The past two summers have been marked by a significant event— watching Love Island USA every single night for 6 weeks.
Summer 2024 when I was first tuned in for season 6 was historic. The Eras Tour was still happening, there was hope in the air for Kamala and Rob Rausch was on our TV screens every night.
Last year was…well, it was different.
And this year, I had high hopes. I thought maybe producers would correct their season 7 mistakes and within less than a week that was proven true. However, it seemed they overcorrected and pushed the new islanders in the other direction.
Season 8 has been boring.
It wasn’t must-watch TV and I ended up binging the first few episodes a few days after they went live (mostly because I couldn’t miss Summer House). I was doing so much as fast forwarding through challenges because there was no point to watching it all.
The challenges this year were also a little more…graphic at the start. The way we opened up with the doors, the kissing challenges — it was simply too much, too soon. We barely know these people!
I was ready to give up on the season; I mean, I was still going to watch but I wasn’t going to be happy about it. Then, just as the producers felt us all slipping away they hit us with a huge Casa Amor twist.
A full week of Casa Amor shenanigans that started with a heart rate challenge fake out was pure bliss. I watched with a dropped jaw the entire time, and since then, the men are doing their worst outside the Villa.
We’ll stick with Casa for now and then circle back around to my other thoughts. KC and Corbin are gross. As my co-worker puts it… ‘it’s giving incel’. The way they speak about the women back in the Villa is horrifying.
Just last night K.C said “The girls in the Villa are giving those guys what we should’ve been getting.”
Him and Corbin also talked about how they ‘didn’t have to beg’ with the Casa girls the way they did in the Villa. Corbin also said that the Casa girls are so much better than the Villa girls… which is not great.
I am praying that Aniya and Kenzie do not go back with these disgusting, pathetic excuses for men.
While we’re still in Casa… I do not like Alannah. I don’t love how she went on a date with Charlie and then was chasing Zach, and I really hated the way she brushed off the Black men during her heart rate challenge. It was disgusting (word of the season?) and very off putting to watch. I hope no one chooses her to bring back to the Villa.
Everyone else feels ok in Casa; Sincere is… well, not sincere. Caleb is being respectful and Bryce is so sad.
Someone get Trinity and Bryce into a secret hideaway so they know that they’re still into each other! Bryce is having the worst time in Casa — just bring him his girl back! If I had to lock in a winner right now, it’s Trinity and Bryce.
Originally, Melanie and Kenzie were carrying the season on their backs. They were a little out of pocket, a little intense and very emotional. It was and still is fun to watch; I think they had the best reactions to Casa Amor — Kenzie doing the splits and Melanie just locked in on getting her revenge.
When it comes to the Sol situation, I think the Villa did her dirty. She came in as a bombshell to shake things up and it really did seem like she was going to at first. When I saw her and Jen walk into the paint challenge, I was flabbergasted. I am clearly no better than a man because… wow.
I thought the men were going to be fighting over Sol but it seemed that they couldn’t really be bothered.
I liked Sol at the beginning and thought she was treated unfairly by everyone but, I’m starting to wonder if maybe her energy was actually just off and she is presenting as a victim after getting voted off. If no one liked her, boys & girls, maybe she wasn’t that great? She’s doing a bunch of social media posts now which is giving Season 6 Andrea that I’m not a fan of.
I wonder if the producers are feeding the islanders more information than usual because why are they saying Corbin is like AI and why are Zach and Bryce playing into their bromance/romance so heavily? It was funny at first when the fans were making edits but now it’s getting a bit weird.
Do they know they can just like…hook up?
Why are they looking in each other’s pants, sleeping together and generally just being very affectionate in a way that doesn’t feel ‘bro-like’? I would like this addressed post Villa.
Overall, the season has been boring up until now. The islanders were too closed off, not wanting or understanding that they needed to explore more connections. The fact that Sincere and Melanie ended up together twice even though it’s obvious he doesn’t like her, is ridiculous.
The islanders are either staying together out of fear or a desire to win.
For almost three weeks, we had the same episode over and over again. Sincere and Melanie would talk, fight, and then come back together. Kenzie would go back and forth between Corbin and someone else; Kadya and Zach discussed bombshells
It feels as if producers are going too off script. There have been only a few bombshells, no dates, and as much as I didn’t like the challenges in the beginning, there have only been a few. It feels like whatever made Love Island, Love Island isn’t happening anymore.
It cannot be overstated that at the beginning of the season, someone on the production team passed away so we don’t know what behind the scenes were like, or how the teams were handling that so I think we have to give grace in that aspect)
After season 6, it seems that the producers and Powers That Be keep trying to recreate the magic. They try to force scenarios that might play out in their favor instead of keeping the traditional formula alive and letting the cast speak for itself.
They are never getting season 6 magic back so they need to start treating each cast, each season, each episode as it’s own entity.
There was way too much kissing at the start. It was gross. It was hard to watch. None of these people know how to kiss. They are going all tongue first and it’s just disturbing.
There is too much foot action going on. Why is everyone sucking and licking each other’s toes? Please, stop it.
Can we never, ever do the three person sleepover again? That was deeply uncomfortable and I think it’s one of the main reasons the girls voted Gabriel out of the Villa.
The letter box challenge was so cringe. I fast forwarded through the entire thing. If we’re going to do that again, let’s do it closer to the end when connections are more real.
I did not appreciate the hideaway happening week three! That was so weird and out of place. There was no reason for it.
All of this being said, I am excited for tomorrow’s episode. This week was the first time since the season started that I couldn’t wait for 8:40 PM on Peacock. As I write this on Wednesday night, I was actually quite upset to realize that I didn’t have an episode to look forward to.
I will be back for another recap next week and hopefully get more into the nitty gritty of what is happening inside the Villa walls.
See you in Soul Ties…
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