Reality TV is an entertainment genre people secretly watch but will never admit that they love. On Friday, Sept. 22, the fifth season of the Netflix series “Love is Blind” kept both new and returning viewers hooked with rocky narration between members of the show as they go through the difficult journey of finding love.
“Love is Blind” follows about 15 men and women as they meet each other and fall in love. The catch is, as they get to know one another, they cannot see each other. A man and woman enter a room, known as a pod, from opposite sides that is separated down the middle by a thin, marbled blue wall. Within the pod, contestants speak to one another during a series of blind dates and must decide if they are willing to marry the person behind the wall to determine if love is truly blind.
“When you love somebody you don’t just leave without telling them anything. I have no idea why you left me here alone. You let some girl come in between us because of something she said,” says Uche, a lawyer who is one of the eligible bachelors on the show, as the first episode begins.
Throughout the show, viewers do not just watch romantic relationships form, but also observe strong platonic friendships grow inside the men’s and women’s quarters. Since the men and women are allowed to see their roommates and spend lots of time with them in the quarters, these bonds form quickly as they witness one another experience feelings of love and rejection.
One of these interactions is noted between two male contestants as they talk about a woman they both had developed feelings for. Once they noticed what she said in the pods was not adding up, the men determined she was settling for the second man she had met because the first one did not want to be with her.
Compared to other seasons, this one has remained the most drama-free within the living quarters, but it has been the most challenging for the couples in the pods. Omitting names to avoid spoiling the show, one couple decided that they were romantically committed to one another until the man revealed one of his ex-girlfriends was one of the women in the pods. This created a whole new level of uncertainty and insecurity for the woman because before she knew this, she developed an extremely close relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
While these challenges occur between the couples, it will be far more intriguing to see how the couples’ lives pan out when they move back to their homes in Houston together. Not only will they adapt to day-to-day life with a new significant other, but as time progresses, they will learn more about their families, unfavorable qualities and other tiny details of their personal lives.
Unfortunately for viewers, only the first four episodes have been released. But worry not, as Netflix will release three more episodes on Sept. 29. After that, viewers will have to wait until Oct. 9 for two more episodes and Oct. 13 for the finale.
Rating: 3/5