I HAVE TO SAY…

Below is a slightly edited version of the podcast episode. You can listen to the full episode above, by clicking play, or listening wherever you get your podcasts.

Today, I have to say…I’m watching Love Island USA and I have thoughts!

This will be a recurring podcast episode all about Love Island USA Season 8. 

Some of these topics may seem like old news to you because I’m not able to live react with thorough discussions on the podcast every day, but if you want real time thoughts from me you can check out my threads accounts @ihavetosaypod or @lyssa_post_, whichever you prefer.

I’m not a new Love Island watcher, I used to watch Love Island and two of Love Island USA’s older seasons, but I did fall off somewhere and then get reinvested. 

This chat is NOT an in-depth recap episode, more like an overview and discussion of some of what’s aired and the conversations happening online. The second one is here.

This episode will cover big moments and discussions from Episode 14 to Episode 19.

So thank you for joining me. Thank you for being here. And let’s get started.

Episode 14

Episode 14 feels like a lifetime ago, and it’s right after Sincere and Melanie send letters to each other. Sol said she feels stupid and it’s silly that she didn’t explore anyone else, and I hate to also call her silly in this context, but I have to ask again why she thought Sincere was going to move differently with her than he did with Melanie.

I know she didn’t have that many options, but if you’re watching the episodes before you come in, which I’m pretty sure the bombshells do, why would she actually get her heart in it instead of just playing the game like Amora is, or how people think Amora was?…but wait I’m getting ahead of myself.

Sincere and Melanie talk and Sincere says again that he has always wanted Melanie and he will be open and honest and Melanie adds in for him to be respectful, saying she won’t be crazy and out of pocket. 

As I’ve continued watching, I feel like Sincere may actually like Melanie, but is just selfish…and falls for temptation easily…like he likes her, but he’s toxic and disrespectful and he just says what sounds good without backing it up.

Kenzie tells Corbin she was worried he didn’t write her a letter and he says there would’ve always been one from him, whether Caleb wrote her one or not, and Corbin is SICK for saying that, especially how he moves in casa after, but more on that later.

Aniya and KC seem in a decent place after the letters because it offered them a chance to be vulnerable with each other. Aniya tells him that even though it wasn’t typical how they got together, she doesn’t know how the villa would be if he wasn’t there. I don’t get why people think Aniya doesn’t like KC.

People have said on threads they think she was faking it without giving any actual proof or reasons to why they think she’s faking it. I don’t think anyone would look for reassurance in a person that they don’t like. I think the reassurance she is given matters to her because she does care and because she does like him, but there’s a disconnect because she doesn’t believe him with the things that he says, and I think that’s why she keeps seeking reassurance.

Kenzie checks in on Caleb, who admits that he was surprised and that he wanted them to have a fairy tale ending to the point where he doesn’t even want to be friends with her and I understand his frustration. I really think that Kenzie was playing with Caleb a bit. Caleb says that Kenzie would talk to him about life outside the villa so he was thinking their connection was good, and it’s just…terrible that Kenzie would entertain him like that.

And I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision for her and it took her a while to be honest with herself about what she wanted, but I stand by, I think that she led him on and Caleb thinks so too, he says so himself.

Caleb asks Sincere if he liked Sol or if she was just for the time being and he says it was for the time being. Bryce said she probably feels led on and Sincere says she got caught in the crossfires, which lowkey makes it seem like he was trying to do some tit for tat shit with Melanie.

Sol tells Jen she wished she came in earlier, but she didn’t expect everyone to be closed off. And I know we don’t see everything and that’s been a problem in the villa, but I wish the edits showed Sol actually pulling people because I want to know if she was actually aggressive and kept getting shut down or if she didn’t try because everyone seemed closed off, because there is a difference and I’ll be less hard on her if we saw that she actually was trying to talk to people and was shut down.

Jen tells her she thinks Sincere is full of shit and his niceness is a guard for how full of shit he is, which I agree with. Sol said he was sweet with some of the stuff he said and did but she doesn’t think it was real anymore. 

And I think that’s what makes Sincere a menace, and this will come up again with casa, but Sincere can really connect with anybody. He’s kinda been the person, that I would go as far to say, is the bridge between the guys in the villa, who don’t seem to be as close as unit as the girls are. We’ve seen, in the edit at least, Sincere talking with everybody one or one, or like two on one: with Gabe, with Bryce and Zach, with KC, with Caleb. In the earlier episodes, he was pretty much talking with everyone except for Corbin, and he probably wasn’t doing one-on-ones with Corbin, at least in the edit, because of Melanie. 

Sincere also would confide in Aniya. He was also talking romantically with Sol and Melanie and he talked highly of both of them…it’s just hard to tell if Sincere’s telling the truth to his romantic interests because he’s the type to ask for forgiveness and give out apologies like candy instead of being straight up from the beginning.

Sol confronts Sincere about it all, saying that he’s two faced, says one thing and does another, and that she doesn’t understand why he lies which, same girl. And he says he felt good with her, but he wasn’t ready to leave Melanie and agrees he should’ve been honest.

But then Sincere adds they’re all humans with emotions to excuse his actions, which is disingenuous in this conversation because Sol is also a human with emotions, and he just blindsided her by not choosing her. And she tells him again he just needs to be honest and say how he feels. Sincere says she’s right and Sol says, “You know that being truthful is where you fall short but you like to boast about being honest and genuine,” and says he’s full of shit. 

Because he is.

But now that he’s really being called out and because Sol isn’t coddling him or accepting his apologies right there and then, he gets defensive and tells her they’re not gonna act like Sol is an angel, which is crazy because Sol didn’t do anything to him that we saw. Not one thing, and she points that out.

And I’m thinking, like, that might work on Melanie, sorry Mela but when he says that it does work on you for whatever reason, but it’s not going to work on Sol. 

And Sincere saying that is lowkey further proof that he enjoys that toxic, tit for tat, on and off, shit. I think he likes to get a reaction so that he can also react. 

Bryce tells Trinity it would be cool to leave this experience with a partner and say everything with Trinity is great. They talk about life and we can see, and Bryce confirms in his confessional, that they really are building a friendship to have a solid foundation for a relationship.

Sol talks to KC and Bryce telling them she feels like she can’t pull anyone for chats because everyone is closed off which makes it seem like she hasn’t tried to. And in the chance that she didn’t because of vibes she felt, I think that she didn’t bombshell well enough. Bombshells are supposed to pull people and talk to everyone to feel them out. You’re a chance to tempt people away from their couples and you can’t do that if you’re not being aggressive or if you’re trying to follow other people’s leads.

But still Bryce is telling KC what Sol is looking for, which is to feel wanted and for other people in there to be more aggressive and pull her for chats. Sol admits she feels left out and she wants to be included, but that after the letters, she feels like she can’t talk to anyone.

In the confessional, KC feels like he didn’t give her a fair shot and he regrets that.

The recoupling happens and the core four, Trinity, Aniya, Kayda, and Melanie and their couples are safe and voted as American’s favorites. Can’t say I’m surprised I love watching those girls.

Sol and Gabe end up being voted off. We’re not given a real explanation for why Sol was chosen…if I had to guess, Sincere didn’t want her running back their conversations and the types of things he was saying to Melanie.

Melanie basically says they all eventually agreed to dump Gabe because they felt like he was never going to be satisfied and was going to continue exploring bombshells.

And on one hand, I think that’s a kinda crazy reason to dump someone, but on the other hand I kinda get where they were coming from. My biggest thing about this season is that everyone in the villa is taking exploring to mean kissing, making out, and being physical, at least what was shown in the edit. We know how promiscuous Gabe is, which is his right to be, but I can see it making people uncomfortable to be witness to outside of challenges. Someone made a Tik Tok about how the women were probably uncomfortable but couldn’t say that, and I could see that being a reason why they voted him out.

Melanie also points out he had multiple chances to connect with someone but it seems like he was still waiting for someone to walk in. KC is pissed because he was worried they were talking about Corbin, but it was Gabe. The boys are all mad, Jen is stunned, but Sol thanks them for putting her out of her misery.

Episode 15

Episode 15 picks up right after Episode 14 with the islanders discussing the women’s decisions to send Gabe home. The boys point out Gabe didn’t choose to leave his couple, which is true, so it makes me question if Gabe’s promiscuity was an issue for them. But also, the girls could have really just felt bad for Caleb because Kenzie led him on and how they felt that Caleb didn’t get a fair shot outweighed letting Gabe stay.

The men are also mad because as they whisper to each other, Sincere said they saved Jen because of her connection with Gabe.

KC talks to Sol on her way out saying he fucks with her and they hug.

The girls explain their point of view to Jen, saying Gabe moved so fast with her from Bea and they weren’t sure if he was really looking for a connection, which in hindsight I think is kinda fair, because again, you can explore people without fucking them and making out with them constantly. I know part of that is the edit, but he still did make out a lot outside of challenges and I could see, from the outside looking in, being like, what exactly are you looking for here?

The boys talk about how by the girl’s logic they should’ve eliminated Kenzie. I think they were saying it to be shady and to, like, try and show that the women’s logic is stupid, but little do they know there are people out here who wanted her gone at the time and still kinda do.

On the way out, Gabe tells everyone to rethink their intentions and in a confessional says he’s surprised and doesn’t think they realize they were here to find their best connection. Sol said they should be more open so people don’t feel as excluded as she did.

Jen does tell Caleb though that she felt lusted over more than anything with Gabe and so maybe the women were on to something.

Kenzie explains to Corbin that the girls thought that Gabe was lustful and would switch up fast and Corbin tells Kenzie the guys think she’s moving similarly to how Gabe was, which offends her because she doesn’t think she’s lustful. But she has been making her decisions based on lust so I don’t know why she thinks that she isn’t lustful.

She’s pissed they were in the bottom three and Corbin thinks it might be his fault cause he has a hard shell, but I think both of them and their relationship in general is why they’re in the bottom three.  It could be the editing, but we’ve seen no depth to their connection, it’s been all lust, and yet Kenzie admits she genuinely likes him and he says he is catching feelings for her.

The women and men have a conversation about the choice to eliminate Gabe. Zach is still mad about Gabe, asking the women by their logic if they’re going to get to know Caleb since they say he hasn’t explored enough. In the confessional KC says are we not all lustful in this motherfucker?

I get what he’s saying. The nature of their challenges is making out and simulating sex, but I’m pretty sure, and I might’ve already said this, but I think these islanders this year are choosing to be more forward with being physical. They’re kissing outside of challenges on like the first and second day and I’m tryna remember if, on the earlier seasons, they kiss this much outside of challenges. But not everyone chooses to engage in the game, or in the show, in this way. Aniya isn’t the first or last islander who goes to sleep at night. Bea has said while she was outside the villa that she wasn’t going to have sex on tv and there’s plenty of people who have felt the same way.

But the conversation between the boys and the girls doesn’t really going anywhere and it seems like they agree to disagree before they hug it out.

Zach and Bryce talk later and Bryce tells Zach he was put off by KC saying that the only guaranteed couples he saw in the top four were his and Zach’s. Bryce says he thinks Corbin is one of the more committed couples since Corbin had Melanie in his bed and still chose Kenzie.

But then also says he considers him to have a strong couple too, and I would agree.

On the outside because of their personalities it doesn’t seem like they would work, but Trinity and Bryce have shown to be really growing something, and to me it was a given that they would be safe and if not for them as a couple, off the strength of Trinity’s popularity. And I mean, they don’t know how popular Trinity is but still.

This conversation became such a big thing online a week or so after this aired. People are saying Bryce is lying because he didn’t verbatim say what KC said, because KC never said he didn’t believe they [Trinity and Bryce] were guaranteed in the top. He just said that he felt like he and Zach would be in the top because they didn’t explore. I feel like people are arguing about word choice here when the sentiment is pretty similar. 

I’m not the biggest KC fan, but I don’t think he meant it maliciously…but I think that how Bryce interpreted it is how he meant it, if that makes sense. Like, I don’t think he was trying to hurt Bryce’s feelings or talk down on Bryce and Trinity as a couple, but I do think he meant that he was surprised that they were in the top. He didn’t expect them to be there because [Bryce] tried to explore with Kayda. I think that what Bryce took away from what KC said isn’t a reach. Even if you don’t agree that that is what KC said, I feel like you should be able to see why Bryce interpreted it that way.

And I think people saying that he’s lying is a sign of a bigger issue, but I’ve talked about this on threads already and I don’t really want to get into it any more than that.

In the confessional, Bryce says that he likes their story and is proud of how far they came.

The challenge was a fairytale themed challenge. Worth mentioning is that Bryce chose KC as the prince who is playing the role of the hero but is actually the villain and babyyyy…he was not lying. At first I thought Bryce was just offended about what KC said about him and Trinity and maybe that has something to do it with it, but also, maybe Bryce thought that it was suspect KC thought he was guaranteed to be America’s favorite couple. 

And just because in the edit, KC didn’t say “guaranteed”, that is what Bryce took away from it.

It’s one thing to think that you should be in a top spot, which he [KC] did say and another thing to actually say it out loud.

Bryce actually does explain why he picked KC though, I forgot. He says that KC wants to act like he had no part in Sol’s elimination when he was given the opportunity to stop them from eliminating her and that he didn’t.

Aniya is confused on why KC was chosen for that question and Trinity says she doesn’t think it’s that serious, but Aniya brings up that KC’s intentions were questioned in the challenge, because Bryce said that. Melanie asks if Aniya feels like they’re having chats behind her back and Aniya says she does because the same thing keeps coming up again.

I know people think that she’s insecure and I don’t know if she is or isn’t yet, or if it’s just a product of the environment she’s in, but I think that she wasn’t feeling secure with KC. Like she thought he was keeping something from her and people kept shading him in challenges kinda insinuating he was not being completely transparent about things, so I understand where she’s coming from, even though her…spiraling, kind of…in her head and overthinking everything that’s happened with KC needs to be healed and worked through.

Also Caleb and Kayda end up kissing and she says “shit come here,” and Zach tells them to chill, clearly annoyed by how into it Kayda was.

While Kayda debriefs with the girls, she says she didn’t mind the kiss and that Caleb could pull her if he wanted and eventually the two of them have a conversation where interest is kind of exchanged a little bit. Zach gets all mad about it and then Kayda gets mad because he’s mad, but this is lowkey what Zach gets for closing things off with her and then unclosing it off and then joking about bombshells coming in all the time.

And if i was gonna psychoanalyze it I would say he knows he’s with a baddie and is insecure about it, so he was one foot in and one foot out with it so that he can leave her before she leaves him to keep his ego intact. That’s how I see it.

Bryce and Trinity talk and Bryce tells her about what KC said about them not being a top couple, which Trinity says she’s thrown off about. Bryce feels guilty, thinking he pressured him too much about Sol’s elimination but doesn’t like that KC acts like he didn’t have a say in her elimination.

To me, the conversation was giving a couple venting to each other, but maybe I’m projecting because I’m rooting for them. At this point now they’ve closed things off. Bryce tells her KC would’ve explored Sol if she was still there and that they had one conversation but Aniya interrupted it, so it’s a what if for KC, which I understand. 

But I still think KC is grown and had plenty of opportunities before that one time to actually talk to Sol if he wanted, which he says himself to reassure Aniya at some point, but I still understand that feeling of what if.

Trinity tells Bryce Aniya likes KC a lot but that sometimes she has her doubts about people’s intentions while dating as a dark-skinned woman, and Bryce says that he thinks KC likes her.

Trinity tells Aniya what KC said about her and Bryce, and Aniya says at first she didn’t think they would get along but she sees how much Trinity likes Bryce. Trinity confirms it, saying she can see herself on the outside with Bryce and then ends up telling her that KC wanted to save Sol. Aniya says she’s done overthinking and not knowing his intentions will always be an insecurity, and in the confessional she says, “He said he was good but now he wants to be captain-save-a-hoe and she feels like a dumbass.”

People were fake outraged by Aniya saying captain-save-a-hoe, but i thought it was a common saying and she obviously wasn’t calling Sol a hoe, but I’m not going to sit here and explain it, ‘cause if you get it you get it and if you don’t, you can google it, I guess.

KC tells Caleb that he owed it to himself to explore full force, foreshadowing what’s to come in casa.

Episode 16 After Sun

The next episode is After Sun. I really only tune in and listen to the islanders portions to see what their perspective is on everything. Gabe and Sol agree that everyone in the villa is playing it safe and I agree with them. I think casting messed up a bit though, because how I see it, the bombshells that were sent in, I would guess that production and casting probably envisioned them to be sent in for certain people, but no one was moving how they expected them to move because they’re all playing it safe. That’s all speculation and my opinion though ‘cause I don’t know what casting’s process is like and I don’t know how it’s fixable. I think maybe they need to throw in more bombshells so everyone is tempted instead of trying to get a specific reaction from a specific person, if that’s the way they go about it.

Sol said anytime she tried to talk to KC Aniya pulled him, but I just feel like if she talked to KC more than once it would’ve been shown. I know they don’t show everything and it’s entirely possible they’ve talked and we just didn’t get to see it, but I don’t think they would’ve shied away from showing it if it happened, since they were showing the cracks in KC and Aniya’s relationship anyway.

Gabe has a lotta messages when he gets his phone back and looks to see what Bea is doing first which is lowkey sweet. He talks highly of her and then watches her live stream where she questions Gabe’s intentions since he cried in her face and then less than an hour later is booed up. I think how fast Gabe moved on is one part of why they eliminated him, ‘cause from the little we saw of Gabe and Bea, from the outside looking in, it seemed like there was real potential there and an actual connection outside of lust.

Gabe says that it’s her opinion and that she thinks she wasn’t important to him, but that everything happens fast and his feelings were genuine.

His parents point out there’s a cultural difference and people should understand that when they talk about Gabe. I don’t think production did any favors by only showing him making out and hooking up with people. We really knew nothing about Gabe, except for where he was from, but he did get a minute or two to talk more about his background and said that he had trouble expressing himself because of the language barrier and he shouts out Bea and says how appreciative of her because she really supported him.

Gabe says people were staying in the couples to keep the peace and didn’t want to step out of their comfort zone and be vulnerable, but that connecting with someone first doesn’t mean it’s the best connection and I agree with him on all of that.

I’m surprised he said KC and Aniya were the strongest couple. They had a lot of back and forth about Sol and KC seemed to be cracking on their couple…I wonder what Gabe saw of them that we didn’t get to see.

Sol gets her phone back and her cousin tells her she has a lot of support on the outside. Sol says it was bittersweet leaving, but now she feels like she can exhale since it was difficult for her in the villa. She says she’s used to being the new girl and not fitting in, but is still hurt because she doesn’t feel like people got to know her inside the villa.

Her aunt tells her she did shake things up, and in the beginning, she really did.

In the interview with the hosts, Sol says Melanie and Aniya were threatened by her and there was weird tension. And I hate to sound unsympathetic, but it is what bombshells go through. You’re coming in there trying to take their couple which will leave them single and vulnerable. Some people won’t respond well, it’s just a part of the game. She believes their men should be checked and not her, and she’s right about that, but I don’t think it means it’s not going to be tense with her. They’re literally competing for the same man.

She says again that she didn’t feel like she needed to tell the women that she kissed their couples, but I also can see that mindset making it hard for her to connect with people in the villa because if you’re saying you want to be friends with them you have to be willing to be open and communicate to an extent, you know? Just out of respect and comradery. 

She called KC a pussy for waiting to talk to her, and I mean…he was definitely a coward about the whole thing. 

She opens up more about her hair and her dad, and I do actually like her when she is vulnerable and talking from her heart and about her life. I just don’t like how she talks about people in the villa, all that right.

I also lowkey agree with Sol when she said she would add forceful recouplying every night. Not every night, but I do think they should be forced to switch at some point and that anyone who is single during that switch is guaranteed safety or something like that because majority of the couples being closed off is really crazy. But, I think if they did that, they’d need a longer season though.

Sol was dead wrong about her Trinity and Bryce comment though, saying that Trinity and Bryce won’t survive casa when asked and that Bryce probably thinks Kayda is prettier than Trinity. I know it’s her opinion, but I don’t think her opinion was based on anything except that he tried to explore Kayda and got rejected. She has explained that what she meant was that if he was closed off then why would he try to get to know someone else, but I’m like every single time you’ve opened your mouth, you talk about how everyone was too closed off and closed minded, so he tried to explore and be open minded and now you’re saying if he was really about her he wouldn’t explore?

That doesn’t make sense to me; it’s giving hypocrite. And it’s giving Sol only cares that people were closed off because she wasn’t closed off with anyone and if she was, she wouldn’t be complaining about it every interview.

Episode 17

Aniya asks if KC would explore Sol and he says he would’ve pulled her for chats. Aniya clarifies, Sincere is off of her, so it would’ve been for you, and he say, “Yeah probably.” But when Aniya says that’s weird, he said she doesn’t have anything to worry about but also that he still has to explore. She’s clearly taken aback and processing it. I think KC does what the other guys have been doing, which is hiding their intentions in a sandwich to soften the blow. And I think when you do that, it is confusing. 

People say he’s been direct because he’s been honest about wanting to explore Sol, but someone said on threads it’s not that he’s not being direct, it’s that he’s not being transparent. I think that’s an accurate read, in the same way that Sincere is not transparent. I don’t think Sincere is transparent or honest, because he won’t offer information and it’s hard to tell how he feels sometimes because of how he treats Melanie and his disregard for Melanie when he’s around any other woman alone. And it’s kinda like that with KC, where it’s like…he says he wants to explore, which is part of the game and part of the show, but then he will also tell her things like she has nothing to worry about.

And a lot of the guys this season have been doing that – sandwiching their actual intentions to try to get the pressure of them instead of just being like, direct and transparent at the same time. And I think it’s why a few of them have been in sticky situations. Even Corbin, saying he’s catching feelings for Kenzie.

So what I’m trying to say is that I can understand how in the moment, when you’re actually living it and not watching it, you’re like huh [after seeing everyone switch up] and that’s not even counting the conversations that they have that don’t make the edits.

This episode’s first half is Zach and Kayda being frustrated with each other and Zach wants to talk to Bryce which makes Kayda upset, probably because she knows he’s going to be venting about her when he’s the one who wants to stay open. Zach worries he should start pulling more people just in case and Bryce points out that it’s just getting to know someone. You don’t have to couple up with them just because you explore them.

Zach doesn’t make Kayda breakfast in the morning, clearly pulling away and kinda seems like he’s punishing her for talking to Caleb. But I also think he assumed Caleb was making it for her, but he was instead making it for Jen who was also single.

Melanie tells Aniya that she thinks they’re going to actually close it off and says she and Sincere are obsessed with each other, but not in a sexual way and I wish she could hear me telling her to run, but whatever. She clearly supports Sincere’s rights and wrongs since she’s not seeing a lot of what he’s doing with her own eyes.

Trinity says she can see herself outside of the villa with Bryce.

Aniya says her and KC’s conversations get passionate, like heated, and she doesn’t understand why her reactions are stopping him when he’s a grown ass man, which I’ve been saying. ‘Cause you cannot control how people feel. You can’t even control how you feel. And Aniya hasn’t even really crashed out – she’s gotten emotional, and has been, like, stunned and has walked away during conversations. I don’t think her reaction is a good enough reason to not do something that you want to do in the villa because it’s supposed to be a selfish experience in there. 

Trinity tells her KC thinks she’s stupid and Melanie tells her she needs to explore.

KC says he lowkey feels restricted because Aniya will cry or be upset if he explores, and again, I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to not explore anyone. KC’s not the only guy in the villa who has said something similar or done something similar of being afraid of how women will react, and I’m tired of them acting like WWIII goes down just because a woman cries. It’s feeling like they just don’t want to deal with women’s emotions, and I don’t like that.

But KC keeps saying, “How do I know it’s you if you don’t let me explore,” and saying it could bring them closer but that “Aniya wouldn’t take him back to prove a point”, which I don’t think got enough smoke at the time to say it, because what do you mean to prove a point? What’s the point you think she’s trying to prove? 

It’s also made me think, like, part of the reason he didn’t explore Sol was because he’d have to be competing with Sincere, and if Sol didn’t choose to continue with KC, I think KC was worried Aniya wouldn’t take him back. That’s just my opinion, based off the things that he’s said and the things that he’s done.

And I know that I keep saying this, but KC saying “let me explore” is kinda crazy when he’s a grown ass man. His parents are not in the villa. There is no one he needs to answer to in there, and I stand by the only reason he feels like he has to answer to her is because he’s trying not to look like a bad guy. ‘Cause it’s not even like, he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings. He says, “I don’t want to explore because of her reaction” which gives I don’t want to look like a bad person and I don’t want to deal with the consequences and I don’t want deal with how my actions affect her. That’s what it gives to me. It’s very detached, the way he talks about it.

The islanders get a text for the heart rate challenge, and while the boys and girls are getting ready separately, the boys get a text about leaving for casa. The girls walk out and sit by the firepit seeing a large gift-wrapped box with a tv.

The producers did their big one with this setup. It’s time they saw the men unedited and unfiltered because the women aren’t around and half of them needed to wake up.

We and the guys are introduced to the casa girls through the heart rate challenge. The casa girls did their thing while the OG girls watched them. For the most part, the villa girls were complimenting the women but pissed about how the men were moving. The men were excited and doing a lot of grabbing, grinding, kissing, slapping ass…like it was a show designed to make the OG girls uncomfortable and a little bit pissed off.

Zach says maybe he does like blondes, Bryce says oh shit, KC sayx the first day no one stood behind his door but in casa he has aura, that was in a confessional, Corbin says he’s going back with somebody different. Sincere has stars in his eyes while he’s watching. It was very weird when Alannah came out and was selective with who she was performing for. It was giving…racist.

Something else that stood out to me was that the guys were also performing for each other. Like there were times where they weren’t focused on the women in front of them but each other like, “Damn. Look at this,” like hyping each other up and I think it’s strange.

The girls are told not to wait up and are left to stress about what the men are doing in casa alone in a villa with just them. Melanie tries to rally the girls and tells them this is a test and says she’s going to eat and make a grilled cheese if they want one. She even shows them what their heart rate challenge moves were going to be to cheer them up.

Meanwhile, it’s the guys turn to do their heartrate challenge on the casa girls. Caleb surprised the fuck out of me. He was doing his thing. Bryce’s was awkward but adorable and I like that he leaned into humor with it because that’s what he was comfortable with. He didn’t try to be or do something that he’s not. As awful as Corbin is, I have to admit he did his thing too. So did Zach.

At the end the OG girls hear the casa girls yelling to get the OG girls attention, so Kenzie and Kayda yell back fuck you. And then Kenzie hits the splits and someone captioned it with splits in defiance which is hilarious.

And Kenzie angrily hitting the splits is hilarious, I can’t lie about that either, as much as that girl annoys me.

Episode 18 & Episode 19

It stood out to me that KC’s toast in casa amor he cheers everyone for making it *to* casa and says we’ve been waiting…like what do you mean by that KC?

Episode 18 is the OG guys getting to know the women in casa and the OG girls reflecting on what they saw from the heart rate challenge. Eventually, Ariana comes in and brings a group of a dozen men into the villa for the women to choose from.

In my opinion, the producers were really trying to set the women up to find someone they wanted to connect with and couple up with, because I’ve been saying the bombshells they brought in seemed tailored to a specific person, and this year that did more harm than good because it made people lock in faster, thinking there was no other options for them in my opinion. 

I feel like the producers brought in twelve men thinking one of these men have to be worth these women getting to know.

I was gonna say I felt like they did the women a disservice because they only got a day with them, but actually I take it back, because they actually got to pick who they were going to spend casa with and the men didn’t. 

I was also gonna complain that we didn’t get to see enough of the girls getting to know the casa guys, but I actually think it was smart of production though it was a double edged sword. Gut reaction, it’s like how come none of the dark-skinned men made it on, and online Aniya was getting colorist allegations AGAIN, even though they decided as a group who was going to stay and who was going to guy, clearly based on who each girl was interested in getting to know.

Let me take a second though, even though I will really get into it when the season is over, I’m tired of the Aniya slander. There’s no reason she should be getting the amount of hate that she’s been getting online  from the beginning, like the first episode. People are so hard on her and I hate to see it and I will be talking about it more in depth when I analyze the season as a whole.

But anyway, gut reaction it’s like these are the guys you guys chose, like I enjoy you guys but you’re pissing me off, but because we didn’t get that much content on who the men were and how they all vibed together, it’s really hard to say confidently that they picked incorrectly because it would only be based on looks and obviously relationships require more than that. So in that way, I think it was smart of production not to go into detail about who the men were because how could we complain?

I mean people found a way to do it anyway, but I think they did the least amount of damage not showing the girls getting to know all twelve of their options and instead highlighting the people that were picked eventually.

But even with the twelve men there, Melanie and Aniya talk about how they still miss their men. I know Aniya doesn’t see that KC is already kissing someone new, but Melanie knows what Sincere is capable of and I wish they would both wake up!

KC shows his ass in casa, and the first red flag went up when he says that the girls in the villa didn’t understand his powers…and I’m just like huh?? I should’ve known at that point he was caught up on no one being behind his door, but I didn’t catch that in the moment and I was just like what does that even mean KC? 

Zach talks about how he hasn’t had a chance to explore and that he wants to in casa.

Sincere wants to give the women in casa the same chance but says he is also thinking about Melanie. KC says Aniya is a question mark and he doesn’t know what she’s doing, but Bryce reminds both of them to focus on their own feelings and not worry about the consequences.

Bryce pulls Sincere and they’re staring at the villa ‘cause at this point they know that a boat of men went over to casa, and Bryce talks about how he likes the casa girls but isn’t feeling a spark and all he could think about is Trinity and how she would laugh at his jokes that the girls there don’t get and how happy he was when Trinity chose him the first day and that he just wants Trinity, basically. People thought he was faking it.

I feel like to watch Love Island is to know what it is to be scammed by a man faking his feelings for a woman on TV, but I’m trying not to think like that because I do think Trinity and Bryce have a real connection, so I think that his emotions were genuine. I don’t think Bryce has done anything to make it seem like he doesn’t have genuine feelings for Trinity and vice versa, so I don’t know why people think they’re faking it. But even if they are their story moves me the most so far.

Casa as a whole though was same old casa. More of the men wild out while most of the women tend to be more reserved, hold back, and miss their couples. The men are kissing outside of challenges and cuddling the casa women at night. I think the only man who didn’t do anything at all this time was Bryce. 

KC wants to explore in casa, partly because he regrets not exploring with Sol, in my opinion, so he talks to Sydney, kisses her and decides to sleep with Sydney at night instead of Titi, which Titi didn’t take well since she’s been all about KC.

I found the whole thing to be performative. Like…doing it to say you did it, because why the next day is he talking about how he isn’t attracted to Sydney and he didn’t even want to cuddle her as if he didn’t kiss her earlier in the night?

And maybe production did encourage him to get to know Sydney, but production didn’t make him kiss her and production didn’t make him speak poorly about her and he chose to do that.

And I mean, I also don’t think sleeping in the same bed together on this show means you get to know someone better forreal forreal, so I don’t know…

Sincere and Amora chat and Amora says they are effortless, which is further proof that Sincere is charming. He has these women wrapped around his finger lowkey, even if they’ve seen his behavior before, because I’m pretty sure Amora saw some of how he acted before she came in.

Amora says she sees a butterfly and that she was asking God for a sign, and they kiss…people thinking Amora was playing Sincere, but I don’t know…sometimes I think she is and sometimes I think she isn’t and she’s just fallen into him the way that other people have.

Parmida and Corbin take a picture right next to Caleb and after she goes off to do something, Caleb and Corbin talk about how they’re doing the same shit again, competing for the same reason. And I can’t believe I feel bad for Caleb, ‘cause it’s like…based on what we’ve seen Corbin…and maybe we’re not seeing everything about Caleb, but Caleb seems like a sweetheart and Corbin is an asshole…objectively.

Jen is really excited because her type is in the villa and they have a vibe and they kissed. Kayda worries about what Zach is doing even though she thinks Chay is the full package. Trinity says that her and Corey’s conversation went good and admits they made out in the photobooth, but she tries not to cry as she says she feels guilty. In the confessional, she says she wants to be with Bryce. Later in a conversation with Melanie and Aniya, Trinity brings up again how much she likes and misses Bryce and how nervous that makes her, especially not knowing if he’s going to want to date someone who is the same race as him and that it scares her.

Two people yearning and missing each other is what I want to see. I don’t know why people were tryna play like Bryce doesn’t actually like Trinity. They’re saying that because he didn’t feel anything for anyone in casa he wants Trinity back, like trying to make it seem like he has no other options so he’s going back to Trinity, and I’m a little but  confused on why people are framing that like that and framing this as a bad thing when it was his choice not to be open to getting to no anybody.

Like the point of casa is to test your connection and if no one catches your eye and you’re just thinking about what you had, and you don’t really want to explore somebody else, then it’s clear who’s the person for you in the villa.

I know we’ve been scammed by people faking their feelings before, but unless it’s super obvious someone is pretending, I don’t think we should be going into this trying to weed people out and find the scammer before we know they’re a scammer. Just enjoy the ride. 

The only OG women who didn’t kiss anyone in the beginning was Kayda and Melanie.

Aniya admits talking with Carl is different than KC.

KC wonders if the girls are also stressed and Zach says no and they haven’t had to stress the whole time and that there are probably good looking guys all over them. I don’t know what Zach’s problem is or why that comment annoyed me as much as it did, but it’s just like this is stressful for everyone. I don’t know if he expected them to wild out or turn up the heat or if he was worried because he knew what some of the guys were doing in there and so he was worried about what some of the girls were doing in their version of casa, but I don’t like that he said that.

Corey and Melanie have a vibe and Melanie is feeling it a little, but it’s clear she has reservations. I’m not even saying Corey should be trusted, but I just want Melanie to make Sincere sweat a bit, but at the same time he would just throw that it in her face and he would feel justified so…I don’t know.

Kayda and Chay have a vibe too, but to me, it was clear she wasn’t feeling it 100%.

KC and Corbin talk about how they’re gonna break hearts and this is when KC says he has nothing in common with Aniya, which isn’t surprising that he thinks that, but it’s off putting to hear, because there’s no way those feelings just came up in a few days while he’s been in casa. Why didn’t he say something to her about it earlier?

Corbin says he likes Parmida more than Kenzie, which also isn’t surprising, and is just as fucked up as what KC said. The only reason I think it’s been talked about less is because Kenzie knew what was up with Corbin from the livestream of the heart rate challenge. Aniya still had hope and was thinking about KC in their time away.

KC later says he fucks with Aniya but connects with Titi, but agrees with Corbin that if it was between Aniya and Titi for him and Kenzie and Parmida for Corbin, they would’ve chosen the casa girls to pull for more chats and couple up with eventually.

KC then goes on to say he’s more physically attracted to Titi and likes that she pursued him, saying his stock will go up, which again what the fuck does that mean KC and why do you feel the need to compare them in this way?

Corbin says Aniya didn’t really pick KC, which is not an accurate assessment and is a really tired conversation at this point, but it’s going to come up again and I’ll get into it then.

KC says it doesn’t feel real with Aniya because it wasn’t from the beginning and that he doesn’t want to be boxed up or threatened with not getting kisses when he can get them from Titi.

Which is so…annoying of him. Like a typical man thinking with his dick ass comment.

Corbin says the casa girls are better than the OG girls and it doesn’t feel as cliquey and people are tying this into what Sol said, without thinking that maybe Corbin is saying this because in casa he can do whatever he wants without worrying about what’s going to be run back to the other women in the villa. And because the girls in the villa are pretty close, a lot of them don’t want to explore because then they’d be exploring their friend’s man in a way, so he could get away with less. If you think about Corbin’s history in the villa, it was him tryna kiss everybody and then them talking about how he was tryna kiss everybody, which made them not want to kiss him…you know?

…I still think about how it’d be different if Melanie and Corbin actually got to know each other, cause, I don’t know if he still thinks about it, but, I think the fact that they’re “cliquey” as he says, was one reason, besides Sincere, in why Melanie wasn’t all in to getting to know him.

Trinity tells Gal the men bring a different vibe, but you see the difference, at least what was shown in the edit. Corbin feels the need to compare and rank whereas Trinity acknowledges it is different without saying if it’s better or worse. And that’s what I mean when I talk about how KC compares Titi and Aniya. He feels the need to rank them.

But anyway, the temperatures rising challenge happens. It’s steamy as usual. The only thing worth mentioning is after the challenge, the villa won, KC says in a confessional he thinks the girls were giving all those guys what we should’ve been getting and I think to most it’s a throwaway comment, to me, it’s a sense of entitlement and I don’t like that people have glossed over it or tried to defend it instead of check it for what it is so that people are aware that feelings of woman like this aren’t okay in any context. This comment has been downplayed too much and not enough people have taken it at face value, especially given the context of what we know so far of him calling Aniya a “grandma” for going to sleep at night and him talking about how he’s more physically attractive to Titi, and wanting to be chased and all these things…like…I think people have forgotten that this is something that he’s said. Even if was just something that he said and he didn’t mean it, it still gives me the ick and I still think it needs to be talked about. I think heat of the moment thoughts still matter to an extent and that one needs to be challenged.

Trinity breaks it off with Corey, admitting her heart isn’t in it, and it was so mature of her. More people…Kenzie, KC, Sincere, should have taken this approach. Trinity also hypes up Melanie and encourages him to explore her. So he does and during their conversation, Corey tells her that there’s a lot she doesn’t see with Sincere. Melanie says that Corey isn’t the first person who told her that and Corey tells her there is better out there for her  than him and that he can be that better.

Some people didn’t like that Corey did it, but I didn’t mind it. Melanie needed to hear it in my opinion, especially from a guy’s perspective because I think it’s a little bit different when you hear a guy talking poorly about another guy’s actions than when your friends are saying it. Like obviously Corey is biased, ‘cause he’s trying to get into the villa, but it’s more of an outside perspective. And I also think the only way her cycle with Sincere is going to be broken is if she breaks it, so she needs people telling her as many times as they’re willing to that it’s not worth it with Sincere and that she deserves better than him. 

‘Cause while all this is happening, Sincere and Amora get closer and they end up making out and confessing feelings for each other. I just want better for her.

Final Thoughts

My final thoughts on these episodes of Love Island USA season 8.

Casa Amor. Casa Amor. Casa Amor!

Okay, but seriously, I’m behind on podcasting and blogging but I’ve been watching the episodes and taking notes and a lot has happened since these sets of episodes.

So trying to be in the mindset of my thoughts during these episodes before everything else happened:

Kenzie was a little less annoying. She said she was done with Corbin and seemed like she meant it and so I respect that part of her personality.

I really liked Carl for Aniya and really wanted Melanie to bring back Corey.

Bryce and Trinity were pretty much my winners at this point.

Sincere is consistent, I’ll give him that…he’s still a liar.

I like KC and Titi for each other, but KC turned me all the way off with the way he was acting and it really made me question if he ever genuinely liked Aniya. He was so disrespectful.

Oh and there’s a difference between feeling left out and like you don’t fit and being isolated, but time will tell which one is more accurate.

With the islanders remaining at the end of Episode 19, I would say that 

My favorites are still Trinity, Melanie, Aniya, and Kayda, not necessarily in that order/. I hoped three out of the four of them bring someone back from casa…but…yeah…we’ll talk about it in the next episode.

I no longer like KC and people’s views on him lowkey has become a litmus test for me.

Kenzie and Jen are eh. 

Zach annoys me.

Caleb might unfortunately be on the wrong season if not the wrong show.

And I’m tolerating Sincere and Corbin at this point.

I am very entertained by this season, so, even though I have all these different opinions about everyone, I still really enjoy this season as a whole.

That’s all I got for you today. I’ll pull you for another chat when I can.

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