Netflix TV shows like The Devil’s Plan, Love After Divorce, and Physical 100 are proof that Netflix reality series don’t have to be brain-dead garbage — that they can, in fact, make you laugh, cry, and cheer along as decent people push themselves to be better and to grow. Unfortunately, though, the latest reality series to dominate the streaming giant — it’s #8 worldwide and #2 in the US as of this writing — does none of those things. I’m talking, of course, about Perfect Match.
This series brings together some of the famously single stars from other Netflix reality shows, confining them to a tropical paradise in the hopes that … well, I bet you’ll never guess what they’re there to try and find. That’s right, love, can you believe it?
The twist here, if you can call it that, is the following: The most compatible couples get to play matchmaker. They’re allowed to “break up” other couples and send them off on dates with new singles who get invited to the show’s villa. That’ll either lead to better couple-ing or chaos on the road to one couple being crowned the “perfect match” in this game of strategy (haha, please) and dating hosted by Nick Lachey.
The singles come from Netflix’s dumbest — er, I mean hottest unscripted series, like Love is Blind, The Ultimatum, and Too Hot to Handle. Bikini-clad bombshells cycle in and out of the villa, leading to a mix of pandemonium as well as maybe a perfect match or two. Episodes 7-9 from Batch 2 of the show’s second season dropped today, with episode 10 from the show’s third batch coming one week from today (on June 21).
Perfect Match currently has a 47% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, which makes more sense than the show being one of Netflix’s top current series both in the US as well as the world. In my opinion, this is one of the many Netflix series that passes the laundry test — that is, they’re best enjoyed by having them on in the background, while you do something else like fold laundry.