Love is Blind Season 2: My Take on All the Couples

For anyone who loves a good reality shit TV show, I’m willing to bet you were all in on season 2 of Love is Blind. I know I was! It was messy, dramatic, filled with cringe-y moments and a cast of fundamentally flawed characters. In short, it was grade A entertainment.

And in today’s post, I’ll be breaking down my take on this past season and each of the final 6 couples. It should go without saying, then, that this post *will* contain spoilers.

Love is Blind

The Netflix series has a fairly simple premise: couples date without actually seeing one another in order to determine if they can fall in love based on personality alone.

“Dating” in this show consists of contestants sitting in small rooms (called “pods”) and talking to one another through a wall. Over the course of 10 days, they go on these “pod-dates” with the intention of getting engaged to the person they connected with most. If (and only if!) they accept a proposal, they get to see their partner. Following this, there’s a honeymoon-style vacation for all the engaged couples.

When they return, they spend four weeks together before their wedding, ultimately making their final decision AT THE ALTAR. It’s a wild concept, for sure, and one that is both interesting and entertaining to watch.

So, before we get into the couples, here’s a give a quick recap of the Love is Blind timeline:

• Ten days of “pod-dates” followed by a proposal (for those who felt strongly enough).

• The reveal: after accepting a proposal, they get to see one another for the first time.

• A honeymoon-style vacay in Mexico where they also get to meet the other couples (ie – the other people they dated in the pods!)

• Four-weeks back home (in this case, Chicago) spent meeting each others’ friends and family, integrating their lives, and planning a wedding.

• Wedding day: they decide at the altar whether or not to say ‘I do’ (and, yes, they seemingly have to actually walk down the aisle).

Related Read: Don’t Look Up: What This Divisive Satire Says about Love

Season 2 Couples

To start with, there are 15 men and 15 women dating in the pods. Obviously, not everyone will get engaged, but in Season 2, a total of 6 couples did in fact make it to the big reveal.

NICK & DANIELLE

People seem to have mixed opinions on Nick and Danielle, but personally, they weren’t my favorite.

Actually, let me rephrase that: She wasn’t my favorite.

Throughout the show, she was constantly talking about her insecurity issues. She previously lost 70 pounds, so, as she explained numerous times, she still struggles with her body image. She also has a great deal of anxiety (though it’s not entirely clear if the two are connected.)

Now, listen, I’m someone who 100% understands how difficult an anxiety disorder is. And my own anxiety issues tend to manifest most noticeably in romantic relationships, so believe me when I say, I get it.

But Danielle seemed to use her anxiety and insecurity as, at best, an excuse for her behavior and, at worst, as a way of controlling Nick. She was constantly picking fights with him, usually based on how he wasn’t doing what she wanted.

At one point, she got upset with him for not being “as excited” as she was about how much her family liked him. She saw this as an indication that he wasn’t as sincere about their relationship. When he replied that he’d simply been dealing with his own stress, she once again, reacted poorly. Instead of supporting him, she cried and said that he helps her so much when she’s anxious and that she wishes she could return the favor.

On the surface, that might seem harmless, and even commendable, but in reality, it’s selfish. She wants to comfort him in a specific way because that would make her feel better. But that’s not how he processes stress! That’s not what he actually wants when he’s upset.

All in all, I was surprised that these two actually got married. But, at the reunion special, they seemed happy enough.

SHAYNE & NATALIE

Initially, I was not a fan of Shayne. Aside from his laugh and clear inability to blink or sit still, he just seemed a little immature. (I couldn’t help but cringe every time he asked Shaina in the pods what she was wearing.)

Natalie, on the other hand, is adorable. She struck me as being sweet, smart, and fun to be around.  And she seemed incredibly genuine in her connection with Shayne.

Of all the couples, I was most surprised by their wedding; I really expected them to make it.

Apparently, the night before their wedding day, they got into a huge fight (off-camera) during which Shayne told her that he hated her.

I don’t blame her for saying No at the altar, then.

At the reunion, it was clear that both of them still had a lot of love for one another. Despite my opinion that Natalie is way too good for him, it’s sad to see how heartbroken she looked.

KYLE & SHAINA

Every reality TV show needs a villain, and boy was Shaina vying for that title.

She accepted Kyle’s proposal only to tell him at the reveal that she thought their religious differences were a deal-breaker.

In Mexico, she pressured him (a vegetarian) to eat meat before deciding to completely end the vacation and peace out.

Back in Chicago, she did introduce him to her family only to give back the ring immediately afterwards.

She then called Natalie to say, “If things don’t work out with Shayne, I’ve got someone to set you up with.” When Shayne confronted her about this, she claimed it was “girl-talk” and accused him and Natalie of being so bored together that they had to bring her into their relationship.

And, as if that weren’t bad enough, she then went on to say that no one believed their relationship was real, anyway. (Which, was fundamentally not true – everyone else thought they were deeply in love).

But then we had Kyle, who actually made me want to defend her. This guy clearly couldn’t take a hint. He continued to try and pressure her to give their relationship a shot despite her obvious disinterest.

At the reunion, the Shaina apologized but Kyle just couldn’t let it go. He continued telling her that she wasted his time before dropping the bombshell announcement that he wished he’d asked Deepti to marry him instead.

SAL & MALLORY

Does anyone else feel just overwhelming curiosity about these two?

Their wedding day decision didn’t actually surprise me, though I didn’t expect him to be the one that said No.

But, their behavior at the reunion seemed to hint at a lot of animosity and I just want to know what the hell happened!

Was it the ex-girlfriend situation? The Jarette thing? Something else? Seriously, Netflix, what was it and why so much secrecy?

If I had to guess, I would say that Mallory just simply wasn’t that into him. He probably figured that out after the cameras stopped rolling (like, I don’t know, during their ONE coffee date) and felt like she misled him. But who knows.

JARETTE & IYANNA

These two were the clear winners of Love is Blind.

Both were likable and they clearly had a lot of chemistry together.

But with Jarette initially wanting to be with Mallory and Iyanna seemingly unable to let go of that, I had my doubts about them.

Come Wedding Day, though, they each said “Yes” and, based on the reunion, they couldn’t seem happier. I’m rooting for these two.

SHAKE & DEEPTI

And now we get to Shake and Deepti. Oh, boy, where do I even start with this one?

Throughout the series, Shake told anyone within earshot that he wasn’t physically attracted to Deepti. He said he loved her and she was his best friend, but that the animal-infatuation wasn’t there.

Still, he seemed like he wanted it to work. And so did the audience!

But, at the altar, Deepti said No, saying she deserved someone who knew for sure.

It was a fantastic moment. Every woman watching was applauding this strong, beautiful woman for knowing her worth.

And Shake quickly reverted back to being the asshole he was at the start of the series. Any progress he made, any personal growth, shattered instantly.

But, it only got worse from there. At the reunion, he doubled down on his stance, defending his behavior on the show. And while I could see what he was trying to say (and, in a way, I even see his point!), he kept making cringe worthy statement after cringe worthy statement.

Deepti dodged a bullet. Let’s hope she steers clear from Kyle, now, too.

Love is Blind Conclusion

Did you watch this show? I’m SO curious to know what you all thought of these couples. And what about the show in general? Do you think love is blind? Or do you think physical attraction is important and can’t be overlooked?

Make sure to share your thoughts on Love is Blind in the comments below!

xx
Katie