RECAP: “Love Is Blind” Season 7 REUNION
BY Eric Rezsnyak, Andrea Guerrero, Joelle Boedecker, Trey Radu-Blackburn
It was the reunion episode for “Love Is Blind” Season 7, and this 90-minute episode was much like this D.C.-set season overall: messy as hell and filled with largely unlikable people.
Seriously, I don’t think we’ve ever had as contentious a reunion on this show, and very few of these people came out looking good. In fact, most of them seemed overall miserable. It made me wonder how deeply they regretted taking part in “the experiment,” because aside from the two couples that ended up married, the rest of them were practically radiating anger and resentment. Not a great look for them, or the show.
For this reunion, we’re taking a bit of a different approach. Great Pop Culture Debate panelists Eric Rezsnyak, Joelle Boedecker, and Trey Radu-Blackburn watched the reunion live and chatted on our Patreon-exclusive Discord; Andrea Guerrero also dropped in to share her thoughts. Those have been compiled below, edited for clarity.
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Previous “Love Is Blind” Recaps
First Impressions
JOELLE: First observation: all the unmarried ladies are showing lots of underboob tonight.
ERIC: Underboob should be a rare and thrilling moment.
ERIC: Listen, I am totally for Taylor and Garrett, but that is not a “makeover” for Garrett; it is decidedly a make UNDER.
JOELLE: That hair is so 1997.
ERIC: It's so bad. It's giving Clay Aiken post-“American Idol.”
TREY: I do not understand Garret's hair.
JOELLE: [Referring to previous-season alumni] Lots of extra folks tonight. Looks like they understand what the audience wants. Updates!
ERIC: Tim looks thrilled to be there. Note the sarcasm.
TREY: What is Alex's dress? I'm here for the underboob, but ... what is her dress?!
ERIC: I continue to feel that the alumni should be given their own reunion.
JOELLE: I think we all know that the happy couples are the most boring part of the reunion episode.
JOELLE: [Referring to Alex’s dress] Needs an edit, but I admire her confidence.
ERIC: Right, I'll second that. You feel yourself, Alex!
ERIC: Look at Nick Lachey's attempts at relevancy with his Taylor Swift jokes.
TREY: Must we look at it?
Ashley & Tyler
ERIC: What is on Ashley’s shoulders? They look like bejeweled spiders.
TREY: Spiders?
JOELLE: Black Widow Spiders? [praying emojis]
TREY: She's gonna murder that man. Here for it.
JOELLE: Here for the LIB x Clue collab.
ERIC: So they are fully circling the wagons for Tyler. Like, fully.
JOELLE: #Justice4Tyler?
TREY: Let the circle/Be unbroken.
ERIC: “This is something he didn't want to share on camera.” Why? If the situation is truly as he said, why would this be something he didn't want to share?
TREY: I mean, he's right. The kid's birth certificates should not be online. Leave kids out of it.
ERIC: Oh, for sure.
TREY: But also, why is she wearing spiders?
JOELLE: It's a badass look and she looks great in it.
ERIC: If he didn't want to talk about the kids, why was he constantly talking about kids with Ashley? I’m just not buying it.
ERIC: I mean, listen, she's fully in with him, and they're obviously in lockstep, and that's great.
JOELLE:
ERIC: I guess my feeling is that they're admitting that he was trying to edit parts of his life off of the cameras, that was blown up online -- it always will be -- and now we're being told, "We're good, so be good with us."
ERIC: I think I'll just choose to...not care about the two of them. You don't want me invested? i'll no longer be invested. Done!
Alumni Check-In: AD & Marshal
JOELLE: Love seeing AD!!
ERIC: LOVE seeing AD!
JOELLE: Love the faces what's his face next to her is making.
ERIC: Marshall?
TREY: I'm a bad reality-show fan because once a person is off a show, I delete them from my brain. But I'm happy for AD.
Marissa & Ramses
JOELLE: OK, I only want to hear from one Vanessa, and that's Marissa's mom.
ERIC: Marissa's mom is going to set this stage on fire.
ERIC: Tyler, Stephen, and Leo should be so grateful for Ramses, because he has unquestionably become THE male villain of the season thanks to that last episode.
JOELLE: [Referencing Marissa’s mother’s comment] “Punch him in the throat!”
ERIC: Are the Jedi padawan rat tails gone?!
TREY: Hey. At least Ramses cut his tassles off?
JOELLE: I'm so sad Marissa was "broken" by him. He deserves no power over her.
TREY: Look. I'm digging Ramses's queer look (not his pants) but I hate that he's wearing it.
ERIC: I actually don't mind the pants.
ERIC: [Referencing Marissa’s mother’s comment] "She would have carried that relationship." OOF.
JOELLE: Accurate!
TREY: Vanessa is not okay. She wants to commit a felony.
ERIC: It's so difficult watching [Marissa processing this], even now.
ERIC: Good on Marissa for calling out the fact that Ramses was dictating the decisions in that relationship, and Marisa had no say. Mr. Sensitive New Age Guy.
TREY: No, Nick Lachey. I WANT you to make it a hit job on Ramses.
ERIC: Ramses’ face when Vanessa made the "wrap it up" joke -- his soul left his body.
ANDREA: Marissa: "I think I hate him." Girl, me too.
Alumni Check-In: Zach & Bliss
JOELLE: Zach is fully one of the Property Brothers, right?
TREY: Wouldn't trust him near my house. But yes. He wants to flip your house.
JOELLE: Baby girl Zach and Bliss' name is Galileo?!?
ERIC: I'm glad Zach shaved the beard.
JOELLE: Let me know when you get to the wombat.
ERIC: NOT LEANN WOMBAT!
JOELLE:
ERIC: Actual cackling. I like when recounting Zach and Bliss’ love story, they skip over the part where he dumped Bliss to propose marriage to that swamp witch.
TREY: 1.) the baby girl is Galileo?! 2.) the spirit of that person inhabits her? or whatever?
ERIC: Millennials stay Millennialing.
JOELLE: So very woo-woo.
ERIC: The Indigo Girls are somewhere FUMING.
TREY: 3.) I still can't stand “I Hope You Dance.” Lee Anne Womack sending them things saying, "Thanks for the Spotify streams."
Hannah & Nick
ERIC: Oh good. Hannah is here.
JOELLE: Hannah: “The things that I said are all true.”
ERIC: If her plan was to fix her reputation here, she is failing miserably.
JOELLE: Hannah can't handle this feedback. Any feedback. "I'm self aware." Uhhh…no.
ERIC: [Responding to Nick’s low-energy ramblings.] Go on Nick, give us nothing.
TREY: Dear Hannah: bluntness is not a virtue; take it from a guy who has been told to learn some tact himself.
JOELLE: Right?!? Take it from someone who's once been called "unapproachable."
ERIC: Hannah, a bad personality is not the same as a big personality. Also, say “direct” one more time.
TREY: A big bad personality. She's gonna huff, and puff, and blow down the house of some poor man someday. AD. Don't go defending Hannah and her directness.
ERIC: I appreciate Hannah specifically saying, "I'm sorry I was so cruel to [Nick]. I am.” And I give her credit for acknowledging that she knew she needed to fix herself even before the season aired. That's good.
JOELLE: Hannah, calling out Nick on social media is absolutely unnecessary and petty right now.
ERIC: [Responding to Hannah talking about her and her friends going through Nick’s social media post-filming.] Oh, her friends? Her awful fucking friends that we saw?
ERIC: These women stalking Nick on social media is completely absurd and fucked-up behavior. THIS IS NOT HOW ADULT PEOPLE BEHAVE. Not well socialized ones, anyway. You broke up! MOVE ON.
ERIC: Hannah dumped NICK. Brutally. On national television. And the tactic now is to make it look like he was only there to get famous — which they ALL WERE on SEASON 7 of this show. Give me a BREAK.
ERIC: And she obviously was not sincere in her apologies to him a few minutes ago, because she's going right in on him here. This is the authentic Hannah. She’s been working on this attack for MONTHS.
TREY: Hannah, he's liking things people comment because you were damn brutal when you were being so "direct."
ERIC: Are these women actually sitting here and suggesting that Nick was not being genuine because he made some dumb social media post before he was even on the show? This is a calculated, concerted attack based on absolutely nothing. Wow. All the women engaging in this should be ashamed of themselves. This is a TERRIBLE look for them.
JOELLE: Calling Nick dumb throughout the entire show and now calling him calculated. I'm not sure you know what that means.
TREY: Schroedinger's Nicky D.
ERIC: This is gross revisionism and I don't care for it from either Hannah OR Marissa.
ERIC: Just pointing out that Hannah herself was being fake as fuck 10 minutes before this whole segment, in which she is accusing Nick of being “fake.”
TREY: Hannah wants SO much to not be seen as a villain anymore.
ERIC: [Referring to Hannah, Marissa, and Monica ganging up on Nick for saying unkind things about Hannah’s looks behind her back] HANNAH ALSO TALKED ABOUT NICK'S LOOKS IN AN UNKIND WAY. ON CAMERA. These women are fucking delusional if they don’t see that Hannah has gassed them up to attack on her behalf. God, this is so obvious and manipulative. Monica and Marissa: you are SO in the wrong here, and this was a TERRIBLE look for both of you. Terrible!
JOELLE: I literally just walked away. And I came back and Garrett is like, I'm ready for this to be over. And then they're all yelling at Garrett.
ERIC: Thank you Garrett for calling this out as immature. Fucking 8th-grade dinner dance shit up in here.
ERIC: What was the motive behind this? Backing up Hannah because she was getting hate online? So your response was to tear Nick down? That’s OK behavior to you? Do you think anyone watching thought Nick was perfect and innocent? Because we didn’t. But none of that excuses Hannah’s treatment of him, and that’s what y’all are trying to do here. Take a step back. Look at your life, look at your choices. Jesus Christ!
TREY: Sure. Talk about it all. But have a conversation, not just a pile on.
ERIC: Is the point that they WANTED Nick to say on national television that he was not attracted to her? That would have justified Hannah’s behavior somehow, even though he never once said that to her?
TREY: Yes.
ERIC: [Responding to Hannah’s comment about sleeping with Nick after filming wrapped] "I wanted to have sex with you one time to make sure it wasn't that bad." That is a TRASH COMMENT. How many times does this woman need to sexually humiliate this man on national television? How is ANYONE defending her with that kind of behavior?
TREY: Also! It's called “Love is Blind.” And honestly, it's gonna be just a fact that you might not be physically attracted to someone.
ERIC: [Referring to Hannah, Marissa, Monica] All of these women are coming off terribly.
TREY: Is anyone coming off well?
JOELLE: Katie.
Brittany & Leo
ERIC: Oh, no. Leo and Brittany. That’s…a lot of look on Brittany.
TREY: Ugh. MUAH MUAH MUAH.
ERIC: Oh, Tim can speak. Clock it, 43 minutes before Tim said a WORD.
JOELLE: Who is the pasta and who is the steak in the situation? You absolutely dumbass dirtbag.
TREY: What an AWFUL analogy!
ERIC: Oh my god, Nick Lachey with the, "In tennis 'love' means nothing" - you know some writer had a throbbing erection handing in that line.
JOELLE: He looked so proud of himself when he put that line out there.
TREY: I do not believe that Leo can outrap anyone.
ERIC: Stephen it's best to keep your mouth shut. Like literally, say less.
ERIC: I appreciate Brittany addressing the awkwardness of the reveal, and specifically what made it awkward. that's interesting to hear.
TREY: "This is a stranger." Honestly, the best take about this whole 7 season experiment.
ERIC: If one good thing has come from this season, it has been the glorious public humiliation of Leo.
TREY: But he has taken it in stride because he knows that he was cringey as hell.
ERIC: Yeah, he's actually reacted to all of this much better than most men on this show would.
Monica & Stephen
ERIC: Nick's pivot to the Stephen storyline -- terrible. Hire new writers, show.
JOELLE: That was confusing.
ERIC: This Stephen segment is nearly as awkward as the Brittany/Leo reveal. There is literally not a single thing Stephen can say that Monica will not immediately pounce on.
TREY: I'm on Monica's side.
ERIC: And Stephen just keeps apologizing over and over and...blech. I don’t need to see either of these people anymore, thank you.
ERIC: Stephen is actually not wrong when he's like, Nobody cares what I have to say, nobody is going to listen to anything I have to say.
TREY: Oh GAWD Stephen ... leave the cow alone, you've milked the "no one cares" to death.
JOELLE: Later in the segment, I appreciate that he's finally explaining some things. I'm not sure that I fully buy it. But it seems more plausible than the way she played it out on the show.
ERIC: Agree. I also think Monica is playing up her outrage on this stage. It’s just as manufactured as she is accusing his contrition of being.
JOELLE: I completely agree.
ERIC: This is her Moment and she’s going to milk it.
JOELLE: Monica needs to pick something else to hate about him.
ERIC: Like just focus on your future. He’s ancient history. You want to punish him? Stop giving him oxygen. That segment was awful.
TREY: Also: who doesn't have a password on their phone? Sir. If you get arrested, the cops can just go in there and use everything.
JOELLE: Privilege.
TREY: PSA: have a password on your phone and think twice about using biometrics to unlock your phone.
Alex & Tim
ERIC: Alex's hair and make-up are SO good. So lovely.
JOELLE: Was just thinking that.
ERIC: [Referring to Tim and Alex being frustrated that they have to explain the Cabo fight to the viewers] Vanessa is making a good point re: People invested in your relationship. That's why they care. That is also what I'm getting at with Tyler and Ashley. You cannot invite the viewers into your relationship, and then get annoyed when it gets bad and they want to understand what’s going on. I get that it is uncomfortable, but that is quite literally what you signed up for. On SEASON 7 OF THIS SHOW. You know how it works, folks.
JOELLE: This Alex and Tim conversation is painful.
ERIC: I'll put Tim and Alex on the list of couples I don't need to hear from again.
TREY: Wait...he's this mad about being called "a little ass bitch"? Like. I don't wanna be called that either, but damn. I thought she called him something WAY worse.
JOELLE: Right?!??
ERIC: SAME. My MOTHER has called me a little-ass bitch. And that is enough to send you into a total spiral? Seek help.
JOELLE: Therapy would help with that reaction.
TREY: She's not wrong about him talking in circles and being long-winded.
TREY: She...took a nap before work after being on with her potential future in-laws for like 6 hours? If that's what happened, then she's well within her rights, and Tim is acting like a child.
JOELLE: End this please.
ERIC: It goes on like this. If I had to pick a side here it would be Alex. They’re both immature, but Tim is astonishingly immature.
JOELLE. Yeah. But barely.
TREY: OMG thank you Vanessa Lachey for telling them to take it outside.
Alumni Check-In: Jessica
JOELLE: I did not recognize Messica! This whole time I've been like, Who are these people in the back row of the VIP?
ERIC: I also don't recognize whoever is sitting next to Marshall. [It’s Nancy.]
JOELLE: [Referring to Jessica’s wedding footage] Happy for her!
ERIC: Marshal, I beg of you: wear socks.
JOELLE: Agree!
Garrett & Taylor
ERIC: Just thinking about Fong sitting through this unrepentant messiness for what probably went on for hours. I wish we had a Fong Cam, where it was just frame after frame of increasingly judgmental looks.
JOELLE: OK, mustache Garrett is so much better than this “glow up.” I want more mustache Garrett. Thank you!
ERIC: SO MUCH BETTER. The new look is not a “glow up.” It’s a “no up.”
TREY: Oh. Oh, Garrett Mustache is handsome. Garrett from “Boy Meets World” is not it.
JOELLE: Model Garrett < Pod Garrett < Mustache Garrett
ERIC: I don't know who said, "I'm so glad he cut off that mustache," but that person has no taste.
JOELLE: That was Tyler. Or Stephen.
ERIC:
Wrapping Up/Final Thoughts
JOELLE: Vanessa must be dying, there are multiple babies in that room right now.
TREY: Don't get your partner's name tattoo'd on you if they're still alive!
ERIC: Especially not if that partner kept a significant element of his personal life a secret from you until after he proposed marriage. On national TV.
ERIC: Leo's toast is as bad as you would imagine.
TREY: ALSO: where are Lauren and Cameron?
ERIC: I think it's worth mentioning that most of the people on those couches looked absolutely miserable. Was this experience ultimately positive for them? I doubt it.
JOELLE: I think Taylor's parents fell asleep.
ERIC: Or willed themselves into comas. Which: respect.
TREY: "My daughter is not a part of this mess, so let me disassociate."
ERIC: Overall what did we think of the season?
ERIC: I think it might be our messiest ever, but not in a way that felt fun and shocking. In a way that made me feel bad for the people involved, and bad for watching it.
JOELLE: I don't love having all those barely necessary VIP guests on stage under the lights the whole time.
TREY: Oh it was super messy and it felt so invasive in a few ways. If anything, this show makes me appreciate MY marriage so much more. Because we understand communication and jealousy.
JOELLE: Like I'm here for wild and weird and sweet, not for hateful anger. You brought the wrong ‘tude tonight, folks.
ERIC: I’m laying that squarely at Hannah’s feet. I think she spent weeks/months winding up the other single women to defend her and cast down Nick. She’s a poison pill.
JOELLE: Honestly everyone is poisoning the well. Hannah with her lack of thought, Monica with her hateful judgment, Alex with her quiet judgment, and Marissa with her complete lack of self-awareness. The four of them are a mess in the same room. Brittany is lucky she got out early.
JOELLE: And don't get me started on the men. Tim is at a 2 or 10, Stephen is spineless, Nick has no personality, and Ramses needs to stay away from all women until he gets proper respect.
JOELLE: None of them should have been put up to talk things out tonight. There was nothing to talk out.
TREY: I feel like the last few seasons have had such vitriolic reunions.
JOELLE: Where were the never-before-seen clips about oranges?!
TREY: Who is a famous therapist who can come to the reunions to mediate?
JOELLE: Ummm the famous ones are mostly toxic. They really need a judge to mediate.
TREY: Or just bring back Ricki Lake. Or someone austere like Robin Roberts.
ANDREA: The way that Brittany and Leo walked out of this season as being the most likable, other than maybe Garret and Taylor, is truly an achievement.
ERIC: That is the fucking TRUTH.
TREY: I guess I’ll see you all In Minneapolis, or as some of us from the Midwest call them, The Cities.