So a few weeks ago, I asked Sarah to watch Love is blind and she did her homework and watch the entire second season and like one afternoon, I don't know how she did that blows my mind. But before she could come and share her candid thoughts on it, we actually had Danielle rule from the second season on our show, to talk about her experience as a participant. If you haven't listened to that already, please go back and do so. But now finally, we have Sarah's very candid thoughts, feelings and pod-pinions on lover is blind. I am so ready to hear what she thought about one of my favourite shows. I'm Alisha Rai. And I'm Sarah Wendell. Welcome to lovestruck daily, where we bring you love stories each and every weekday
with God I'm in love with you, Alicia, Hi, Sarah. between the hours of three and eight, I watched Season Two of love is blind.
I do not understand how you cram that into five hours. But
I will tell you Okay, first, there was a moment when I was watching the reunion show where I was on my loveseat and I was curled up in a little bowl, I was an entire body of cringe. I now have nine pack abs from the cringe. This is how much credit we're talking about. But the secret to mainlining reality TV quickly, especially if you're doing it for your podcast with your friend is. First you watch it at 1.5 speed because if you're filming reality TV, obviously you're going to talk slowly, you're thinking about what you're saying. So they talk slowly. 1.5 speed is not a problem. But the other thing about reality TV, and also soap operas, is that there are a lot of dramatic action shots. If you're watching, you can just scroll Okay, they're looking they're posing, they're crashing, they're crying. Okay, hope they're talking now. I can watch again. Oh, wow. Yeah. So I watched the whole thing. I have some I have some questions.
Yes. And I'm sure you have some thoughts.
I have some thoughts. Yes. The first question I have is, can you predict how soon after the start of each episode, my stomach started to hurt.
I assume within the first 30 seconds if I know you well enough. So
I did a mathematical average. And for each episode, eat and I'm watching fast. I'm skipping past all the dramatic crying shots. Sure. But generally speaking, it was two minutes, 12 seconds before my stomach started. On average. Okay, on average, I made it all the way to five minutes. But there's always a moment when TENSE MUSIC PLAYS and I'm like, Oh, well, here we go. But here are the top four things that I noticed. And then I have questions. And then I have a business plan. Okay, are you ready? Wow. Okay, I'm not messing around here. I took this
very seriously. Okay. All right, let's go.
We're understanding that all of this is an edited narrative. Shane Shane in the edit is gross. And I'm not sure of how much of Shane's emotional connection to someone was someone stroking his ego and making it easy for him to interrupt them? How much did his emotional progression in this edit rests on the idea that he had someone to interrupt and talk over? Interesting, he doesn't do well in a room by himself. No, he
doesn't. He doesn't shake,
edited and unedited is repulsive. And the thing that killed me that had me curled up in a little ball during the reunion was how much my heart hurt knowing that Deepti was watching all of the footage of the show that she wasn't part of where he was talking about her and when he was talking to camera, and then he would not stop talking in the reunion and I was like you are probably is this an act? In the reunion? There are many, many times when everyone tries to get him to stop talking and he won't. Larry hilarious, like, wow, yeah, self awareness is not in his skill set. But no, at one point, he says something about she is the goddess and I am the villain for your entertainment. And somebody in the captioning and I think it's Nicholas che says, Man, are you okay? Yeah. And I'm like, Wow, that guy is not okay. Also the fact that he decided that the best move for him was to hit on Nicholas Shea's wife in front of him to hit on Vanessa.
A lot of a lot of issues going on with this guy. Yeah,
this must have been incredible. When you were watching the episode by episode.
It was quite incredible. And I mean, I mentioned it last time to like brought up some feelings for me that were beyond I think a reality show because I recognise so much of his be havior in men that I've been out with and that I do, I cannot imagine. So it was, you know, like that low level, I don't think it was low level high level home of like, internalised racism, like, you know, misogyny, like it was all so blatant. And so over the top that it was just like, wow, nobody can actually be like this. And then I thought about it for a minute. I was like, Oh, actually, I know men who are like this. So it's nothing, nothing too new, but to see it so hugely displayed. And one thing that I thought was interesting was that they all said and they all agreed that what we saw was like a sanitised version of the things he said about the IV D. I cannot imagine what sort of things and I, you know, I
said to my friend, I was like, why would they
edit him to make him better, though, because that's not usually usual reality show, no tactic, like, if he's going to say something so out of pocket and wild, they will usually show it. And so I realised, and our final conclusion was that the idea of the whole show is that they want the ending to be a surprise. So I'm guessing if he said something truly outrageously racist, or cruel, they had to edit it down to something that would be something that she would forgive and that they might actually make a relationship out of. And I think that's actually kind of unfair. I do want, like, if this is who he is, let everybody see it. So I think it's a little silly that they edit him.
I agree. I agree. Yeah. And if he went on the show, deliberately performing villainy, he chose a truly stereotypically gross way of doing it. He was, he was manufacturing so much of the worst of masculine performance in between. And the best part is that he and Shane are cut from very similar moulds, and they're performing
Yeah, they're like two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways. And even at the end, Shane is
like i He was like, leading away from him on the couch, like, I don't want to, I stopped teaching
now, like shake touched him at one point, he's like, Don't touch me.
Now, one thing that I absolutely loved, was watching people in the course of the show. So as they start talking, individuals who had connections, their language would shift, and I don't mean just code switching into different different forms of language, but actually developing their own intimate language between them, where they had things they would say to each other all the time, and they had private jokes. And the minute they started making private jokes, and the audience was in on it, I was like, Okay, if you're planning that, that's brilliant, too. How subtle is that development of intimacy when you have these over the top people performing really awful behaviour. You also have these tiny glimpses of the elements of intimacy of language, and I was entirely here for that part. I loved it. Also, Jana is gorgeous. And I just adore her.
Oh, yeah. i There were some great women this season. Yeah. To say and even the worst of the women I don't think what's it's bad as the men it was a it was a unique season. In a lot of ways. Man, I
just share with you my pedantic nerdy heart for just a moment. Always. They need to stop calling it an experiment. I know that every reality show has language. And I know that the bachelor in the bachelorette you're on a journey on a journey. And on survivor, you're on a dysentery and we're live is blind, you're all having this experiment. Okay? There are actual ethical rules that govern the use of humans and experiments. And I'm pretty sure that none of those ethical considerations are part of the show. Y'all gotta stop calling it experiment. Every scientist is like no.
And every time like, I read an interview with the showrunner or the creator afterwards, and he doubles down on that experiment, like, committed to the idea that he is performing a social experiment and that is very much not what this is. And everybody should know that. I agree. It is. It is reality entertainment. And that is all thank you for allowing me to share my pedantic nerdy heart. No, that's fine. I totally understand that one. Now,
I have a few questions. So first question, what is with the gold goblets
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that was the most brilliant thing because it was even with the families, if they went somewhere they had those gold goblets they were everywhere and I read that this was for continuity so that you wouldn't have to edit because the levels of the glasses wouldn't go up and down you can't see through them.
Right? That is exactly what it is. Do you have the gold gauntlets no did you by yourself so I do want the gold goblet so the the Creator I believe said that part of the reason that gold goblets are there because he also wanted it to have an air of luxury. You know, the real idea is that they This way they can edit what you say out of context and out of order. And that happens with all reality shows. And actually, you can see it happening. If you watch closely in any scene and they're eating anything, you'll notice that they'll go from a full plate to an empty plate back to a full plate to a half eaten plate. But I love the gold complex. I love the gold levels.
It was a brilliant rotate. I also liked that there were always scenes of the guys in the guys side, just like all wrapped up in fluffy blankets, and like all men wrapping yourself up, they love it. But secondary question to the gold goblets? Yeah, what percentage of the time? Were they absolutely did face drunk?
Oh, I think of LA. Yeah, I think a lot. I think in the pods, especially I think they're, you know, applied with alcohol. And you can kind of see them. And you can tell pretty quickly, I think when some of them are drunk in general. Yeah. I mean, they have very, like drunk faces. Drunk. Yeah, but I do think a lot of it, you know, it's just, it gets them to talk easier. It makes them loosen up, it causes, you know, drama where there isn't on?
Yeah, oh, for sure. At least read on my site on smart pitches, recaps the bachelor in the Bachelorette. And hers, her theory is that you just want to stay on the show long enough to get a really good vacation off the network. And I'm thinking if you're on these reality shows, and it's the early part, and there's like 14 of you, and there's a good chance you're not going to make it through. You're just you're just there for the food and the fluffy blankets and the wine and the booze.
And that's it. Yeah. And I mean, that is, there was another South Asian guy on the show, who didn't progress. And on his Tiktok, he talks later on about how much he regrets that he didn't progress. So that because Sheikh was been the only representation and, and he seems like a decent guy. But one thing he said was, you know, there were those of us who were there to actually meet someone. And then there were those of us who, you know, just wanted to be on TV. And so if I wanted to progress, I could have just proposed to somebody and we could have kept on and been on TV. So you have to wonder how much of this is kind of self selection into just being on
TV. That was actually my next question for you. In your opinion, having watched this and the previous season, how much of the outcome is the product of intention, I am here on the show to meet someone and get married or and how much of it is how much of the outcome is the pressure, I have to pick someone in order to progress. This is the most likely candidate, how much of the outcome is intention versus the external pressure of performing this experiment?
I think I think it must divide along personal lines, because I do feel like a couple of a couples from the first seasons were very much, you know, they maybe they didn't intend to find somebody, but they found somebody and they were ready to stick with them. And this season two, I mean, I do think that Nick and Danielle seem to be pretty happy together. And they continue to seem to be pretty happy together. And I don't think that they would have just settled for anybody. So I think I think those two seem pretty solid. And by all accounts from you know, my research, which is not a lot which is consistent reading the Reddit board is that they're both really nice people and you know, are really nice together. So So I think a lot of their like drama was a little bit edited in for funsies.
I loved the IANA for the fact that there was one scene where Jarrett was gonna go out, it's gonna go out and she's like, it's Tuesdays like, yeah, it's Taco Tuesday, I'm going out. And he's like, are you coming out? And she's like, it's Tuesday. Yeah. And I says, What are you going to do? And she goes, I'm gonna binge watch some TV and read my book. And I was like, I will marry you. I am already married. And I will also marry you. Right now. Let's do this.
I love to get a little egg. I hope she I hope she finds whatever she's looking for.
And I really think there are a couple of moments. And I don't think it was performance, where Jared sort of looks at her and is like, Oh, wow, she's amazing. I got to not screw this up. So my final question for you.
I have a business proposal for you. All right. Tell me,
I think you and I need to develop the unofficial Love is blind courtship journal. You know how everybody had those notebooks with their names on them. Okay. No, who is serious? Journal right. Okay. So what if we create the unofficial Love is blind courtship journal? Because you know, you and I have been doing courtship questions with a 36 questions. You do a whole journal. What are you looking for in a partner? What do you what are your favourite memories? What are your strengths? What are the things about your partner that you love?
I mean, I kind of dig this and I also think there's a huge market for it. So so the lovestruck daily is blind.
Yeah. Struck daily unofficial Love is blind journal.
I kinda I kind of love it. Yeah, let's do it. If
you can't recreate the love is blind pod. You can sit back to back and answer questions so that Yeah, you can't see you have to listen to what they're saying.
I am Oh, yeah. All right.
I have I have ideas business proposal, but I have to say, as much as my stomach did hurt. Thank you for this suggestion. I one. I love talking about this with you, too. I agree with you. I can see why watching this with someone that you are partnered with and committed to helps you visualise problems that you might not have thought of like even the basic stuff like finances. This is why I think there should be a journal. The unofficial love is mind. lovestruck daily journal.
I know. Do you have any love to go from from Love is blind for our listeners? Do
I have a love to go from you? Oh, it is always good to try the things that your friends love, even when you're pretty sure it's not for you. Because it helps me understand you better. And I appreciate how much you like this. And I understand better while you do. So. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank
you for keeping an open mind and watching it with me. I'm so excited.
Well now I have to come up with something for you to watch. Oh, geez.
Okay. And if anybody has any recommendations for us, we'd love to hear them. So yes, send us an email. I love struck daily. Yeah, tell us what to watch or what to read at love spark daily at Frolik dot media. And please follow us on Instagram and Twitter at lovestruck daily. And always, always, always please leave a review subscribe spread the word about our
show. Our researcher is Jessie Epstein. Our editor is Jen Jacobs. We are produced by Abigail steckler and little Scorpion studios with executive producer frolic media. This is an I Heart Radio Podcast. We wish you a wonderful happily ever after. Except for shake no happiness for you. No no happiness for you. I'm in love with the saying to you I'm in love with you. I'm in love with you
