They’re not the sharpest tools in the shed, nor do they have to be. Or do they?…….
It’s real nice to see that Netflix has purchased some MTV content, as it’s the reality TV shows which made MTV awesome! And ‘Are you the one’ is an MTV reality matchmaking show from 2014.
On the surface, the show’s concept is simple- bring together 10 gorgeous ladies, and 10 hunky guys to the island of Hawaii. And keep them locked up for 10 weeks until they find themselves a match, while lubricating them with copious amounts of alcohol, of course! Moohaha. However include One Million dollars! Gamification and human emotions? And all of a sudden things aren’t so simple anymore. And there’s bound to be tears. Haaha.
So let’s dig deeper into the game concept here. Prior to entering the house, each of the 20 lovely guys and girls had been interviewed by professional matchmakers, and without their knowledge they had been paired up with one of the opposite sex. deemed as their ‘Perfect match’. Then after entering the house, they’re told that one of their opposite sex is their perfect match, and they have 10 weeks to find out who they are. And to motivate them along, to find ‘the one’, One Million dollars is on the line, to be split by the 10 couples. But only if they can complete 10 perfect matches, before the 10-week period is up!
To help them along, each week they will take part in challenges, which ranged from physical challenges, eating challenges, and various ‘how well do you know them’ type challenges. The top 3 individuals or couples, are rewarded with a romantic date, so they can get to know one another better, away from the house of 20. And nothing is ever straight forward on AYTO, as the winners are not obligated to choose the same partner, which always results in hurt feelings. Or when they compete as couples, they pair up before hand, so at the end of the process there is always one guy or girl who is the last to be picked, just like primary school sports.
The romantic dates are usually set in beautiful locations, so visually they’re great! But the actual dates are pretty boring for us, nothing ground-breaking ever happens on the dates. But the interesting thing is the ‘Truth booth’, any of the winning couples can be voted to the truth booth by the non-winning couples, and the truth booth would reveal once and for all, if that couple is a perfect match. Let’s just say, a few fledgling romances were nipped in the bud by the truth booth. But if a couple is found to be a perfect match by the truth booth, that couple immediately leaves the house and spends the rest of the show in isolation with each other in a honeymoon suite, which we the viewer do not see. And occasionally we see them again, at the matching ceremony.
Near the conclusion of each episode, there is a matching ceremony where one by one, a guy (or girl- they alternate turns per week), come up and choose their perfect match giving some reason why they think they are the one. And after all 10 couples are paired away and their handprints entered into the system to register their match. There is a drawn-out process of lighting up lights, each lit light represents a perfect match, but it does not reveal which couple was the perfect match.
So you’ve got these great looking people attached to one another, rightfully or wrongfully so, but they don’t know if their attachment is founded or not, and they have to work out probability, process of elimination, and strategy? So let’s just say, if they had a few less attractive people in there, who were more books smarts, than eye candy, then they might have won the cash more easily. But from our point of view, and the producer’s perspective , we all have a vested interest that they don’t guess correctly too soon. As the show comes to an immediate end once they reach 10 correct matches.
In the end, I didn’t learn much from the experience, nor did the contestants. It was basically just a game show with hot people, but not much more than that. No revelations were learnt, unlike what was experienced on ‘Too hot to handle’, or ‘Love is blind’.
But if you have some free time this weekend, and dating/matching reality TV shows are your thang, then check out ‘Are you the one’, click HERE to start watching immediately!
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