Netflix's Too Hot to Handle reunion show has finally arrived quarantine style. But was it worth the wait and was the format able to capture the drama of a typical reality TV reunion?
Though it's only been several weeks since Netflix premiered its latest reality TV hit, Too Hot to Handle, it was filmed over a year ago. When the show ended, there were two couples and a lot of still single cast members. Fans have been turning over every stone trying to get updates on the cast. Social media has given up a lot of information, but everyone knows its the reunions where viewers get the real tea. Fans tuned in this week to see the reunion, aware that the restrictions put on filming due to lockdowns would likely have an impact. As it turns out, it was a pretty strong impact.
Obviously much of the dramatic interaction, usually confrontations, need that face to face time you only get at an in-person reunion. Even shows like this, which had an often very kumbaya feel to it, there was still drama and it almost always happened when everyone was together in one place. The other issue was not having real-time feedback on what people were saying. No one was able to respond to what someone else said to contradict or expand. Netflix did its best to fill this void with bits not normally seen during a reunion show.
These seemed to suffer by the restricted format as well though. Somehow even Harry's proposal and the song performance by Bryce just fell a little flat without oos and ahhs of their castmates in real-time. This is not a unique problem in moving to a virtual format as late-night talk show hosts have a few stumbles themselves trying to get the hang of a lack of laughter or applause. While it was also great, they attempted to recreate the girl's yoni workshop with the guys, this didn't really work in this format either. With the bonding aspect missing, it just felt awkward for everyone involved.
The other issue is the lack of flow. This resulted in missed opportunities and even more of a lack of new information. Most glaringly missing was the answer to who is currently single and who is not. In a group setting when you ask one person are you dating anyone, it is natural to ask that question of the other cast members. However, fans were left hanging on this one as many people were never even asked about their post-show romances or current relationship statuses. And let's be honest that is likely what people were tuning in for most.
While the host Desiree Burch is hilarious, I mean her narration was often the best part of the show, this format didn't allow her to shine as brightly as a traditional format may have. She was still entertaining and did a great job with what she had to work with, but in the end, it just felt like a group of one-on-one interviews with little to no interaction between the group. It was unclear how much of this was done at the same time, or if not, if everyone even saw each other's clips before the show aired. This makes it hard to view it as a reunion. As the world tries to adapt to the new constraints, kudos to Netflix for taking the plunge and giving it a shot. It seems, however, that reunions are going to be tricky until the world opens back up.