While Netflix is mostly lauded for its seemingly endless catalog of original scripted programming, it has steadily built up a strong library of reality television. From Queer Eye to Nailed It, Netflix has delved into the ever-popular subgenres of reality TV, like makeover shows, cooking shows, and talent-based competition programs.
But recently, the streaming service has delved into the highly addictive world of trashy dating shows, and honestly it couldn’t come at a better time. After seeing success with early quarantine trend adopter The Circle and the bonkers dating series Love Is Blind, Netflix has delivered Too Hot to Handle.
The premise is simple: ten young horny, conventionally attractive people are sequestered for a month in a beach-front paradise. The catch? They cannot do anything remotely sexual: no kissing, no fooling around, and no masturbation. If they break the rules, then money is deducted from the $100,000 grand prize.
The premise is genius in its simplicity. By making what is essentially Love Island without the drunken hook-ups, THTH answers the eternal question: what do attractive but vapid folks do when sex is off the table? The results are predictably bonkers, with muscled bros and Instagram-ready wannabe models melting down in the face of abstinence.
And I’m not talking about a couple of weeks. 48 hours without sex has these folks nearly losing their minds.
It’s a hilarious conceit, as the contestants must suffer 30 days of (gasp!) getting to know one another on a deeper level. But THTH is coming out at exactly the perfect time. For many singletons, the quarantine has been one long, lonely dry spell. So in these times of peak international horniness, there is something deeply satisfying about watching these dim goofballs try and fail to keep their hands off of each other.
For many of us, trashy reality TV offers an easy mental vacation from our current hellscape. There is something vaguely narcotic about tuning in to watch conventionally attractive people in a picturesque setting making the absolute worst decisions. Look, I love prestige television as much as the next person, but sometimes I need a show that doesn’t require 100 percent of my attention (sorry Devs).
Too Hot to Handle attempts to answer larger questions about intimacy and relationship-building, billing itself as an anti-Tinder social experiment. And the contestants participate in a variety of workshops designed to promote bonding and self-realization. But make no mistake, the series is still a trashy, superficial delight.
(image: Netflix)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
