Love Is Blind<\/a><\/p>\nWeek 1 (Episodes 1-5)<\/p>\n
\n Season 11<\/p>\n
Episodes 1 – 5\n <\/p>\n
\n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n
3 stars<\/p>\n
***\n <\/p>\n
\n This season\u2019s Bostonians are mostly white-collar professionals in their 30s who already seem pretty burnt out from dating in the pods.
\n Photo: Netflix\n <\/p>\n
Have you ever wondered aloud who pulled off the greater comeback, the 2017 Patriots or the son of God himself, Jesus Christ? No? Then unfortunately, your application for Love Is Blind: Boston has been denied.<\/p>\n
Love Is Blind is back for its 11th season \u2014 and that\u2019s not even counting spinoffs across the U.K., Mexico, Japan, and many more. At this point in the franchise, the \u201cexperiment\u201d that was introduced in season one \u2014 can you fall in love purely through an emotional connection \u2014 has enough data. The answer is no, unless you are either so desperate to be married that your only remaining criteria is a pulse, or the person on the other side of the wall happens to also be your type.<\/p>\n
That said, given how far we\u2019ve plummeted to this bleak nadir of modern dating, can you blame these burnt-out Bostonians for trying? Our newest crop of delusionals is mostly white-collar professionals in their 30s with a surprisingly low level of Boston pride. I was expecting a lot more bonding over the beautiful history of Fenway Park and flirty arguments about where to get the best cannoli in the North End, but they\u2019re all kind of like, \u201cEh, the bars are lame.\u201d<\/p>\n
As relationships form in the pods, many of the most made-for-TV personalities were either weeded out or self-eliminated, leaving us with a lackluster cast heading into the IRL portion of the season. Every relationship we\u2019re exploring sort of feels like a couple that\u2019s been on four decent Hinge dates and is talking themselves into a fifth, even though they know in their heart of hearts that this isn\u2019t their person.<\/p>\n
Maybe I\u2019ll be proven wrong, and this first batch of episodes is like a Dune: Part One situation, giving us all of the foundational context we need for an absolutely explosive second act. But while we wait for Florence Pugh to enter the chat, let\u2019s recap whom we\u2019ll be gossiping about for the next four weeks.<\/p>\n
The breakout star of Love Is Blind season 11 left us too soon. Morrey, a 31-year-old cornhole entrepreneur and bouncer, is the heart and soul of the pods. He quotes The Town, has a surprising amount of Taylor Swift ball knowledge, and harbors a burning hatred for preppy dudes who wear pastel polos and sandals to the grocery store.<\/p>\n
Benita, a 29-year-old Albanian insurance agent who looks like she got lost on the way to the Selling Sunset casting call, becomes quickly infatuated with Morrey, but he shuts her down because he doesn\u2019t want to be \u201clove-bombed.\u201d I don\u2019t think he really knows what being \u201clove-bombed\u201d means; all she does is express that she can see herself having a strong connection with him, which, yes, is a little jarring after 48 hours, but you have to know that that\u2019s pretty much par for the course on a dating show. I mean, The Bachelor universe pioneered the \u201cI think I can imagine a world where I could see myself falling for you\u201d pipeline more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n
After labeling Benita a stage-five clinger, Morrey refocuses his attention on Sarah, a 33-year-old health-care manager and bartender. She has some deep talks with him about where he learned his ideas about masculinity but ultimately has the wherewithal to know that the guy who thinks Remember the Titans could solve racism if it were screened at freshman orientations probably isn\u2019t her husband.<\/p>\n
When Sarah meets John, a 31-year-old account manager who unironically loves the Fray, she\u2019s charmed, though I can\u2019t see why. He\u2019s insecure and named his dog after a manga. She has to use gentle parenting to explain to him why the COVID vaccine isn\u2019t bad, and that women don\u2019t get abortions when they\u2019re six months pregnant because they \u201cdidn\u2019t get around to it,\u201d as if it\u2019s the same as forgetting to pick up a loaf of bread from the store.<\/p>\n
Their most vulnerable conversation surrounds his recent MS diagnosis. He wants to give her a heads-up about what she might be getting into, but she says the information doesn\u2019t change anything on her end. John gets Sarah a stuffed lemur and tells her he wants to fulfill his dream of going to Madagascar with her \u2014 we then get a quick cut to their proposal scene, so I guess Zoboomafu was enough to seal the deal for her. When they finally meet face-to-face, John tells Sarah she\u2019s beautiful, and Sarah tells John, \u201cThat\u2019s a nice suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah & John\u2019s Odds: +100. John has the personality of a wet noodle, but so long as he\u2019s not secretly a manosphere sicko, Sarah might be emotionally defeated enough to shrug and ride it out.<\/p>\n
Blake, a 36-year-old yacht captain who describes himself as \u201ccomically broke,\u201d finds himself in a power position in the pods. He\u2019s somehow earned the affection of both Benita and Erika, a 35-year-old marketing director with a fuck-ass bob that has her destined for a decade-long PTA dictatorship.<\/p>\n
Blake\u2019s lifestyle requires a partner who is willing to be left alone for weeks on end while he manages a yacht for rich White Lotus couples in Croatia. This doesn\u2019t seem to scare Benita at all, but it\u2019s pretty obvious that this puts a bit of a wrinkle in Erika\u2019s visions of a Cambridge brownstone and farmers\u2019 market Saturdays.<\/p>\n
Benita confides in Blake about her deeply traumatic childhood, where she and her family had five minutes to flee their home in Kosovo before it was burned down by the Serbian army during the Balkan war. In turn, he opens up to her about the darkest period in his life, when his mother had a stroke.<\/p>\n
Part of what makes Benita so compelling is how direct she is \u2014 she pushes Blake to make an action plan for his life goals, versus letting him off the hook with a \u201cwe\u2019ll see.\u201d Initially, Blake is drawn to this and thinks she\u2019s a \u201cbad bitch,\u201d but he ultimately decides choosing Benita would be choosing to \u201cmarry a battle axe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erika, conversely, is easier to deal with. She\u2019s more passive and trades her legitimate concerns about what life with Blake and his boat would genuinely look like for the high of feeling chosen and accepts his proposal.<\/p>\n
Blake & Erika\u2019s Odds: +600. It\u2019s obvious to the viewer that Blake had better compatibility with Benita, but was too scared of being challenged to pursue her further. Erika\u2019s brain is still addled by the Pod Fog, and her feelings for Blake will likely sour once she has access to fresh air and the sun.<\/p>\n
Rob, a 38-year-old sales guy, is faced with the age-old dilemma of choosing between a hot nanny who is 11 years younger than you and an age-appropriate woman you could build a real future with.<\/p>\n
When Michaella, a 33-year-old retail consultant, asks Rob what he\u2019s currently most excited about outside of participating in the show, he immediately answers with his career. When he asks her what she does for work, she passionately explains that she\u2019s a VP for a women\u2019s boutique, which is her dream job. This is a huge red flag for him, because a woman who loves her career won\u2019t be a good mother to his future children. He writes \u201cDUD!\u201d next to her name and later mocks her for giving him her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 two minutes into meeting him (omitting the fact that he asked).<\/p>\n
Diana, 28, is someone Rob can \u201chelp guide.\u201d Because your husband should totally be your mentor, that\u2019s a very healthy power dynamic! They connect over a shared love of Frank Sinatra and not much else. Rob confides in one of his pod bros that he assumes Diana is hotter but that Michaella has more depth.<\/p>\n
He opts for the deeper emotional connection (brave!) and proposes to Michaella. In our early peek into their Mexico retreat, it\u2019s apparent that his insecurities about her success are far from buried, but Michaella doesn\u2019t seem to notice. She says in her confessional, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t feel like he\u2019s my fianc\u00e9; he feels like he\u2019s my husband,\u201d which tells us that she is fully brainwashed, and someone needs to call in Leah Remini.<\/p>\n
Rob & Michaella\u2019s Odds: +300. I have a sneaking suspicion that at the Pod Squad meetup, a.k.a. the messiest episode of the season, Rob is gonna get a little too cozy with Diana at the firepit, and it\u2019ll be curtains for these two.<\/p>\n
Once again, a rizzless man is empowered to choose between two attractive women. Cam is a 28-year-old HR coordinator whose defining trait is his passion for puns, which, miraculously, doesn\u2019t turn off either Aneha, a 27-year-old biotech engineer, or Malaine, a 31-year-old portfolio analyst. Aneha and Malaine are pod besties, but because this season is insistently boring, they have zero beef over thirsting over the same dud(e).<\/p>\n
Cam and Malaine bond over how cancer has impacted their lives \u2014 both Cam\u2019s mom and Malaine are breast-cancer survivors. There\u2019s minimal chemistry, and they seem like they have more of a friend connection than a romantic spark. When Cam tells her he\u2019s choosing Aneha, she respects the decision and exits the experiment.<\/p>\n
After grinding to Akon during their belly dancing date, Cam and Aneha find common ground around growing up in low-income families when their parents lost their jobs. But the core tenets of Aneha and Cam\u2019s relationship feel vague. He\u2019s apparently everything that she\u2019s looking for, but it\u2019s unclear what exactly that is. Like, that he has a job and is also open to having kids?<\/p>\n
Cam and Aneha\u2019s reveal is one for the books. After the obligatory awkward embrace, Aneha looks straight at the bench where the couples usually sit and half-heartedly reassures each other how attractive they think the other is, and asks, \u201cIs that the bench?\u201d No, Aneha, it\u2019s a Toaster Strudel. Cam then makes her do her Mickey Mouse and Obama impressions, which is just so mean, considering they both know it\u2019s definitely going to make it to air. When she decides she\u2019s done with the conversation, she says \u201cUppy!\u201d in a disturbing baby voice, and I\u2019m 90 percent sure Cam gets the ick.<\/p>\n
Cam & Aneha\u2019s Odds: +400. After all of that \u201cYou\u2019re my person\u201d talk, it turns out Cam isn\u2019t the type that Aneha usually goes for. She tells him she wants him to get an earring and a \u201cfuckboy haircut,\u201d but I don\u2019t think a stud or a fade can save this simulacrum of an engagement.<\/p>\n
Wilson, a 33-year-old compliance manager, and Wilnie, a 31-year-old mental-health counselor, are probably the only two contestants who aren\u2019t acting a fool, but as a result, they make for incredibly boring television. They\u2019re on the same page about important issues, like both wanting to adopt kids, and they do a lot of \u201cmommy\u201d and \u201cdaddy\u201d talk in the pods. There\u2019s a period where Wilson is also dating Malaine, but she quits, so Wilnie wins Wilson by default. Romantic!<\/p>\n
Wilson is the first Black man Wilnie has ever been in a relationship with \u2014 she normally opts for \u201cgrungy white men with beards\u201d \u2014 but she says he\u2019s 100 percent her type. In Mexico, they actually seem comfortable and excited to be near each other, instead of acting like two freaked-out rescue cats that have just been introduced in your studio apartment.<\/p>\n
Wilson & Wilnie\u2019s Odds: -500. If Wilson can get past the fact that Wilnie leaves her outdoor clothes on the bed, they seem poised to start a beautifully basic life full of CBS shows and bar trivia. This could be our winner.<\/p>\n
If \u201chere for the wrong reasons\u201d had a mascot, it would be Stew, a 32-year-old product-design engineer, and Jax, a 29-year-old skin-care entrepreneur.<\/p>\n
Stew\u2019s a rich guy who cares a lot that you know he\u2019s rich \u2026 which makes me wonder if he\u2019s actually rich. Wealth whispers! He is a Gaston defender and gets a half-chub whenever his pod bros call him Kennedy. Jax has a greyhound with its own wardrobe that\u2019s probably worth more than my entire closet and is worried about only having her personality to lean on in the experiment \u2014 a hot girl\u2019s lament.<\/p>\n
The duo explores a surface-level connection, and they think that they both have \u201cexceptional taste\u201d because they like off-white instead of white and espresso instead of black. The deepest they ever get is when she reveals that the reason she falls asleep to Family Guy every night is that it was the favorite show of a kid with special needs that she was family friends with growing up.<\/p>\n
Stew proposes to Jax basically for the bit \u2014 he describes his process as \u201ca cat playing with a mouse before it kills it,\u201d and she groans for him to \u201cget this over with.\u201d At the reveal, he thinks she\u2019s so hot that the casting department deserves a raise, but she\u2019s majorly triggered. She says he looks more like Mitt Romney than a Kennedy, and as soon as they retreat to their separate prison cells, she tells the producers she wants to leave immediately. She won\u2019t even leave him with her number.<\/p>\n
Stew, to his credit, handles this news well, probably because he never cared about Jax to begin with. He\u2019ll be back sorting his linens by shades of beige and undertipping servers in no time.<\/p>\n
Stew & Jax\u2019s Odds: +1000. Just when we thought it was over, we end the first batch of episodes on a cliffhanger: Stew and Jax meeting up at a steakhouse. I can\u2019t see a world where they reconcile, but at least we\u2019ll get one more slice of douchebaggery for the road.<\/p>\n
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