The weeks Love Island USA is on our TV screens is some of the best weeks on the internet. For the past three years, Threads has been the main platform of focus, with think pieces video analysis trending on TikTok and this year was no different.
After a disastrous season 7 with controversial cast members and too much audience interference, the stakes were high going into season 8. We wanted a return to normal, something more low key but still fun.
Love Island took the necessary precautions this time — waiting until the last second to reveal the cast and then ensuring that there was no one back at home monitoring the cast’s social media. There was not going to be a chance to bully, to affect the votes, or rile up the audience outside of what was being shown on television.
To my understanding, I think it worked. There was little offline drama from what I saw and I think that made the season more enjoyable.
However, there were a lot of problems with season 8…the main one being NOTHING HAPPENED.
For the first week and a half, the show was stale. I didn’t catch up on the first three episodes until that weekend and I think others were doing the same. Granted, it was the week of part 3 of the Summer House reunion and we were very preoccupied
Most of the couples had locked in on the first day with very little movement, and there was a significant lack of bombshells and only two dumpings. The challenges were disgusting — too much kissing right out the gate, and there was not a ton of drama. No one was jumping off the screen, expect for maybe Kenzie, and there was no movement forward.
Producers knew they had to shake things up; they had to break the couples and force something to happen. A new version of Casa Amor with a streamed heart rate challenge and 12 Casa boys delivered on a silver platter to the villa was served.
It hardly made a dent.
HOWEVER, the saving grace of the season were our WINNERS, Trinity & Bryce! It was such a pleasure to watch their love story from the beginning, and they really did have quite the journey. Sure, they were together from the start but there was hesitation on both their parts which I think helped them really come together.
Their post-Casa reunion was so beautiful and Bryce’s ability to be vulnerable while surrounded by all these other horrible men really stood out.
Their finale date was beautiful and the way Bryce told Trinity he loved her made me cry. I knew they were going to say it to each other before the season was over; I felt it in my bones, through the screen and through their actions.
I am so completely over the moon for them and I hope they stay together!
I also am very happy that Carl and Ainya were in second place; he really became her knight in shining armor and I love him for it. It seems like he worships her and vice versa; their date was stunning and I am so happy for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were married in less than a year.
Aside from our top two couples, the final four was ridiculous. Melanie and Sincere being in the finale made no sense, and I’d bet money that the producers rigged it.
There was a lot of factors that went into making this season less than exciting and all the choices utterly confused me.
Producers took an interesting approach to this season by switching up the traditional path. Similar to last season, they changed the way they produced the show in a big way.
The first being a lack of bombshells.
In season 6, there were a total of 22 bombshells, 9 of them being pre-Casa amor. Season 7 was the same.
Season 8 only saw 6 total bombshells (excluding Casa) and all of them came in very early pre-Casa. There was no chance for the couples to be shaken up because there was no one to do the shaking.
Producers most likely saw that the women were not budging on their men, accepting piss poor behavior and making excuses, and decided they needed to show them exactly who they were dealing with. Enter the lack of a heart rate challenge and the live streaming.
Personally, I think that was a really smart decision even if it only broke up two couples. It shook up the season in a way that we needed and gave us a solid week of ‘must watch TV’.
Another questionable choice was the lack of dates — we had one date with Trinity and Bryce which felt necessary as they were the strongest couple, but we could’ve had more.
Then there is the topic of the Hideaway. It was a choice to give Zach & Kayda the Hideaway in week 2 (!!!) and then give it to Melanie & Sincere right after they ‘get back together’.
It felt like the producers laid out all the key parts to Love Island and put them in a blender to make something new.
Next season, let’s get back to normal.
The men on this season were horrible, aside from Bryce and Carl. With every episode it got worse and worse, mainly KC and Zach. At the start, I would lump Corbin in with them but now I think that was unfair. Corbin seems like a real ole’ f*boy rather than someone who has been brainwashed by the manosphere.
K.C’s behavior was vile. At first, he didn’t seem so bad but then as the days went on, his mask started to fall. First, it was the way he spoke about Aniya, the idea that he was owed her body because he was sleeping in a bed with her, was disgusting. The way he discussed the Casa Amor women was gross. K.C was angry that he didn’t get chosen on that first night — that there wasn’t anyone behind his door, and he never forgot it.
He yelled at the women, he constantly built himself up to tear them down and you could tell that he thought he was the prize. He hated the fact that Aniya came from a good family, and that’s why he called out her family in his Casa Amor recoupling fight.
After his apology to Aniya post-movie night, I considered that maybe he wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. Maybe he was having a bad time in the Villa and after he saw his behavior played back to him, he realized where he went wrong.
Then, he said the words “She is someone worthy of being with me” about Titi and I thought I was going to throw up. That right there is the definition of red-pilled; the idea that you are the prize, that women need to be worthy of a ‘high value’ man.
When it comes to Zach, there is probably something other than red-pilled and I understand this is controversial and we should not speculate on other’s sexuality but I definitely feel like Zach is not 100% straight. His behavior with Bryce, while endearing at first, became too much as the season went on. It looked as if it was making Bryce (and Trinity) uncomfortable and it in turn made me uncomfortable.
Zach hid behind ‘jokes’, he withheld Kayda’s breakfast, and generally didn’t interact or try with any of the women — not even just to be friends. Titi literally said to him during the scavenger hunt that he never talks to her.
He was immature and all around ‘off’. Something was not right but I can’t quite put my finger on what it truly was.
I’m not a challenge kind of girl, especially on Love Island. I understand that it’s necessary to fill the time but I don’t think it adds much to the show as a whole. However, I can be convinced to watch a funny challenge or two, like karaoke or the twerking/dancing. Even the silly games like standing in front of the doors is fine with me.
What I am tired of are the overly sexual and grotesque games; the constant kissing, the food and slime challenges — it’s too much. The food challenge in the last episode seemed so vile I had to fast forward the entire thing.
I also really hated the three bed situation with the first few bombshells. It felt, once again, overly sexual and not expanding the plot. Yes, I am aware that this is Love Island and sexualization is part of it, but there is a line.
I was going to write about Melanie and Sincere but truthfully, I don’t have the patience. I felt sympathy for her at first but after movie night, I was done. After family day? There was no grace left in me.
I can’t even explain how much I dislike Sincere; from his fortune cookie sayings to that dam hand always outstretched when he was lying… it was so frustrating. In the beginning I thought he was just stupid but then it became more clear that he was just an expert liar and manipulator. He played Melanie like a fool, he is incapable of living up to his name and actually being sincere, and I give it a few weeks before he does something else to make Melanie distrust him.
KENZIE’S SPLITS! I love my clam slam queen and I think aside from Trinity & Bryce, she is going to be the most successful islander to come from this season. She’ll be on Call Her Daddy this week and she did a fantastic job on Aftersun last weekend.
Trinity & Bryce’s Casa reunion was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad that they showed Trinity how upset he was in Casa and how he yearned over her.
I hope Megan Thee Stallion continues to show up every season. I love watching her have fun in the Villa.
Ariana Madix continues to be an Emmy award winning host. I am so proud of how far she’s come, and that she gets to be hot in Fiji for 6 weeks every summer. *Same goes for Ciara — so happy she got to be on this season!
Carl! Carl is truly a gem and I hope he gets everything he wants in life.
Family day was actually more exciting than usual. I loved seeing Aniya and Carl’s family, Bryce’s Grandma Anne was a riot and Sincere’s dad reading him to filth was fun to watch.
Overall, I liked this season more than last. The Islanders felt more genuine and at least it was believable that two out of the four final couples could stay together. There was less inner Villa drama and less toxic.
It didn’t touch season 6 but I’m unsure if anything ever will. Perhaps we need to lower our expectations going forward.
I am so happy that we got to see Trinity and Bryce’s love story in real time — it’s a privilege to watch two people fall in love right in front of your eyes. It’s not something we see often and I loved it. They truly were the highlight of the season.
Love Island USA has a lot of work to do for season 9 and I hope they succeed.
Either way, I’m going to be watching so I’ll see you all same time, next year.
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