Love, heartbreak, and humiliation—the reality of all the co-stars of Season 6 of Love Island USA. Mainstreamed on Netflix, the season introduces a new group of single islanders entering the villa looking for love in Fiji. As the islanders endure love and heartbreak in the villa, the audience is allowed to place their votes on who they believe should stay in the villa. Fortunately, compared to past seasons, I felt that this season introduces more interactive elements for viewers such as more bombshells to interrupt prior love bonds, and better challenges that kept me at the edge of my seat rooting for my favorite couple.
After months of production, many cast members faced audience backlash when leaving the villa—coupled up or not. Specifically, “America’s Sweethearts,” Leah Kateb, Serena Page, and JaNa Craig who became fan favorites. I felt that the biases towards characters were understandable as they became popular for their viral one-liners. Kateb, who was seen as two-faced during the show, left the villa realizing that the audience believed she was the most genuine.
Ultimately, I understood the famous lip-syncing TikToks of her single-liners and the viral memes with her facial expressions. Overall, despite some moments feeling repetitive, I thoroughly enjoyed the show.
25 Men, 1 Woman, released July 8, 2024, mainstreamed on Hulu, season 21 bachelorette Jenn Tran earns the love of her many bachelors. Tran being the bachelorette for this season led to audience uproar as she is the first-ever Asian-American woman to have a lead role in the Bachelor series. Compared to Love Island USA where they are all in one villa, in The Bachelorette, the men must earn a rose to move on to the next date with Tran, hopping from island to island.
In this show, it kind of becomes a waiting game to see who is most suitable for Tran as there is no other relationship to wait for. While watching, I felt a little bored at times. While public audiences have thoroughly enjoyed the show for the long-standing franchise with more than 20 released seasons, season 21 was a little disappointing. Despite the show focusing primarily on the men, it was obvious that many of them seemed emotionally unavailable.
Overall, the show felt very surface-level when it came to Tran, who was not very focused on despite being the bachelorette. I would have preferred to watch the interactions between Tran and her suitors—not just one. This season lacked in-depth relationships and it wasn’t easy to watch the weekly release of episodes.
Premiered July 7, 2024, mainstreamed on Netflix, season 2 of The Perfect Match introduces a relatively familiar line of singles—many of who have been in previous Reality TV shows across America. Despite these familiar faces, the cast includes a mix of returning favorites and fresh personalities.
From the beginning, I noticed that the singles already had their sights set on each other and pursued who they wanted through drama-filled conversations and compatibility matches. Fan favorites like Christine Obanor and Elys Hutchinson made starring appearances in the show sparking excitement from the audience. While some saw this is as an exciting experience, I felt that it took away the forming genuine connections aspect of the show.
I realized that the cast this season was too heavily focused on each others’ pasts rather than forming genuine connections. Bringing in singles from previous reality TV shows like Too Hot to Handle and Love Island USA, set those specific contestants up for an obvious advantage as the majority of the cast already knew who they were prior to being on the show. What seemed like a good idea to bring back fan favorites ultimately received negative feedback and public disappointment.
