My take on 'Love is Blind' Season Three and why it was the Messiest Season
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Love is Blind is a Netflix dating show in which individuals attempt to find the loves of their lives without ever seeing them. If that doesn’t already sound like a recipe for chaos, then buckle up, because the show has even more to offer. The third season of the show aired in October 2022, and three “After the Altar” episodes were released on February 10th. The best way to describe this show is a very entertaining mess — one that I just so happen to love! After the most recent cheating scandal involving the fan-favorite couple SK and Raven, I couldn’t resist rewatching and reviewing the season and all of the tea that has come out since.
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WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS
Out of the five main couples that were paired together throughout the season, only two said, “I do” at the altar: Alexa and Brennon, the most wholesome couple, and Colleen and Matt. This couple came as a surprise given their tumultuous fights, with Matt threatening to leave Colleen throughout their time after the pods. Out of the three couples who said “I don’t” at the altar, two have remained broken up: Zanab and Cole, and Nancy and Bartise. Both of these splits ended in chaos with Zanab telling Cole at the altar, “You have disrespected me….and you have single-handedly shattered my self-confidence.” This speech divided audiences, with some people siding with Zanab and others siding with Cole. Nancy, unfortunately, said, “I do” at the altar while Bartise shockingly responded with, “I don’t” after leading Nancy on for most of the season while she continued to try to make the relationship work.
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The reunion proved to be the messiest episode of all. Alexa and Brennon were absolute joys to watch at the reunion, with the most stressful part of their relationship being how to share their closet space in their new apartment. Audiences found out that Matt and Colleen weren't living together, which they stated was their "unorthodox" way of marriage. However, the reunion seemed to skip over a lot of Matt's huge fits of anger during the season, especially when it came to the pool conversation between Colleen and Cole. Cole stated that he would usually go for girls that looked like Colleen and Colleen said the same for Cole, causing Colleen and Matt to get into a huge argument where Matt went as far as to ask the producers their opinions on how they would feel if their fiancé complimented another man. Nancy and Bartise were given the chance to discuss how they felt about how each handled their split and relationship. Nancy discussed how Bartise was emotionally immature, especially with Bartise calling Raven a "smokeshow."
Bartise surprisingly had a mature take on his inappropriate comments towards Raven while being engaged to Nancy, though I still believe that Bartise had zero intention of dating Nancy after saying, “I don't” at the altar. It appeared that Bartise wasn't as invested in the relationship as much as Nancy was, and it was revealed that he was with a new girl only days after their failed wedding. Now when I say the moments between Cole and Zanab were intense, I mean it with full sincerity. The reunion replayed the scene in which Zanab described how Cole was controlling her eating habits, causing Cole to break down crying and say that he regretted doing the show. Despite this, another scene was aired at the end of the episode which showed Cole asking Zanab if she was going to eat two oranges and that she should instead save her "appetito" for dinner. Although Zanab did have a more extreme take on how the scene went down, it doesn't diminish the negative comments Cole had made to her about her looks. Additionally, I believe that they weren't the best for each other and actually brought out the worst in one another.
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Last but definitely not least is SK and Raven — a huge fan-favorite couple whose slow-burn love finally came to fruition. It seemed that all was well for the couple at the reunion, as they announced that they were still dating each other. I wish that there was a happy ending to this love story, but it was found out that a week after SK and Raven had gone to New Orleans to visit Raven's mother in May 2022, SK flew out his ex to go on a couples trip to Cabo. A month later, SK and Raven went on a couples trip to Tulum, and Raven recounted on Nick Viall's podcast that he was acting as if he had never been to Mexico before. They ended up getting engaged, but shortly after SK’s ex began to reveal information about the Cabo trip to the public with receipts and this spiraled when another woman that matched with SK on Hinge came out with information about how they made plans to fly out see each other at the same time that SK and Raven were seeing each other. With all this information out in the public Raven found out about SK cheating at the same time as the rest of the world and has now had to deal with the repercussions of her personal relationship problems being out in the open.
Love is Blind season three has proven to be one of the most chaotic seasons of the show. Although there wasn’t a happy ever after for SK and Raven, the season was full of ups, downs, and heartwarming moments. If you are a reality TV fan, then I would read up on all of the lore of this iconic, truly unforgettable season and stay tuned for what comes next.
Strike Out,
Writer: Emily Montarroyos
Editor: Jayna O
Graphic Designer: Katie Esguerra
Tallahassee