Love is Blind originally premiered on Netflix Galentine’s Day (February 13) of 2020. My friends and I threw it on as a joke while we ate our heart shaped Domino’s pizza. Turns out the joke was on us, because it has become one of the most addicting reality shows Netflix has to offer.
We have now entered the fourth season of Love is Blind and similar to prior seasons about five couples made it out of the pods and headed to a week of sun, fun, and flirting in Mexico. Since the series has been split into a few parts, with the first five episodes released on March 24th, a handful on March 31st and the final wedding episodes releasing in April, I will try to keep this review mostly spoiler free for those waiting to binge the whole series at once.
The general setup of the show hasn’t changed since its original release. The pods are filled with 15 men and 15 women ranging from mid-20’s to mid-30’s who go on countless dates over the course of 10 days with the goal of matching with someone and proposing. The catch is that you can’t see the person you’re talking to, and unlike Shake’s approach in season two, you’re not supposed to ask about physical details. The goal is to fall in love with a person emotionally- to connect on a level that’s deeper than physical appearance. The only way to see who you’ve fallen in love with is to propose and then hope that the bond you formed in the pods translates to the real world.
Of course this is a reality show, so it’s not that big of a gamble because everyone cast is conventionally attractive. This is not the show to watch if you’re looking for different bodies or abilities depicted on screen. I’ve only seen one or two larger bodied women and men and they’re usually in the background and rarely get any airtime. Honestly, there’s so many contestants in general that get such little screen time. The only time we see them is as filler when they’re talking to the “main characters” in the pods (#justiceforRory).
So far, no one has lived up to season one’s golden couple, Lauren and Cameron. And honestly, I don’t think anyone ever will. However, each season always has a potential golden couple, Alexa and Brennon are, in my opinion, season three’s and season two was simply a disaster. None of the couples survived long, and while it’s probably a tie between Jarrette and Iyanna or Danielle and Nick, all of their relationships seemed doomed. With all that said, minor spoiler alert: I think this season’s title will go to Tiffany and Brett…though there’s still plenty of drama-filled episodes ahead.
While I will refrain from revealing any more couples from this season, I will tell you that the villains are definitely Micah and Irina. Whether it’s due to editing or immaturity, these two women are some of the meanest the show has seen. We’ve had past contestants who live for the drama: Jessica (aka Messica), Shaina/Shayne, Zanab and Cole’s cutie incident and those who love to stir the pot and walk away….I’m looking at you Nick. But with Micah and Irina, we haven’t seen this level of caddy and outright malicious behavior so openly directed at other contestants. Based on the previews for future episodes, it looks like these fast friends will quickly dissolve into mortal enemies, so I suspect karma comes back around on screen.
Unlike last season’s pair Colleen and Matt, who I thought just said yes so they could stay on the show longer (but who are surprisingly still together) it appears that most of these couples genuinely liked each other in the pods. This doesn’t mean there weren’t choices made. Like many seasons before, this season is full of contestants who had to make the difficult decision to choose one person over another. A few of which have then met face to face with the people they rejected when the couples introduce themselves on vacation. Will regret rear its ugly head in future episodes? I think so. In the case of one contestant in particular, whether or not the “second best” will give them a second chance is yet to be seen.
Overall, I think this season has the potential for at least one couple to make it to the altar, but I have no doubt there will be plenty of ups and downs along the way. Part of me is excited that they’ve broken up the season into a few parts. It amplifies the will they/won’t they of it all, which at the end of the day is everyone’s favorite gossip. Love is Blind Season 4 episodes 1-8 are streaming now on Netflix.
