. Two foot-loose, fancy-free bachelors, Cole Barnett and, most notably, Bartise Bowden, ended up walking away from the altar and providing definitive proof that love is anything but blind. Bowden spouted a broken record of romantic confessions that felt hollow and disingenuous. While these sterile words seemed to whoo his fiance, Nancy Rodriguez, these empty romantic confessions were summed up by Rodriguez’s doubtful, suspicious brother in one word: “bland.” After Bowden strung Rodriguez to the altar, his insensitive actions in the episodes before the wedding spoke more volumes than his “I don’t” at the altar.
Besides Rodriguez and her family, the Reddit family is pissed and unforgiving towards Bowden, who repeatedly tells cameras how unattracted his fiance is.
As one Reddit user eloquently wrote. “Beef Bourignon needs to get his prefrontal cortex developed before he comes on a show like this and wastes everyone’s time with his immaturity smh.”
The relentless threads and memes of hatred make Bart Simpson seem like an angel compared to Bowden.
As the Daily Beast put it, “even if you’ve never watched Love Is Blind—I can’t blame you, as much as I love seeing these rascals embarrass themselves for eternity—it’s incredibly fun to watch an entire subreddit bond over hating one dude especially when that dude deserves it.”
As seen in season three, some couples tried to persuade viewers and family members of their undeniable chemistry- but we all know how things go when combustible materials mix: a messy explosion. While “Love is Blind” is often considered the epitome of “trash TV,” many simply cannot resist but watch the trainwreck.
This season is entertaining, not only because it proves love can be truly awful but also because it also shows how we should behave in matters regarding the heart. We watch as these couples are thrown to the wolves, AKA reality, and bring the proper and not-so-proper ways to experience some of life’s most challenging moments. Even though love can be blind, what isn’t blind to is trying to integrate each other into the real world to make a lasting relationship. What makes this season land is that while some may claim that love is blind, it also shows how life together is far more blurry but rewarding.