What I thought about: Spinning Out

From the gashes in Justin’s leg and the crack in Kat’s skull, to the racism, loneliness, and crippling bipolar disorder, Spinning Out cuts deep. This is a rare example of a trailer failing to sell a show properly – I took a punt and loved it.

Kaya Scodelario is excellent in this, by the way.

What’s it about?
Kat Baker (Kaya Scodelario) lives (at first) with her younger sister, Serena (Willow Shields, of Hunger Games fame), and mother Carol. They’re a family of figure skaters – Carol having dropped out of the sport after having Kat a fairly young age. Kat’s about to take a test to be a skating coach, her dreams of making it to the Olympics as a figure skater were dashed since she cracked her head on the ice in a bad fall. She’s been too afraid to land a proper skating jump ever since, so coaching is her last shot.

Or is it? Well, no, that would be rather boring. Kat predictably fails the test, but is spotted by Dasha, a coach for the talented pair skater, Justin Davis. What follows is their incredibly turbulent journey to try to compete together as pair skaters – with Justin promising never to let Kat fall.

What do I like about it?
You get a cool insight into life as a figure skater. The show is full of little details, like the chatty, fiercely competitive mums who swap passive aggressive comments about how their kid is better than the others, and the determination of the skaters who get up at 5AM every day so they can arrive in time for the first session on the ice, every single day. Skating is, as you will come to learn, full of sacrifices.

There’s also a varied spread of characters – Justin is a rich kid who parties (a bit too much), Kat is harbouring a dark secret about her mental health, her best friend is nursing a hip injury but feeling pressured to continue skating, Serena battles loneliness despite being a successful junior skater, and her coach is coming out of a messy divorce. Whilst the plot for some of them is quite spotty, I still got incredibly invested in their lives both on, and off, the rink.

What do I not like about it?
The plot is choppy, especially towards the end, and character behaviour is sometimes off. Time-keeping is also non-existent, with weeks of time having flashed by in an instant without any cues besides a character casually dropping a line like ‘we’ve been doing this for weeks now!’.

But you know what? For better or for worse, for no tangible, objective, reason, Spinning Out is one of my favourite shows of the year. It’s hard to explain why, but it just is.

Worth a watch?
I certainly think so, unless you’re sure you have no interest in a drama set around figure skating.

By the way…

  • The show features numerous body doubles from the Canadian national skating team.
  • Although I’m sad to see it cancelled after one season, I do think it works well as a standalone series.

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What I thought about: Dating Around (Season 2)

With its carefully choreographed camera angles and unique story-telling structure, this American take on First Dates is refreshing, cute, and genuinely brought a smile to my face more often than not.

The smooth panning shots and excellent colour grading make this show an especially cosy watch.

What’s it about?
Five first dates, one follow-up. Each episode of Dating Around follows one central person and the five dates they go on. Each date is shown simultaneously and smoothly using a unique structure. The central person might be shown asking a question to Date Number Two, and in the next shot we see Date Number Three answering it.

Two important differences to First Dates. Firstly, Dating Around puts food and drink on the back burner and lets the daters cover some pretty deep conversational ground. Secondly, the final few moments of each episode don’t involve two people awkwardly announcing whether they’d see each other again (neither of them wanting to go first for fear of being rejected). Instead, the closing moments of each episode sees the central person casually hanging around, awaiting the arrival of their chosen second date. The producers tease us with shots of random passers-by, making us wait with baited breath to see if they chose the person we were rooting for from the earlier dates.

What do I like about it?
Everything about the show – from the colour grading, cinematic camera angles, narrative devices, and the final ‘second date’ reveal, is more cosy and inviting than the harsh CCTV-style we see in First Dates. Don’t get me wrong, I like First Dates too, but Dating Around certainly feels more suited to its American participants, who will excitedly talk about where they came from before they settled in New Orleans, where this season is filmed. I’m not sure us Brits could be that excited talking about our hometown of Skegness or Guildford (no offence to those places).

It’s for this reason that I found myself having a smile on my face more often than not, as I enjoyed seeing the diverse range of dates warming up to each other and forming what, occasionally, looked like some pretty deep connections. Speaking of diversity, there’s plenty of it here – especially in the age and sexuality department. That said, Season 1 had a dedicated episode for seniors, which was missing this time around.

What do I not like about it?
Very little. Episodes are 30 minutes and therefore very bingeable. The show is warm and inviting – perfect for watching with friends, family, or significant others. I just wished we got to see a little more into the post-show lives of the participants. Besides the second-date reveal, we are completely left in the dark.

Worth a watch?
Yes, especially if you like this kind of show. You don’t need to have seen Season 1, but you might as well!

By the way…

  • One of this season’s participants has hinted at a possible ‘where are they now’ episode, saying that Netflix asked him to ‘keep coy’ about his love life for now.
  • One of the dates in Episode 3 is polyamorous and only dates bisexual women. See if you can guess which one it is.

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What I thought about: Defending Jacob

Unusually dark when you consider Apple’s typically family friendly orientation, this slow-burn thriller is a different take on a murder mystery story. I’m just not convinced it’s a worthwhile one.

That moment when you have to have ‘the talk’ with your teenage son. No, not that one…

What’s it about?
Ben Rifkin, a teenager, is found murdered in the woods on his way to school. Leonard Patz, a registered sex offender living near the woods, is the obvious suspect. But as assistant district attorney Andy Barber struggles to get any hard evidence on him, another suspect crops up: his son, Jacob, who was in the same class as the victim and who also walks through the woods on the way to school. Before he knows it, police are swarming the family home and searching for the murder weapon. Convinced of his son’s innocence, and well and truly off the case, Andy fights to uncover the truth.

What follows is an oddly-paced unravelling of the story. Did Jacob do it? If so, why? How? We don’t find the answers to all of these questions.

What do I like about it?
It’s dark, and it’s not very violent. The slow pace is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s frustrating not watching something with the constant twists and turns we saw in something like The Stranger. On the other hand, smaller actions have more impact.

There’s a scene where Jacob’s mother Laurie goes shopping for groceries at the crack of dawn to avoid being spotted and harassed. She rounds the corner and bumps into the victim’s mother, Joan, who slowly approaches, zombie-like. “Joan…’ Laurie says, only to be cut off by Joan nastily spitting in her face before walking away. Both mothers were there to shop away from the gaze of strangers, either as the mother of a horrifically murdered son, or as the mother of the alleged murderer. If it was all action, I suppose we wouldn’t have thought anything of that scene.

What do I not like about it?
I can’t tell if the acting is terrible or really, really good. Jacob is a weird but plain kid. The way he looks at you is weird, he’s pretty quiet, and his mind is usually somewhere else. It gives off a creepy, sinister vibe. But at the same time, you can’t help but believe him when he says he’s innocent. So, maybe Jaeden Martell did exactly what the directors wanted him to do. Or maybe he’s a bad actor. I honestly can’t tell.

I also don’t like how many twists occur in the final two episodes. I think the pacing in murder mysteries is a tricky thing, and on this occasion they got it wrong, spending far too long setting the scene in the run up to the trial, and not enough on the last few pivotal moments.

Worth a watch?
Watch the trailer first and ask yourself if you have the patience to get through 6 hours of slow-burn before it all kicks off.

By the way…

  • Yes, that is Chris Evans of Captain America fame playing the father, Andy Barber.
  • Jacob’s actor starred in Knives Out as that little shit who’s always on his phone and WHO IS ALSO CALLED JACOB. I did not recognise him in this.

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What I thought about: Dare Me

Upon reflection, I’ve re-written this review. Dare Me is a confusing mess of teenage angst and suffering, but its redeeming features help make it bingeable, and I wonder if I’m just missing something about the plot.

Coach Collette and Lieutenant Addy being rather confrontational – I wonder what changed?

What’s it about?
Beth is captain of her school’s cheerleading squad, assisted by best friend and ‘lieutenant’, Addy, who loosely narrates the story. The squad’s new coach, Collette, dethrones Beth immediately (‘there are no captains in my squad’) and begins treating Beth’s half-sister, Tacy, with more than a little favouritism.

Addy wants a scholarship, and cheer squad is her path to it. She cosies up to Collette in the hopes of being guided to success, but it comes at the cost of alienating Beth. And then stuff gets really… weird. Collette seems to revel in the rift she is creating between Beth and Addy. She’s also using Addy to help her cheat on her husband.

What do I like about it?
The cast are very good. Beth, emotionally damaged by her adulterous father leaving her mother for a woman who literally lives across the street, harshly bullies Tacy (who sort of deserves it) and battles more than a few personal demons throughout the series. These emotions are captured brilliantly by actress Marlo Kelly.

Collette, played by Willa Fitzgerald, is a perfectly balanced mix of sweet and sour – she’s cute on secretive dates with her high-school flame, but puts on a ‘tough love’ attitude with the squad. She’s also, as we eventually discover, quite sinister.

The colourists have also done an excellent job, utilising the High Dynamic Range (HDR) format well and making the gritty scenes look, well, gritty.

What do I not like about it?
In one scene, Addy goes inside Collette’s house for the first time and she… strokes the bedsheets (‘1000 ply cotton’, Collette says) and lays down in the bed? Is it supposed to symbolise the ‘success’ that she too can achieve, if she follows in Collette’s footsteps?

There’s a lot about the plot which just seems quite weird and off-putting. You wonder why the characters are doing what they’re doing. But maybe that’s what the show is going for? We’re seeing into the destructive world of a teenage cheerleading squad, maybe that’s just how they are?

Worth a watch?
I was underwhelmed by the confusing nature of the plot and the disappointing ending, but I’ve reconsidered my earlier review in which I described it as ‘ten hours of my life I’m not getting back’.

By the way…

  • The show is based on a book that has a 3/5 rating on Amazon. That should serve as warning…
  • The show was cancelled by USA Network for poor ratings, despite receiving critical acclaim. The book’s author says the first season only got though half of it, so watch this space?

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What I thought about: My Secret Romance

My first foray into Korean television is this ridiculous romantic comedy whose premise is truly absurd and which stretched on for far longer than it had to. I still finished it, though.

The show goes into multi-camera slow-motion whenever something like this happens.

What’s it about?
Three years ago, Yoo-mi, a struggling nutritionist student, caught a bus to her mother’s third wedding at a seaside resort. On the bus, she met Jin-wook, a chaebol heir (that means he’s the son of a wealthy businessman). A spoiled brat, Jin-wook had been sent to the same resort for hard work and discipline. Long, painfully comedic story short, the pair have a one night stand.

Fast forward to the present day, and Yoo-mi has achieved her dream of becoming a qualified nutritionist and begins her first proper placement at a large conglomerate in the city. As she soon finds out, Jin-wook is the CEO of the company, and he never quite forgot about the night he shared with Yoo-mi. What follows is a nonsensical plot – all you need to know is that it is, after all, a romance story.

What do I like about it?
It can be funny. Jin-wook’s personal assistant is hilarious – sharp, professional, but good friend to him when he needs to be, he wears patterned suits to impress his crush (one of the other staff at the canteen). In fact, there’s a theme here – much of the supporting cast were really quite good, such as Yoo-mi’s best friend from school, a popular travel author who owns his own bar (literally, ‘Beer and Book’), exudes an effortlessly cool vibe.

And, credit where it’s due, actor Sung Hoon fulfils his role as an attractive lead character with what has to be the most chiselled jawline I have ever seen.

What do I not like about it?
Two things stick out to me. Firstly, the show’s entire premise is ridiculous – this guy is so emotionally damaged that he never moved on from a one night stand he had three years ago? And she ends up working in his company’s canteen? I suppose this is completely international – is it supposed to be funnier this way? I’m not sure western viewers will find comedy in this.

Secondly, without going into the plot too much, it felt a lot like Jin-wook was massively abusing his position as Yoo-mi’s ultimate boss. It seemed a bit abusive. But it is romantic – Yoo-mi gets a happy ending, it’s all fine. I just cringed a lot whenever Jin-wook would exercise some kind of control over her in a way that made her appear uncomfortable. I suppose this is another cultural difference, perhaps?

Worth a watch?
Not really. This is rather different to western TV and honestly, not even worth it for the plot. But do go ahead if you’re curious – I was.

By the way…

  • Yoo-mi is played by K-Pop idol Song Ji-eun
  • One episode has Jin-wook meet with an overseas investor. I have NO idea what country this guy was supposed to be from. He spoke English in a weird sort of Dutch-American accent.

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What I thought about: Control Z

Is Mexican Netflix as good as Spanish Netflix? If this mystery drama is anything to go by, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Featuring an excellent lead actress and supporting cast, I devoured this show in less than 48 hours.

Look at them, phones out, ready to record today’s mishap. Over-use of mobiles is what got them into this mess…

What’s it about?
Sophia is a bit odd. She lost her father many years ago in a fire, and recently returned from a mental institution after an incident of self-harm. But she’s also a thinker, able to spot patterns in behaviour and notice the little details. When a hacker hijacks the school assembly to drop a truly explosive secret about one of her classmates, they all turn to her for help tracking the hacker down. Sophia needs to hurry up, though, as the hacker continues to either reveal more secrets or blackmail students into doing their bidding, including taunting Sophia.

The show was described by a much better writer than me as “Gossip Girl meets Mr. Robot, with just a touch of Sherlock Holmes”, and I couldn’t put it better myself.

What do I like about it?
It has a similar salacious energy that we’ve seen before in Elite. These kids have some pretty messed up secrets, and as they start coming out, there are some truly catastrophic consequences. But the show also takes the time to illustrate how the students – many of them rather stuck-up, self-absorbed, or outright bullies, are quite emotionally fragile underneath, and the incident changes them for the better. I also enjoyed seeing Sophia become more accepted by her classmates who used to whisper about her mental health issues.

What do I not like about it?
With the advent of streaming services, episodes no longer have to fit neatly into an ad-friendly running time. This show runs anywhere from 35 to 41 minutes. It’s strange, then, that it felt like some connecting scenes were missing at times, as if they had been cut. Characters would get close to boiling point in one scene, and then are completely calm in the next. I remember a scene where Raúl is looking for Sophia, literally going up to random students and asking them if they’d seen her. The very next scene shows Sophia walking together with Raúl and Javier. I suppose we are to assume he managed to track her down eventually? That these elements were missing does raise some concerns about the solidity of the show’s plot.

Worth a watch?
Yes, as long as you’re not expecting too much. I enjoyed this show and can’t wait for the confirmed second season, but I can’t give readers the same encouragement as I did for The Stranger, as it’s just not on the same level. The childishness of the school’s students and the aforementioned plot difficulties might annoy the more seasoned mystery fan.

By the way…

  • This is fifth foreign-language show I’ve seen this year, and in fact the third Spanish-language one. The beauty of Netflix’s Originals is their ability to push it out to their entire global subscriber base without international licensing woes. The consumer ultimately benefits – if you’re not watching foreign-language titles on Netflix, you’re seriously missing out.
  • NME gave it 2/5. I think that’s a bit harsh, but then again, I’m a glass-half-full kind of guy.

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What I thought about: Magic For Humans (Season 3)

I had a smile on my face when I saw this one on the ‘Upcoming’ list on Netflix, and I’m happy to report that my smile was maintained throughout. This contemporary and thoughtful take on a magic show is a great watch in these trying times.

Ah yes, the famous ‘floating empanada’ trick.

What’s it about?
Justin Willman is a professional magician, and he’s really good. But this isn’t your normal magic show – there’s no ridiculous hype, no expensive props, and no sassy, over-confident magician. Instead it’s, well, human! Every episode is entered around a theme that explores the human condition. Power Trip, Vices, Home, Self Care, Know Fear, The End, and Tradition are the themes explored in this season (and the titles of each episode, in order).

Justin performs a variety of tricks in each episode. There are running themes – Magic for Susans is simple street magic for women, ostensibly whom he randomly meets on the street, called Susan. Trick Questions has Justin showing someone a trick and then immediately asking them a random question. Usually, they are too astounded to answer. Then there are larger tricks performed in locations that match the narrative of the episode.

What do I like about it?
The presentation of this show is refreshing, cute, and thought-provoking. All of Justin’s performances are either performed in the street or in a setting relevant to the show’s theme. There’s no studio audience, and the entire thing feels a bit like a documentary, with Justin as the host providing thought-provoking voiceovers while casually dropping magic all over the place. As such, the show has an incredibly broad appeal and is suitable for all ages (and indeed some of his audience are children).

Oh, and the magic? It’s good, and again, it’s relevant to the theme. Best of all, Justin just gets on with it. He’ll do a few of the usual magic flutters, like pretending a trick hasn’t worked or asking them to say a special word. But there’s no pointless hype-building – just really nice magic with genuine reactions.

What do I not like about it?
Justin claims there are no camera tricks or fakery in his show. For some of his tricks, I can agree with that statement. But there are times where he does something absolutely outrageous that I can’t accept is done in a ‘legitimate’ way. For example when he produces the exact object the audience member asked for from an empty bucket. It’s not so much the appearance of the item that’s unbelievable, but that he had exactly what they were asking for, over and over again. I suppose… that’s magic? But I’m not so sure.

Also, upon reflection, I do feel as though the tricks in this season were by and large a tad less impressive than previous seasons. That’s not to say they’re rubbish or anything, I just came away with that feeling.

Worth a watch?
Absolutely – and why not start from the first season? Episodes are only 20 minutes long (I watched this one in a day).

By the way…

  • Justin performed a magic trick at his wedding (obviously) – you can watch it on YouTube here
  • The people over at IMDB are not happy about this show, claiming it’s all fake, scripted, and uses actors. Who to believe?

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What she thought about: Never Have I Ever

Looking for something light-hearted to watch over dinner? You’ll want to skip right over this one. Mindy Kaling’s latest so-called ‘comedy’ had me in tears from start to finish.

Me praying that Nick Jonas sees the error of his ways and swaps Priyanka out for me instead

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from my girlfriend. As a western-born Indian girl, I thought she would give a good perspective with her own review of the show. For what it’s worth, I also watched it, and thought it was really good.

What’s it about?
Devi is an American-born Indian girl, trapped between two cultures and just trying to navigate the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. Sometimes, she gets it right. Most of the time, she really doesn’t.

I went into this so-called ‘comedy’ written by Mindy Kaling thinking that it was going to be a teenage version of The Mindy Project: a little bit cheesy, a little bit cringey, very light-hearted, and with the occasional poignant moment thrown in here and there as proof of character development. I have never been more wrong in my assumptions about a series as I was with this one. Yes, it’s both cheesy and cringey in equal measure; but no trailer or review could have emotionally prepared me for the way I sobbed every single time Devi’s deceased father appeared on-screen in flashbacks. Kaling’s writing in Never Have I Ever isn’t as snappy as some of her other work, but she exchanges some of her trademark humour to perfectly portray the loss of a loved one, and in my opinion, it’s worth it.

What do I like about it?
I like almost everything about this show, but if I had to pick one thing, it would be the length, both in terms of episodes and the series as a whole. In a world of series that seem to drag for forty minutes or more, with 20+ episodes per season, NHIE offered some light relief with minimal commitment. Length aside, as a British-born Indian, I connected with Devi on almost every level–all the way down to the Nick Jonas/Priyanka Chopra joke that crops up somewhere in the middle of the series. I suspect that some of the nuances of the Indian-based humour are lost on white audiences, but Kaling nails it as perfectly here as she does in all her other work.

What do I not like about it?
It was occasionally too unrealistic for me. There were moments when I sat there and thought ‘well, this would never happen’, only to remember that this is a teen sitcom; of course there will be some exaggerated or unrealistic elements (Glee, anyone?). Still, I found suspending my disbelief really hard for certain moments on this show, probably because it feels so rooted in reality for so much of the time. This meant that, at times, it was really jarring and just didn’t work for me.

Worth a watch?
Definitely. It’s short and sweet and oh-so-bingeable, so stick it on if it’s one of those evenings where you feel like a good cry.

By the way…

  • Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, the actress who plays Devi, was chosen personally by Mindy Kaling out of 15,000 candidates that applied for an open casting call for the show.
  • It was cute to see Angela Kinsey, who starred alongside Mindy Kaling in the US version of The Office, popping up as Ben’s mother.

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What I thought about: Trying

When is a comedy not a comedy? How relatable should it be, if it doesn’t make us laugh out loud? This cute little show about a couple in their 30s navigating the adoption system is sometimes funny, sometimes heartwarming, but never large doses of either.

It’s all smiles – perhaps too much smiling, considering their underlying issues.

What’s it about?
Jason and Nikki are 30-somethings living in Camden, London. They’ve just failed a round of IVF and have been told the prospects of any subsequent rounds succeeding are poor. Not wanting to miss out on the ‘joys’ of having children, as all their friends are now doing, they apply to adopt. The show follows their progress, as well as touching lightly on the lives of their friends and family. Nikki’s older sister is dating a jobless ‘creative thinker’ type, Jason’s best friend has just had his second child and isn’t taking it well. Meanwhile, Nikki’s Tinder-equipped younger colleague is there to remind her of her lost youth.

What do I like about it?
There are some funny moments in this one. Jason is a natural joker, and often comes out with the best lines in the show. I also really liked the small montages at the end of each episode where we see just a few seconds into the life of some of the more minor characters in the show, such as Jason’s boss Googling for things to do in Geneva after quitting her job, and their social worker cleaning her jacket at the laundrette (I won’t spoil why). Speaking of the social worker, it’s a stand-out performance from Imelda Staunton, nicely capturing the well-intentioned scatty-ness of the character.

What do I not like about it?
Sweet as it is, I have a number of concerns with this show. I’m not sure how relatable it’s going to be to many people. They’re a young couple living in central London – one might dismiss them as stereotypical Millennials. I feel as though the show is going to appeal mostly to young adults with kids, or young adults living in London looking to get kids. For everyone else, I worry they won’t see what the point of the show is at all. It’s certainly not funny enough to stand out as a comedy in its own right.

There are random bits and pieces that I think are supposed to have some kind of meaning, like Jason’s meeting with his ex, but either they are scripted poorly or they just don’t go far enough, because I didn’t get the point. Many of the show’s elements, from the couple’s parents to their day at the approval panel, lack sufficient context or depth, and it affects the flow of the show.

One thing I really disliked is the strange blur/aberration at the top and bottom of the screen in most of the shots. Sometimes there’s also a fish-eye lens effect going on. I suppose it was a creative choice, but to me it was an unnecessary and unsightly distraction.

Worth a watch?
Watch the trailer, and don’t set your hopes any higher than the impression it gives you. Still interested? Then go for it, it’s nice. Otherwise, no need.

By the way…

  • A cameo from The Mash Report‘s Rachel Parris was a surprise.
  • This is the first British show to come out of Apple TV+. More, please!

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What I thought about: Too Hot to Handle

This ain’t no Love Island. Problematically short, lacking in depth and character, and full of fake tension, this Netflix dating/self-fulfilment hybrid is a cute but ultimately disappointing competitor to the UK’s favourite reality show.

The guy on the right is a MASSIVE twat.

What’s it about?
Five guys and five girls (all of them ridiculously horny) land at a beach side resort, ostensibly with the intention of pairing up and having flings with each other, with some kind of ‘winner’ taking home a $100,000 cash prize. But there’s a twist – throughout the resort, their activities are being monitored by LANA, a talking lava lamp. LANA wants the participants to form deeper emotional connections rather than commence a shag-fest, so it will deduct money from the prize fund if anyone has any kind of sexual contact (in my Jeremy Kyle voice, that’s anything from a kiss to intercourse).

What do I like about it?
There are two tenements to the show that actually are interesting.

Firstly, the participants are made up of people from multiple places – The US, UK, Canada, and Australia. There’s a particularly satisfying cultural difference between UK and US dialects that can be fun at times – such as Bryce trying to get to grips with the concept of a ‘geezer’, or basically anything else Chloe says.

Secondly, the show features four sort of personal development classes that the participants are forced to do – two mixed, one for guys and one for girls. You might dismiss the courses as hippy dippy nonsense, but the participants genuinely seem to have gotten something out of them each time, especially the single-sex ones (perhaps they feel more able to show vulnerability in the absence of the opposite sex?)

What do I not like about it?
Unfortunately, save for the interesting stuff above, everything else about the show is lacking any depth whatsoever. Many of the participants are criminally under-utilised. The show tries to do the whole ‘bombshell extra participants’ staple of Love Island but they just don’t manage to pull it off in the same way.

The AI gimmick was super lame. It’s obviously a real human voice, it doesn’t look particularly good, and it clashes entirely with the rest of the show (we only see a phone on screen once, and all the classes emphasise being driven by nature). It’s also way less suspenseful than even the lame text-fest that takes place around the fire pit in Love Island.

Worth a watch?
Not really, unless you want to see a little bit of reality drama (some of the characters are truly bitchy) and you’re desperate for something to tide you over until whenever Love Island manages to come back.

By the way…

  • I’m convinced one of the relationships is put on for show in order to boost their respective Instagram influencer cred.
  • It’s comprised of 8x 30-45 minute long episodes, so I feel it’s far too short to get to know any of the participants properly.

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