It’s time for ‘Love Is Blind’ to change its formula

I’m not sure I’ve ever been convinced that Love Is Blind’s blind-date-to-marriage formula truly works, but season 7 of Netflix’s hit reality dating show certainly hasn’t given me any reason to believe it does.

Though I’m not normally one for romantic-tinted reality TV shows, something about the ease of access and the inherent messiness of Love Is Blind drew me in. Granted, I’ve only seen the U.S. and the U.K. versions, despite having heard good things about the show’s other international spinoffs, so other countries may prove me wrong! On the whole, though, what’s kept me coming back for more is the show’s inherently flawed structure. A structure that, after watching season 7, is due for a change.

Getting engaged is easy. Getting married is hard

Love Is Blind’s formula is simple. Get to know someone without seeing them for 10 days, fall in love, get engaged, get your freak on at a beautiful beachfront resort, head back to the real world, and decide if you want to get married. For the viewer, it’s an undeniably fun and fast-paced timeline. For the participants, however, the timeline is way too short.

The looming deadline of an actual wedding, which obviously makes for stellar reality TV, only sets most of these couples up to fail. Sure, love may be blind, but even through a wall, when all there is to do is talk, people can still lie to you. And oh boy, did some of this season’s participants lie (I’m looking at you, Tyler). There’s barely any time for either side to uncover the truth about their potential spouses. Why do they only get a handful of weeks before they have to decide to say “I do?” As season 7 has proven, perhaps more than any other season so far, this only encourages subterfuge.

Sure, the compressed timeline forces the participants to have important conversations that they may have otherwise put off for too long, but, by now, these contestants know how this show works. They know what they can get away with and what they can’t, what looks good for the cameras and what doesn’t, and what we’re left with is a season with more insane drama bombshells than ever before, many of which come flying out of nowhere.

Suddenly, Stephen is swapping fetish content with some random girl. Tyler has kids. Garrett liked a text from his ex. The show doesn’t provide context for any of these insanely dramatic moments, and the viewers are left with whiplash. I can only imagine how the women, in particular, must have felt (though honestly, the men aren’t the only villains this season. Hannah has some serious stuff she needs to work on, too).

The deadline forces these people to either forgive or forget their partner’s flaws—of which, there are often many—without any time to truly think about how those flaws will affect their futures. The shine of Netflix’s quickie wedding formula has worn off. I want these people to get the chance to fall in love for real. This season’s wedding episode (unsurprisingly, there is only one) is premiering on Wednesday, October 23, and I can’t honestly say I think any of these couples will actually get married, or even that they should. Will the pressure of that walk down the aisle get to them, though? I don’t know, and I’m a little afraid to watch. Will Nick realize in time that Hannah actually kind of despises him? Will Marissa be able to see through Ramses’ self-proclaimed progressive charms before she puts on that dress?

If Too Hot To Handle, another one of Netflix’s reality dating shows, can change its formula for its sixth season—for the first time, participants knew what show they were signing up for, and “Bad Lana” was introduced to cause havoc in the villa—then surely, so can Love Is Blind. I don’t think it’s sustainable anymore. Very few of the show’s contestants seem to be in it for the long haul. Just look at Leo and his ill-fated love triangle with Hannah and Brittany. Did he ever actually care about them, or did he just want to go to Mexico? Surely, with all that money he has, he can afford to pay for a vacation.

Though Love Is Blind has had some success stories, like season 1’s Lauren and Cameron or season 4’s Tiffany and Brett (perhaps the only two couples who have genuinely proven that the show’s insane timeline can produce a lasting and more importantly healthy relationship) there have been countless breakups, broken engagements, alter walks, and divorces, too, a trail of destruction so long it’s hard to keep track.

I’m not sure there’s an answer here. Perhaps the couples need to be given a longer engagement. Maybe Love Is Blind should take a look at Too Hot To Handle and not tell the contestants they’re on Love Is Blind at all. Maybe there needs to be a change in the casting process (way too many shady people have gotten through). What if they cut the weddings out entirely? Perhaps, instead of the goal being the wedding, the goal at the end is the engagement. That would certainly make popping the question more meaningful, rather than just being a way to finally see who’s on the other side of that wall.

At the very least, Netflix should offer these people couples therapy. But maybe it’s just time for Love Is Blind to come to an end instead.