Love is Blind: All Seasons and Versions, Ranked - Collider

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What exactly are the makings of love? Is physical attraction an essential part of it? Could a person fall in love with someone without even knowing what they look like? And could this love survive in the real world?

These are the questions that Netflix’s dating reality show Love Is Blind tries to answer. Released in 2020, the show follows a group of bachelors and bachelorettes as they go on a series of speed dates in small, isolated rooms called pods. Nick Lachey and Vanessa Lachey guide the singles through the process, as they share their living quarters with others of their own gender — men and women are separated by walls during their conversations, only able to hear the other person's voice. The conversations cover topics that range from favorite football teams to the importance of religion in a person’s life. The only thing that is forbidden is asking about the other person’s appearance — even though there are those that try to circumvent this rule. The walls are metaphorically lifted after enough contestants find their chosen one and agree to get married. The show, then, moves on to its next phase: a trip to a beautiful resort, followed by a “moving in” stage. The final mystery is whether or not the happy — or not so happy — couples will make it to the altar and say “yes” to their pod crushes.

Okay, it’s a cheesy premise. And, yes, the show is extremely cis and heteronormative, and posits marriage as the logical conclusion to any true love story. But there is a certain pleasure to be found in watching couples trying to make it through the challenges of the real world and, eventually, crashing and burning. Sometimes, there is even joy in seeing them succeed. After all, there’s a reason why romantic comedies are so popular. And so is Love Is Blind. The traditional reunion episode of Season 2 came out on March 4, 2022, and Netflix’s catalog currently features both a Brazilian and a Japanese version of the show, each with its own share of love stories for viewers to root for or against. But how do these many versions of Love Is Blind compare to one another? Here’s a list of all the show’s seasons worldwide so far, ranked from worst to best.

Credit where credit is due, the second season of the original Love Is Blind has the best reunion episode of all the show’s versions so far. Seeing Shayne slowly losing his mind as he’s forced to own up to his many mistakes and Abishek, a.k.a. Shake, embracing his full villainous persona much to everyone else’s chagrin makes for great entertainment, and, in general, all contestants are in their best shape as they go over their successes or failures at finding love in the show.

Sadly, none of them showed the same amount of energy over the course of the season. This is not to say they aren’t likable to some capacity: most of them, at least, seem to be pretty decent people in their day-to-day lives, but they just aren’t charismatic enough to carry an entire reality show. The same goes for the season’s bad guys, who just aren’t annoying or hateful enough to be compelling. Even Shake, who is so shallow and conceited that he manages to offend even the Lacheys in the reunion episode, isn’t as interesting as the show wants him to be.

This doesn’t mean the show’s second season is a terrible, unwatchable piece of television — it just doesn’t have much personality, especially when compared to Season 1. In the end, Love Is Blind Season 2 feels very much same-y, as if we are watching a half-hearted remake of what came before: Danielle’s sudden anxiety episodes are reminiscent of Giannina’s, and Shaina’s interference with Shayne and Natalie’s relationship looks like a watered down version of the Jessica-Barnett-Amber love triangle. One can argue that all romantic relationships look a lot alike when we strip them down to the basics. Though that is certainly true, when it comes to reality TV, there are certain precautions the production team must take regarding cast selection and editing to make sure that the final product will feel fresh and be able to capture the audience’s attention. And, in the second season of Love Is Blind, something went wrong in that process.

Hosted by Takashi Fujii and Yuka Itaya, Love Is Blind Japan greatly benefits from having a charismatic couple for whom viewers can root. Hairstylist Ryotaro and salesperson Motomi formed an unexpected pair akin to the punk and the aspiring ballerina of 2000s pop-punk icon Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8ter Boi.” Thankfully, though, Motomi knew right away that she had found true love and didn’t miss out on Ryotaro. Watching the improbable couple solve real world conundrums, such as how best to introduce the tattooed and bottle blond Ryotaro to Motomi’s conservative family, is delightful. And though they are the first to admit they would have never given each other the time of day based on looks alone, they are also quick to accept and embrace their feelings.

It’s a nice refresher from the show’s other successful couple, Wataru and Midori. Though their chats in the pods were charming and made them seem like a match made in heaven, Midori had trouble dealing with her fiance’s looks after meeting him face to face. What followed was a series of uncomfortable scenes in which she found new and improved ways of implying he’s ugly without outright saying it. Seeing Wataru saying yes to tying the knot at the end of the season is cringe worthy to say the least.

Still, overall, Love Is Blind Japan’s cast is an interesting and captivating ensemble. However, the show has serious pacing issues. With eight engaged couples instead of the usual five or six, it can be hard to keep track of what exactly is up with everyone. Many contestants never get enough screen time to make themselves known to the audience. Another problem is in how the drama plays out — or, rather, doesn’t play out. Though it’s clear that not all couples are living in fairytale land, it can often be hard to understand why they aren’t happy. A lot of arguments take place off-screen and are never explained to the viewers, so while it’s easy to see why Kaoru and Priya are so mad with Misaki and Mizuki, respectively, it’s only when they’re already breaking up that we finally understand what was going on in the Minami and Mori residence, and no one is quite sure about what went down between Shuntaro and Ayano.

Love Is Blind Brazil serves as an example of how the Japanese version of the show could have dealt with its main issues. Much like in Love Is Blind Japan, many fights and disagreements between the Brazilian couples take place off-screen. However, instead of leaving the audience in the dark or trusting that everyone will be able to follow the small hints dropped here and there, the show has the contestants explain in detail what went wrong.

Ana doesn’t shy away from calling out Shay for his treatment of her and her daughter when the cameras aren’t around, and Dayanne makes sure that everyone knows that Rodrigo delivered the last blow to their already damaged relationship when he decided to share intimate details of their pre-marital life with the other guys. The production team also chose to follow only five of the 15 couples that got together in the pods, offering the audience more time to connect with the contestants.

osted by Camila Queiroz and Klebber Toledo, Love Is Blind Brazil is, at the same time, classier and more unhinged than its American counterpart. On one hand, it’s hard to imagine scenes like Giannina running out of her own wedding and subsequently falling on her butt taking place here. On the other, all the dudes got matching “Better together” tattoos, and Rodrigo made a point of telling girls in the pod that his nickname is Rabbit because he has a lot of sex. Later, in the reunion episode, Rodrigo reveals that he actually gave a new meaning to a derogatory childhood nickname he received because of his prominent teeth.

Despite featuring the most handsome couple in all versions of the show — Hudson and Carol — Love Is Blind Brazil doesn’t have a super charismatic pair of lovebirds everyone can root for. The show, however, makes up for that with a couple we can all universally hate. It’s hard to understand what on earth made Nanda say “yes” to Thiago, especially considering how much her fuckboy sniffing dog, Tobias, hated him. Thankfully, in the reunion episode, we find out that they broke up and that Nanda has reconnected with Mackdavid, her other suitor from the pods. Earlier this year, the couple announced that they are expecting their first child. Apart from the main cast, Love Is Blind Brazil also features some great supporting characters, like good boy Tobias and Rodrigo’s dad, Salomão, a true mensch that even gets a shout-out from his would-be daughter-in-law during the reunion.

Reality shows have been a part of our television landscape for a long time now. Though they are still considered low-brow entertainment, overarching adjectives that were once used to describe them, like trashy, are meaningless when we consider that the genre currently encompasses shows as varied as The Bachelor, Queer Eye, and Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted. Still, let’s face the facts: at least when it comes to relationship-based reality shows, there are certain expectations that need to be met.

To be precise, the audience wants drama. And, boy, oh boy, does the first season of Love Is Blind have drama! From Giannina’s sudden outbursts to Jessica’s misguided attempts at breaking up Amber and Barnett, the show is chock-full with moments that will make you stare at the screen wide-eyed, with a hand hovering over your gaping mouth. And for those that just can’t get enough of schadenfreude and secondhand embarrassment, Love Is Blind offers three extra episodes after the reunion in which we find out that Amber and Barnett refer to Jessica as Voldemort, and that maybe Mark deserved everything she did to him during the show. Love Is Blind shows all sides of its contestants, warts and all, and this makes for extremely fulfilling entertainment. Alas, this can also make some viewers very uncomfortable, and not in a good way: at least some of Diamond’s biphobia towards Carlton could have been left in the editing room, especially since the show is already so heteronormative.

But, thankfully, drama isn’t the only thing Love Is Blind Season 1 has to offer. Much like Motomi and Ryotaro in the Japanese series, Lauren and Cameron are an unlikely and charismatic couple that we all hope will make it to the altar and beyond. And the editors manage to keep the suspense up until the very end, so even if a couple looks like a sure thing, there’s no telling if they will go from the altar to the wedding reception or to the muddy patch of grass on which they will most certainly fall.