This weekend, the Love is Blind season eight reunion aired on Netflix to cap off one of the most criticized seasons in Love is Blind history. As the show celebrated five years with a countdown of the show’s most iconic moments and a live musical performance by Alex Warren, the reunion was largely overshadowed by online criticism of how boring this season was. While the season itself may have been yawn-worthy, the reunion proved to be filled with excitement and surprises that the regular season was missing.
One of the best moments of the reunion came from arguably one of the most boring couples during the regular season, Virginia and Devin. They helped kick off the show with a confrontation surrounding politics and Devin’s closeness with an ex-girlfriend. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of Virginia during the actual season, her calling Devin a bigot without actually calling him a bigot was hilarious and insane. While she respectfully told Devin she wouldn’t say his values on TV, she went on to list her values, which include respecting and loving members of the LGBTQ+ community and believing women have the right to choose to get an abortion or not. She didn’t tell us Devin’s beliefs – but she told us.
A huge redemption moment came from Madison calling out Alex’s two-faced behavior during the reunion and pulling out printed text message screenshots from her bra. I didn’t care for Madison during the six pod episodes this season, but I do enjoy seeing women stand up to men, especially those who lie to paint others in a bad light. Madison simply wouldn’t let that happen this reunion. While this is a bit of redemption for Madison, it proved to be a misstep for Meg, who jumped to defend both Alex and Mason. It’s a bit peculiar that she defended someone that made fun of her, but to each their own.
One thing that I really enjoyed about not just this season, but the reunion as well, was the women continuing to choose themselves and challenge narratives surrounding marriage. All of the women who didn’t get married this season, including those who never got engaged, began a trend of sticking together and sticking up for one another, even if another woman wasn’t present. While there was one couple that remained happily married from season eight, I think the biggest winners of this season are the female friendships that we saw blossom on our screen and carry on outside of the show. The support that each female cast member discusses so casually is a gorgeous illustration of women choosing themselves and investing in their own communities. A large swath of the men on this season were largely bigoted and uninvested in the idea of being a part of a partnership. The ending we got with this reunion was one of the best ways to cap off season eight, with the women continuing to choose themselves and each other.
