When Love Island USA Becomes Bigger Than Itself

It’s been two days since the Love Island USA Season 7  finale and if you’re anything like the rest of us, you’re still reeling. Congratulations to Amaya and Bryan for winning the weirdest season in Love Island history. It’s not lost on many viewers that this season of Love Island USA is a reflection of the current dating pool and where we are as a country. 

For starters, many people were upset by the lack of attractive men as bombshells. Many felt that women were doing the heavy lifting in the looks department. Which is a common sentiment felt amongst women outside the villa on dating apps and within the general dating pool. Another reflection on the real world was how long it took the couples to close things off. For singles around the age group of the contestants, it felt familiar to watch these men drag their feet wanting to be exclusive. Opting to keep their options open just in case something better came around. 

This season of Love Island also reflected where we are as a country. Regardless of Cierra’s apology and accountability, the lack of awareness and information she had about the racial slur she used, highlighted a lack of education in this country. But racism wasn’t exclusive to the world outside of Love Island. Inside the villa, Huda’s micro (and at times macro) aggressions

caused her fans and news outlets to also be racist towards Olandria and Chelley. This eventually culminated in Chelley and Ace’s unjust elimination from the show, despite being the strongest and longest connection there. 

Huda and her stans, dubbed the Hudrats online, ruined this season of Love Island USA for me personally. The way she talked down to Jeremiah was so inappropriate and uncalled for. But instead of being held accountable, she was consistently rewarded by staying in the villa (albeit with a man who despised her) either by the islanders themselves or by her fans for voting for her to stay. If Huda’s fans (many of them are very young) actually cared about her, they would have voted her off when they had the chance. Watching her emotionally manipulate, lie, and be hypocritical throughout her time in the villa was mentally exhausting for viewers and islanders alike. According to islanders who left the villa, her crash outs were much longer and much worse than what was shown. Because of her irate behavior towards people exploring her first connection, Jeremiah, it seemed that other people were pressured not to explore different connections–shifting the culture of the island. 

The turning point of the season for me was when Jeremiah and Hannah were voted off the island. The show never felt the same after that because it was a blatant misuse of power. No matter how many times I hear why the girls voted to send Hannah home, it will never make sense to me. Never in Love Island history have so many people with strong connections been punished for pursuing them. Even Ace’s reason for voting Jeremiah off (albeit misjudged) made more sense than “Hannah should be happy that she got to explore two really good connections.” 

The best part of the season however, was the story arc of Nicolandria. What started off as collective delusion became something real and, honestly, kind of magical. Olandria had a hard time in the villa after Taylor strung her along, so it was only right that she was rewarded with someone who actually liked her and wanted to give her everything that she wanted. From the edits and memes, to just pure online delusion, Nicolandria hive saved this season. Not only did they give viewers something to root for, they gave many people (myself included) new hope for finding love. Whether or not you believe in Nicolandria or their longevity, you can’t deny that their stans made this season enjoyable.

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