I won't lie: Love Island USA has truly thrown me for a loop these past few episodes. From the shocking moment Jeremiah and Huda were broken up by America's vote and her subsequent exit, to the Megan Thee Stallion appearance and the reveal of the new bombshells, Season 7 of Love Island very well might be the best TV I've ever watched. It was gripping, shocking, and kept me on the edge of my seat during every scene. Then, it got weird.

I'm not going to lie, I totally skipped that challenge where they were spitting in each other's mouths. That was straight-up nasty, especially in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world. Jeremiah being voted out also felt really odd, and the world-famous Casa Amor was rather boring to me. Honestly, the guys at the villa provided the most intrigue in this week's series of episodes.

But the final straw for me was Olandria being dumped. As a rookie to this whole Love Island experience, I'm not used to reality TV producers being so heavily involved in shaping outcomes. So, for a minute, I actually thought she was genuinely voted off. I had to seriously consider whether I'd keep watching.

I'm watching this season of Love Island because I wanted to support Olandria, a Tuskegee University alumna who's only a year younger than me. I wanted to see her succeed and truly contend for love and win the show outright. When she was tasked with “leaving the villa,” I genuinely wondered if I'd continue watching. That's how upset I was.

I was definitely going to see it through and finish the season, but I knew it wouldn't hit the same for me. So, when the producers pulled off their magic and brought Olandria back, pairing her with Nic, it was an interesting twist that led to what I believe is the best episode of the season thus far. The Love Island producers were truly in their bag this episode. It was a 10/10 night, from the coupling of Nic and Olandria and their intersecting storyline with Cierra and Taylor to the genuinely fun challenge where the Villa and Casa Amor residents faced off.

The Confounding Connection: Olandria and Taylor

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However, this episode also caused an interesting level of confusion for me due to Olandria's connection (or perceived lack thereof) with Taylor. She genuinely seems to like Taylor for some reason, consistently calling him her “man” and closing herself off in Casa Amor because she wanted to get back to him. She wasn't the only islander missing their connection, but I was trying to wrap my mind around what connection she could even miss. Then, she faced Taylor and his new connection, Clarke.

We've seen more emotion from Olandria after speaking with Nic about Taylor's growing interest in Clarke and during her conversation with Taylor about their connection than we'd seen in the past month of the season. Olandria didn't even show this type of emotion after she was “eliminated” in Tuesday's episode, yet she held back tears as she spoke with Taylor, who has admitted he isn't physically attracted to her?

This is the most confounding portion of this season for me, in a season aptly referred to by many viewers as “Friendship Island.” I've listened to all the interviews with the islanders who were actually voted off the show, and they paint an interesting picture of the connection between Olandria and Taylor. According to the voted-off islanders, namely Jeremiah, they speak of a deeper connection than what we've seen displayed on the show. So, my question is simple: What are we missing?

The producers have to fill in the blanks for us. What are we missing about the connection between Olandria and Taylor? How did they fall so quickly for each other with a conversation that doesn't seem all that scintillating? How was Taylor able to captivate her interest with such porous effort that Ace had to give him a pep talk to step it up after Olandria was initially recoupled with Jalen?

Perhaps we'll never know the answers to these questions until Taylor and Olandria's exit interviews or if the producers release this footage (preferably in a YouTube or social media drop). But this has been the most confounding thing about this season to me. Olandria's loyalty and affection for Taylor have challenged everything I know about relationships and communication between human beings because how is this possible?!

Love Island has definitely made me strap my seatbelt back in for how things will end in this season, that's taken all of us—especially us first-time watchers—on a wild ride.