Summary
Reality dating programme where siblings are each other’s wing-man, both trying to find love.
This review of the Netflix reality dating series Dated and Related season 1 does not contain spoilers.
In a world where online dating is the new norm, we are still fighting back and wanting the old days of meeting someone in person. How is this done? Through a controlled program for other people’s entertainment. In this new reality dating show, we see sixteen single contestants, all sibling pairs, travel to the South of France to find love. The pairs stay in one villa and go on a series of dates in front of their siblings.
Instantly I thought this series would be full of drama as we all know how judgemental and protective siblings can be. I know my brother and I would just be screaming, laughing at one another, and finding the whole situation cringe-worthy. I don’t need to know his moves and his flirting techniques, and he doesn’t need to know mine. Is this dating show going a bit too far?
In this series, there are ten episodes to watch, all lasting roughly under an hour. It does make for a quick binge-watch. The contestants are from around the world, from Essex to Texas, they all do look like people who would be on the show Love Island.
This is where shows fail for me, I would really like to see some average-Joe people, not poster boy, and girl, model types. That’s where it loses any sort of fun authenticity. These contestants appear to only be coming on here to get famous rather than actually looking for a soulmate.
Another thing I am bored of seeing is young people, all the contestants were in their twenties, I would really like to see more people in their thirties, forties, and fifties. This would have brought more dynamics to the groups and challenges.
Like similar series, we get interviews with the contestants, see the drama of the dates through fly-on-the-wall style filming, and have group conversations at the end. There are shots of them relaxing around the pool in the beautiful location, gossiping, playing games, and then dating and double dating.
Overall, this series doesn’t really offer anything new, other than sibling relationships, which really brings nothing to the table.
What did you think of the Netflix reality dating series Dated and Related season 1? Comment below.
You can watch this series with a subscription to Netflix.
