Sincerely, Saskia

*Spoilers ahead*

The final episode of Love is Blind season 2 came out on Netflix today, and for those who watch the show, I’m sure you’d agree it did not disappoint.

For those who don’t watch the show, Love is Blind is a social experiment where a group of men and women date each other sight unseen. They are completely cut off from the outside world for about two weeks, and they only communicate with the person they are dating in separate pods with a thin wall between them. The point of the show is to prove whether love truly is blind. And just like season 1, season 2 was a wild, wild ride – oh, Shaina.

I know technically there is no winner or loser in Love is Blind, but you can concede that those who end up married to the partners they fell in love with in the pods have won the experiment.

By those standards, Love is Blind season 2 produced more losers than winners as for many of the unfortunate ones who were left at the altar, love wasn’t blind.

However, Deepti and Salvador, two people who were set to marry, both walked away from their partners in a total boss ass power play that I had only hoped for but didn’t see coming.  

Deepti was set to marry Shake, a total chauvinistic, shallow excuse for a man who, after acting like she was the girl of his dreams (simply because she wasn’t fat), went around and told anyone who would listen how unattractive he found her. He said kissing her was like kissing his aunt, and although, in theory, everything about her was perfect, he couldn’t get over the fact that he had no instinctual attraction to her. Now, although you can’t help who you are attracted to, you can help not leading them on for weeks when you know part of who they are is a dealbreaker for you.

Salvador fell head over heels for Mallory. Mallory had been torn between two people from the beginning (one of them being Salvador), but the moment she chose him, you could tell she instantly regretted her decision. Salvador is sweet, kind, talented and genuine, and from the type of guy Mallory describes she is used to, Salvador didn’t quite make the cut. From gaslighting him to making him feel insecure, as much as Salvador loved Mallory, he knew deep down she was settling for him, so he woke up and decided he deserved better.

To walk away from a “love” you’ve been waiting for your whole life is not an easy thing to do. We talk about self-care and choosing ourselves but putting that into practice is always a challenge. What Deepti and Salvador did for themselves is a total inspiration to anyone out there who feels as if they are settling for someone who doesn’t fully appreciate them because they are the lucky ones.

As much as you can’t expect to get everything you need in life from one perfect person, you should never deprive yourself of what I would consider to be the basics. Someone who desires you, cares for you, appreciates, respects and understands you are qualities that are all too often deemed to be “too good to be true.” The fact of the matter is, they’re not too good to be true. What you’re actually asking for is a genuine connection with enough substance to sustain you in your relationship – the basics.

Anything less is barely worth your time, let alone your hand in marriage. I salute Deepti and Salvador and anyone who, despite what others may think of them, outside influence, beauty standards or ideals, know that they are worth more than what someone else may want to give them.

The next episode of Love is Blind comes out on March 4, and if it follows the same pattern as season 1, it will be the first reunion. I hope that Shake and Mallory can look at their actions with fresh eyes and realise the next time a genuinely good person comes along that they know they aren’t into, they let them walk on by and find someone who is.