No sooner had the “Love Is Blind” season 2 reunion episode begun than Shake started trolling. “How are y’all feeling?” Nick Lachey asked the group. “I’M NERVOUS ABOUT HOW WE GET EDITED,” blared Shake, who desperately wants everyone to know that he only appeared to be making cruel comments about his fiancée Deepti behind her back because of editing. And also, as he suggests later in the episode, because he’s the only one he’s keeping it real, being honest, and self-consciously playing a villain archetype. Shake packed up every excuse he had and brought it to this reunion.

Everyone onstage reacted with visceral repulsion every time Shake spoke. The groans were audible. “This is a joke,” Deepti whispered frequently. At one point, Vanessa told him that she thought he’d grown after his initial pod meetings, when he seemed to realize that his obsession with finding a tiny, fit blonde was shallow and rooted in his own damage. Shake responded that he was actually going to “double down” on the beginning, and went on to express that the only woman present that he was attracted to was Vanessa. Shake, no one asked.

It was cathartic to see everyone from Shayne to Danielle airing Shake out for his callous treatment of Deepti, and perversely satisfying to see Shake doing himself no favors. But Shake’s obsession with truth-telling — for example, explaining that love isn’t really blind because attraction is important, or pontificating about why Sal and Mallory’s relationship fell apart as if he were posting commentary on Twitter instead of talking directly to two people who understood their own relationship much better than he did — combined with the Lacheys’ lackluster moderating skills to create a reunion that was short on revelations and long on defending the concept of the show.

Shake is an asshole, and a particularly shallow, fatphobic, misogynistic, and status-obsessed guy; he should never have come on this show if appearance is so central to romantic attraction for him, and if he has such narrow criteria. Many people do have the capacity to fall in love primarily based on someone’s mind (ask a sapiosexual, or just stand near one for five minutes) or have a far more capacious range of people they’re attracted to. Shake’s focus on “animalistic attraction” also serves as a cover for his obsession with the status associated with dating an extremely thin, blonde woman. Despite the vulnerable conversations he had with Deepti about his own body insecurities in the pods, he’s not actually interested in unpacking the disgust with fat bodies and the craven desire he has to be seen as worth more because he has a high-status woman on his arm.

He’s also not wrong that physical attraction and chemistry are both important in romantic relationships and not entirely within our control. He’s not even alone; perfectly likable people in both seasons, like Kelly and Mallory, hinted at struggling with that side of the relationship after meeting their fiancés. They just handled it much more sensitively, with consideration for the emotions and dignity of their partners.

But everyone was so eager to shut Shake down, and to distance themselves from his repugnant superficiality, that the hosts and the rest of the cast seemed to align along a virtuous but fantastical premise: that for everyone else in the experiment, love really was completely blind, and that looks had nothing to do with how their engagements played out. It allowed Shake to look, at moments, like he was the only one willing to be honest and real, which only served to provide cover for his true misdeeds. Deepti was the only one to clearly put words to the truth: “It’s okay to not be physically attracted to somebody,” she said. “It’s how you do it and how you say it that’s extremely disrespectful. It’s degrading to women.” Thank you, Deepti!

There was a lot more to discover in this reunion — are Natalie and Shayne back together? why did things fall apart with Mallory and Sal? can Shaina defend calling Shaynatalie “fake”? how is Jarrette making Iyanna feel chosen and like the number one goddess of all time every day? has anything ever happened with Shayne and Shaina? are Kyle and Deepti dating? — and unfortunately, we don’t get clear answers on very much.

The cast either came to play the cartoon villain (Shake), apologize and make nice (Shaina, Mallory, Jarrette, Natalie), demand an apology for stuff we already knew happened (Sal, Kyle, Shayne), or just sit there and beam (Nick, Danielle, Iyanna). The Lacheys prefer not to prod for specifics, and they completely biffed a few VERY obvious follow-ups. At one point, Kyle said his only regret was not proposing to Deepti in the pods, and Nick and Vanessa keep it moving to a new topic rather than asking 1) uhhh, did you two have a romantic connection in the pods??? or 2) ARE YOU DATING HER NOW? We’re begging these people to ask even one useful question.

We taped a quick reaction pod this morning with some more of our thoughts on the reunion fiasco, Shake’s wild Instagram behavior since the finale dropped, and more. Hope you enjoy! xo

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We are reading…

I just started an advanced reader copy of Jenny Mollen’s forthcoming novel, “City Of Likes.” I love fiction that comments on influencer culture, and Jenny is just such a sharp and funny and fun writer. So far, I’m very into it! -Emma

Still absolutely loving “The Season,” Kristen Richardson’s history of the debutante, which I think is the perfect preparation for watching the deranged-looking dating show “The Courtship.” -Claire

We are listening to…

Part 1 of “Maintenance Phase’s” two-part series on Jordan Peterson and the absolutely unhinged “carnivore diet” that he and his daughter popularized. -Emma

Deepti and Shaina on “The Viall Files,” where they disclose way more detailed behind-the-scenes info than we got on the reunion. -Claire

We are watching…

“The Dropout,” Hulu’s Elizabeth Holmes series based on the ABC News podcast of the same name. I got press screeners of the first 7 episodes, and so far I’m finding it gripping and sharp. And unlike another scammer show (cough, “Inventing Anna,” cough), “The Dropout” seems like it’s pretty successfully threading the needle of interrogating Holmes’ behavior and situating Theranos within a larger critique of Silicon Valley, while still holding her feet to the fire. -Emma

The third season of the French rom-com series “The Hook-Up Plan,” which finds Elsa and Julio trying to conceive, Charlotte and Max trying to launch his political career, and Antoine and Emilie struggling with both work and parenting. Oh, and everyone is fighting. I do struggle with sequels to rom-coms, because I hate to see my happy endings complicated (that’s not why I watch rom-coms!), so it didn’t give quite the same high as the first season, but the women’s friendships really take center stage and offer just as much pathos and humor. -Claire

We are buying…

I don’t know whether it’s my ongoing makeup renaissance or just weeks and weeks of staring at Rachel Recchia’s lightly laminated brows on “The Bachelor,” but after years of using Glossier’s Boy Brow, I decided to change things up. During a recent trip to Sephora, I was advised to try Benefit Cosmetic’s 24-Hour Brow Setter Clear Brow Gel and to brush my brows up. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off, but I’ve been doing it for a few weeks now and I’ve been really enjoying the effect. I also love that the brush of this product has two sides, which allows you to go subtler or really get a faux lamination style, sans chemicals. -Emma

A weekly planner. I know…. I already missed 20 percent of the year. But hey, I got my 2022 planner at a steep discount. Organization is really a struggle for me, especially now that we’re no longer part of a newsroom with regular editorial meetings (and now that I have a toddler who is home from daycare maybe 30 percent of the time due to minor illnesses. He was home every day this week but Friday! Again! But I digress). Recently I read that you can make yourself better at personality traits like conscientiousness, maybe, sometimes, so my plan is to set out weekly chunks of time on my Google calendar to do things like handle emails, update social accounts, and planning what I want to write or pod about in the future. Will it work? Will a pretty notebook help? Let’s add a “check in on how becoming more organized is going” event to my calendar for next month, and please share your tips in the comments. -Claire

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