The supposed-to-be live reunion special still provided the much anticipated drama despite technical troubles.
What was supposed to be Netflix’s second live event, the reunion for the fourth season of “Love Is Blind” aired a day later due to technical issues. Despite the delay, the reunion left no stone unturned as the hour-and-a-half special tackled all of the drama and controversies of the season. Here are the five takeaways from the reunion special:
The Love Triangles Carried Most of The Drama
A main topic of discussion was the three love triangles. One love triangle features Kwame Appiah, Chelsea Griffin, and Micah Lussier. During the season, Kwame was torn between the two women, but Micah eventually broke off the relationship during their time in the pods. Kwame and Chelsea made it to the altar and they are still together to this day.
In a never-before-seen clip, played during the reunion, Chelsea and Micah have a conversation about an inappropriate joke made during a pool party with all of the couples. As Kwame, Micah, and a couple of others gathered for a round of drinks, Micah jokingly makes a toast to her and Kwame's breakup.
“To a failed proposal.” – Micah Lussier
The joke was clearly aimed at the couple’s breakup, which upset both Kwame and Chelsea. Also, Micah and Kwame had a lengthy poolside conversation that made Chelsea uncomfortable. The unaired conversation between Chelsea and Micah ended in an understanding where both seem to move on from the situation. Though, host Vanessa Lachey pointed out a statement from Chelsea during the conversation.
“You said you were going to break up with him. He told me he was going to break up with you,” Chelsea said.
Kwame explains that their breakup was a long time coming. For one, they had a couple of dates that ended early. He went as far as writing a breakup letter in his notebook. He also apologized to Chelsea and her family for allowing the entire situation to go as far as it did.
Another love trio featured Bliss Poureetezadi, Zack Goytowski, and Irina Solomonova. Throughout their segment of the reunion, Bliss called out Irina for her treatment of Zack.
“He told me every little detail. I was prepared to see it, but I wasn’t…I was very shocked, honestly, and I was super disappointed,” Bliss said. “I just really hope that you grow from this. It’s just sad to see someone so wonderful be treated so poorly.”
Another point of contention was when Zack and Irina broke up during the couple’s retreat in Mexico. During the breakup, Irina said she was ready to leave Zack the moment she saw him. She explains that it had nothing to do with looks, rather it was a gut instinct.
“I felt that when I saw Zach, it was an instant [discomfort],” she explained. “It didn’t feel comfortable.”
According to Irina, producers told her to still go to Mexico and tell Zack in-person. She went to Mexico with Zack and waited to see if her feelings would change. She also claims that she felt trapped in the fact that she couldn’t tell Zack her true feelings.
Interestingly enough, she managed to express those feelings in a direct message on social media to Bliss. Irina told Bliss that she dodged a bullet – a reference to Zack choosing Irina over Bliss during the height of their love triangle. Irina and Zack were still together at that point.
However, according to Bliss, Irina told Zack to work things out with Bliss.
Speaking of the love triangles, the last one features Jackelina Bonds, Marshall Glaze, and Josh Demas. Perhaps, this one is the messiest of them all.
Jackie dated both men in the pods, but ultimately settled down with Marshall. During the season, Jackie failed to show at the dress fitting while Marshall still showed up for his suit fitting. She ended up on a coffee shop date with Josh, instead. Neither she or Josh showed up to the reunion, though, they were interviewed on Zoom by co-host Vanessa Lachey.
Marshall Handled the Allegations the Best He Could: With Grace
During that interview, Jackie claims that she and Marshall were broken up before the fitting and before she went on that date. The last straw for Jackie was when Marshall allegedly called her a derogatory term when they were signing their marriage certificate.
She also alleges that Marshall asked for the ring back in order to propose to another woman from the show. Josh chimes in regarding this other woman from the show, saying that she and Marshall broke up two weeks after filming ended.
Jackie also spoke to her and Marshall’s breakup and ring situation on social media.
Once the interview was shown at the reunion, Marshall didn’t have much to say at first.
“I think that a lot of people want me to be reactionary. And, I think it’s just best to let them have their moment,” Marshall said.
He admits that it’s hard to tackle everything in a three-minute video, especially after seeing it only once. With Vanessa Lachey’s "help," he tackled all of Jackie's allegations. When he was meeting her family, she was alleging that he may secretly be gay. She had secretly suspected this in leaked text messages to her friends, which one of her friends leaked to social media after the season ended.
Marshall quips that she had a strong jawline, so she could have previously been a man. He admits that the response wasn’t appropriate, and that the joke went too far. Though, he denies calling Jackie a derogatory term.
Regarding the ring, Marshall said that he wanted it back because it was a symbol of his love, and he felt she didn’t deserve to have that special symbol. It had nothing to do with the other woman he dated, whose name is Kacia. They had a connection in the pods, and it obviously fizzled out. He only went on one date with Kacia.
Marshall gives a monologue to Jackie, saying that they both deserve to move on from the entire situation. He also stated how he felt slighted on two occasions, once at the altar and another at the reunion.
Zack Was the Voice of Reason, Especially Towards Micah and Irina
For starters, Zack Goytowski alleged that Irina Solomonova didn’t take the relationship seriously. Irina disagrees with the sentiment, stating that there’s a reason she chose him. She asserts that he was the best guy that she met on the show, and that she came with intention while staying true to herself.
Though, the drama with Irina didn’t end there. She was called out for her mean girl ways, alongside her right-hand-woman, Micah Lussier. Following Bliss calling her out, Zack came in with how Irina did more than what the camera could capture.
“You did a lot of things that hurt a lot of people including me. And, I mean, you see 10 percent of it on the camera,” Zack said. “There was so much that happened that was just unbelievable. If we’re real, you went on the show to get famous.”
After exclamations, laughter, and slight cheers from the crowd, Zack proceeded to say he forgave Irina for her actions. He explains that the whole entire cast has done stupid or ridiculous that the viewers will get on them for.
“Everybody who made a mistake on the show, it has been punishment enough for the entire world to see them at their worst,” he said.
Throughout that speech of forgiveness, he notes that he had receipts, which he posted to Instagram. The post features the story of his relationship with his mother, who was an alcoholic and later died. He ends his speech to Irina by stating his forgiveness and hopes for the rest of the world to do the same.
When it came to Paul Peden’s relationship with Micah Lussier, it didn’t end well as PEden was the one to say no at the altar. One reason that he gave was he didn’t see Micah as mother material.
“I think it’s very possible that the reason why I couldn’t see that in her was that I wasn’t inspiring that in her,” Peden said. “You know she didn’t feel comfortable showing that side of her.”
As Vanessa extensively questioned Peden on his statement, Zack whispered something in his ear. When asked about his opinion and why he whispered in Peden’s ear, he said:
“What I whispered to Paul was, what was happening behind cameras is not what you’re seeing.”
He further explains that Micah’s words behind closed doors don’t match the one she says publicly. He alleged that people told him that she didn’t want to marry Peden in the first place. Also, she never truly defended Peden and Zack claims that she’s out to make Peden look bad.
Micah denies the allegations, and she notes that people shouldn’t believe the official edit of the show. Bliss clarifies Zack’s words, saying that there are situations that happen beyond what the cameras can capture.
“There have been women that told me that in the conversations they had with her, very rarely did she ever mention actually getting married to Paul,” Zack said.
Lacheys Were Lackluster Hosts, Social Media Calls for the Hamiltons as Possible Replacements
Throughout the reunion special, the Lacheys didn’t live up to their hosting duties. There were moments that some people on the cast didn't face as much heat as they should have.
In one instance, Vanessa’s interview with Josh and Jackie was too focused on Jackie's allegations. Not once, as far as what was included in the final edit, did Vanessa ask about the leaked texts. Not asking about those texts didn’t allow Jackie to explain her suspicions.
Another moment was when she was questioning Paul on Micah’s behalf. It easily came off that Vanessa was Micah’s mouthpiece and it appeared biased. At the end of the questioning, Vanessa turns to Micah and asks if everything Paul said made sense or if she was just as confused as herself.
“Is that making sense and settling with you, or are you as confused as I am?” – Vanessa Lachey
Even though that received some laughter from the audience, Vanessa seems to be steering the conversation in favor of Micah. Not only that, social media users point out how she reacted to Marshall when he said he didn’t remember everything from Jackie and Josh’s interview.
Many social media users called for the Lacheys to be replaced by the longtime couple of the first season of “Love Is Blind,” Cameron Hamilton and Lauren Speed-Hamilton. A TikTok user went as far as making a compilation of Vanessa’s not-so-good moments during the reunion.
As far as Nick Lachey, he didn’t have much of a voice. He essentially faded into the background and Vanessa took the wheel.
Netflix Didn't Have the Capacity to Handle Huge Live Audiences Due to Unseen Bug
According to Netflix’s co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, more than 6.5 million people tuned into the delayed reunion. Due to technical issues, the reunion special became available 19 hours after it was meant to stream live.
During a prerecorded Q1 earnings interview on April 18, Sarandos explained what went wrong.
“We’ve got the infrastructure. We had just a bug that we introduced, actually, when we implemented some changes to try to improve live-streaming performance after the last live broadcast, Chris Rock[‘s ‘Selective Outrage’] in March,” Sarandos said. “We just didn’t see this bug in internal testing because it only became apparent once we put multiple systems interacting with each other under the load of millions of people trying to watch ‘Love Is Blind’.”
The reunion marked the streaming service’s second live event after Chris Rock’s comedy special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage.” The comedy special reached no. 8 on Netflix’s Top 10 list within its first week.
Netflix is also set to stream the SAG Awards live next year via its YouTube channel.
Comentários