Netflix continues to dominate the pop culture landscape with its original programming. The streaming service's latest triumphs are Love Is Blind and Too Hot To Handle. On the former, contestants meet and fall in love before ever laying eyes on one another, and the latter requires the cast members to establish meaningful connections without relying on sexual behavior of any kind.
Both series hinge on the idea that men and women can forge lasting bonds by less conventional means. But each show goes about testing this hypothesis in very different ways, and while Love Is Blind raises the stakes by throwing nuptial into the mix, Too Hot To Handle focuses on self-growth and self-discipline. If you're looking for a no-strings-attached guilty pleasure, Too Hot To Handle comes out on top. But if you're ready to fully commit to a new kind of dating show, Love Is Blind is your match made in heaven.
Love Is Blind: The Proposals
While Bachelor Nation has to wait an entire season to find out if someone pops the question and to who (unless they rely on Reality Steve to provide spoilers), Love Is Blind gets right down to business. These singles have 10 days to fall in love and get engaged, and they have to make the decision based solely on personality and intellect.
The pod conversations are intense enough for couples to agree to move forward in the process. The promise of getting married is just the first step, but Love Is Blind successfully sucks in viewers both skeptics and romantics alike.
Too Hot To Handle: The Cast Is A Smokeshow
Most reality dating show contestants are objectively attractive, but while the cast members of Love Is Blind and The Bachelor/Bachelorette are merely telegenic -- and a bit homogenous in the case of The Bachelor - the men and women on Too Hot To Handle are on an entirely different level. They are collectively the top 1% of hotness, and put great effort into their appearance.
Love Is Blind: Waiting For The Couples To Meet Face-To-Face
The couples may fall in love sight unseen, but the next test is how they react once the pod is no longer part of the equation. The notion that people can push physical attraction to the side, making it secondary to emotional and intellectual compatibility, age, socioeconomic status, religious views and similar interests is hard to comprehend in a society where the emphasis on looks has never been stronger.
Waiting for the big reveal is akin to preparing to rip open gifts on Christmas morning. The reaction will be either genuine joy or poorly-masked disappointment.
Too Hot To Handle: The Celibacy Twist
As soon as the sexy singles arrive on their tropical oasis, they immediately begin sizing each other up. It's established upfront that the contestants are Tinder-swiping, bed-hopping hotties who are just looking for a good time. They're clueless that their supposed summer of debauchery is going to evolve into a self-help retreat with a cash prize bestowed on those who can keep their hands to themselves.
Love Is Blind: Watching The Couples Adapt To Life On The Outside
Finding love is great (unless it's Diamond and Carlton), and the first four episodes concentrate on that euphoric high, or in the case of some couples, lukewarm like. But the tone changes at the start of season 5 when the couples must move in with each other and start adapting to the day-to-day obstacles all couples face only in rapid succession.
Amber's in debt up to her eyeballs, Jessica's demanding and frigid, Kelly keeps Kenny in the friend zone, Giannina, aka "Gigi," is obsessed with social media and Damian bears an eerie resemblance to Toby from The Office. Usually, dating shows end when the love story begins, but this one takes the audience on a long journey.
Too Hot To Handle: The Rulebreakers
Once the rules are established, the question becomes who will break them, and how large is the penalty? It starts with a kiss here and a kiss here, but once the private suite enters the equation, the series puts a price tag on every intimate encounter.
For the most unapologetic rulebreakers, Harry and Francesca (the only couple to have sex), touching each other's no-no parts is priceless. Rhonda and Sharron engage in numerous acts left to viewers' imaginations because they're bleeped out, indicating they believe carnal rewards outweigh monetary ones.
Love Is Blind: Jessica's Attempts To Snag Barnett From Amber
If it isn't obvious to the audience that Mark is Jessica's second choice from the jump, it's undeniable when Jessica meets Barnett in person for the first time in Mexico. Her disinterest in physical intimacy with Mark combined with her lingering feelings for Barnett adds up to a woman smitten with someone other than her fiance.
Every time Jessica encounters Barnett, she rehashes their time together while also insisting on how madly in love she is with Mark. Great reality shows need a villain and Jessica fits the bill. She tries to manipulate Barnett into believing he's making a mistake by marrying Amber, and she keeps Mark cooling on the back burner
Too Hot To Handle: It's Fun And Frivolous
If you're looking for a show that doesn't require too many neurons to enjoy, this one is for you. The workshops which encourage the cast to explore ways to connect that aren't physical are enjoyable to watch. Most of the participants begin to fully embrace the process, so the focus on sex shifts to what else they can bring to the table.
Almost everyone learns there are deeper reasons why they value themselves only for their looks and sexual prowess without a bunch of a-ha moments. Whether or not these leopards change their spots outside this bubble is inconsequential. It's just fun to watch them try.
Love Is Blind: Guessing Who Will Tie The Knot And Who Won't
Despite living together, trying to merge their lives and plan a wedding. There's no guarantee any of the couples will put a ring on it. Every couple's future is a question mark. The weddings are interchangeable except for the bride and groom. It's less about the joining of two lives and more about that moment when one person says "I do" and the other either reciprocates or leaves the other standing dumbstruck at the altar. Whatever the series is trying to prove, the outcome is usually televised humiliation.
Too Hot To Handle: The Cash Prize
The contestants know there's a cash prize, but up until the final episode, both the amount and who wins is up in the air. Will it be one person? One couple? Or the individual who not only remains chaste but doesn't break any of the cardinal rules. In the end, everybody is a winner not just because they pocket a bit of cash but because either they find romance or learn that it's okay to be alone too.