Over the course of this hour and a half of television, I experienced enough emotions to make someone like Matthew explode. I gasped. I cringed. I cried. I hit pause to burn off nervous energy by pacing around my apartment. This episode of Love Is Blind delivers long-awaited resolution for several story lines built throughout the season. The final weddings show us how family can be a supportive force that makes personal milestones more meaningful but also a source of emotional baggage that can hold you back. Luckily for Netflix’s producers, both of these options are fail-safe ways to make me weep. We get plenty of drama but also one genuinely happy ending! What more could I ask for?
Before we break out the tissues, though, we have to spend about ten minutes wrapping up Jimmy and Chelsea’s relationship. Although I’ll admit to praying on the downfall of this couple, I still think it’s pathetic Jimmy waited so long to call the wedding off. “The only opportunity is to tell you when I feel it,” he says. We’re supposed to believe that he didn’t feel it at any point before going on a cute date, picking a reception song together, and getting her to confirm that she wants to marry him? But, hey, both Chelsea and Jimmy insisted they didn’t make up their minds in the pods until the very last day, so it’s actually a pretty on-brand breakup. They rehash several old arguments, but Jimmy is most upset about the “you-fucked-her” fiasco. On top of being worried about his friend’s future relationships, I suspect that Jimmy dislikes Chelsea’s casual language around the situation. (This is a man who refers to sex as making love or smushing, after all.) Meanwhile, Chelsea has so many grievances that I can’t understand why she still wants to marry him. Is she a masochist? I’ve never heard two people say “I love you” in such a resentful tone, and it’s clear they haven’t resolved any of their issues.
Chelsea ends up crying by herself. Cue the title card and jaunty music — it’s party time!
Amy and AD dance and gush about their fiancés at their bachelorette party. Amy does bring up that it’s a “hard no” for Johnny to have kids before he’s ready but says that she’s fine with that and that they’re not having sex anyway (“She fucking that man,” AD contests with a cackle).
The bachelor party is more subdued. Clay tells his friends he and AD are doing great, leading with the sex being good, which, ugh. Still, he does say he loves her, wants to fight for her, and can see himself marrying her.
And on that note, it’s time for AD and Clay’s wedding day. AD is ecstatic to be a bride. AD’s mom also reveals she spent some time with Clay’s mom. If the parents are meeting off-camera, this relationship might be more serious than I thought. It also helps that Clay keeps claiming he’s a changed man throughout the day. At one point, he compares the day to a final exam that he’s ready to ace. I’m not sure a wedding should feel like a test, but at least he feels prepared.
We finally get to meet Clay’s dad, Trevor, whose history of cheating has been haunting Clay all season. Clay’s like a little boy around his dad. His wedding day is the perfect chance, but Clay doesn’t muster up the nerve to ask about the infidelity he knows has given him commitment issues. Instead, he lets Trevor talk about living vicariously through his track career. Trevor also mentions that his own father wasn’t around, then rattles off an impressive amount of motivational quotes. This is apparently their deepest father-son conversation ever.
Onto the ceremony! AD and her billboard of a veil come down the aisle. “Okay, body,” Clay says. AD can’t praise him enough; it’s no surprise when she says, “I do.” Clay, however, doesn’t think it’s “responsible” for him to marry her. “But I want you to know that I’m rockin’ with you,” he adds. I’m with AD when she whispers, “What the fuck?”
Even though I agree with Clay’s assessment that he’s not ready for marriage, this still feels shocking. Some part of me wanted to believe that he liked AD enough to do at least what Jimmy did and spare her from public rejection. AD trusted Clay enough to jump off that metaphorical cliff, and he let her fall in front of her family. Then Clay starts questioning why a timeline is important, and now it’s making sense. He thinks they can just keep dating while he works on himself! Even though she specifically said she didn’t want to do that!!
Clay’s mom gives AD a hug before AD’s family walks her out. Her young nieces watch as she dissolves into sobs. I’m desperately hoping this won’t become a core memory they associate with weddings. We’ve had enough generational trauma, no?
Clay suggests in a confessional that he doesn’t know enough about AD’s finances to commit. We’ve never heard him bring this concern up, and it feels like something he could’ve just … asked about? AD aspires to be a landlord; she would’ve talked about money! Clay also reveals that he’s not “deeply in love.” We knew he struggled to see himself as a husband, but that? Uh-uh, AD deserves more than surface-level feelings. His parents are right to support his choice when this is where his head is at, but he could’ve made this decision sooner.
When Clay finds AD to apologize, it just feels like he’s just waiting for her to say it’s okay and that she’s not going anywhere. Sure, she’s never failed to do that before, but come on, dude. Read the room. When he has the audacity to ask for a hug, AD shrugs and lets him. She says she loves him but is still kind of crying when he kisses her. I don’t understand how he hasn’t realized that it’s over.
Meanwhile, Clay’s parents are having their own one-on-one. Margarita and Trevor were married for 24 years, and that adds a weight to their conversation that no pod relationship of two weeks can possibly compare to. Margarita tells Trevor his infidelity caused Clay to struggle with marriage and commitment. When Trevor gets emotional and starts to bring up his father, she stops him with a gentle touch and assurance of forgiveness. Even though the infidelity trips were news to her, this is about Clay. “Although we came from broken families, that doesn’t mean that we have to pass on that brokenness to our kids,” she says.
Trevor suggests that Clay should meet someone like Margarita. “Yeah, but you met me, but you wasn’t good to me,” she replies. Phew. There’s decades of pain here. It’s almost too real for reality TV? I don’t think there’s been a moment like this in the entire Love Is Blind franchise. I’m starting to feel like we shouldn’t even be watching, and it feels right when she decides to end the conversation.
I do want Clay to get the clarity he desperately needs, but right now, I just feel bad for AD. She’s tired of carrying relationships that don’t work out. “I’m not gonna fucking beg him to fucking pick me. I’m done,” she says.
After fading to black, we’re moving on to Amy and Johnny’s wedding. It’s a jarring transition. I’m still wiping my tears for AD when Amy starts describing how she’s always dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding. Johnny has called their love story a fairy tale before, too. It’s honestly a good descriptor for these two. They haven’t really had any big fights. The only issue is that we don’t know yet if they’ve figured out the birth control situation.
Johnny has only good things to say about Amy. He tells his siblings and friends that he and Amy did have “deep conversations” in the pods about topics like kids, religion, what happens if they have a miscarriage, and what happens if one of them goes bankrupt. “She’s the girl,” he says.
Amy’s bridal party is precious. I love that Johnny’s sister, Maria, is included. When Amy’s parents, Mercedes and David, arrive, she tells them she’s feeling confident about her decision, and they immediately assure her they’re always going to be there for her — and for Johnny now, too. “All of us together,” David says, looking at Maria. “We’re all gonna make you be successful.” He adds that he had his reservations about this process but changed his mind after seeing Amy happy.
Johnny’s parents, Jim and Joy, are equally supportive. They tell him marriage will be the hardest but most fun job he’ll ever have and finish the conversation with a group hug. Before he heads to the altar, Johnny’s mom expresses how happy she is for him and how lucky he and Amy both are.
Amy comes down the aisle with David … and David Jr., the brother she spoke so beautifully about in the pods. She and David Jr. exchange “I love yous,” and she whispers, “I always got your back.” Her dad kisses her hand and hands her off to Johnny, saying, “I’m giving my treasure to you.” To all the girlies with daddy issues watching … y’all doing okay?
Cameron, Maria’s fiancé, officiates the ceremony, which includes a thoughtful nod to Amy and Johnny’s late grandparents. When Amy says she’s fallen in love with Johnny’s soul, he’s staring at her with so much love that it doesn’t matter how suspenseful the background music is: I have zero doubts about what’s going to happen. When they both say “I do,” the crowd cheers.
Our new husband and wife can’t get enough of each other. They’re kissing constantly. Johnny says he would never have hit on her in real life because she’s out of his league, and they happily conclude that love is blind. Later, they’re moved to do an impromptu “my husband” song and dance. I used to think this couple was a little boring, and I’m now legally required to say that my partner, who has been adamantly Team Amy and Johnny (“I’m healed; I like seeing people be happy”), was right all along. I’ll never doubt you again, baby. Watching this wedding is the happiest I’ve felt all season.
Netflix cuts back to Clay, who is starting to understand the “magnitude” of his decision and feels “stupid.” AD affirms that her love was blind. But after standing “ten toes” down for Clay, she doesn’t want to keep dating him. “You don’t wanna pick me, somebody else will,” she says, adding that her heart is broken.
Of course, we can’t end on that note. We’ve still got Amy and Johnny’s reception, where Amy’s dad is proposing a toast. “That’s my new dad!” Johnny shouts. One of Johnny’s brothers has his arm around Amy’s brother, who is raising a fist instead of a glass. The McIntyres and Cortéses trade hugs all around the room. It’s such a genuine, cute union of families. After one last montage of Amy and Johnny kissing, dancing, and telling the camera that love is blind, we’ve made it to the end.
I feel really good about this being our final couple. Honestly, their sole obstacle seems to have been sex ed, and I think it’s clear it wasn’t a situation where Johnny was pressuring Amy. They also said they wouldn’t get married until they figured out their family-planning situation, and even though we didn’t get to hear a solution, we learned that Johnny and Amy are able to have more serious conversations. They’re not always living in a fairy tale. That alone makes me feel a lot better about their chances of staying together and (perhaps more importantly to them) not rolling up to the reunion with a positive pregnancy test.
Pod Goss
• Do we think Sarah Ann and Jeramey will show their faces at the reunion? Will Jimmy’s girl friends be in the audience? Let me know who you’re hoping to see or what you want the Lacheys to ask. (I’m personally hoping that Megan Fox makes an appearance.)
• I’ve seen some comments about most participants on Love Is Blind being too young or immature for the experiment to work, which has given me a brilliant idea: Golden Love Is Blind. It did wonders for The Bachelor. Netflix, call me.
Jennifer Zhan , 2024-03-06 13:00:11
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