I’m sure by now most have you have heard someone talking about Netflix’s new reality show “Love is Blind”. This is one of the latest reality shows created by Netflix that has people obsessed. People like moi. 💁‍♀️

From the moment I found myself watching 3 episodes of this back to back each night after I started, I knew I had to do a blog post on it. The way my life is set up right now, I take about a week and a half to finish watching a movie. So watching at least 3 hours of Love is Blind WITHOUT falling asleep was a major accomplishment for me. 🥱

Warning: There will be some spoilers for those of you who have not seen it yet. And if you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for?! Get your friend’s Netflix password and get to it! I’m just kidding Netflix peeps, please don’t cancel my subscription. 😐

The Premise

The show is a social experiment to determine whether an emotional connection is the key to a successful marriage, rather than a physical one. What better way than to get a bunch of very attractive people together to test this theory? 😕

The men and women go on dates in pods, where they can’t see each other. They communicate through a glass wall (I later learned that the pods were soundproof and they were communicating through speakers). They do this with no communication with the outside world – no cell phones or computers. After 10 days, to see the person they have connected with most, they have to become engaged. They then have 4 weeks to get married. 

All’s well and good when the couples get engaged, for the most part. Things get even more interesting when the couples fly off to a resort in Mexico to develop a more physical connection. It’s when they head back home to their friends and family that reality hits home…literally. Some truth bombs are dropped in these episodes that blow the minds of both the betrothed and the viewers. 

The Couples 

Well the ones that we saw. Yep, there were 2 other couples who got engaged that weren’t shown. (Click here for an Insider article with 15 surprises about the show you didn’t know). 

Many people wondered whether the participants on the show were being genuine.  While I understand that producers had to control some variables (because science), I couldn’t help but feel that the subjects were very much allowing themselves to be in the process. Of course there were a few moments that conveyed blatant producer interference.

Still, I found myself rooting for the couples, some more than others. The show brought on some deep convos between my husband and me. And yes, I more or less made him watch it but by the first episode, he was as captivated as I was. 

So here is my take on each of the engaged couples and the thoughts their relationships provoked. 

Diamond and Carlton

Love needs empathy and communication

I was very interested to see where Diamond and Carlton’s relationship would go. Unfortunately, it went downhill pretty fast. There was already an awkward atmosphere when they got to Mexico. I think it was brought on by Carlton’s apprehension about telling Diamond about his past. 

Fear is something that can trigger your self-preservation mode. Especially when you don’t know how a person will react to something. ESPECIALLY when it is someone you don’t want to disappoint.😣

Carlton seemed to go into a defensive mode when Diamond needed some time to process the information. Things got heated. They both said some hurtful words, words that did some irreparable damage. 

Sometimes, when we have a fear of being judged or rejected, we try to get our message across without putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes. And when they don’t react in the way we hoped, we put up an instant wall (unlike the one in the pods). We go into attack mode, not giving them a chance to say their part. Instead, we end up judging them. 

In the reunion, it was clear that they both regretted how things played off. One even hoped to mend things towards a possible future. It didn’t seem likely but who knows what could happen with a little more time, empathy and communication?

Giannina and Damian

Love is more than butterflies 

This relationship was a rollercoaster but I somehow found it endearing. Lol, I know. 

Can you blame them? You are cramming at least 2 years of a relationship into 40 days! 

Giannina said going in that she tends to self-sabotage. So it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise when she really tests Damian by doing things to push him away. I actually can relate to this. Yes, if you didn’t know, I’m sorta crazy too. According to Ancestry.com, I also am 10% “Indigenous Americas”, i.e. Colombia and Venezuela. So Gigi es mi gente. 

When they get home, she tells Damian that she lost the butterflies. I have definitely told my husband this a couple of times. But I learned that love is beyond that. Love means choosing to love that person even when you can’t even feel a faint flutter. You have to make your relationship a daily choice and do what you need to do to make each other feel appreciated. When you do, those butterflies come back. And they tend to bring the whole zoo with them the next time…

While they ended up not getting married, they did rekindle their relationship after the show. 

Amber and Barnett

Love does cost a thing

Amber and Barnett. Two people who I wasn’t particularly fond of at the start. Barnett seemed like a playboy (I mean he had 3 women smitten with him) and Amber seemed… ummm… intense. 😟

I never expected them to grow on me as a couple. They surprisingly seemed like a good fit to me. I don’t think Barnett had much of a choice to pick Amber, I was convinced she would hunt him down and kill him if he hadn’t. 

It was even more unexpected to realise that Barnett was actually quite a responsible, stand-up guy. But Amber was employed and had US$20,000 in debt. Further, she seemed to be content to spend her days “Amber-ing” while Barnett brought home the bacon. 

Now, every marriage is different when it comes to finances. But this made me reminisce of the times my husband and I thought all we needed is love. We realised later on that we also needed some sort of financial stability or a plan. It might be a difficult talk but trust me, before any talks of wedding bells, it is something that needs to be discussed. 

Kelly and Kenny

Love should be memorable

I hate saying this but did anyone else kinda forget about Kelly and Kenny until they showed up on screen again? 🙈

They seemed to be one of the more mature couples and everything was going so smoothly. Even their parents were supportive. But something felt off about it all and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I mean the fact that their names were basically the same didn’t sit right with me either. 

Without any warning, Kelly started questioning her feelings for Kenny. Like whoa, what happened? 

To cut a long story short (and don’t worry, you are not missing too much), Kelly gets cold feet so they don’t get married. I actually was secretly hoping that Kenny would have run off with her sister instead. That would have been a plot twist!

Jessica and Mark 

Love takes two to tango 

Oh Jessica and Mark. Jessicaaa and Maaark. 

There is so much I could say about them, but you have to watch it all to understand. Jessica was one of the girls who was smitten with Barnett but also had a strong connection with Mark. When Barnett rejects her, she decides to give Mark a shot. And boy, does this boy try to shoot his shot. Again and again and again. 

While I feel for Jessica now because the internet is probably not being kind to her, I realllly felt it for Mark during the show. Despite him being 10 years younger than her, he actually seemed more mature (ahem, even though he lived with roommates. Hey, a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.) He really seemed to love Jessica but she just wasn’t that into him. 

It was pretty obvious where that was going to end. In fact, my husband and I thought it was interesting that their wedding was held in a different venue than the other couples. They didn’t get married but I felt more of a relief for Mark’s sake than anything else. Jessica didn’t deserve you, Mark. She missed the Mark. 

Lauren and Cameron

Love can be scary yet magical

Ahhh, Lauren and Cameron.  The viewers’ favourite from the beginning. The couple that proved the hypothesis to be true. Maybe it helped that Cameron was a scientist. Nobody knows, nobody really cares.

There was an extra genuineness about these two that won people’s hearts. They “got” each other.  It was a pleasure to watch their love story unfold, even when the show repeatedly brought up the race difference. You could see it irked Lauren in the reunion.  

It was understandable that Lauren got scared when they were facing the real world. She worried if her family and friends would accept it. How her dad would respond to meeting a fiance when she hadn’t ever introduced him to her boyfriends. How she would deal with being in a relationship after being independent for so long. 

But Cameron stood strong throughout. To the point where I started wondering if he was a science experiment himself.

In the end, the charming couple did tie the knot. They are still together a year and a half later (yep, the show wrapped up in November 2018).

Is Love Blind?

A strong emotional connection trumps a physical attraction any day. But realistically, you need to have both. You can probably build one or the other over time, but if it doesn’t get there, then it won’t work out. 

When I started watching the show, I was concerned when I heard some of the participants calling their betrothed “perfect”. This experiment actually blinded people into thinking that if they connected deeply enough with someone in the pods that they wouldn’t have any issues afterward.

There are so many facets to love that you never think about when you start a relationship. 

You think of far less when you have only 10 days in the most extreme circumstances.

We are all messed up. We are all looking for love. We all don’t want to be rejected.

Love should actually open your eyes. To see your partner – not just the good parts but the bad parts too. It should open your eyes to your own shortcomings. 

Love can be a rollercoaster. It makes you happy. It makes you crazy. It makes you vulnerable. It can make you feel safe when things are falling apart. It can feel magical. It can be frustrating. It can be effortless. It takes work. 

The point is to find someone you are willing to take that ride with. Then you have to agree that you are not coming off the ride until the journey is over. 

So what did you think of Netflix’s “Love is Blind” series? Who was your favourite couple? Anything surprised you? Would you consider doing an experiment like this? Let me know in the comments! 

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to subscribe if you would like more posts from the Mind of Yash that would motivate you or make you laugh!