Love is Blind Season 8 pod recap: A game of Guess Who?

Another Valentine's Day has come and gone, which means the pods have opened yet again on the Love is Blind sound stage for 32 eligible singles to find love, have their secrets exposed to the world, and keep Vanessa and Nick Lachey's stock in Huggies up for years to come.

As a brief recap to last season based in Washington, D.C., we had :cue Chris Harrison voice-over:, one of the most dramatic moments in Love is Blind history when reality TV journalist Rikkii of the Reality Receipts podcast sat down with cast member Tyler Francis' baby momma and grandmom. Bri, the mother of Tyler's children, provided proof longer than a CVS receipt that Tyler was not just a sperm donor for a friend as he claimed (allegedly). From the looks of internet gossip, Love is Blind season 8 is going to be an even wilder ride.

Let's take a look at the couples and love triangles of Love is Blind Minneapolis. SPOILER ALERT!

Monica Danus and Joey Leveielle

No, this isn't a Friends remake. 28-year-old Digital Marketing Manager Monica bonded with Joey, a 35-year-old Physician Associate, early on in their pod dates. The two bonded over their quirky senses of humor and who knows what else because they were engaged by episode 2, and we never saw them again after the reveal.

While some fans weren't big on Joey's Minnesota accent and long hair, Monica had hearts in her eyes when the two met in the reveal hall. She absolutely adored everything about Joey, and it seems to be a shared sentiment between the two. Their adorably awkward reveal gives me high hopes for the couple.

Odds of saying I do: 8/10

Taylor Haag and Daniel Hastings

If only all the engagements were as swift as Monica and Joey's. If you haven't watched yet, we got six full episodes of the squad solely in the pods. And one of the longest storylines was between 32-year-old colonoscopy nurse Taylor and 30-year-old sales account executive Daniel.

One of the biggest complaints this season has been how alike the men look. Somebody copy-pasted over at Netflix long enough that they ran out of ink by the time they got to pod single Mason. So much so that I actually wrote an entire paragraph about Taylor and *Dave* before I realized I had mixed him up with Daniel. I'm a Day 1 fan, and I can't even tell half of the male cast apart six episodes in.

Back to Taylor and DANIEL though. These two are such smitten kittens through the pods. Their shared values, love of holidays and fast food, finishing each other's thoughts. There's no better description of finding your person than Taylor telling Daniel "I feel like I'm home when I talk to you." Swoon.

All of that, all. of. THAT...just the deck of cards to seemingly fold immediately after their engagement reveal because Taylor *thought* Daniel followed and unfollowed her on Instagram and knew what she looked like. Let's discuss why the math isn't mathing there.

Exhibit A) Taylor mentions seeing a specific profile picture of a man in front of a Christmas tree which, despite having an obsessive love of Christmas, Daniel does not actually have on his profile. Exhibit B) Taylor has her love of Christmas, Taco Bell, and her occupation in her bio. "Very specific" details Daniel would have recognized in their discussions. I don't know about you, but as a fellow basic white girl, I also love Christmas and Taco Bell.

I'm not a nurse, but Minnesota has one of the most prominent hospitals in the country, and there are at least two other nurses this season alone (Sara and Meg). Are you saying Daniel might be all of our soul mates, Taylor? Exhibit C) Daniel followed Taylor long before the cast announcement (again, allegedly), so he would have to have psychic powers comparable to Dionne Warwick (IYKYK) to have an inkling she was on the cast.

So, do you think Daniel is a psychic, Taco Bell-obsessed stalker, or is Taylor just looking for a way out? In her pre-reveal interview, she even tells the producers she doesn't want to mess this up. Will she or won't she?

Odds of saying I do: 6/10

Lauren O'Brien and Dave Bettenburg (and Molly, too)

OK, this time I really am talking about Dave, I swear. 33-year-old Dave has been in medical device sales for so long that he isn't sure he can find natural love without fillers or Botox. Yawn.
Dave is...a challenging person to warm up to as a fan. His dry, sarcastic jokes to the women, cracking lines about being unattractive after age 30 make it completely believable when he tells the cameras he's "been an a-- to women." You think, David?

Despite making me want to throw my TV into the ocean, Dave manages to make two connections that even passive-aggressively fight over him. 31-year-old educational saleswoman Lauren and 30-year-old executive assistant Molly Mullaney are staring daggers at each other, hoping each will go home. Understandable when a man is feeding you both the same lines about being his top connection, seeing a life with you, and on and on and on. We've all bought into that before, right? Right?!

Molly, who has never been in a serious relationship decided the best way to find one was to go on reality TV, one of the most statistically impossible ways of finding lasting love. This doesn't dissuade Dave from connecting with her and getting a bit R-rated briefly on a pod date. You know what they say, love is blindfolded. They really don't have an emotional connection that we see on camera, but remember these dates can last all day and night, so who knows what else they talked about.

Dave also all but professed his love to Lauren, who is just hoping she doesn't ever have to hear the sex playlist he made for prior occasions to get down and dirty. Sometimes, you should use your inside thoughts, Dave. If you remember Leo from last season, Dave is very much giving.

I'm picking whoever doesn't want to pick me and then picking the other person because I got rejected and love the chase. Sorry, Leo, I love you, but that is 1000 percent what happened then, and what seems to be happening now. I'm sure I'll learn to love Dave too. The villains are usually really fun and kind off-camera.

So Lauren has her pick me, choose me, love me moment and her and Dave get engaged and hopefully will live happily ever after dividing chores and household responsibilities.

Odds of saying I do: 3/10

Virginia Miller and Devin Buckley (with a side of Brittany)

I love all three of these singles, but there was not a single minute I thought Devin would end up picking Virginia. That is, of course, until 35-year-old partnership executive Brittany Dodson revealed she is bisexual. While he didn't explicitly say he wasn't accepting, it did seem, whether real or edited, that Devin just couldn't get past the thought of his woman being with another woman in the past.

Devin and Brittany had a lot in common, from loving work with children to both playing basketball and similar senses of humor.

Virginia seems to be a bit more serious and reserved than Brittany. Her conversations with Devin weren't as light-hearted. While both women were completely accepting when Devin shared his "ibuprofen" addiction (please, Netflix, no one is buying that), he just couldn't reciprocate that open-mindedness with Brittany and proposed to Virginia. He showed his commitment to her by gifting her a cutting board they could use together, and that was honestly the most personality I saw from their dates together. Hopefully, we get more in the coming episodes.

Odds of saying I do: 5/10

Sara Carton and Ben Mezzenga

When I tell you this woman folded faster than a house of cards over her non-negotiables. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. Sara was very open with Ben about her values and views. She is a strong ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, and considering George Floyd's death happened in Minneapolis, she wanted someone who wouldn't sit idly by while the world is on fire.

Ben, self-admittedly, is not that guy. He keeps his head in the sand and some days I can't blame him. I, too, have gone into ostrich mode when life and trauma get to be too much. You can't hide from the entire world all the time though, and that very much seems to be the stance Ben is publicly taking. Who knows, maybe he spends weekends at his favorite drag brunch and hosts Gay Days at Disney, but that very much is not the vibe I'm picking up from him.

Despite Sara having a hard line about social issues, she decides Ben is worth the compromise and calls him her twin flame. I...hope the best for these two. They get engaged and have a pretty unmemorable reveal. No one's face is covered in lipstick, no one dinosaur stomps down the red carpet or attempts to eat each other's face. They're just....fine.

Odds of saying I do: 3/10

Bonus Round!

We spent an awful lot of time on multiple relationships that didn't even end in exchanging phone numbers; while two other couples got engaged, and one is still together, we never saw a day in our lives! More to come about those in a future article. Always leave them wanting more and all that.

Madison Errichiello and Alex Brown (+ Meg and Mason)

Madison has given me Sarah Ann vibes from the day their profiles were released. I'm not sure if it was the hair or the dress, but physically there is a resemblance. Like Sarah Ann, Madison is gunning for the biggest female villain of the season.

Her flirting with Mason was absolutely diabolical. You could not waterboard out of me some of the things Madison said for the world to see. She went from discussing her deep love of specific desserts with Mason to telling Alex her connection with him was stronger. She had the audacity to still get mad at Mason for telling her he wanted to commit to her.

The only ones who got wronged in this whole scenario were Meg and Alex. Mason telling Madison he wanted to commit to her was, of course, wrong if he wasn't feeling it, but I think he only realized his mistake when Madison started manipulating the conversation and confessed she had talked to Meg about him.

Maybe Madison and Mason are both completely innocent angels who would never hurt a fly, but Madison came across more Venus fly trap than a fragile ladybug. That woman is a maneater and only she can convince me otherwise. I don't think she wants to though, and to be honest, that makes the season more fun. Sure, this is real life for them and real love, but if you tell me you don't watch reality TV for drama you are a liar with a capital L.

For a very brief moment, it seemed like we were going to have six engagements this season, but the last date between Madison and Alex fell apart fast. Madison could not get over Alex defending his friend Mason and wanting to keep an open mind. She is definitely of the school of "either you're with me or against me" even when wrong. Alex understandably thought Madison was too much for him to handle and ended things. For now, at least. We still have four more weeks to go. According to previews and Instagram, it's not the last interaction the two had.

And there you have it, your first look at Love is Blind season 8, hot mess express.