Netflix’s ‘Love is Blind’ engulfed the chaos of the dating reality show in its second season.

When Love Is Blind premiered in 2020, Netflix pitched it as a social experiment: “Is love really blind?” Nick Lachey asked the audience in the most charming voice. The concept was simple: men and women went on blind dates for 10 days to find the right one. Catch? Appearance was taken out of the equation: people communicated through the wall and couldn’t see each other. If they found a match, their wedding was scheduled in just four weeks.

In the first season, the couples in “Love Is Blind” pretty much made sense, with a few exceptions. The “villain” of the series, Jessica seemed desperate to be with the happily engaged Barnett⁠ instead, and Mark seemed almost too devoted (until he was later revealed to be a serial con artist). But others, like Lauren and Cameron, lived happily ever after with many fans rooting for them, and even Giannina and Damian seemed to be able to survive even after the latter said no at the altar. (They dated for two years before eventually breaking up.) It may have been because so many people were glued to Netflix during COVID, but it was almost impossible to look away from reality TV’s extreme dating approach.

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In the second season, Netflix changed its strategy. Instead of asking, “Is love really blind?” the show seemed to be asking, “Are these people really here to fall in love?” Less focused on the happy ending of this departure, he was more interested in exploiting the anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt that the experiment could perpetuate. The six couples in the second season decided that they would eventually get married, or at least accepted the original proposal. But even with those who did, the foundations around were shaky. Watching some of the hurdles couples face in the days following the decision to tie the knot was so unnerving that you silently prayed they wouldn’t make it to the altar.

Unsurprisingly, Love Is Blind took a different approach in its second season. There’s a reason why shows like The Bachelor and Are You the One? managed to keep the audience on the hook: each season, these shows make incremental changes, whether it’s casting, testing, or filming. While the first season featured singles looking for love, the second season of Love Is Blind featured members who didn’t really know what they wanted at all. The couples felt so mismatched — even dissimilar — that the second season was one big wildcard filled with heightened emotion and unpredictability.

In a way, that may have undermined the idea of ​​the show in the first place. But the second season of Love is Blind was still a social experiment of its kind. The discovery that Danielle had a history of anxiety and deep-seated insecurities provided context for her explosive arguments with Nick. When Iyanna revealed that she had been sexually abused and estranged from her family, it became clear why trust was paramount to her. The stark contrast between Kyle and Shayna’s core beliefs—the former was an atheist, the latter a devout Catholic—signaled that troubles lay ahead, no matter what. The discovery that Shane’s father had died just months before “Love is Blind” explained (but did not excuse) his erratic behavior.

Showing these intimate details on screen showed who was on Love Is Blind for the wrong reasons and who was completely unprepared for commitment. Watching Shake, who proudly claimed to have only dated white women who weighed no more than 110 pounds, asked the ladies (including his fiance-to-be Deepti) probing questions to discover that their size showed extreme fatphobia. His constant confessions and admissions that he was not attracted to Deepti and his comparisons between her and his aunt spoke of his own internal racism. Sal may or may not have had a girlfriend during filming (he denies they were still dating). Mallory seemed to be forcing the idea of ​​marriage on herself. And whether he realized it at the time or not, it was obvious that Shane was grieving and struggling with rage issues.

It also became clear that some of the contestants were influence hunters, which made it difficult for the show to be sincere. On the post-season episode of After the Altar, Shake revealed that being a villain was “sometimes understated fun,” like he planned it all. Shaina seemed to accept Kyle’s offer just for the chance of more airtime and the chance to keep Shane and Natalie apart. Sal, who usually seemed nice, apparently took every opportunity to pull out his ukulele for the cameras, like a guitar around a campfire. And perhaps most tellingly, one of the contestants, barely on screen, memorably showed off her Instagram followers in pods. The runaway success of the first season of Love Is Blind may have compromised the integrity of the second season experiment, drawing in a crowd more interested in Love Is Blind than actually participating.

By the end, the audience and actors were pretty much able to see through it all. Only two couples said yes: Danielle and Nick, Iyanna and Jarrett. The rest did not follow. Deepti proudly preferred herself to Shake; the uncertainty of Sal and Mallory’s relationship made their future ill-fated; and Natalie was rocked by the scandal the night before when Shane’s anger seemed to come to a head. But the altar was not necessarily the end for Love Is Blindcrew. In the special, it was revealed that Natalie and Shane made another – unsuccessful – attempt. With Kyle’s flirtatious comment that he’d like to propose to Deepti and her presence in the background of the TikTok video, fans are speculating that the two might be dating. The two successful couples still enjoyed marital bliss.

Netflix’s new experiment has worked. The series thrives on the drama of personal confrontations and people who are there for the wrong reasons – the more couples the better. It also suggests that the season finale was used to promote Netflix’s newest marriage experiment, The Ultimatum, which promises to put commitment phobias and their partners who want to get married to the test by forcing them to date other people. The “Love Is Blind” ending was fun for yet another crazy romantic series. Netflix bets on chaos – and wins.