‘I guess we just have to fucking see what the craic is’
‘I guess we just have to fucking see what the craic is’
Love Island, the only good show on television
Let’s do this thing: A big round up of bangers and jams, starting with an ode to a TV favorite and hitting on some more music, food and film stuff.
An all-time banger: Why Love Island is the only good show on TV
For the uninitiated, Love Island plops five single women and five single men in a villa for eight weeks. The average age is around 24. They couple up, and those couples either stay strong or fall apart as new islanders appear and some islanders get dumped. It started in the UK before expanding to other countries. I can’t tell you what happens in those other countries, because I’m a Love Island purist.
Much like Top Chef, this reality show is really only interested in featuring people at the top of their field. On Top Chef, that means seeing some of the best cooks in the world thrive under pressure and weird constraints. On Love Island that means seeing hot people in the UK flirting their asses off.
There are understandable complaints that this show is manipulative and dangerous for its contestants. This is the most measured dive into all of that I’ve found, though I … don’t really have time for it. This is an opt-in experience for hot people who go on to seek wealth via brand partnerships. Being blind to the potential social media backlash when you exit the villa is a choice, and a reflection more on the public than the producers.
The show itself is fairly nice. Most islanders do not actually fall in love, of course, though the program’s incentive structure rewards trying and acting decent. If you’re a jerk, you’ll get dumped from the island. If you’re playing a game for clout, you’ll get exposed. If you’re moving mad between multiple potential partners, you’ll get caught and told to pack your bags. (Jake Cornish, a true game player, left on his own accord when he realized everyone was onto his nonsense after three days). Love Is Blind is unhinged. The Bachelor is desperate. Too Hot To Handle is merely a gimmick. Love Island remains (relatively) pure.
And also, nothing really happens on this show. The challenges are meaningless. When they have a “party,” there’s a 90-second dance montage before they go back to chatting on bean bag chairs by a pool. A host appears only when necessary. Yes, it’s exciting when a new bombshell enters the villa. And yes, a re-coupling can end in drama. But mostly you’re just here to hang out with cool people whose job is flirt.
That’s a relief, because scripted TV right now is exhausting. Flipping through the featured shows atop streaming apps brings a parade of apocalypses, murders, wars and some seemingly grounded shows with a twist like what if your father were also an assassin. Or there’s Ted Lasso. Like, I’m good! Sam Esmail is welcome to disown me, but many TV shows do not need to elevate beyond background entertainment. They also don’t all need to have such impossibly high stakes. It’d be great if there were more people empowered to make their version of Girls, because there’s a demand for it. And I can only rewatch Girls so many times per year.
Until then, we have 50-episode seasons of Love Island. And inspiring quotes like islander Josh Ritchie, a true doofus, getting stumped in a conversation and spitting out: “I guess we just have to fucking see what the craic is.” That’s right, my man.