Fans of reality dating TV can’t get enough of the countless options for real-life romance. The Love is Blind franchise is one of the most popular right now, but before Love is Blind, there was Married at First Sight, which first aired in 2014 on Lifetime.
No season ofMarried at First Sight is as memorable as season 17 in Denver, where the drama gave the word “unhinged” its definition. In Married at First Sight season 17, the couples basically hi-jacked the show, faking their interactions as an attempt to control the narratives created by the production team. Their secrets were poured out at the reunion, leaving fans wide-eyed and speechless. Denver has delivered yet another season of unhinged reality romance in Love is Blind season 9.
Love is Blind season 9 cast is short-tempered and immature
After the proposals, the romance in Love is Blind season 9 took an immediate turn for the worst.
When the couples got together for drinks at the honeymoon, the guys were acting so strange and obnoxious. Joe practically ignored his fiancé at the meetup, Jordan turned everything into a joke, and Edmond couldn’t get over the fact that every other couple had gone much farther than he and Kalybriah in the physical department.
Most of the available episodes involve petty arguments and heavy emotional responses, even for a show that puts its cast members under lots of pressure.
In a recent episode of Out of the Pods, hosted by former Love is Blind cast members, listeners get a similar breakdown of why this season is so unbelievable, and why many cast members give red flags when it comes to marriage.
Post-engagement crash-out moments in Love is Blind season 9
Denver is known for its picturesque snowy mountains, ski resorts, and get-away cabins, but this fall, it appears that emotional ‘crash-outs’ are the city’s new marker. First, Joe remained in a very drunken state one evening on the honeymoon, and he could not coherently communicate to his fiancé Madison why he left the gathering early.
This caused a huge argument between the two, and lots of tears from Madison. But viewers still can’t seem to understand exactly why the argument escalated so much. Many are calling Joe a gas-lighter online, because it seems like he was purposefully pushing Madison away after he was put off by her weight. In an interview with People, Madison admits that the argument was even worse than what viewers saw.
Next, we have the king of crash-out moments so far this season: Edmond. He got extremely angry with Kalybriah on the honeymoon when she communicated that she wanted to wait until after marriage before having sex. Edmond cried and shouted, exclaiming that her decision wasn’t fair, stating that “I’m too f**ing nice!”.
I have the feeling his emotional regulation issues go much deeper than his conversation with Kalybriah, so it will be interesting to see what we learn about Edmond in the episodes leading up to the weddings. Edmond is not off the hook yet—he had another crash-out moment at a group gathering when he made a passive aggressive statement in front of Kalybriah.
He was frustrated that she doesn’t compliment him enough. He seems to need a ton of validation for someone who is ready to get married. When Kalybriah asked for space, Edmond broke down again saying, “I might die tonight!”. It felt a little dramatic when he could have done a better job listening to her that night.
More crash-outs happen in Love is Blind season 9 episode 8 when Madison and Joe have another confusing argument, and she takes off her ring. It was difficult to understand exactly why they were arguing again because they kept interrupting each other. The gist seems to be that Madison is more serious about the relationship than Joe, and instead of admitting it, he tries to reason with her. In the end, he confused all of us and made Madison extremely upset.
Annie and Nick seemed like they were doing really well until their last night of the honeymoon, where Annie shared a similar concern about feeling more committed to the relationship than Nick. When she didn’t get the answers she needed from him, she got very defensive and unpleasant with Nick. She apologized the next day, but that moment definitely felt like a red flag with how she handles conflict.
Other cringy moments from Love is Blind season 9
There rarely is a case where Love is Blind cast members leave filming in the pods early, but it happens. Unfortunately, Anna left the show just as her top two connections planned to propose. She wasn't able to give an explanation, but we know her decision broke Patrick and Blake’s hearts. Blake ended up leaving the show because of it.
Patrick, on the other hand, stayed on the show and proposed to his second connection, Kacie. Hours after Kacie met him, she left the show as well.
Viewers know that Kacie was not attracted to Patrick at all, but she didn’t clearly communicate to Patrick that she wanted to end the relationship. He thought she left the show for other reasons and hoped to see her back in Denver.
When Patrick reached out to Kacie, she kept delaying their meeting, and she eventually made him feel bad for putting pressure on her. They stopped talking completely, and Kacie has not returned to filming in the episodes we’ve seen so far. However, Anna did appear in episode 9 at a cast gathering, making viewers question her motives. Patrick insinuated that he still has interest in pursuing her, but she couldn’t get over the fact that he proposed to someone else. Can we really blame Patrick in this situation?
Last but not least, we have Ali and Anton. Their relationship seemed to move the quickest, but after the proposal, we don’t see much of a romantic connection. The two get along well enough, but Ali keeps on bringing up how she wants someone to pay for her botox, and Anton was outed for spending his free time at strip clubs—yikes! We have yet to see how this confrontation plays out, but so far, the relationship doesn’t scream ‘marriage material’.
Now that we’ve covered the cringiest moments of the season, we stand by the fans who say this is the most unhinged of all seasons. We’ve seen our share of quirky cast members, exposed lies, and toxic relationships on the show, but we’ve never seen this level of instability and immaturity. Are we still going to watch because we’re invested? Absolutely!
New episodes of Love is Blind season 9 air Wednesdays on Netflix.