Let's Talk About 'Love Is Blind' Season 4
Ranking the couples from best to worst...
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On my flight from LA to New York on Sunday, I was catching up on “Love Is Blind” when one of the flight attendants walked by, stopped dead in her tracks and did a 180 before crouching down next to me and saying, “Okay, I need to know your thoughts.” We proceeded to talk about Kwame and Chelsea and Irina and Micah and Zack and Bliss for the next five minutes, and I’m pleased to say that our opinions were very much aligned. We love a show that brings people together!
With that being said, I think it’s time we talked about this season of “Love Is Blind” in this newsletter.
The next three episodes of the best reality show on Netflix’s fourth season dropped today, and I’m eating them up just as god intended. We still don’t know how this season ends — the finale comes out next Friday — and, as an advocate of the week-to-week release model, I’m at peace with that. Keep us on our toes, allow the conversation to evolve, give more people time to binge the available episodes and catch up, etc. etc.
Even more exciting is that Netflix announced this week that this season’s reunion will be broadcast LIVE on Sunday, April 16, two days after the finale drops. It’s giving Event TV, and I can’t wait to watch it at the same time as millions of other people who can’t quit this messy show. What better way to spend a Sunday evening? I hope this is a sign that Netflix really is open to a more varied release schedule for its original series, because full-season drops of shows stress me out at this point. There’s already too much good content out there for us to keep up with; I don’t need to be made more overwhelmed by realizing there are 10 new episodes of a show I want to watch instead of one or two or three.
Anyway, back to “Love Is Blind” season 4. I’m gonna kick off this week’s newsletter by sharing my thoughts on this batch of couples, going from best to worst (mild spoilers ahead):
Tiffany & Brett
The closest we’ve gotten to getting another Lauren and Cameron on this show, no? (Or maybe that’s Alexa and Brennon?) They seem almost suspiciously normal and calm and at ease with one another, and I really like both of them. Their conversations are practical, they’re cute together and they seem to see eye-to-eye on the important big-picture stuff. I’m rooting for them! (Bonus points for Brett’s impeccably clean apartment and impressive sneaker collection, TBH.)
Zack & Bliss
I’m so glad that Zack realized he’d made the wrong decision picking Irina over Bliss, but that also feels like something that will always inform their relationship. Even though he said she wasn’t his “second choice,” I’m not convinced that she doesn’t still feel that way. Their dynamic is cute, and their nerdiness is endearing, but I’m still skeptical. That scene with her father? Haunting. Even more haunting? The look Zack was sporting in the reunion trailer:
Micah & Paul
Am I the only one who found themselves kind of shocked by how these two have progressed this season? I was convinced that Micah would give up on Paul much earlier in this process, especially given how her rude AF best friend told her that she didn’t approve of him. But my instinct here is that Micah is being a savvy future reality-star-turned-influencer, maximizing her screen time (and follower count) before she dumps Paul in epic fashion at the altar, thus genuinely breaking his innocent heart. Freed from Irina’s mean-girl influence, she’s been mostly cute and sweet and fun and surprisingly thoughtful since leaving the pods, but I still think that real Micah is the one she showed us in the living quarters during the pods (and in her interactions with Kwame outside of the pods). Consider me on Micah watch.
Chelsea & Kwame
Chelsea is a hopeless romantic with an idealized view of what her life with Kwame will be. She’s looking at the future with tunnel vision, ignoring major red flags that he’s not even trying to hide. I like her, but she’s not doing herself any favors. She so desperately wants her fairytale, but I’m just not sure this is going to be it for her. It’s pretty obvious that Kwame is not ready for commitment, and his interactions with Micah were a glaring example of that. Also, one look at his apartment in Portland, and I would’ve run the fuck away so quickly. That was dark.
Marshall & Jackie
Poor, sweet Marshall. The best man on this show ultimately got paired with the most maddening, unfair woman on this cast. She has an unparalleled penchant for drama. I’ve never seen anyone be so eager to fight someone for no apparent reason. Marshall will literally walk in the door, say “how was your day” and she’ll either completely implode or absolutely pop off. I’m so glad he walked away from her — she’s been by far my least favorite person on this season. Bye, Jackelina! Marshall deserves so much better.
Irina
An absolute agent of chaos. She was so mean to the other women in the pods and so rude to Zack in Mexico, and it would’ve made me mad if it wasn’t so clear that she’s overcompensating for how insecure she is about herself. She’s incredible TV, though, so I’m glad she was there.
Josh
I would say that it was batshit insane of this man to tell Jackie that he was in love with her after spending, like, 30 minutes with her in person, but he’s on a show where people get engaged to one another before ever laying eyes on their fiancé, so…
I’ll share my thoughts on the finale next week — keep reading for lots of other recommendations from this week!
Read
“Don Lemon’s Misogyny at CNN, Exposed: Malicious Texts, Mocking Female Co-Workers and ‘Diva-Like’ Behavior” by Tatiana Siegel (Variety)
“Why Does Everyone on ‘Summer House’ Hate Lindsay Hubbard?” by Kyndall Cunningham (The Daily Beast)
“‘Vanderpump Rules’ Star Lets Her Clothes Do the Talking” by Krystie Lee Yandoli (The New York Times)
“Help Me Move? I’ll Pay You in Instagram Likes” by Sara Ashley O’Brien (The Wall Street Journal)
“Kendall Roy Fans Highlight The Allure of The Pathetic Man” by Kelsey Weekman (BuzzFeed News)
“How Did Hokas Become So Popular?” by Reyhan Harmanci (The New York Times)
“Apparently, Taylor Swift’s Tour Merch Looks That Way on Purpose” by Alejandra Gularte (Vulture)
Listen
“If Books Could Kill” Tackles “Hillbilly Elegy”
I didn’t read “Hillbilly Elegy,” nor did I see the movie adaptation from a few years ago. But its popularity is absolutely worth examining, as evidenced by the rise of J.D. Vance’s political career. This was a great listen.
Alison Roman on “Armchair Expert”
In addition to loving her recipes, I find Alison Roman to also be a deeply fascinating public figure. I’m not even all the way through this two-hour conversation on “Armchair Expert,” a very popular podcast that I don’t listen to very often, but I’m sharing it here anyway.
“Articles of Interest” Explains Why We Don’t All Have The Closet From “Clueless”
One of my favorite podcasts returned this week with an interesting deep dive into the fantasy of that closet from “Clueless” and why we don’t see it more often in reality.
Christina Aguilera on “Call Her Daddy”
Leave it to Alex Cooper to nab Christina Aguilera’s first ever podcast interview. She talks about being a young woman in the music industry, sex, relationships and more.
“Switched on Pop” Shares Its Shakira Conspiracy
A fun listen tracing Shakira’s history and enduring popularity as an artist that ties her latest global hit into a trend among recent hits by other stars.
Watch
“Class of ‘07” on Prime Video
I’ve been flying through this Australian series that centers on a group of women who get stuck at their boarding school after a freak flash flood event during their 10-year high school reunion traps them there for months. It has the survivalist elements of “Yellowjackets” and “The Wilds,” but with a distinctly less bleak and more humorous outlook. It’s very funny, but it also has a poignancy that shows itself in the back half of the 8-episode season, giving it more depth than you thought it might have. The mid-2000s needle drops are the cherry on top!
“Pretty Baby” on Hulu
Brooke Shields’ highly-anticipated two-part docu-series was released on Hulu this week, and it lived up to the hype. It’s beautifully done, not only for its depiction of her incredible life and career, but also for its portrayal of her complicated relationship with her mother and the ways in which the celebration of her beauty impacted (and was informed by) society’s disturbing expectations of young women.
Bravo, Bravo, Fucking Bravo
Katie Maloney Making the Rounds
The pace of Scandoval has died down, but there’s definitely still an appetite for updates as this season of “Vanderpump Rules” marches on towards that fateful new footage and subsequent reunion. In the meantime, Katie was on a couple of podcasts this week, both of which are worth the listen:
Tom Schwartz on “Watch What Happens Live”
In the moment, Schwartz’s performance on “WWHL” felt disastrous. He can’t help himself; after all of these years in the public eye, he still has no filter and doesn’t know how to pump the brakes or even choose the right words to say. Wondering why he and Katie wouldn’t be on good terms, but then calling her “a monster” several times in the span of a minute? Saying that we should all want to give Sandoval a hug? I’m all for empathy, but that ain’t it. As Katie said on her Instagram Story after his appearance, his apparent lack of (or just disregard for) media training was shocking.
All of that being said, I also appreciated his candor. I loved the tea. If he has to shoot himself in the foot to give it to us, then so be it! Even more fodder for all of their podcasts and social media and, most crucially, next season. Here’s to hoping that they pick those cameras right back up to start filming season 11 after the reunion airs. They have so much to work with, and we’d hate to see it go to waste and not end up on TV.
Self-Promotion
“We Should Talk” feat. Sam Feher from “Summer House”
I interviewed another one of the new additions to “Summer House” for my podcast this week, and she was a fantastic interview. We went deep into the Lindsay and Danielle of it all, because Sam’s been able to form friendships with both of them amid their fallout. We also talked about Gabby and Ciara’s tension, Sam’s ex moving on with literal Madonna and her relationship with Kory from “Winter House” (we recorded it on Monday before she’d revealed that they’re indeed dating). Watch our interview above or listen to it below!
Talking All Things Bravo on “The Gist”
I appeared on Chris Vetrano’s podcast “The Gist” this week, talking all things Scandoval, “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” and more. Listen below!
Currently
It’s my first weekend back in NYC in a bit. Looking forward to doing some spring cleaning with the great new Ellie Goulding album on repeat. I’m also gonna check out “Beef” on Netflix and try to see a movie or two (“Air” and “A Thousand and One” are both on the top of my list).