{Read Love is Blind Episodes 1 – 6 recap; and Episodes 7 – 9 recap.}
First, I’m thrilled to report that I received an answer about Love is Blind’s excessive use of gold drinkware: The gold plating conceals the drink level, making the show easier to edit in a nonlinear way.
These were the last episodes leading up to next week’s Love is Blind Season 6 finale, and who will actually marry is anyone’s guess. (Johnny and Amy seem the only near guarantee.)
Here’s what had me screaming at the TV this week:
“It’s giving”: It’s this week’s overused phrase and “it’s giving” unoriginal, trendy, cliché. I understand that we cycle through pop culture trends in language and speech. But when you adopt trendy talk to a degree that it mindlessly replaces all timeless, widely-accepted societal jargon, you lose the allure of your individuality and instead, project a cultural caricature. It’s giving Stanley cup, fast fashion, selfies at brunch, and White Claws on the Lake Norman pontoon rental.
Clay is giving restaurant manager: No matter the scene, Clay pops in like he’s making a pit stop to check in with the table and make sure everyone is enjoying their meal. He’s never fully there, and you know you’re just one stop in his making the rounds.
Halter everything: There has been an extraordinary number of necklace halter tops, dresses, and bathing suits worn this season; a seeming staple of Laura’s wardrobe especially. Halters with a keyhole boob spotlight were in particular fashion during these episodes. Do you, girls. But if I see you out and about Laura, I’m taking you to the bathroom to give you a boob tape tutorial.
Unstable Carowinds ride: The “oh shit” I felt watching Jimmy and Chelsea ride what we now know was a cracked Fury 325, felt a lot like the “oh shit” I have watching their relationship unfold on the ground.
Jeramey handled things perfectly congruently: Walking off into the Lake Norman sunset with Sarah Ann was cold and heartless. But it was an appropriate ending because Laura had never let Jeramey anywhere near her heart. There were no hearts at the table to break. Both Jeramey and Laura have a wall up, and it manifests as smug, shut down, you-can’t-hurt-me steel exteriors. I’d bet the farm that both of them have heard the phrase, “I hope you find what you’re looking for,” more than once.
That you-can’t-hurt-me façade that looks like rigid stubbornness in men, and enviable strength in women, has likely served them in many ways through their lives. But if they don’t see it for the armor that it really is, one day, when the party stops and their peers have evolved into their next phases of life, they’ll become consumed with a loneliness and boredom that will cloak them like a solar panel never touched by sunlight. And that will happen even if they marry and have a dozen children. Being connected and connectable is a vital part of life, and from personal experience, you can only outrun it for so long.
Which leads to Sarah Ann’s consolation prize: I’m sure she’s lovely, and she’s probably been chosen in real life many times. But on this show, she wasn’t chosen in the pods, and she wasn’t chosen on that dock. She was crowned the path of less resistance, easier in the moment than having to go back to Laura and attempt to clean things up.
Trevor’s real-life girlfriend: Several women have claimed to be girlfriends of Love is Blind men. But the only one with receipts appears to be a woman who was dating Trevor when he went off to film the show. She leaked their texts last week and the Internet was ablaze with condemnation of the guy we all believed was one of the good ones. But that the anger is misplaced. It’s foolish to be mad at someone for coming on a reality TV show with ulterior motives. It’s even more nonsensical to be shocked that a guy who logs hours a day at the gym might be a validation seeker. Be mad at production or casting for not thoroughly vetting the participants enough. Be mad at Trevor’s girlfriend for agreeing to sit on the sidelines while her boyfriend went on a matchmaking show. Interestingly, just a few days before she leaked the texts with a tag back to her Instagram page, she had a partnered post where she promoted both a fitness apparel line and a Charleston gym. Maybe it wasn’t strategic, but it was smart.
Jimmy’s real-life girl _ friends: Oh, Chelsea. This was a tough one to watch because most of us have been there. In my heyday, I stormed out of more than one bar after another girl so much as brushed past whoever I was dating at the time.
Here’s the thing about co-ed friendships amongst single people: If they desired to be together, they would be. And if they’ve slept together, even better. There’s no mystery, no sexual tension, and clearly, no sexual chemistry because, again, they are not together.
When they say you have to come to a relationship as a full person, this is what they are talking about. Because in the aftermath of a completely appropriate and reasonable birthday drink with a friend, there was nothing Jimmy could say or do to make Chelsea feel better. The problem was within her, not in the situation at hand.
It’s challenging to work on being your best, fullest self in a relationship without being in a relationship. This is why it is important to date and not rush into marriage in your 20s. Because if entering into a relationship is like moving into a new home, dating is like renting. You can wreck the place and walk away. But when you marry, the damage you cause, or the necessary maintenance you ignore, will be yours to repair and clean up.
Becoming a full person does not necessarily mean the elimination of insecurity, but rather, building an awareness of that insecurity so that when it shows up, you recognize it as the pesky, uninvited houseguest that pops in from time to time. I.e. you don’t need Jimmy (or whomever) to talk you off the ledge. From the looks of Chelsea’s laid back, depersonalized social media responses to viewers, it looks like she’s maybe done that work over the last year.
This only builds the intrigue as to whether she and Jimmy make it down the aisle. We’ll find out when the Love is Blind season six finale airs on March 6th.
Amanda Pagliarini Howard
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