By Mahnoosh Arsalan
Staff Writer
The cast of “Love Island USA” reminded America of their iconic and unforgettable summer with a special reunion episode on Aug. 31, bringing back the core four of the season, every bombshell who stepped foot into the villa and all of the drama.
Season eight of “Love Island USA” lasted over six electrifying weeks, leading to long-lasting friendships and unfathomable heartbreak. The season started with 10 islanders: Aniya, Trinity, Melanie, Kenzie, Beatriz, Sean, Bryce, Zach, KC and Sincere. Trinity and Bryce began their connection on day one on the island and stayed true to their love throughout the entire season, crowning them as the winners of the season.
Aniya came in second place with her Casa Amor bombshell Carl, a surprising yet extremely loved contender. Carl quickly stole the hearts of millions of viewers, so much so that after being dumped from the villa, fans voted him back into it, and into Aniya’s heart. Aniya’s Love Island experience was rocky before her coupling up with Carl due to the destruction of her connection with KC after Casa Amor when he picked bombshell Titi over her. Despite all of the drama, KC and Titi were able to positively continue their relationship alongside Aniya and Carl, showing each other support.
Melanie and Sincere’s love story began in the early episodes of the season, but took many hits and turns. Despite their spot in third place, their connection was brought to a screeching halt after bombshell Sol entered the villa. Their love triangle became extremely tense, messy and judged by viewers. Sincere’s actions defied his character and his name, ultimately causing a large loss of respect for him inside and out of the villa.
Zach made it to the final four couples with his bombshell Kayda, two fiery souls finding their way to each other. The two have been together for the majority of the show since Kayda’s entrance during day two of the Love Island experience. The two have gone through their ups and downs, mostly due to Zach’s Casa Amor experience involving a surplus of disrespectful comments against Kayda and the other women on the island. Even with this short span of negativity at Casa Amor, Kayda and Zach found their way back to each other.
The reunion special took place six weeks after the season eight finale, giving the islanders an equal amount of time outside of the villa to settle back into their normal lives. But, no matter how much these islanders yearn for normalcy, nothing will ever be the same. The show gained immense traction during season six, but its popularity significantly increased this summer. Now that the islanders have experienced six weeks stuck on an island together and six weeks readjusting to every day routine, they were able to come back together and get some things off of their chests.
Melanie was an extremely prominent cast member during the reunion. The two had apparently shared a beautiful unaired heart-to-heart inside the villa, which soon turned sour due to their relationships with Sincere. Their friendship later deteriorated due to comments Sol had made about Melanie after being dumped from the villa. Throughout their conversation during the reunion, Sol and Melanie showed a joint, continuous deflection of accountability that made it hard for them to get to each other. It became clear that their friendship had come to an end.
Melanie also shared passionate moments with Kenzie, turning from cold, heartless comments to tears and warm embraces. Melanie acted quite accusatory against Kenzie despite Kenzie’s best efforts to take accountability for her actions and show Melanie kindness. Kenzie spent the majority of her time in the reunion apologizing to Melanie, all while holding her ground and staying true to her own opinions. Melanie had started off cold and short with Kenzie, leading to discomfort within everyone in that studio. Soon, the two had come to an agreement that their villa emotions were heightened, and that they needed to give each other a second chance.
Kayda is receiving a significant amount of backlash from viewers for not showing kindness to fellow bombshell Jaiden, as well as showing sass to the Love Island USA host Ariana Madix. Jaiden faced a sensitive issue with islander Caleb, involving a lot of vulnerability. During Jaiden’s explanation of her personal experience with Caleb, Kayda chimed in with an unnecessary comment. Fans are discussing the amount of truth behind Kayda’s comment, some thinking she’s absolutely right, others believing she shouldn’t comment on other couples. However, what fans are truly upset about is the way she spoke to Madix. When Madix rushed to Jaiden’s defense after Kayda’s insensitive comment, Kayda made a short, under-the-breath comment to Madix, which has completely turned the public away from Kayda. Fans were already facing frustration towards her ability to welcome Zach back into her heart with open arms despite his lies and manipulation, but this final comment really set fan opinions into stone.
During the reunion special, viewers were made aware of the islanders’ current relationship status. Trinity and Bryce are still going strong as boyfriend and girlfriend, while Melanie and Sincere, Aniya and Carl and Zach and Kayda are taking their time with labeling the relationship.
Ultimately, this season of Love Island USA was one for the books. Hearts were broken, heart rates were raised and friendships were made. The reunion ended on a happy note with all of the islanders agreeing to be friends outside of the villa, wanting to get to know each other in the real world.
Season 8 is available to stream on Peacock, and season nine will return next summer for another big splash.
