The appeal of “Love Is Blind” is that viewers can be voyeurs, watching the dating rituals of different cities unfold while other people test out the theory that true compatibility is of the mind. The seventh season, which airs its reunion episode Wednesday, promised to explore some burning questions about the culture of our political epicenter during an unusually heightened political environment. Unfortunately, the strange brew that is “Love Is Blind D.C.” yielded none of the political ambition that makes the city a Dating Swamp but also none of the diversity of culture that redeems the place (however, this season did have the most ethnically diverse cast of engaged couples).
The Netflix series decided to launch its latest show just one month before a highly contested and challenging presidential election, during a political moment that is raising questions about the very foundation of our democracy, our social contract and what it means to be a citizen. I can see the pitch meeting now: Why not capitalize on this zeitgeist by shooting in Washington, D.C. — a town outsiders equate with politics — and answer the burning concerns about American identity with — checks notes — sound-proofed pods where contestants only hear the quality of someone’s voice, get engaged in 10 days and only then actually see each other. Love will conquer all, amirite?
While it’s safe to assume “Love Is Blind Falls Church, Virginia” probably wouldn’t do as well for marketing, we should expect better than 20% of the cast not even living in the namesake city.
Leave aside the fact that nearly 20% of Washington’s workforce works directly for the federal government, which still doesn’t grant paid parental leave, let alone time off to join a reality show, meaning a core segment of Washington’s culture is not represented in this season. Then you have the million-plus people who work in industries dependent on government work, also known as “professional services” — consultants, lobbyists, defense contractors and cybersecurity experts. Perhaps none were willing to risk their security clearance and job access to be on a TV show. This leaves you with the folks who could use the free publicity: the guy who works in his family’s art dealership, the real estate agent dude, the nonprofit man with a cause.
Are there people in the Washington, D.C., area who are simply tired of dating the conventional way and willing to roll the dice on television? Of course, but the operative word is “area.” The DMV metropolitan area is home to nearly 7 million people, which includes two entirely different states, Maryland and Virginia. It is flat-out deception to have a contestant from Baltimore on a show touting a Washington, D.C. edition. While it’s safe to assume “Love Is Blind Falls Church, Virginia” probably wouldn’t do as well for marketing, we should expect better than 20% of the cast not even living in the namesake city. It’s an accidental nod to a political climate that values perception and fact-bending over the truth.
It would have been fun to see one or two contestants from Washington’s diplomatic corps and international community, only to find out after the sight-unseen engagement that the diplomat has a spiritual spouse overseas and needs a legal marriage to an American for his green card. This would be a dramatic arc that actually reflects the harsh reality of seeking the American dream. Instead, we’re given one couple’s hand-wringing about dating across the political aisle, only for that relationship to combust over the now-boring trope of a sexting scandal. And we have a contrived love triangle couple who could have been from Anywhere Sunny America and even the producers didn’t believe were likely to make it to the altar. Give me some good old Machiavellian power couple venom instead. I spent more than a decade dating within my industry of politics and government and was looking forward to seeing a reflection of my and my peers’ experience. Sadly, there was none of the drama or particulars typical of the Washington, D.C., dating scene during this season. In a town that attracts people with ambition and narcissism, Washington, D.C., dating often rewards those with an epic smoke and mirrors game that is disconnected from their no-bed-frame, only-a-mattress studio apartment reality. It would have made for great TV if it had stuck closer to reality. “Love Is Blind” would have done better to recruit from the dating pool that residents actually recognize — more swamp things, fewer starry-eyed people from outside the Beltway. If you’re going to use our city to sell a series, you might as well let the rest of America revel in the cesspit along with us.
Nayyera Haq is a global affairs journalist. 
