Too Hot to Handle season 1 review – it’s that guilty pleasure trash that draws you in

By Daniel Hart - April 16, 2020 (Last updated: September 28, 2024)
Netflix dating series Too Hot to Handle season 1
By Daniel Hart - April 16, 2020 (Last updated: September 28, 2024)
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Summary

Netflix dating series Too Hot to Handle has all the ingredients to be insufferable but there’s no denying that it is entertaining and kind of addictive.

Netflix dating series Too Hot to Handle Season 1 will be released on the platform on April 17, 2020 — add it to your list now.


Ah, no — can you blame me for being snotty when I saw the official trailer debut for Too Hot to Handle? I was staring down the barrel and at the other end was Netflix’s version of Love Island. I could not be bothered at all.

But let’s recap. Too Hot to Handle puts 10 very attractive singles on an exotic island — they are encouraged to mingle in the first 12 hours but then this AI that looks like an air freshener tells them that they are not allowed to have sex, engage in heavy petting or kiss. There’s a grand prize of $100k waiting for them and each rule break reduces that money.

Now it’s useful to know that Too Hot to Handle recruited not just insanely attractive men and women, but they are also known to have problems with commitment; they are all obsessed with swiping right on dating apps and getting laid. Each hottie sent to this island has no ambition to have an emotional connection whatsoever. So while it is kind of Love Island but with a twist, Netflix is trying to put some meaning behind this series — it’s not just bloodthirsty singles trying to stop themselves from leeching on to each other; tasks are set to try and learn how to gain emotional connections.

So here’s the verdict. It’s trash but as I enter my 30s, I’m starting to wonder if I do like trash. Like Forky tells us, sometimes trash is warm and fuzzy. Too Hot to Handle Season 1 is everything that I should hate but I felt torn by the drama — I rolled my eyes at every low-intelligence comment or superficial skewed view. I found myself annoyed but wanting to know what happens next, so while Too Hot to Handle is trash, it’s that guilty pleasure trash that draws you in.

I made a friend aware of this show before release and they asked me if Too Hot to Handle is better than Love Is Blind. It goes without saying that the latter is way better. There is nothing remotely mature about this show — it’s a lazy night on the sofa type of thing where you find yourself cringing at odd decisions.

And I accept that Netflix’s Too Hot to Handle is realistic — there is no way that 10 hot singles would keep their hands off each other, even for $100k; the entire environment is too intensive to handle.

So enjoy I guess — this is going to be a series where some love it and others pretend not to love it.


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