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The show starts off announcing that it’s been 5 years of blind love? Damn (yes, I phrased that exactly how I intended to).
Anyhow, revenge dressing is in full swing right now, especially for the ladies. Remind me that if I ever end up as a contestant on LIB to NOT wear sequins.
Also, to see all the contestants sit side-by-side (all 32 of them) … and have it all boil down to only ONE couple to get married is ….wild and a bit sad.
The year long photo/video montage of Daniel and Taylor (the only married couple from Season 8) is somehow cute and awkward all at once. Also, just to put the timeline into perspective is insane (it’s been that long?!) when it’s all so ‘fresh’ for us.
Devin and Virginia: When Nick asks what went wrong, she basically shaded Devin by suggesting that he doesn’t support the LGBTQ community and women to having a right to an abortion. Whereas he said that you can still have a relationship work out even if you don’t agree on everything. But dude, these are human rights issues!! She also suggested something about an ex reaching out to him, and potentially not being transparent about money/wedding gifts… and it quickly snowballs from there. You can tell it’s very tense between them. In a nutshell, it’s very good that they did not get married.
Ben and Sara: we circle back to her passion for social activism and his lack of initiative in opening up channels of dialogue (including his church’s stance on gay marriage) regarding this. We also get more insight into the TikTok debacle (of Ben being slandered by someone he dated)… apparently, Sara should NOT have taken Ben’s side…they lived together (briefly) after not getting married… they were supposed to meet up in Nashville for her work temporarily to figure things out but instead of showing up, he removed her from ‘find my friends’ on his phone… and then he essentially ghosted her. On top of it all, he was only civil after because a former LIB cast member (Jimmy, Season 6) advised him to be a decent human being (which IMHO, he wasn’t) in preparation for the reunion (AKA Fake AF). So much EWWWWW. D-Bag Central.
Monica and Joey: I’m getting second-hand embarrassment with their non-existent “I love yous” and lack of effort (from him) shown in a very palpable manner… the whole “he’s just not into you” jarringly showcased to Monica (e.g. her watching the show back after it was all said and done) with evidence to corroborate this such as with their tube date. They were supposed to be getting married but he thought it would be okay to slide into one of the cast members DMs (e.g. like Madison). CRINGE. Especially with all the effort Monica had put into the relationship… I just feel disgusted and disappointed on her behalf. He’s another D-Bag. AND he came gliding into the show with a longboard again UGH. On behalf of all women, Joey – please just disappear and never return, thanks.
Lauren and Dave: Eeeps, Lauren not holding back with “I am lightyears ahead of you in terms of emotional maturity…” ’nuff said. AND he agreed. And another truth comes to light… remember the ‘booty call/one night stand’ situation Lauren was asserting but Dave decided NOT to take her side on?… welp… turns out she was innocent all along. The guy she hooked up with was bad news and was intentionally planting bad thoughts in Dave et al.’s friend/family group.
Molly with the line of the night “I’ve hated men all year..”
Mason and Meg: tried dating but now apparently they’re BFFs.
Madison: Mason and Alex weigh in on their dates with her and they’re alluding to the fact that she is two-faced (one way with one guy and completely different with another). Then Madison says she respects Mason, only for Meg to interject with.. “it’s hard to believe you because you literally just called Mason manipulative in an interview…” EEEPS. And then the conversation plummets into a downward spiral between Mason, Madison and Meg about lies, deception, playing with feelings, and more toxicity. I feel like Madison should have been on the show (after the pod dates) – just based on these reunion interactions…it would have made the season far more spicy – shame she didn’t get engaged to anyone. The best part was her taking screenshot papers from her bra and destroying Alex for his lies and slanderous remarks about her.
Last but not least, this reunion included the Top 5 most unforgettable moments in LIB because this season was super dull and they needed to amp up the shock value to keep the series going for another (indefinite number of) seasons… in any case, for your convenience, I’ve compiled it right here (in addition to the aforementioned couple updates/ status reports):
Number 5: Chelsea and Jimmy (Season 6) – the infamous Megan Fox reference…
Number 4: Taylor and Garret (Season 7) – his fashionable glow-up…
Number 3: Laura and Jeramey (Season 6) – ‘Find My Location’ and she finds out he was with Sarah-Ann…
Number 2: Lauren and Cameron (Season 1) – the reveal and her ‘Prince Charming’ line…
Number 1: Jessica and Jimmy (Season 6) – when she says to him: ‘when you realize what you missed out on – you’re going to choke… you’re going to need your Epipen to open up your airways…’
Final thoughts: THAT was the number one moment? Anti-climatic and lame IMHO.
Also, Season 6’s AD and LIB UK Ollie (another former contestant) end up together in a surprise guest appearance moment. She shares that she now has a podcast… BUT the (actual) big reveal is that they’re getting married. It was sweet – but sorry, I don’t follow LIB UK so it was honestly difficult to get excited for this. But hey, if you all have been following along on their journey and more amped up than I was… I’m happy for y’all.
Oh and Season 9 is going to be in Denver, Colorado.
And that’s a wrap on Season 8!
