‘Where did the producers find these people?’

Student reacts to Netflix reality show Love is Blind Season 2

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Helen Citino

Junior Helen Citino swoons as contestant Salvador sings to contestant Mallory in the pods. The couple ultimately end the show without rings, but agree to date outside of the show.

The first thought I had while watching “Love is Blind: Season 2” was “where did the producers find these people?”

This season of “Love is Blind” had the most insane, delusional cast I’ve ever seen on a reality TV show. My recommendation? Procrastinate your homework for one more day and experience the craziness for yourself.

“Love is Blind” is a newly created Netflix reality show intended to answer the question: is love truly blind? The show is set up as an experiment with 15 guys and 15 girls who, at the end of 8 days, have to propose to someone that they’ve never seen before. Participants are placed in pods connecting them to the opposite gender by a wall with a speaker, unable to see the other’s face. The couples must get to know each other well enough to propose to someone before the eight days are up and advance to the subsequent stages of the experiment: appearance reveals, romantic honeymoon in Mexico, moving in together and saying “I do” or “I don’t” at the altar.

From Nick/Danielle, Shake/Deepti, and Shayne/Natalie, this season hosted some strange pairings of people. From an emotionally-detached fuddy-duddy with the anxiously insecure life of the party on his arm to the scariest superficial narcissist you will ever meet and his extremely mature mother of a girlfriend to two of the most gruesome love triangle drama that is available on Netflix, I couldn’t peel my eyes away from this train wreck. In a way, I felt bad for all the women because it seemed like all the normal ones who came to the show actually looking for blind love and successful marriage chose the most emotionally stunted men to match with. I swear this season was like watching a bunch of 7-year-olds running around a playground with their babysitters.

I will concede that a few normal men slipped into the mix. I had (and still have) the biggest crush on Salvador from the moment he walked on screen. Something about his composure, thoughtfulness and voice when he sang to Mallory in the pods drew me in and wouldn’t let me go. In this case, he was way too good to Mallory, who put him through a love triangle and then continued to flirt with Mallory after Sal proposed. That man was the most marry-able man I’ve seen on a reality show. If nothing I’ve said has convinced you to watch the first episode thus far, do it for Salvador.

Jarrette concerned me at first when he only proposed to his wife Iyanna after being rejected by Mallory in the pods. However, by the end, Iyanna and Jarrette seem like the most stable marriage example that the show has yet seen. I would be very surprised if they ever got divorced. They are the couple that convinces me that yes, love is blind.

The thing I found most interesting about this season is how unchanged people are from high school. Even though I’m only 10 to 15 years younger than all the couples, I felt like I was watching my classmates go through the marriage process. It’s like people forget all professionalism and maturity when they think someone else is cute. I watched the women become goofy, giggling girls tease the boy they think is cute, and I watched the men manipulate, say dumb crap, and be confused by basic emotional intimacy. Basically, middle school relationships. Even the group dynamics with the boisterous boy group and the gossiping girls seemed all too familiar to me. In a way, the fact that nothing seems to change as we get older is comforting. Every adult I see seems to know exactly what they are doing for the rest of their life, where I am hopelessly lost and can’t imagine shouldering all the adult responsibilities I know are inevitably coming my way. Inside, I still feel like a 7th grader. It makes me feel so much better than these fully grown, successfully functioning adults are also 7th graders at heart.