Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers for “Love Is Blind.”
A favorite trash television show during early pandemic days, “Love Is Blind” made a comeback, with its second season debuting on Netflix Feb. 18. Its finale released Feb. 25, and the reunion episode released on Mar. 4. With a new batch of singles, the show continues to answer the questions: Are human beings capable of falling in love through an emotional connection instead of a physical one? In other words, is love really blind?
Nick and Vanessa Lachey return as hosts for this American reality dating show that invites 15 men and 15 women to meet each other in hopes of helping them find their future husband or wife. The only catch: they will not know what the other person looks like. By entering “pods,” the contestants can only talk to each other through a wall that divides them into their respective spaces. Over the course of ten days, these singles are given the opportunity to form an emotional connection with singles of the opposite sex. Once they are ready to take the relationship to the next level, the man proposes to the woman.
If she accepts his proposal, they will officially become engaged, be able to leave their pods and get to see each other in person for the first time. To help these couples strengthen their physical connection, they are whisked away on a trip to Cancún where they have more time to bond with each other before returning back to the “real world” where their jobs, loved ones and financial insecurities await them. With their wedding just four weeks away, they must work together to decide whether they still want to get married or break up.
Unlike the first season set in Atlanta, season two is set in Chicago. However, the audience can still expect adorable banter, spine-chilling cringes, ugly-crying proposals and tear-jerking, intimate moments that will have them hooked to the screen. While the new season fails to replicate the perfect chemistry shared between season one’s fan-favorite couple Cameron Hamilton and Lauren Speed-Hamilton, it still offers an appetizing season for the audience to feast on, including more Asian representation within its cast, as well as a nasty mixture of gaslighting, lying and people-pleasing behavior.
After a brief introduction to the show by the Lacheys, viewers were directly thrown into the pods with the singles as we followed them on their journey to find their perfect match. Among these 30 singles, six couples were formed, five couples ended up at the altar, and two said “I do.”
Iyanna McNeely is a 27-year-old program coordinator who has an outspoken and quirky personality that can easily energize any room she steps into, which is exactly why extroverted 32-year-old project manager Jarrette Jones fell for her. Although they ended up getting engaged, Jones only proposed to her after his proposal was rejected by Mallory Zapata, a 32-year-old communications manager who became an instant fan-favorite with her infectious smile and bubbly personality. Besides Jones, Zapata also formed a strong emotional connection with Salvador “Sal” Perez, a 31-year-old executive assistant who appears reserved and boring at first glance but is actually warm-hearted and playful, with aspirations to sing with his future kids all the time like a little group of mariachis. Zapata and Perez ultimately got engaged.
Another couple that felt love on the air was 32-year-old realtor Shayne Jansen, a gregarious and wild personality, and 29-year-old Natalie Lee, a buttoned-up and nonchalant consulting manager. However, they found themselves in an awkward love triangle with Shaina Hurley, a 32-year-old hair stylist whose sexy and intrepid demeanor caught Jansen’s attention. Despite Jansen messing up big time when he accidentally mistook Lee’s voice for Hurley’s, Natalie reluctantly forgave him, expressed her undying love for him and accepted his proposal. Although Shaina expressed her true feelings for Jansen minutes before he proposed to Natalie, it was too late. She then hesitantly agreed to marry 29-year-old glazier Kyle Abrams, a well-mannered man who fell head over heels for her. Like Abrams to Hurley, charismatic 29-year-old associate marketing director Danielle Ruhl fell hard for the kind-hearted, 36-year-old Vice President of Product Marketing Nick Thompson. Perhaps the most controversial out of all couples, shallow 33-year-old veterinarian and house DJ Abhishek “Shake” Chatterjee got engaged to charming 31-year-old information data analyst Deepti Vempati.
In contrast to the first season, season two carries a wave of controversies that strings the audience along a bumpy road. While Chatterjee constantly asked the female contestants probing questions about their age, lifestyle habits, clothing style and weight, he questioned why he did not feel an “animalistic physical attraction” towards Vempati. He confessed that he always preferred blonde, white women to explain away his behavior, but Vempati also used to only date white men and was still able to keep an open mind when it came to marrying a man of her same Indian ethnicity. As Shake repeatedly expressed his frustrations towards Deepti’s physical appearance, he compared being with her to being with his Indian aunt.
McNeely and Perez found themselves in the same boat when they realized their partners, Jones and Zapata, had an inappropriate conversation when the group met in-person. Jones had probed Zapata about her silver wedding ring from Perez and how he knew she wanted a gold ring because he asked her about it back in the pods. This left Mallory with unresolved concerns over marrying Sal. Meanwhile, McNeely struggled with being known as “Jarrette’s second choice” and cannot help but wonder if he would have still wanted to marry her had Zapata accepted his proposal in the first place. Ruhl’s insecurity over her weight caused a wedge between Thompson where they faced trust and communication issues, especially after she accused him of cheating on her. Lee’s lack of public affection towards Jansen and sarcastic, demeaning jokes about him and their entire relationship left Jansen struggling with his self-worth. Hurley and Abrams’ differences, specifically him being an atheist and her a Christian, became more apparent to Hurley over time and caused her to question the purpose of their relationship. Unlike other couples who enjoyed their trip to Cancún, Hurley ended up ditching Abrams as she goes back home after needing time to think things over.
As a result of all this relationship drama, season two presents itself as a messy and unfortunate series of events as the result of an intensive dating experiment that forcefully pushed these incompatible couples to make their unconventional relationships work. Unlike the couples in season one who were genuine in their commitment towards each other, every couple in season two was littered with red flags. Instead of rooting for these on-screen couples, the show ended up teaching the audience what not to look for in a partner.
On the bright side, this new season offered new insight into Asian diversity and supportive Asian parents — the latter arguably often failing to see the light of day in reality television. With Southeast Asian representation from Vempati and Chatterjee, it was delightful to see them reconnect with their Indian roots as the audience themselves were educated upon traditional Indian marriage customs. Lee’s Korean heritage also posed as East Asian representation for the show and her relationship with Jansen, a white man, provided a refreshing take on a modern-day interracial couple.
What captivated hearts the most were the doting Asian parents who recognized their child’s self-worth and supported them in marrying their partner, despite not fully understanding the controversial and confusing nature of their meet-cute. Vempati’s parents openly expressed their full support in finding her happiness with Chatterjee. Meanwhile, Chatterjee’s mother acknowledged Vempati’s worth and warned her own son that Vempati did not deserve someone who would only give her even half a percent less. Later on, we saw Lee’s father telling her on her wedding day that being her father is his greatest achievement, which is unfortunately not commonly heard of for many Asian families. Asian parents are typically given a bad reputation in the media, often portrayed as stern, deeply religious and overprotective. These stereotypes have become so heavily ingrained within society’s perception of them as villains. This season of “Love is Blind” may not have formed the most genuine romantic relationships, but its heart-warming inclusion of these Asian parents have helped to dismantle these harmful stereotypes and reinforce the notion that as any other parents, Asian parents want what is best for their children.
The show is built on a perplexing premise where the contestants are forced to date multiple people at the same time, putting their emotions and commitment levels to the ultimate test. Because of this, it is almost impossible for the audience to understand the thought process of these contestants unless they participated in the show themselves. As mentioned by almost all the singles, it is extremely difficult for them to put into words how they managed to form a strong emotional connection with their match. Although not all of them ended up together, it is still incredible to see how human beings are capable of connecting with others through an emotional level without sight.
With the reunion episode now available for streaming, you can see for yourself where these married and unmarried couples ended up after the show, as well as whether or not you believe love is blind.
Annabella Johan is an Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at ajohan@uci.edu.