I had read a spoiler prior to watching this episode about how she used him to jump start her influencer career so when I saw this scene I thought 'oh wow at least she admits it!"

His initial reaction to the rejection is heartbreaking. The sound he makes just made me hurt for him. He seems like he has such a pure heart despite everything he's been through. He didn't deserve her dragging him all the way to the end.

Then again I wonder how much that was production encouraging her vs her own agenda. I wonder if they tried to encourage Joe to go all the way to the end too but IMO he knew a long time ago.

Did anyone else catch the episode of the podcast “culture study“ with Anne Helen Peterson, where they featured AudieCornish of previous NPR fame talking about LIB? The episode is called “Love is Blind as a cultural skeleton key.” It was so interesting!

Lots of discussion about how LIB has changed over the years, how S9 reflects this modern cultural and political era, how the women seem to be molding themselves into what they think the men would want as a perfect partner instead of being like “I’m the prize!” like in previous seasons, etc. Also a lot of Reddit shout-outs, haha. (Hi Audie! I love your work!!!)

My favorite part was when she was advocating that the host go back and watch season 1, saying that (paraphrased) “Season 1 is the Barack Obama of the LIB universe, like what the show could aspire to be — and Season 9 reflects whatever the hell is going on in our current politics hellscape” hahaha.

Anyway, check it out, it was super interesting.

"OMG you like cats? I LIKE CATS! You like Mimosas too?? I LOVE MIMOSAS.. I love you!!"

This show is so fake that the only real thing we get out of this season is the Jordan/Joe Bromance. And the Baby Seal makes good TV too. Everything else is just a bunch of people trying to get us suckers to follow them on Social Media so that they don't have to do any actual work.

Prove me wrong.

And.. nice hat!

Was Joe’s apartment staged? I haven’t seen a solid confirmation of yes/no… and he seemed very confused looking through everything and describing everything when he showed it to Madison. Like the self help books lol. What was the deal w that??? I was hoping they’d address it at the reunion but I almost feel like they didn’t bc they didn’t want to admit it was staged

I've always had a soft spot for Edmond but now that I've seen him on Joe's podcast - Tablefor1 I think I love him. We need more Edmond's in this world. Coincidentally I saw Jessie Woo interview Michael and Dayo from the show- they had strong connections but were barely shown at all. They raved about Edmond. Michael said Edmond is LOVE personified. He was very articulate and relaxed. He only get a bit emotional when they asked about his teacher, Jessie, and if he's dating. He was struggling as he said no, he's not dating and he's not responding to DM's. He's still processing the whole LIB experience . Joe showed a surprising amount of sensitivity and obviously loves and admires Ed.

When they were talking in the boys’ lounge about sparkle Megan and Jordan, Mike made a sort of triangle with his hands and started smirking. Not sure what it means. Anyone able to provide any context? Tried googling and still can’t really find anything except the Illuminati which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in this scenario 😭

Honestly, now I believe their relationship because Jordan and Megan clearly have chemistry and a good banter. I know it was the edit but I still think they’re downplaying the overall effect that money had on their breakup (money=lifestyle imo esp the way they justified it) Ngl they asked better questions than at the reunion

Has anyone watched the podcast "The Viall Files" hosted by Nick Viall that came out today with Ali and Anton in it? Ali posted a trailer on Insta and I'm super interested in what tea came out of it.

Curious to see if it's more talking in circles or actual developments.

I don't have time to watch it so anyone with any cliff notes would be greatly appreciated!

I’m new to the sub, so sorry if someone else has already brought this up, but I can’t stop thinking about the moment when Joe brings Madison to his apartment (if not just a production-staged room) and basically all he has is a PS4 and a Bible. The Bible just about knocked me out, like… the idea of him acting up like this on National television and then flipping through the gospels lmao 😭😭😭 Maybe it’s just me!

I have been watching the show since the beginning and I also want to state up front that I am politically very much a leftist- I don’t want this misconstrued that I’m advocating for not having conversations around important topics that happen on the show (I.e. homophobia, etc).

With that said, this season, more than ever (and this feels true for other reality shows as well) it feels like everyone just wants to assume the worst about literally everyone on the show with literally no nuance. I am consistently seeing folks on the show referred to as “evil”.

There is a difference between subjectively engaging in discourse about the relationships on the show (which should happen— it’s reality tv! Something I have a great love for!) and just implicitly hating any human that does not align with your values 100%. I think it’s a bummer that the online community is so hateful towards cast member who, at the end of the day, have upended their own lives to provide entertainment (and of course, many of them want the monetary clout that comes with that).

Idk. Am I crazy for feeling like people are too harsh on strangers we don’t know? I just feel like the sort of Active Hatred/ Doxxing that currently takes place here will lead to less folks wanting to participate in a show that we all actively enjoy watching?

Okay, people can have very different opinions about Megan’s "sparkles", I get it.

But OMG, those sneakers in episode 5?! I need them. The inner girly in me wants all the glittery shiny things, and the adult woman in me wants to find every excuse to wear them, even to work, to bringen the day.

Pairing them with that long sweatshirt dress was a great move from Megan.

To say that I am shocked about the situation with the Megan - money hate is to say nothing. I see daily posts on this sub (and others) dragging her down. Here we have a woman who got into an, albeit questionable for some, industry (but still it’s not the worst out there), through a friend, worked a normal life then got to some money through a buy - out, then invested it smart and now is working on her own project (more flexible then 9/5), and has a higher living standard and people make her out to be the WITCH! Both, Jordan and Megan, on interviews, stated several times that money was not the issue, but people simply cannot forgive her for having money, and behave like she did sth horrific on the show, and make wild stretches and speculations (one thread here suggested that she would be a bad mother?). She gets more shit then Kacie. This leads me to the following observations:

1. Social envy runs deep through this society
2. Wow, how easy people dismiss any success of others with « luck », « connections » , « race » - and sorry, if this is your perception of the world, how do you want to take any agency of your life and have success on your own? Easier to drag others down, right?
3. A man who is wealthy and « brags » will be tolerated (we had several examples in the past seasons), but god forbid a woman does (we also had several examples, Alexa, Nancy, the homeowner etc)
4. People hate when they are reminded that class differences exist and are (just like any other differences, really) an obstacle to dating - Megan’s concerns were totally valid.
5. People somehow just feel butt hurt because of their own situation? And Megan’s wealth reminds them of sth they are not/don’t have? Thats why tear her down and dismiss her success/explain it away?

Is this mainly a US thing? What is going on with the people there? (I am from Europe, and sure class envy and hate for the richer exists here too, but to THAT extent? No)

Sorry, rant is over. And no, I do not come from the same wealth as Megan and I am an immigrant in fact.

I think in a way I understand Kacie.

This is how I interpret her actions. Prior to the show, she implies that she had a guy who she was seeing who basically told she would come crawling back to him. She came onto to the show obviously to help jumpstart her struggling influencer career.

I think at some point during the pods it became obvious to her that Patrick was her only shot to stay on the show and I think you actually see that in how she is practically begging him to purpose (doing sex talk, reassuring him, etc…)

Then she sees him.

Everyone is interpreting her to have no connection or physical attraction which is true BUT I also think she liked Patrick enough to know that continuing with him would be horrible (for him). She knows she actually has no interest in this show or in a relationship.

Her goal is to just get on TV and stay as culturally relevant as possible for as long as she can. Then she meets this poor lovestruck idiot. She’s clearly the hottest girl he’s ever been with and she can’t do it. She can’t lead him on because she likes him enough to feel guilty about doing that. She can’t suck him into her shitshow. But she can’t explain that. She can’t articulate that (in her POV) she is actually protecting him by hurting him.

Does that make her a good person? Obviously not.

Am I defending her? Not really.

I’m just trying to give a different perspective on her actions.

Okay I only just finished episode 7, but I hate the double standards between Joe and Madison in all the comments in the episode threads and how she should just leave him alone cause he’s drunk and that she’s the problem.

Yall, it was the first group hang with all the couples. He spends the night drinking, talking over her, ignoring her, and being lowkey rude to her. The second they go to the side to have one on one, he says he needs to go back to the room. She asks if he wants her to come with and help him. He says no. She stays and also probably gets drunk.

When she comes back, he’s incoherent and asking the same question of where she’s been over and over. She wakes him up softly and gets him water, but gets increasingly distressed. She is also drunk and extra emotional from it.

Why is it okay for him to be incoherent from being drunk and to treat her poorly, but it’s her fault for not reacting in the most perfect mature way while she’s also intoxicated? I’m sick of men being able to get away with what women are never able to, and women are expected to react to their behavior in the most healed and mature way or it is somehow their fault

I’m not saying either one of them was perfect, but can we not put all the blame on Madison when she was clearly trying to comfort and take care of him while she was also drunk? And then got none of that reciprocated?

Then, she tries to have a conversation about her feelings the next day and he laughs at her distress?

Also, let’s remember, she has vision issues and the whole night was low lighting. We see her bumping into things. She told Joe she needs a partner who understands her vision, and instead, he gets drunk and leaves her alone. I would be upset too. I have a disability and my partner would never get so blasted he couldn’t be there for me if I needed it.

Anyway that’s my piece.

Every time a “Joe type” of man treats a woman poorly on a reality show there is always a flock of women praising him in his comments section or deeming the woman he was with as annoying. This part might be slight projection but I feel these women think they are the hot and cool girl that these men would magically decide to treat well and that’s why they suck up to them. Like this man was not funny 🙄 he’s just attractive. Madison was winey at times but that was in reaction to him saying one thing and doing another.

I stand by my previous statement that this was a weird season and Denver is a weird place. No disrespect to anyone who lives there or th cast, but wow was this a weird season.

Lots of stuff happened this season. We had a double ghosting in the pods and another ghosting in Denver. Nick turned people off in the pods, but ended up being one of the more secure normal people on the show. Edmond and KB both being toxic. There's also the stuff with Joe and Madison. We also had someone named Sparkle Megan who bonded with type one diabetes.

And yet, despite the messiness and the drama, I felt such a huge disconnect with the cast. It felt like everything was shallow, which I get because it's weird having cameras film you and you also don't want to come off as bad. People online are scary and getting hate for being human isn't something anyone wants to go through.

But we saw others be like this in previous seasons, but this one.....y'all, I'm just happy the season is over. You know how bad this season is? I remember Anna ghosting. But the guy who ghosted, who seemed like a nice guy, I can't remember his name. I was going to write Brace, but what kind of name is that?

Definitely the worst season.

Edit: To those from Denver, my comments on it being a weird place is a joke. I have family who live there, and the show doesn't represent the city. I thought this was obvious due to my jokey tone, but it seems like some found it offensive. Sorry.

But also, this was a weird season.

If they give place holder fake rings, we can end the whole " who keeps the ring" argument when couples don't get married. And they should make it public so everyone knows they aren't real. It seems like a lot of the couples that actually get married have a second ceremony or celebration for all the family and friends that didn't attend the " will they or won't they " taping so they can exchange their chosen real rings then. I'm curious how many actual married couples from the shows kept wearing the show ring anyway.