Episode 8
Season 8
Episode 8
Editor’s Rating
4 stars
****
The Bryce-Trinity chat is painful to watch after seeing Zach’s sabotage working its magic.
Photo: Peacock/Peacock
Well, if you tuned in last night specifically to hear the result of America’s votes, you were probably sorely disappointed. We’ll have to wait until tonight to see the messy recoupling play out. I know I’m dying to know who Jen ends up with. (I kid, but this really would’ve been a valuable episode to get to know her a little better and see what she’s doing to build on her vibe with Gabriel or even Zach. Instead, she’s still just a sounding board for Sol.) It’s a bit like Love Island is trying to re-create the feeling of blue balls that the Islanders are going through.
Still, I actually had a lot of fun with the messiness of episode eight. It’s not the worst thing in the world to push the recoupling a day when there’s already so much going on. And Iain Stirling’s multiple jokes about the crashed Love Island app worked for me. In fact, he was in good form all night, especially when he pointed out Sincere’s inappropriate Three Little Pigs metaphor. (That was also just his weakest analogy yet, even with Bryce doing his best to save it.) The “plot” of this season is speeding up, and thus I cannot fully get onboard with calling this a “filler episode.”
Not only did the usual Melanie-Sincere miscommunications play out last night — more on that in a second — but two major love triangles (Melanie-Sincere-Sol and Kenzie-Corbin-Caleb) came crashing together. Kenzie starts this episode on a good note, flaunting her new roster life to her partner, but things go downhill after Melanie pulls Corbin for a chat and he requests a kiss. Some of the men on this season are literally incapable of any form of connection that doesn’t involve making out.
To Melanie’s credit, she doesn’t go through with it. Before Kenzie can escalate to a full crash-out, the two have a healthy chat and clear the air as best as they can. Honestly, Melanie has a decent showing in episode eight. There’s something dark-sided about Sincere’s total lack of transparency with her about his developing parallel relationship with Sol; it’s vaguely nauseating to see Melanie get her hopes up all over again when we know he has no intention of actually prioritizing her or backing off his new crush. It’s okay that he wants to explore two people — as he repeatedly points out, that’s Love Island — but be honest about it! This is snake behavior, and it’s just pushing Melanie closer to delirium. Maybe she’s the Kaylor of the season, not the Huda.
Let me start here: I haven’t always been sure how to feel about Bryce and Trinity. They’ve settled into something pretty cute (after initially feeling more akin to season seven’s Austin and Chelley), but they haven’t gotten quite enough screentime for me to feel confident in their personality match. Tonight, though, I really started to buy that Trinity likes Bryce … which makes it all the more painful to see him moving away from her.
And who’s the devil on Bryce’s shoulder throughout all this? Zach, the Art Donaldson to his Patrick Zweig (or would it be the opposite?), who repeatedly tells him that he and Trinity aren’t a good match and that she doesn’t even like him that much. In a way, it’s partially his fault that Bryce is looking elsewhere now and going after his girl. The scene of the two boys discussing Kayda is kind of funny, especially the number of times Zach laughs and encourages Bryce to go for it. He knows Bryce doesn’t stand much of a chance with her; she made that choice when she picked Zach over him in the big bed, and nothing has changed since. How could Bryce move on from getting cucked in the big bed?
I’m not sure if I’m looking forward to the inevitable scene when Bryce pulls Kayda for a chat. That might be the cringiest scene ever, and I already suffered through the Bryce-Trinity chat at the end of episode eight. Then again, maybe he deserves that embarrassment.
The mess wasn’t restricted to just those two clusters of characters. I’m glad Gabe is being honest with Beatriz about kissing Jen and Sol, but it’s still pretty crazy he kissed both of them! Have all these men forgotten that kissing someone outside a challenge is a little different from the semi-compulsory makeout games? I know that Love Island is about finding the right connection for you, but Gabe’s behavior does not read like he’s interested in finding his soul mate. Bea also pulls Corbin for a chat, trying to see if he’s “more than a pretty face,” which he sadly is not. He claims that “our vibe is there” but then immediately pivots to talking about Melanie. Also wanting three kids is not a personality trait.
Meanwhile, Aniya and KC are back on ostensibly solid ground again. It’s a good sign that KC is telling the other guys about how much he likes her, but I’m feeling unsure about their long-term viability — especially because they basically just agree to have fun, and it can’t all be fun. What would be happening now if Sol expressed her interest in KC instead of Sincere? Still, lots of pairings get a turn as the happy background couple, and this is their time. Let’s enjoy it as long as it lasts.
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