Love Island

I won't lie-when I first tuned in to Love Island USA, I thought I was just going to hate-watch a bit of glittery drama. But then came the unexpected twist: I couldn't stop watching. It's messy, addictive, sometimes painfully shallow-and yet it somehow taps into something real beneath all the neon bikinis and fire pit speeches.

It's not always about finding love. Sometimes, it's about finding out who you are when you're being watched 24/7... or who you pretend to be.

✅ What I Loved

1. It's drama candy-pure and delicious The recouplings, the shock dumpings, the random bombshells that appear with impossible abs and zero chill... it's chaotic in the best way.

"I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to find love... or whatever."

2. The narration is iconic I have to shout out the sarcastic commentary (especially from narrator Matthew Hoffman in earlier seasons). It keeps the tone self-aware and stops it from taking itself too seriously. Half the fun is his reaction to the chaos.

3. The social experiment side is real Once you look past the Love Island "gloss," there's something fascinating about watching how people connect (or crash) under pressure, temptation, and constant observation. You start analyzing behavior patterns like a psychologist with popcorn.

4. Some couples actually feel real Yes, most people are there for clout. But some couples make you believe. That spark when two people click despite the cameras? You can't fake that.

❌ What Didn't Work for Me

1. Way too many filler moments Let's be honest-there are whole stretches where nothing happens except slow-mo walking and lip gloss application. I found myself hitting fast-forward more than once.

2. Not all cast members get screen time Every season has at least 3-4 people who feel edited into oblivion. The show plays favorites hard, and sometimes the best personalities get sidelined.

3. Casa Amor is emotionally manipulative-but I still watch it It's wild, it's intense, and it breaks hearts. But sometimes it feels like emotional punishment disguised as a "test." Brutal.

4. Authenticity can feel... flexible A lot of contestants are clearly there for post-show brand deals. And hey, get your bag-but it does make some "love declarations" feel more like business pitches.

🌟 Final Thoughts

6 out of 10 Love Island USA is far from perfect-but it's irresistibly entertaining. Beneath all the fake eyelashes and villa drama, there's something very human about watching people try to connect, crash, and rebuild under the microscope. It's ridiculous. It's real. It's reality TV doing exactly what it was designed to do.

I went in thinking I'd watch one episode. I watched a whole season.

🎥 If You Liked This, You Might Also Enjoy: 1. Too Hot to Handle - For more flirtation, fewer clothes, and bizarre rules

2. The Bachelor / The Bachelorette - For those long-winded declarations and roses instead of re-couplings

3. Perfect Match - Netflix chaos at its most unhinged

4. FBoy Island - Like Love Island, but with a twist and some very obvious villains

5. Are You the One? - A messier, more mathematical approach to reality love.

New drinking game....have a shot evertime you hear "like"....be an early night and a rough morning.

And I love Love Island UK!! In fact I'm addicted to the UK version! But the American version, which I had a lot of hopes for, is just... depressing. The colors are dark, everyone talks about being "safe" instead of the majority of people actually looking to find love like they are on the UK version. It took me a bit to warm up to Ian Sterling's narration from the UK, but the narrator for the US is borrrrring... I'm sorry, but he is. In the UK, Carolyn Flack is a much better host than the girl from the US. The colors need brightened up big Time!! Needs a new host, new narrator and stop telling everyone what they need to do with each new person when they're recoupling!!! Arrrgh! Gets on my nerves!

I went into this show with little to no expectations and came out really enjoying it for the most part. My absolute favorite part of it is the announcer, who is incredibly hilarious throughout the entire series. He will call out the the cast and production team both with no hesitation, when most announcers sugar coat everything or basically say whatever production wants them too. He's wonderful. The casting is done well too. I found myself really loving most of the cast, with the exception of the ones I just couldn't stand, which makes for great television.

There are some MAJOR downsides however, and all come from the production. There are a couple (not all) cast members that are so overly produced that it's obvious they're playing a character. When they bring in new contestants it's totally random. Sometimes 1 guy. Sometimes 2 guys and a girl. Sometimes 6 people. Also they have these "challenges" that are good for absolutely nothing. The winner never actually wins anything. Also during the show some cast get wayyyyy more screen time than others, which isn't fair at all considering how the public votes for which couples they want to stay. An example is the "random" dates some of the couple's get to go on. From what I've seen only the fan (or producers) favorites get to go on these dates, in turn getting them more screen time, and more public votes at the end of the day. Most couples don't get these "random" dates. Some cast members won't even be seen in some episodes. How are we supposed to vote for someone we forget is there? Another thing is the randomness of the "Re-Coupling" as they call it. Who decides the order they get to pick their partners? The answer is the producers. A good example is when a new girl came in and got to pick her partner before most of the other girls, which in turn caused one of the girls that had been there longer to quit. I don't blame her either. She so obviously got screwed over by production. Another small thing, not that big a deal, but production making the cast freak out when they get a text "I GOT A TEXXXT!!!, is so obviously stolen from The Challenges' "I GOT A CLUEEEEE!!" That they would make them do over there. They're way more annoying about it on here, and should tone it down just a tad.

If they could just fine tune some things and make it actually somewhat fair, it would be way better. When new islanders come in, they should alternate. Two guys and a girl, then 2 girls and a guy, so during the coupling ceremony they can also alternate from girls picking, to guys picking instead of girls picking two or three times in a row. Also the winner of the challenge should either be the one that wins the date (and more screen time) and/or decide the order that the islanders get to pick their dates. That's the biggest thing. Make the challenges mean something and let the cast pick the order they get to pick their dates, and alternate from guys to girls at every coupling ceremony. I know the English version is new so hopefully it'll learn from it's mistakes. I mean, Big Brother and Survivor started out shaky but got better so I'm hopeful this will too.

Compared with Love Island UK (which i luuv luuv luuv) the editing of this show is so terrible. The games are barely shown in the episodes, and as a viewer we don´t really get to know the islanders as well as we could. I guess this is just typical american superficial reality... Also, why do they skip the results of the recoupling/ viewers votes to the next episode? SO annoying!