Why Season 6 of Love Island USA Was Top Tier Reality TV
** WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Love Island US Season 6**
I am a lover of pretty much all reality tv franchises, especially those in the dating subgenre. I’ve seen too many of the bachelor / bachelorette seasons to count, all of Love Island UK and Australia, Vanderpump Rules, Summer House, Real Housewives, Fboy Island, Perfect Match…. you get the gist.
I am a reality TV connoisseur, if you will.
And up until this summer, I was still pining for the old days of Love Island UK, where everything was a bit messier, the people didn’t all look the same, and there were more successful relationships to come out of the franchise (I mean, if you don’t know love Olivia & Alex from Season 2, you’re missing out).
And then earlier in June, I began the most recent season of Love Island US (season 6), alongside UK season 11. I went into Love Island US not expecting much—I mean, so far from what I’ve seen, I think that the bar for Love Island US is low. The seasons haven’t been that fun, the casting has been a little lackluster (apart from my faves Cely and Justine), and truly not many of the seasons have been that interesting or memorable.
So I went into it feeling like this would probably be the same as always, with UK Love Island inevitably surpassing the US in drama and casting.
But man, was I surprisingly wrong. Slowly but surely, I found myself starting to convince my girlfriends to switch over to Love Island US and abandon UK (this season of UK has it’s own problems, which I will get into at another time). But eventually, I got my girls to join me on the increasingly chaotic season 6 Love Island US journey with me. And boy, let me tell you, nobody was disappointed.
At the peak of the season, I was in 4 separate group chats with different combinations of friends all based on what episode people were on.
I could write a dissertation on what made Love Island US season 6 the best season of reality tv I’ve seen in years. But without writing an entire novel, here’s what stood out to me about the season:
The challenges! Finally, the producers created new, fun challenges (and very intricate sets / props) that stirred up the kind of chaos needed to shake up the villa on the daily. The UK has all but done away with challenges at this point, and I think this is a mistake! Challenges give the islanders time to bond, a break from talking about (and stewing on) their feelings all day, and, most importantly, an opportunity to make the most chaotic decisions.
And speaking of challenges… the chaos! the early ones where we saw Kaylor and Hannah kissing boys other than their partners *just because* was peak content if you ask me. It shook things up so nobody was locked into a couple on day one, and since you’re basically at adult summer camp, if you don’t kiss everyone at least once, are you even doing it right?
The host! As a lover of the Bravo-verse, I am of course a team Ariana girlie. But beyond just wanting to see good things for Ari, I thought she absolutely CRUSHED hosting. While I liked Sarah Hyland as the host in years past, what I loved about Ariana as the host was how her obsession with the love island franchise shined through—she’s obviously so stoked to be there which is fun to watch. Beyond that, given all that she went through with Scandoval, it’s obvious she doesn’t take shit from anyone, including the boys in the villa. I will never get over the Casa recoupling when she said to Aaron when he was trying to avoid being chewed out by Kaylor: “I’ve got all time in the world.” A+. No Notes.
We had personalities to root for—queen JaNa, for starters. We got some incredible women on this cast who had each other’s backs. Though it wasn’t the perfect sisterhood the entire time, for the most part, the girls seem to make genuine friendships, tried not to take themselves too seriously when it all came down to it. Seeing Leah, Serena, and JaNa lift each other up and root for each other’s journeys so hard was really sweet to watch. Peak girlhood.
We had love stories to root for! I can’t talk enough about how much I freaking adore Kordell and Serena. (Cheez-Itz, if you don’t give Kordell a sponsorship deal, this would be a missed opportunity). I also came to absolutely love Kenny and JaNa. Kenny was such a prince, and was so emotionally aware in a way I haven’t seen a lot on this show. His recoupling speech for JaNa literally brought tears to my eyes. This season really gave us some sweet love stories, beautiful dates, and genuinely great matches. And while I love the drama as much as the next person, it’s so great to see well-matched couples come out of it.
On the other hand, we also had a fair share of polarizing people. While a lot of the internet seems to really dislike him, I found myself to be a bit of a Rob apologist. I loved him in the previous season as a Casa boy, and I knew I was going to be a sucker for his charm. And despite all the hate online, I honestly think that the boy tried his best to navigate situations carefully while trying to minimize hurt feelings. Was he perfect? Definitely not. But I also felt like he wasn’t exactly like a lot of other Fboys on this show. When he knew he was leading someone on, he would put a stop to it. He didn’t mess with girls’ feelings just for the sake of it, or take ages flip-flopping and stringing people along. He also tried to let go of grudges when he could. I loved the level of pure human-ness he added to this season. I mean haven’t we all had moments where we wished we could hide under a dock to avoid conflict?
And, well, I can’t talk about Rob without mentioning our most villain-y villain in many seasons, Aaron. After so many years of Love Island I truly haven’t seen a case like his in a while. As soon as we knew he had the option to go to Casa or stay behind, I knew we were in for some questionable decision-making on his end. Sigh. What really got me about the betrayal from Aaron was the immediate intimacy he had with Daniela. Within an hour of getting to casa he seemed so comfortable heavily flirting with her, and it was clear Kaylor couldn’t be further from his mind. The little kisses he shared with Daniela in bed, holding hands, snuggling, and all of the sexual innuendos really struck me as wildly inappropriate if you’re trying to close things off with Kaylor eventually. And what really got me was that didn’t come crawling back to her apologizing like he should have. He only seemed to realize he had messed up when he realized she had seen footage from Casa. And from there he was just immediatley full of excuses, taking the most minimal accountability. And I didn’t expect anything less. And as much as I wanted to be mad at Kaylor for forgiving so quickly, I can’t pretend I haven’t been fooled by charming and extremely selfish dudes before. I see you girl. Here’s hoping Kaylor sees the light sooner than later.
Lastly, even more important than a good villain, we had character growth! Leah’s journey this season was one I didn’t really see coming. I went from really being a Leah hater at the beginning to being one of her biggest fans. At the start, I thought she really wasn’t a girls’ girl in the slightest. The snarky and cuttung asides about Rob crying giving her the ick were so cruel and something I didn’t expect her to come back from. And yet… watching her take complete ownership of her behavior at movie night made me totally change my tune. I respected her being able to face Rob after that and just take accountability for what she said out of anger, it was one of the most nuanced moments I have seen on the show. And while I think Leah is perfect for reality tv because of her chaotic decision-making and love for slightly toxic men, she is also someone who is bumbling through life like the rest of us, and is able to show authenticity in a really honest way. It was very a refreshing thing to see on Love Island. And honestly, what is reality tv for if not for us to see a little of ourselves in the people on our screens?
I have definitely been having withdrawls from this summer of fantastic and non-stop reality tv. And I am even more excite that we’ll be getting the first ever Love Island reunion on August 19th. I still have so many outstanding questions— it seems like there’s been drama / a possible breakup between Kendall and Nicole. Kendall seems to be enmeshed in some pretty difficult stuff online. From what I’m gathering, it seems that Kaylor and Aaron maybe called it quits but it’s not clear what happened there. Cheers to the reunion and may it be just as messy and memorable as the rest of the season.