Love Is Blind: Season 3

November 11, 2022 2:46 PM - Season 3 (Full Season)

Another crop of singles enters the pods to find out if love really is blind. Drama, as ever, ensues.

This is a post covering all episodes up to and including the reunion ep.

posted by catch as catch can (5 comments total)

I haven't watched Season 2 so I don't know if things have been trending this way since the first season, but, um, I actually felt physically unclean, especially after watching the reunion ep, regarding how, just, exploitative it all felt. I know it's common for the producer's playbook to involve getting the participants sloppy drunk at every available opportunity to facilitate maximum drama, but this was particularly shameless this season.

My thoughts after watching the whole season:

Alexa and Brennan - she spoke about this a little bit on the reunion ep, but I just found her flat, bored affect so strange and off-putting the entire time. Brennan seemed obSESSED with her and I just did not get it, and felt like he was gonna be in for a rude awakening at the altar. She seemed much more into him at the reunion, so maybe I read things wrong, but I feel like the show held them up as like, the shining example (a la Cameron and Lauren) and I just found her super pampered and bored, and him clinging on with all his might was kind of pathetic. Their mutual shit-stirring at the reunion was gross. Brennan jumping in against Cole to say that "something" happened after the bachelor party but that he was too drunk to remember was just... Ugh. They were very not cute. Her family did make me laugh though, with her stepmother basically being the same age as her and her dad chewing gum with his mouth open as he walked her down the aisle.

Colleen and Matt - I'm genuinely worried for Colleen's safety. Matt needs serious therapy. Colleen's progression through the pods, and through the show as a whole, just really broke my heart. She seemed desperate to be chosen by somebody, even if that person wasn't right for her, and instead of seeing Matt's violent overreactions for the giant red flags that they are, they seemed to make her more determined to make things work with him. His body language throughout the show was so scary; the way he would be looming over her, or during the initial meeting with her parents where he had almost half his body blocking her from them with his arm across the kitchen counter... During the reunion, she really didn't look happy or comfortable a lot of the time. The fact that the producers decided to replay the poolside clip of her and Cole struck me as super dangerous as well, and she looked genuinely terrified as it was rolling.

Nancy and Bartise - I do not get why Nancy said "I do" at the wedding, I was convinced she was seeing through his BS and going to dump him. So I guess thank goodness she dodged that bullet (and even though her family is messy and their reaction looked slightly contrived, I'm glad that they were ready to stand up for her and throw hands over Bartise being a punk). He was so, so fake, clearly stopped being attracted to her after the first couple of days, thought he was god's gift on this green earth (despite being solidly average with very unmoisturised hair), and what the fuuuuuuuck with that abortion nonsense, and then bringing it up at their very first visit with his family? Ugh. It's a hard no from me.

Raven and SK - Apart from some of Raven's comments toward Cole at the reunion, and the fact she thought it was at all appropriate to ask SK to go halvesies on rent for an apartment he was literally never gonna live in, I kind of loved her arc. I thought she and SK were the only ones who genuinely understood and pushed back on how contrived and artificial the timeline is on the show. I was initially worried that there just wasn't enough physical attraction there to build on what they started in the pods, but she really impressed me with her willingness to take it slowly and see what developed. I thought the fact that she was able to get close with SK's mum was so lovely, you can see how important that familial support and acceptance is, and his mum's openness to Raven was so wholesome. Obviously them not getting married right away was the competent choice, I think there were a lot of logistics and wrinkles that needed ironing out between them, but I felt sad for SK's family because the wedding was clearly something they were invested in. I'm rooting for them, I really liked watching their connection grow.

Zanab and Cole - Whew! I have a lot of thoughts. They were such a bad fit for each other in terms of their communication styles. I think Cole is immature and insecure, and he covers that up with goofiness and bravado, and I think Zanab is also insecure and clearly is carrying a LOT of trauma from losing her parents so young. I think she was already predisposed to worry about her and Cole's physical attraction/her looks before Colleen entered into the picture, and then Cole's insensitivity and lack of empathy stoked the shit out of that fire, and then they were basically doomed. In any other setting, they clearly would've gone their separate ways after a very short time, because they each annoyed and hurt each other a great deal, but the format forced such a toxic dynamic to flourish, and the carnage of that altar speech was kind of the natural culmination. I feel very sorry for them both, but where Cole now seems to have some understanding of how he contributed to things breaking down, Zanab obviously doesn't see how fucked up her behaviour was and is. You cannot build up a month's worth of grievances, refuse to air them out properly, stand at the altar and thank God for the man you love, and then vomit all of that out in front of everyone. It read as unhinged. I feel terrible for them both, but she doesn't seem to understand that that was a nuclear response, and not at all mature or productive.

Andrew - I personally loved Andrew, I was so pleased to see him return for a bit and engage with Nancy, I'm halfway convinced that he's a plant, but if he's not, he has to be trolling a little bit, right? I dunno, I just felt the eyedrops scene was too perfectly pitched to be real, he had to know how that would read. I thought his interactions with Nancy at the little pods reunion in Dallas seemed pretty genuine. I'm sure he's probably up his own arse and a playboy in real life, but at least he seemed to be kind of self aware and charming about it. 🤷🏻‍♀️
posted by catch as catch can at 4:16 PM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

I agree with all of what you said, catch as catch can. Matt is particular really scared me as soon as they showed his first blow up. At some point, I need reality shows to have a reckoning about the ways they encourage people to engage with dangerous partners.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:28 PM on November 11, 2022 [1 favorite]

Just in general, I think a show with a unique twist like this can only really work for one season. I watched all 3 and they are getting progressively worse, in my opinion.
posted by Literaryhero at 7:55 PM on November 11, 2022

The first season of a reality show concept that works is always the best! Love is Blind season 1 was great because the contestants were completely fresh to the concept and couldn't guess what was coming (same for The Circle).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:01 AM on November 14, 2022

Anyone watch the After the Altar miniseries following up on these folks? It was...tbh a lot of more of the same, just a year later. But one couple had a surprising arc...
posted by solotoro at 7:31 PM on February 14, 2023