Photo: Netflix
We’re out of the pods! (And I’ve finally gotten everyone’s names and faces down.) This week, our couples are off to Honduras for largely uneventful baecations. Everyone seems to be having a nice, if slightly boring, time, although there are a few cracks in Dave and Lauren’s relationship. But as a whole, the real tests start when we return to Minneapolis, where family and friends start to weigh in. And even though more than 425,000 people live in the city, the dating pool feels so shallow that everyone seems to have a friend who swims in the same circles or has slept with their new favorite fish — okay, I’m losing the metaphor. My point is that the real world comes with a lot of opinions and external pressure. The way our couples react to that offers good insight into who has actually built a strong enough foundation to last.
But first, we’ve gotta wrap up last week’s cliffhanger. Taylor has an app that tracks who has unfollowed her on Instagram, and production is willing to let her check her phone. Daniel says he would be the “shittiest of people” if he cheated the system, but he still seems nervous that she might see his profile. It’s a tense situation, but there are a couple of moments (“Bueller?”) when they can’t help laughing with each other. Taylor scrolls and scrolls and scrolls — “Lost a lot of followers. Wow,” she deadpans — but doesn’t see him. Eventually, she stops checking. Daniel assures her that she’s not crazy and says he’s happy to go home with her if she has reservations about Honduras. But Taylor, now satisfied that their connection wasn’t built on physical attraction, is ready to continue, which means we’re still following five couples. Let’s break down what happens, pair by pair.
Last week, I complained that I didn’t know these two well enough. The good news is that I know them better this week! The bad news is that now I feel worse about them.
Things are fine in Honduras — Monica is glad that her being 5’10 isn’t a problem, and she’s an attentive listener when Joey explains that he had to do exposure therapy as a kid due to the severity of his OCD — but back in Minnesota, I see some potential problems.
Even though Joey suggests that it’s not a big deal, I think their incompatible laundry habits will eventually cause conflicts and are perhaps a sign of larger cleaning routine differences. At one point, Monica tells a story about a spider that inspires such visceral horror in me that I actually cannot force myself to type out any more details about it. What I will say is if that had happened to me, not only would my laundry never touch the floor again, but I would be shaking out every single pair of pants for the rest of my life before putting them on.
Randomly, clothes are a recurring theme for this couple this week. Joey is fascinated to learn that Monica’s family shares socks. (Only one of my co-workers is open to the idea of a communal sock bin; everyone else thinks something disturbing is … afoot.) I’m also wondering if this means that everyone in the household has the same foot size. Fascinating.
Monica’s family invites Joey to participate in a “fam jam,” which feels like a big missed opportunity for her dad to show off the dance move from Monica and Joey’s favorite pod date. The only person who doesn’t seem charmed by Joey is Monica’s sister, Nicolle. Joey later suggests that her disapproval stems from unresolved issues with Monica. It’s true that Nicolle didn’t look thrilled at the jokes about her boyfriend secretly still liking Monica, and the moment when Nicolle told Monica that she thought she would be the first to get married did feel slightly charged. But I’m just surprised that Joey is so blunt after one meeting. He’s essentially calling his potential sister-in-law jealous behind her back, which puts Monica (and maybe her family and Nicolle’s boyfriend once they watch this?) in a weird position.
Again, not saying Joey’s wrong. But I’m willing to bet that he and Nicolle will see each other again because I can’t see Monica feeling comfortable proceeding with a wedding if her sister and fiancée still have negative opinions of each other, and the show has already spoiled that they make it to the altar. Still, just because they make it there doesn’t mean they’ll get married. For now, do I expect two “I do”s? I do not.
There’s not much to say about this couple’s Honduras trip. They’re smiley and cuddly in their matching purple ‘fits. Virginia loves the idea of being “Mrs. Buckets,” and Devin tells anyone who’ll listen how comfortable the relationship feels.
Back in Minneapolis, they show each other their homes while grabbing items for their shared apartment. When Virginia asks how much Devin’s shoe-collecting habit is gonna cost her, he points to one of his many pairs and prices it at $700. I don’t think the camera crew should’ve shown us the exterior of that building. Someone definitely just put Devin on their rob list.
The couple is talking a lot about finances this week. Virginia is okay with Devin’s suggestion that they have separate individual accounts and one joint account. She’s also willing to help pay off his medical bills, saying that decisions should be made with what will help the “home team” in mind. However, Devin’s very taken aback by her desire for a prenup. Just like bisexuality, he seems to find the concept confusing and concerning. When Virginia mentions a prenup to his family, they also see it as a red flag.
I just … if a prenup is something you know you do or don’t want, I don’t understand how it wouldn’t come up in the pods. But I guess now we have to see if they can work it out before the wedding. I don’t necessarily know if this is a dealbreaker. The preview shows him looking pretty happy as Virginia walks down the aisle in a wedding dress, and Devin seems pretty obsessed with that picture she painted of her pregnant with another kid on her hip, cheering him on as he coaches a varsity game. Maybe he wants that badly enough to get over his hesitations.
This couple has been getting lightly teased on social media. Last week, TV writer Caitie Delaney tweeted, “This couple on love is blind can’t believe how lucky they are to have found each other because they both love Christmas. It seems so soothing to be low key dumb.” Now, I was also amused by how often Christmas came up in the pods, but Taylor and Daniel have successfully convinced me that their connection is much deeper than it initially seemed.
Yes, they still talk about Christmas in Honduras. But beyond their shared interest in holiday festivities, fast-food chains, and keeping it “G” while thumb-wrestling, I think their personalities are fundamentally pretty compatible. Maybe it is lucky that the president of the “overthinkers club” found someone as reassuring as Daniel, you know? He never lets Taylor say a self-deprecating thing without gently pushing back. No, she’s not crazy for having to look away from him to only hear his voice. No, she shouldn’t regret the way she handled the Instagram conversation. Yes, he’ll be there to calm her “spiraling mind.” At one point, she tears up while saying that no one’s ever spoken to her the way he does. I feel like people might find this couple boring, but I’m rooting for them. Hell, I hope Santa shows up to officiate the wedding.
Back in Minneapolis, Taylor’s meeting with Daniel’s family — including his sister, who is blind and thinks this whole experiment is pretty cool — goes very well. Are Daniel’s parents supportive of this marriage? Mr. Hastings doesn’t just say “yes,” he says, “Without reservation.” In contrast, the atmosphere at Taylor’s house is more tense. Her mom is very hesitant and feels left out of the engagement process. (Taylor’s dad, the one who has cancer, just seems happy to be there for her.) Daniel is so aggressively earnest that he tears up while talking about his feelings for Taylor. If that wasn’t enough to show that he’s taking this seriously, he’s also invited his parents to meet Taylor’s parents. The room agrees that divorce is not an option, and both sets of parents acknowledge that they’ll be fighting over where the couple spends Christmas. Ultimately, Taylor’s parents give Daniel their blessing to marry her. I don’t want to jinx it, but at this point, it feels like nothing could go wrong.
These two have a great time in Honduras. I think they’re the first couple that has sex, or they’re at least the first ones willing to tell Dave about it. Ben acknowledges that people will probably think it’s silly to suggest that his relationship with Sara proves that love is blind, given that she’s very attractive. In Minneapolis, his friends echo that sentiment and sneak in the assertion that Ben is also so hot. Everyone is talking him up for being so accepting, and when one of Ben’s friends mentions her girlfriend, we do get proof that he is close with people who are “that way.” I’m still getting a weird vibe from him, but Sara is fully sold.
Then, in their apartment, Sara sees a TikTok from someone reacting to the leaked Love Is Blind cast and tearfully wondering why shitty men are rewarded. The video doesn’t name anyone, but Ben thinks it’s about him, which feels … telling. He adds that he’s already blocked the TikToker because he doesn’t know what else she might say, which is a weird move if he genuinely can’t remember what happened with her. According to Ben, he went out with this girl once four years ago, then ghosted her. He allegedly has no recollection of any incident that could have made her this upset. Sara seems shaken and tells him that she needs him to tell her everything. It feels like she really wants to trust him, and the preview does show her at the altar. Maybe she’s the one who could teach Ben something about faith.
These two say that neither of them has ever combined physical and emotional components in a relationship before, but I’m not convinced that they’re experiencing that now. In Honduras, Lauren and Dave don’t seem relaxed. It might just be that they’re conscious of the cameras — Lauren definitely makes eye contact with us a couple of times — but it feels like they’re trying to convince themselves that everything is great and easy.
Dave tells us in a confessional that he can tell Lauren’s not ready to have sex, which he’s totally fine with. But he seems awfully eager to flit around to see if the other couples can relate and whether they feel weird about it. He also assures Lauren that he has no problem with her sleeping or peeing habits, but keeps bringing it up to other people. It’s almost like he’s testing the waters to see if anyone will say anything that isn’t 100 percent confident about this experiment or his relationship with Lauren, but no one really bites.
This couple’s main conflict isn’t about cheating, as the preview from last week led me to believe. It’s about a guy that Dave knows and that Lauren slept with before entering the pods. Lauren says it was strictly a friends-with-benefits situation for two months, but Dave is acting like he was a serious boyfriend. Apparently, Dave also side-eyed Molly for having been in an on-and-off situation. It’s interesting that he’s questioning if these women are ready for marriage when it felt like his mindset entering the pods was basically that he wanted to see if he could stop objectifying women.
I’ll admit to feeling a twinge of sympathy for Dave when he meets Lauren’s friends in Minneapolis — I would hate to be filmed flopping in an exercise class and then immediately have to go make a first impression. Lauren’s friends (who are married, I checked!) are eager to back up her claim that she never dated this unnamed hookup. Apparently, he DMed one of them to ask if they should “blow this wedding up,” so their theory is that he just wants to be on TV.
We never actually see this guy, even though he coincidentally lives in the same building that the Love Is Blind couples move into. But it feels like he’s the topic of every conversation we see Dave and Lauren have once they’re back. Dave’s friends — and the sister that he cares about so much — have mutual friends with this mystery man. The day that Dave got his phone back, he was flooded with messages from people who knew about his engagement. And they all were and apparently still are convinced that Lauren dated that guy right before the show.
Lauren wants the chance to defend herself and let people get to know her, but Dave is stuck on the idea that she hooked up with someone else so recently. He points out that they haven’t even hooked up with each other that much, and Lauren says he hasn’t been at the apartment. Oof. Ultimately, Dave decides that his friends shouldn’t meet her. Things are not looking good, but Lauren and Dave insist that they still love each other and aren’t giving up on getting married.
I should note that Dave also seemed uncomfortable to learn that Lauren’s dad isn’t thrilled about the experiment, and there’s potential for mess when Dave eventually meets Molly. So unfortunately, even if this situationship debate is settled, I’m not sure that will be the end of these two’s problems.
Who’s getting married? Every week, I’ll be forcing my Vulture/New York Magazine co-workers to do with their opinions what Monica’s family members do with their socks: share. The percentage represents how many of us think the couple will end up saying, “I do.” Here are the results of this week’s poll:
🥇Taylor and Daniel (100%)
🥇Devin and Virginia (100%)
🥉Joey and Monica (40%)
☹️ Ben and Sara (20%)
😭 Dave and Lauren (0%)
Taylor and Daniel have moved up a spot to tie with Devin and Virginia — we now all believe that those two couples will get married. Meanwhile, Dave and Lauren have yet to sway a single voter, landing at the bottom for the second week in a row.
Investigation of the week: Who’s Tok-ing about Ben?
It was actually pretty easy to figure this one out because I remember seeing the TikTok in question last year. In March 2024, a TikToker named Andra (@hopeyoufindyourdad) posted a video sharing her frustrations about the leaked Minneapolis cast. “I’m just exhausted and tired of society rewarding shitty men who treat women terribly and manipulate and lie all the time,” she said with tears in her eyes. She added that for legal reasons, she probably couldn’t identify which man she was talking about. (Of course, we know who it is, thanks to Sara’s description of the video and Ben’s own acknowledgment.)
Andra expanded on her allegations in a follow-up TikTok this January. She said that the man in question treated women at the University of Minnesota “like they were objects and completely disposable” for years and has long wanted to be famous. Other details she shared, like that he was a star baseball player on campus, match publicly accessible information about Ben.
Andra claimed that multiple women came forward with “horror stories” about him after he was spotted filming in Minneapolis. “The second he got off the show, he went back to those bars — probably the college bars he hung around for way too long — and started telling people exactly what happened on the show,” she added. She concluded the video by sharing what she’d heard about the final outcome for this couple. I’m inclined to believe that she had a reliable source, so in the interest of not spoiling the season, I won’t repeat it here. But if you’re curious, you can watch her TikTok to the end.
Quote(s) of the week: “Monica’s sister is boldly auditioning for the villain of the season alongside Dave, who should be pretty embarrassed he can’t do a SoulCycle class in the year of our Lord 2025.” — one of my co-workers.
A couple of last thoughts:
• I find it funny that the cast was clearly not organically splitting off into pairs during the Honduras party. I’m imagining a producer going, “Okay, who hasn’t been grilled by Dave about whether you had sex yet? Raise your hand.”
• I always appreciate it when the LIB camera crew shows us the books people have in their bedrooms. Monica is clearly a fan of Sarah J. Maas. Other titles on her shelf include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I feel like I know her better now, don’t you?
• I was fully expecting a baby when Devin’s family was talking about their pet pig.
