‘Dated & Related’ Proves Not Every Idea is Reality Show Worthy

If Dated & Related taught us anything, it’s that Netflix needs to take things slow in the search for its next great dating show.

The 10-episode reality series, which dropped in full on September 2, throws sibling pairs (and one set of cousins) into a villa in the South of France to see if they can find love with help from their ultimate wingperson. While family members have their share of heartfelt moments throughout the series, the sibling love isn’t strong enough to offset the show’s cringeworthy, confusing setup.

Since Netflix released Dating Around in 2019, the platform has consistently churned out follow-ups, including Love on the Spectrum, The Circle, Love Is Blind, Indian Matchmaking, and most recently, the overly messy disaster that is The Ultimatum. It’s clear Netflix is on the hunt for the world’s next dating show obsession, but let me assure you: Dated & Related isn’t it.

On paper, a dating show with a familial twist has serious potential, but this series gives the impression that someone at Netflix realized the words “dated” and “related” rhymed and figured if they threw a bunch of siblings together with little structure the concept would carry itself. In reality, the series required much more planning to be a success, and a lazy premise, poor execution, lackluster host, and borderline gross shock factor ultimately set Dated & Related up for failure.

First things first: The cringe. In case family members on a dating show together wasn’t weird enough, the show features a number of other inappropriate twists. We see relatives tag along on double dates, sibling pairs date other sibling pairs, and even two sets of twins date each other. In Episode 1, we also learn that not only will everyone be sharing a room at night, but siblings will sleep in the same bed as each other. And at one point a brother and sister pair are even tasked with convincing another duo in the house to guard the bathroom for them while they share a bath together. Why?? Because host Melinda Berry told them to.

From the start of the series, as related pairs file into the villa without any direction or structure, you’ll question Berry’s purpose. It seems she got this gig because she was on Too Hot to Handle and has 14 brothers and sisters, but she spends the majority of the series out of frame, occasionally calling into the villa’s hotline (a lip-shaped phone that desperately want to be the next Jersey Shore duck phone) from the beach, a bubble bath, or any other scene far more exciting than the set. She delivers instructions via phone, voices irritating filler countdowns to let us know how many hours remain until she’ll “shake things up”, and only appears in person to host events or eliminations in a robotic fashion. Bachelor-style date cards or The Circle’s AI assistant could easily replace her role on the series, which is more distracting than enjoyable.

Berry’s glorified hosting gig and the looming cringe-factor aren’t the only things Dated & Related has working against it. For a series that houses contestants in a large French villa stocked with expensive blowdryers and promises a $100,000 prize at the end, Dated & Related feels oddly low-budget. Unlike Berry, the siblings never get to leave the grounds, which means all of their dates, bonding, downtime, and activities take place in the same location. And the big activities are all painfully bland. The pairs engage in events like trivia, speed dating, pass the parcel, and a poolside prom — all of which reek DIY, not Netflix funding. Because the contestants have so much downtime at the villa, the show’s pacing is painfully slow. We get our fair share of ping pong games, poolside chats, and makeup and teeth brushing montages, but the show lacks the sort of organized entertainment and structure that help make long-running dating shows like The Bachelor successful.

In that sense, there’s one thing Dated & Related gets right: it’s like the not particularly interesting cousin you only see at family gatherings. Sure they might be related to your far more interesting relatives; but that doesn’t mean you want to spend time with them, just because they share some of the same DNA.