"Love Is Blind" Is High Art
And "Inventing Anna" is a disaster.
Scrolling With Sophie is a weekly newsletter in which I dissect, discuss, and occasionally mock the celebrity/influencer stories that are taking up too much space in my brain—things I’m cringing at, obsessing over, and thinking about an unhealthy amount. Partnership opportunities are available.
Obsession of the Week
Before I get into the travesty that is Inventing Anna, let’s talk about a show that is worthy of every award under the sun: Love Is Blind. (Disclaimer that I’m only at episode 7 of season 2 at the time of writing this. Also, SPOILERS.)
This show is incredible. It’s transcendent. It’s awe-inspiring. I won’t hear otherwise.
Netflix dropped the first five episodes of season 2 Friday, February 11 with the rest of the season dropping in increments. (Which, as we’ve seen, seems to be a better business model than Netflix’s binge-ready, all-at-once season drops when it comes to drumming up hype.)
And while there’s no Lauren and Cameron in this season—the breakout success story from season 1—it’s still wildly entertaining and fun to watch. (Unlike The Bachelor, which some of you may know I’ve broken up with recently, mostly due to the fact that I realized I’d rather be water-boarded than tune in for two—sometimes four—precious hours of my week. It became excruciating, tedious, and miserable to watch, but that’s a rant for another time.)
Back to LIB: First, there’s Shayne and Natalie. Shayne, a long-lost Busey brother and sentient scab, is the frat-bro foil to Natalie’s more introverted, Type-A personality. They’re an unexpected pairing, but seem to be physically compatible and excited about one another. That is, until Shaina—Shayne’s “ex” from ~the pods~—returns to the mix.
Back in the pods, Shayne and Shaina hit it off, too, but the latter ends up choosing Natalie, of course, which leads to ultra-religious Shaina settling for atheist Kyle. (They couldn't have been less compatible from the jump, TBH!) Shaina’s family—whose whereabouts on January 6, 2021 are unknown—immediately disapprove of Kyle, so she breaks it off. Then, she sets her sights on sabotaging Shayne and Natalie’s engagement (and appears shocked that Shayne would stick with a woman of color over a platinum-blonde with a spray tan).
Another love triangle (square?) involves Mallory, Sal, Jarrette, and Iyonna. Mallory was Jarrette’s first choice in the pods, but she rejected him for Sal, which leads Jarrette to propose to Iyonna (with the ring he originally got for Mallory). Post-pods, Mallory seems to have more sexual chemistry with Jarrette than Sal, although she doesn’t necessarily want to admit it. (To be fair, Sal showed her exactly the type of guy he was when he wrote her a song and played guitar for her in the pods. He’s corny and swagger-less, girly! And that’s okay! But you should’ve known at that moment!)
Then, there’s Deepti and Shake, who bond over their similar Indian upbringings and that they’ve both only previously dated white people. They seem to hit it off at first sight, but during the group trip to Mexico, Shake reveals to just about everyone but Deepti that he’s “not physically attracted to her.” It’s hard to watch, especially after listening to Deepti’s go into detail about her weight loss journey and lingering insecurities.
Lastly, there’s Nick and Danielle, who seem to be perpetually bickering with one another. I’m no therapist—just a believer/fan of them—but I think Danielle absolutely loathes herself, and feels cognitive dissonance and discomfort at the fact that Nick sees her in a way that she doesn’t see herself. She needs to do some serious work when it comes to loving herself before she can realistically make it work with Nick.
And when it comes to the ultimate question of, “Is love blind?” Whether it’s Shaina with Kyle, Shake with Deepti, or Mallory with Sal, you could sense the disappointment that there wasn’t a physical spark there, even when the emotional one was strong. We’ll see who makes it, though!
Also, I heard Love Is Blind: Japan is incredible, so that’s next on my list.
They Have Butchered Inventing Anna
Why? WHY DID THEY HAVE TO GIVE US SOMETHING SO TERRIBLE AFTER WE WAITED SO LONG FOR IT?!
Like everyone else, I pored over Anna Delvey’s story when it first came out, listened to every podcast, and gleefully tuned in to her Instagram Lives when she got out of Rikers. And the show ultimately tells us nothing we didn’t already know. It’s an abomination for a few reasons—which is especially disappointing given how much potential and intrigue the juicy source material has.
First of all, it’s giving… CW. Where’s the prestige? We know Netflix has a better budget than this!
Also, I adore Anna Chlumsky (Veep is one of the best shows of all time), but “Vivian Kent” is insufferable, and for some inane reason, the show focuses on her, rather than Julia Garner’s Anna Delvey character.
Which, let’s talk about that. The accent. The accent. “B-b-b-but that’s how Anna Delvey actually spoke!” I DON’T CARE! It sounds ridiculous and is extremely distracting!!!
The story could have been condensed. It should have been condensed. It’s extremely long and drawn out—each episode clocks in at 60 whole minutes, and there’s 9 of them—with one episode focusing entirely on Anna’s father and upbringing in Russia.
Hopefully, Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes gives us the elevated, smart, expensive-feeling scammer story that the people deserve.
Roundup of the Week
I’m rounding up podcasts again because I’m boring and that’s all I’ve been doing. 🤪
Who the Hell Is Hamish?: I was thrilled to find out about this one, which is about a Dirty John-type swindler who pretends to be an innocent surfer dude with a penchant for “investing.” Produced by The Australian.
The Missing Cryptoqueen: Dr. Ruja Ignatova made billions off a fake cryptocurrency, then disappeared, leaving countless of her followers broke and in the dust. (If you’ve ever wondered, “What is a quote-unquote blockchain, exactly?” you might learn a lot from this podcast like I did.)
Cheat!: Hosted by Alzo Slade, Cheat! explores a different scam, swindle or gag in each episode every week. I would listen to anything Alzo hosts, to be fair, but I love how this podcast always posits, “Does breaking the rules ever pay off?” Usually, no, it turns out.
so well written, the best!
Do you listen to Scam Goddess? She has covered all of these scammers and she's so funny.