Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Love Is Blind’ Season 5 On Netflix, Where Singles From Houston Come To The Pods To Find Their Forever People

Knowing what we now know about how Love Is Blind is made, especially during the pod phase of the show, we wonder what makes these singles continue to subject themselves to these long days and artificial emotional roller coasters all created in an unreal environment. We have to admit, we met our SO during the “ancient” era of dating websites; dating apps seem to be even more superficial and exhausting than the websites used to be. We can only think that the idea of getting off that dating treadmill is so tantalizing to these singles that they’ll put up with the long days and low pay that comes with being on this show. In the fifth season, singles from Houston come to the pods to find their forever people, sight unseen.

LOVE IS BLIND SEASON 5: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Scenes from Season 5 of Love Is Blind, which by the looks of things, might have a lot of blogworthy moments.

The Gist: Nick and Vanessa Lachey kick things off in the usual fashion, by visiting the 15 single men and 15 single women and give their shtick about what’s about to happen, including the not-at-all-accurate idea that at the end of the experiment, the couples will say “I do” or “walk away forever.”

Then the pod dates start. We see a montage of some uncomfortable first encounters, then we get down to the featured couples. Lydia Velez Gonzalez, a very outgoing geologist originally from Puerto Rico, vibes with Milton Johnson over different types of rock. Izzy Zapata seems to get along well with a number of women, including Lydia. But he seems to have a deep connection with Johnie Maraist, who admits to him that she’s been married once before. Izzy and Stacy Snyder have a lot of fun together, but Stacy keeps her mouth shut when Lydia very vocally expresses the fact that she and Izzy were meant to be.

Johnie bonds pretty hard with Chris, who opens up on how he lost his virginity when he was a teenager. Jared “JP” Pierce, a firefighter, tells Taylor, who is only coming around to love herself after some body image issues, that if it were up to him, he’d propose to her on day 2.

Then there’s Aliyah Cosby, a sex-positive ICU nurse, and Uche Okoroha, a lawyer who started a software business. They’re getting along so well they’re each other’s number one choices… until the subject of infidelity comes up.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Love Is Blind Seasons 1-4. This season seems to be digging up a bit more drama early on, but then again we’re not sure if that’s from the producers knowing more about what to look for or the singles knowing the show pretty well at this point and knowing what plays on camera.

Our Take: We’re done speculating on why we continue to watch Love Is Blind; we’ve conceded that executive producer Chris Coelen and the folks at Kinetic Content have perfected the formula of casting compelling singles, and then following the ones that will create the best stories — including the most conflict.

When the Lacheys address the single men and women at the start of the show — a bit that could be dropped without anyone missing it — we thought that the groups looked pretty generic. By the time the first episode ended, we already identified burgeoning rivalries, singles who are going to get engaged to their second choices and go through the vacation and living together phases wondering “what if,” and a couple that went from rock solid to almost done within the space of one pod session (which could have been hours, for all we know).

The key to this episode lies in its title, “So, You’re A Recent Cheater?” It involves that aforementioned conversation between Uche and Aliyah, one of the most compelling pod conversations we’ve seen since this show started. You’re definitely going to take sides, and you’re definitely going to be riveted to the aftermath back in the women’s “living quarters”.

Sex and Skin: There’s a montage where the singles talk about favorite sex positions, etc.

Parting Shot: Lydia consoles Aliyah after Aliyah’s eventful talk with Uche, assuring her that she has nothing to apologize or explain to him.

Sleeper Star: We like Carter because he’s bald and loves to fish. In fact, his profession is “fisherman.” We’re rooting for him to hook up with a lawyer or some other person with a white-collar job.

Most Pilot-y Line: The producers do check the ages the people claim to be, right? Like every year, there seems to be one or two people who claim to be way younger than they look. We’ll leave it to you to guess which person or people we’re talking about.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Somehow, in its fifth season, the Love Is Blind formula has yet to grow old for us. That’s both a good and a bad thing, as we’re now hooked in for another eventful season.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.