Who Is The Real Villain On This Season of Love Island USA?
Major (Season 7) spoilers in this entire blog. Read at your own risk!
After a grueling few days of binging 18 episodes I have finally caught up on every second of Love Island season 7, still premiering (new episode tonight!) and including last nights Casa Amor revelation. I do truly love this show - it’s sexy, it’s uncouth, messy and honest. It’s the biggest time commitment I’ve ever made in my life (after last week’s Dozen tournament, of course.) What keeps me watching however, is that underlying anxiety(?) that everything we are seeing, is happening in real time. These people are in the villa right now! They know nothing except each other, the occasional workout, and the fact that breakfast is the bare minimum.
The voyeur in me is continuously left open mouthed, shocked but delighted by some of the actions of these islanders, bringing forth the obvious question - are they drunk?
Wow! So, basically Bachelor in Paradise (new seasons) levels of drinking. Designed so they will all have authentic conversations and make “real” connections. We know wine drunk is the best drunk for that! It’s a hell of a concept, one I certainly never thought could be executed well in the US. This is the first US season I’m watching in full. The first 5 I know were duds, but after the buzz of season 6 I knew it was time to stop slobbering all over the UK version and get on board.
Saying “I prefer the UK seasons” is a lot like being the kind of person who prefers the book to the movie, so, it comes as no surprise that I am not actually a Love Island US fan. It’s for superficial reasons, really - UK is a well oiled machine, the contestants know what they’re doing, the audience knows how to vote, and overall it seems to me they are more honest (and raunchy). I also love the accents and the absurdity of the outfits/hair/makeup. It seems like the US has finally caught on - this is a show for hot people doing hot things, and we want to see all of it.
No reality TV show is complete without villains and discourse, but after 19 episodes I think everyone is a little confused on where to point fingers. Being a villain is a spectrum - you can be a funny villain, an annoying one, an actually bad one, or anything in between. I tend to root for most villains because of the chaos they cause….then again, do any of these people deserve to be rooted for?
Huda
I think my feelings about Huda were absolutely affected by the fact I watched her drama unfold later than the general public. Seeing the outrage on Huda, I knew watching it myself wasn’t going to live up to the hype. Not to be that bitch but I’ve been a reality tv LOYALIST since I was a kid. My parents loved early reality TV, and so did I. Bachelor, Real World, Big Brother, America’s Next Top Model, Drag Race - even JOE MILLIONAIRE. I truly think I’ve seen every flavor of crazy bitch under the sun and it takes a real psychopath to move the needle for me. While Huda certainly belongs on the pantheon of crazy bitches, I’m overall unimpressed. Her game was clear the second she walked in - she’s 24, she’s a mom to a four year old, and she has an outdated sense of what “men” should be. She was always going to find one man who was willing to go all in on her, and become the “mom and dad” of the house. Her emotions of course continue to spill over into the rest of the villa, affecting the vibes and making everyone uncomfortable, but here’s another question - why hasn’t anyone stood up to her? The girls are riding for her no matter what (which I do think is kind and mature, but not “reality tv” enough, or even necessarily what she deserves) and the guys completely turtle when it comes to dealing with her. Only last night are we FINALLY seeing Taylor and Olandria being as straight up as possible when telling her to cut the shit, after nearly the whole villa saved her from being eliminated. They’ve been in there for over two weeks!! Huda’s moods control the villa because the rest of the contestants allow it. You think Maura Higgins would stand for that kind of shit? Meg the Stallion clocked Huda right away - she needs a strong willed man (probably more “traditional” or “conservative”) who was willing to put her in her place when she needed to be. Not that overly sensitive, combative, wet fucking loser blanket, Jeremiah.
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Jeremiah
Jeremiah might be my least favorite contestant I’ve ever seen on this show. He’s “coward” personified, he’s clearly obsessed with being famous, and Huda’s right - he plays victim. He could have, and should have taken a step back from the relationship the second she told him she had a kid. Is it a hot take to say that I don’t even think that would’ve made him look bad? I feel for Huda, but I’d assume most guys aren’t going on love island to become a stepdad on day 3. Which is completely okay! Even she knew that, which is why she was trying to keep it under wraps as much as possible. Revealing that to Jeremiah was a test, and even though she thinks he passed it by acting as if it was all cool - in my eyes, he failed. He wasn’t honest and it was written all over his face and in his body language. He instead, made subtle jabs at her for the next 10 days. Saying shit like “okay MOM” when she would tell him the kind of man she wanted him to be. No joke he did this at LEAST 3 times. Calling her “mom” as if it was an insult. Clearly projecting insecurities and using something real that she confessed to him, to throw it back in her face and hurt her. Jeremiah was too busy acting like Jim Halpert, making exaggerated “annoyed” faces every time she turned her back. He talked shit about her to other girls AND guys, all while acting as if everything was perfect to Huda. He had no problem sleeping with her, hooking up, and letting her walk all over him while he acted like he was “stuck.” He love bombed the wrong bitch, and he was too afraid of her (and his reputation) to do anything about it. Major fucking zero in my book, and I’m glad he’s gone. Total phony. He also wouldn’t stop saying “Brother!” like that YouTube guy Sketch or whoever. Annoyed the shit out of me. Bye, brother!
Ace
I’ve oscillated between loving and hating Ace this whole season. I did NOT like him at first. I thought he acted like he was better than everyone because he set intense boundaries about physical touch/nicknames, and what he would not tolerate from anyone he was "exploring." It all felt a little, I don't know…self righteous? Another guy "worried about looking bad." I love Chelley to death, but its clear they were a lot closer outside of the villa than we were lead to believe - despite this, Ace acted like big man on campus for the first few episodes and ultimately it just seemed like he wasn't into the idea of committing to anything or anyone. He turned a corner a few days in and really started turning on the charm for Chelley, which made me start to like him and believe that he was the slow-burner that he claimed to be. Everyone in the house suddenly started looking to him for social cues, and I began to see the tide shift from "we're all in this villa for love and connections" into a total popularity contest, with Ace at the helm. As soon as they started introducting the elements of voting from America, Ace decided to take it upon himself to try and control the house based on what he thinks "America wants." Again, I die for Chelley, but I think she's in this with him - moving in silence. If you're friends with them, you're safe. If not, you're out. I think this happened with the Jeremiah and Hannah vote outs. Jeremiah commandeered Andreina and was back on his love bomb bullshit, so Ace decided his time was up. The girls knew Hannah was still having a hard time getting over Charlie (they had referenced it being a "sensitive subject" with Meg the Stallion) and they didn't see (or care to see) how close she and Pepe had been getting. She wasn't an OG, so she was gone. Everyone knows in reality, it should've been Austin and Amaya going home, but honestly? America failed everyone with their voting. Which leads me to maybe the biggest villain…
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America
The #1 reason why I've had a hard time getting into the US version of this show. New viewers, or just casual fans have no idea what they're doing or what the show is really about and for some reason, they think they can control the game. The task was to vote for your favorite boy and girl in the villa, and somehow, America tried to manipulate the system just to break up couples they didn't care about. Hannah is the biggest victim of this. Not only when Charlie got the axe minutes after they made a true connection, but then getting totally screwed by going into a bottom 3 voted on by America. For all the vitriol everyone spewed about Huda, this was your chance to get rid of her! What, not so tough now? People were calling for CPS to take her kid last week and all of a sudden she's not even on the chopping block? On the opposite side - IRIS! She's been fucking great! How the fuck does she end up down there over Huda? As happy as I am to see Jeremiah leave, Austin clearly had been having a hard time making ANY real connections whatsoever. Total flop on all accounts and hopefully this will open everyones eyes moving forward. Stop thinking of this as a game - yes, theres the game element and you want to make it to the end, however - it needs to be real. The clout chasers should have been weeded out by now, but it seems to me, all America has done is keep most of them around even longer. WE WANT LOVE AND SEX!!!!! Not cliques and power trips.
Love Island Producers
The new Casa Amor format? Awful. Most boring episode of CA I've ever seen. Half of the fun is being forced to think about whether or not your original connections are going to stay trustworthy, or jump at the newest opportunity - its all about temptation! When you take away that level of thinking, sure, it makes it messier. I also think it makes it awkward. Almost as if they're all forced to start at square one, even if they don't want to. I'll reserve too much judgement before I see the rest of Casa Amor and how they all go about reuniting in the villa, but it's not looking good.
All in all, I'm finally seeing the potential for the US - but I'm going to need some true excitement to get me on board for the long haul. Next season, the contestants better come correct.