REVIEW: ‘Love Is Blind Season 8’ Comes To A Bittersweet End

Love Is Blind Season 8 begins at a slow pace, with not much drama in the pods. Tensions start near the end of the pods when the couples are engaged. But then, the conflicts mostly fizzle out when the couples return to their normal lives outside the pods. There are some moments where the participants could’ve added some fuel to the fire, but everyone in this batch of couples handles impasses with civility. This season proves that finding love, sight unseen, may not be as effective as it used to be.

Most of the drama in Love Is Blind Season 8 comes from miscommunication and less from the cheating aspect of numerous individuals in previous seasons. At first, seeing the couples amicably figure out their initial issues with each other is wholesome. Also, the pod members who don’t find their soulmates end their relationships in the pod without much mess. The main problem with having participants solve problems peacefully, for the most part, is that it doesn’t make for the most exciting reality show.

There are heartwarming moments and endearing moments that are nice to see in a reality series, but Love Is Blind is notorious for its outrageous twists and arguments. This isn’t to say that watching couples get their happy endings is boring, but reality TV thrives on its fights and messy disagreements to significantly bring in the entertainment value. Not to sound cynical, but this season lacked any real, juicy meat to keep audiences talking about it at the water cooler.

Strangely enough, Love Is Blind Season 8 narrows its main cast fairly quickly. Typically, there’s a good focus of at least a dozen individuals in the pods, but the others get some moments, too. The issue with the pods this season is that there are more participants than ever, and there’s very little variety of cast focuses.

Love is Blind Season 8 was supposed to be the biggest season yet.

This was supposed to be the biggest season yet, but it also means that some people got overshadowed. If audiences don’t look at articles showing the full roster of pod members, they will never know about those who get a quick glimpse in the background. Some pod members remained friends with some of the couples who made it out of the pods, such as Mason, Meg, Alex, Molly, and Madison. All of them appear in the reunion.

Love Is Blind Season 8 reveals that the formula for the series doesn’t work with the way audiences and the participants understand the show’s premise. In the past couple of seasons, group parties with the pod members and the reunion address how people are different off-camera than on-camera. This makes it difficult for the editors who begin to look for tense moments where there aren’t any to begin with. Also, this is tough as a viewer who sees the participants and doesn’t get to see the couples’ supposed true selves when the cameras are off.

The Minneapolis locals chosen for Love Is Blind Season 8 are very aware of the style of this show and the burdens that come with it. David/Dave consistently reiterates how much his sister’s opinion of his partner matters to him, even though the audience never sees her. His family is hesitant to be involved with being on-screen on the show and never appears on camera. Ultimately, Dave walks away from Lauren due to some trust concerns on his part. This adds some spice after the pods, but like this season’s trend, it’s done without an overblown argument.

By the end of this season, only one couple goes through with their marriage: Daniel and Taylor. Even though they start life outside of the pods on a rocky start, they make it work. They embrace each other’s differences and nurture their bond with their similarities. They’re also the only two Christmas fanatics of the many Christmas-obsessed pod members this season who find their happy ending.

Love Is Blind Season 8 suffers when the cast never feels authentic.

Arguably, the experiment could’ve worked for Joey and Monica, Devin and Virginia, and Ben and Sara, too. However, one or both people could not say, “I do” at the altar. It is shocking that some of these pairings didn’t go through with it based on how happy they are portrayed. Ultimately, the reasons everyone gave at the altar made sense. But again, the results of this social experiment are unpredictable for the viewer to guess who will actually get married at the end because there are a lot of conversations and activities happening off-camera.

Surprisingly, this is one of the longest episodes to cover the wedding portions across the whole series, with a massive runtime of 104 minutes. This is understandable as it has four weddings to showcase. At the end of the day, some people couldn’t go through with it due to one or a couple of reasons, such as family, misaligned views and values, and/or not being ready for the next step.

The saving grace for the entertainment value of this season is the reunion. It’s a major one, bringing back numerous pod members of Love Is Blind Season 8 and some other special guests like Love Is Blind alum AD, who’s now married to Love Is Blind UK’s Ollie.

One of the best things said during the reunion show came from Dave, who mentioned how social media and the participants’ friends and colleagues should take the experiment seriously and treat the participants ethically like normal human beings. He addresses how the internet and friends of those on the show should not be as hateful or manipulate information about the pod members. In Dave’s case, the outside criticism and inaccurate information affected his decision to break off his engagement with Lauren.

What began with a series of lots of downs in Love Is Blind Season 8 also had its highs. At least one couple found their happily ever after through this unique experience. Although this was another season with only one couple getting married, it does feel more genuine than some of the previous seasons. It’s great when people know their worth and trust their intuitions to know whether they have found their perfect match.

Unfortunately, the season felt like a slog to watch since there wasn’t much tension on-screen for there to be anything to refute what happened off-screen. Going forward, the series needs to find a better throughline of participants who can be as honest as they can be when the cameras are on as much as they are when the cameras are off. It’s a tough ask, but past seasons worked better because of this. While the reunion of Love Is Blind Season 8 is worth it, the beginning and middle bits were a tad bit slow-paced.

Love Is Blind Season 8 is streaming now, exclusively on Netflix.