Saturday, January 21, 2023

The MTV Love WRAP: Are You The One? - The Season 9 Premiere (and Return)

BY DC CUEVA 

Twitter/Instagram @AREUTHE1
Nine years ago this weekend, MTV brought those insomniacs who snuck around after that Teen Mom mama drama something totally different: a new take on the world of reality dating shows that combined what the channel does best in all of that over-the-top drama with a whole lot of love and a great deal of high stakes. In a week that saw a fight on Teen Mom, a triple elimination on The Challenge, the probable series finale of Siesta Key, the debut of West Hollywood's newest squad and yet another reality show appearance for one Asaf Goren, one of the many shows he's been on in this world, MTV's Are You The One?, finally returned to our consciousness and into front page status in this third week of 2023.

If you saw his cameo on RuPaul's Drag Race on Friday, Asaf added to a reality resume that includes him being part of the legacy of eight seasons of MTV's first foray into the modern reality dating phenomenon that spans eight seasons, and which have brought us plenty of that along with a slew of memorable girls, guys, couples and countless hookups. But forty months have passed since we last went into the Truth Booth -- the world as it was the past few years had to do something with it after Season 8 brought a new dimension to the theory that love is more than just guys and girls loving one another... the LGBTQ+ community is also deserving of taking part in it too.

But finally, as the world has opened back up after the pandemic so has the social romantic experiment... and Season 9 is not only taking up residency on Paramount+, it's also inviting those from around the world to join in on the fun. Twenty-two singles have traveled from the United States and six other countries to the Canary Islands, where Catfish host Kamie Crawford awaits them for this latest odyssey in finding love through laser beams, Boom Boom Room trips and matchmaking science. And though it's been three & a third years since we last enjoyed the feeling of watching this guilty pleasure, it's as if it's never left us in the amount of drama and fun for its opening stanza -- that includes a triangle, a game of Never Had I Ever and even something many of you had over the holidays.

After the break, DCBLOG brings you all that went down in the first two hours of the Global edition of Are You The One? on this premiere edition of something brand new on here: the MTV Love WRAP. And at last, welcome back lovers...

As we brought up in our preview, DCBLOG is changing up how we've been covering MTV's dating series MTV over the past decade. Yes, we will still feature social media posts, but that will now appear at the end of these traditional recaps, which we are reverting to this winter due to the streaming on demand nature of Season 9 plus the totally new couples season of Ex On The Beach, which we'll preview on here before its pre-Valentine's Day debut. But we start this Love WRAP out with the top moments from the AYTO premiere... and there are plenty of those.


     THINGS TO KNOW     
Ep.'s 1 & 2 - "How Far Would
You Go for Love?"

❤️ IT ALL BEGINS - Whenever a season of any reality dating show anywhere in the world begins, there's always sparks flying among those who are single, ready to mingle and anxious to get it on once they lay eyes on one another. It is no different when the singles come walking in and one of them takes a page out of Snooki's quote book in announcing, "Party's here!"  And in this case, plenty of connections take place among the entire house... but maybe, are there future Now United members here too?



❤️ FIRST CHALLENGE - It may be a return engagement, but the same rules apply: win a challenge, you score a getaway date and you're up for possible eviction -- well at least, eviction to the Honeymoon Suites if you're a Truth Booth perfect match. Our first getaway challenge in forty months sees the group try to get to the heart of what happened to their last relationships: did their infidelity cause their breakup, or did career priorities cut it short? After everyone puts together their puzzles, Taylor and Sam win those two spots, as she picks Nathan and he goes with Courtney... in the end, the ladder gets picked by the house but after that trip to the laser room it's no Love at First Sight, but at least they get to enjoy a nice dinner night out while the former goes for a Ferrari ride in the Spanish countryside.



❤️ NEVER HAVE I EVER - Any reality dating show must include any type of party game that takes the chance for everyone to get to know each other by having those fingers up and admitting that you've never done something wild... we all remember what happened in Vegas when this was played among the Real World cast. After Taylor & Nathan came back a no-match, the AYTO kids choose Never Have I Ever to break the ice as you can see below... but what you don't see is that plenty of hookups go down -- both by the pool and after hours when Brendan makes out with Julia Ruth in view of the infrared eyes among his first two trips to Pound-Town. And if and your friends decided to take a shot every time someone kisses in this premiere, we'd doubt that you're gonna survive the next day's hangover.



❤️ LOVE TRIANGLE - A must in any reality dating show is one that we all love: that love triangle -- Ryan, Kayla & Wes; Kam, Eddie & Alicia; and Nurys, Malcolm & Didi all come to mind. It takes for hour two for Season 9 to have our latest addition to that AYTO threesome list in Brooke, Will and Leo... it actually began with her pointing at the Holey Moley alum in their meetup with Kamie but soon turns her focus to the armed forces vet, who has his eyes on a girl who's supportive. After having a deep talk with Leo, Will gets his chance to talk to Brooke but then he gets called out for being a little too intense.

❤️ A FIRST TIME - The Matchup is always the barometer of where the house's mindset is as far as the biggest of the love games is concerned... and we've seen in the past how much these choices can make or break their chances at reaching the magic number. Among that triangle above, Leo is the second to make his choice and he opts to take Brooke... which meant that Will had to settle for Jordanne when they were the last ones standing after everyone had taken their picks. But when they all settle down in their seats to watch the light show, all they get is nothing out of it... that means, it's our very first week 1 blackout.



   STRATEGY ROOM   
AFTER (a no-luck) WEEK 1...
Data Courtesy: AYTO MATH

The idea that AYTO has perhaps become the favorite reality show of those who obsess over analytics is one that predated the emergence of Steve Kornacki and our nation's obsession with numbers-driven data and sabermetrics. The return of this lovefest means not only Truth Booths and hookups in the Boom Boom Room, but also forecasting the road to $1 million and the chances the house goes 11 for 11.
   Taylor & Nathan being a non-match in the Truth Booth now makes it 0-9 when it comes to getting someone into the Suites in Week 1 -- we all know about the very first one in Shanley & Chris T. which hampered the chances of Season 1 early on. It also keeps true the fact that you can't really find a match until the third week -- that's where it happened to Maria and Mikameron. But we couldn't muster what would go down at the first Matchup...
   To think that the house would get an opening blackout to start this all off seemed a possibility, but to have it become a reality this early, that is obviously the worst nightmare to kick things all off. To see this begin the way it has for our kids is something totally remarkable that now they're now playing for just $750,000... maybe even lower than that if this trend keeps going the rest of the way. However instead of just one truth booth to start this all off, the house has just been given eleven additional ones at no extra cost -- only that that comes at cost, and they are now in the hole to start off. They would've been lucky if logical sense among this party hardy group prevailed.

   THE CHOICES   
   Week 1: Guys Pick   
♥️ NATHAN & MIJNTJE
♥️ LEO & BROOKE
♥️ MIKEY & DANIELLE
♥️ BRANDAN & CC
♥️ AQEL & COURTNEY
♥️ HAMUDI & TAYLOR
♥️ OLLIE & ANISSA
♥️ SAMUEL & JULIA RUTH
♥️ EDUARDO & ROZ
♥️ CLAY & DEW
♥️ WILL & JORDANNE
 =  BLACKOUT  0/11 

AYTO Math has become the go-to destination for those info-nerds wanting to go deep into all the numerical goodies that comes with this show... and we will use just the simple particulars of the site's analysis in our analogies. A glimpse into the page's post-matchup table sees that there's no lower than a 9.9% chance or higher than 11.1% among what's now the 13.2+ million combinations left... most have a 9.9 to 10.1% chance in the AYTO Math table. But Taylor and Nathan both have now an 11% chance that the other nine people of the opposite gender could be their match. That's how jumbled up the picture is after just one week and two episodes.
   And a note: DCBLOG will use a color-coded method to covering the Matchup Ceremonies: Black will indicate blackouts like the one the house had for their first one or in the event that they don't win. Red will be used if the houses loses any lights compared to the previous week, Green if they gain beams, Pink if the number is unchanged from the previous week, Blue next to couples' names if they pick the same partner multiple times, and Yellow should the house go 11 for 11. As the guys chose first to start the season, it's the ladies who will choose next week and have last pick should we go the full distance.


   #DCSocialPulse   
BEST OF WEEK ONE

And we leave you with the best from social media of the return of AYTO, and it's safe to say it was quite the first week.. it also includes a revelation from Taylor about her health diagnosis as well. Ahead, we'll be into The Challenge as a number of Ride or Dies face the music for their votes and two couples (one present, one former) find themselves at the heart... 'till then, lovebirds.























- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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