Claire Franken
·6 min read
Warning: The following contains spoilers from Love Is Blind Season 8, Episodes 1-6.
Love Is Blind Season 8 is bringing the romantic heat during a cold Midwestern winter. But which couples have your vote of confidence? And which do you hope to strike from the reality TV record?
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Season 8 of Netflix’s dating series, which dropped its first six episodes on Friday, looks much like seasons past: A group of singles meet potential partners in adjoined rooms — called pods — in hopes that they might fall in love without the distraction of physical appearance. But there are a couple of notable differences in the Minneapolis-set season: Every man looks exactly the same and nearly every contestant struggles to move past the “Midwest Nice” facade.
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From Tom’s outspoken love for the beautiful Costco in Woodbury, to Lauren’s willingness to endure questionable behavior, these contestants are demonstrating the downfalls of the region’s polite sensibility. There are fewer emotional outbursts as conversations take on a kind of innocence we’ve seldom seen from the show.
But those conversations are still perfect for me to cast judgement on our contestants — and judge, I will! Below, I’m breaking down every Season 8 couple and offering my own predictions for how they might end up. What are your Love Is Blind Season 8 predictions? Sound off in the comments!
Joey and Monica
These two are kindred spirits, both golden retriever humans. I’ve honestly never seen such genuine excitement from a Love Is Blind couple during their first meeting. They might stand a chance because their connection is based on what looks like an actual friendship, not purely on romance or flirtation — a promising start to their Love Is Blind journey.
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CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: I sincerely — really, I’m being sincere for once! — hope these two make it. If things don’t work out, however, I think they can at least leave this experiment as a pair of kooky friends.
Ben and Sara
Ben and Sara’s first meeting was a standard Love Is Blind meet-awkward. It didn’t leave me begging for a break-up, but I wasn’t swooning either. I am, however, waiting with bated breath to see whether their differing political views will create a problem — and I do think they will! When Sara spoke about her desire to become more politically and socially involved after the murder of George Floyd and the election of Donald Trump, Ben said he’s ignorant about “that stuff.” He added he’s “not one way or the other” when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement. And I couldn’t help but feel an age-old dynamic at play: A disinterested white man claiming he’s more liberal than he really is simply to win the heart of a woman with a brain. A tale as old as time!
CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: Sara needs to stick to her standards and run, girl, run!
Dave and Lauren
Dave gave a horrible first impression when he began every conversation with, “So, what’s wrong with you?” and said his job was in “medical aesthetics.” (Just say you’re a Botox salesman!) But then he sort of mellowed out and I stopped paying attention to him. Love Is Blind likes to do that — introduce a villain and then soften him up. So, I’m not sure where I stand on Dave, but I can’t shake the feeling that he’s just a superficial bro. And since Lauren is the nicest woman I’ve ever seen on TV, I do wonder if she can do better. Not to mention, Dave did imply educators are ugly when he said he’s only dated hot people and never considered dating a teacher. Plus, he “joked” that Lauren is no longer attractive when she shared she’s 30. (Dave, by the way, is 32.)
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CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: I hope Lauren finds her happy ending, but I can’t say I’m fully rooting for this couple to work out.
Devin and Virginia
Devin and Virginia are kind of a snooze fest. I don’t love or hate them — meaning they could potentially make a splash in the next batch of episodes! Virginia so far is a woman of few words, and Devin seems to be a gentle soul.
CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: They could be a match made in heaven, but it’s too soon to say!
Daniel and Taylor
Daniel and Taylor are both kind of corny for falling in love over their mutual love of Christmas. (Couldn’t they have bonded over a less obvious holiday? Shake things up with an affection for Flag Day? Arbor Day?) But Episode 6 ended on quite the awkward note when Taylor accused Daniel of knowing who she was the whole time they were in the pods. (He apparently followed her on Instagram shortly before filming began.) Daniel denied the claims during the decidedly nondramatic exchange — the Midwest Nice was out to play! — but it wasn’t clear whether Taylor will be able to move past her suspicions.
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CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: I hope to learn more details about Instagram-gate, but I ultimately don’t really care about the outcome of this one.
Mason and Meg
Meg really let her fellow contestant Madison come in here and cause all kinds of problems. Despite professing her love for Mason, Meg allowed Madison’s personal vendetta against the man to impact her own final decision. She ultimately broke things off with Mason before he had the chance to propose, after becoming convinced (by Madison!) that she was his second choice.
CLAIRE’S FINAL VERDICT: Though they didn’t leave the pods engaged, I don’t think this couple is done forever. I’m hoping to see more conversations between these two at the midseason cast party.
Alex and Madison
After sabotaging her pal Meg, Madison went on to light fire to her own relationship with Alex, the human version of those inflatable tube men flapping in the wind outside of a car dealership. (Honestly, I’m not even sure what I mean by that, but it just feels right.) The beginning of the end came when Madison told Alex about her break-up with Mason, sharing that she felt played by him. After listening to her side, Alex said he understood her point of view but also empathized with his friend Mason — these are unorthodox dating conditions, after all! But that was not the reaction Madison hoped for from her prospective fiancé. The relationship abruptly ended, becoming the most random Love Is Blind break-up I’ve ever seen.
OUR FINAL VERDICT: The whirling chaos that is Madison just doesn’t seem to match up with the vanilla ice cream cone that is Alex. I hope they never speak again — and I hope Madison stays away from my Mason and Meg!
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