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This episode of Love Island USA made clear what viewers have known for weeks: Taylor truly didn’t like Olandria. Their awkward, often stonewalled connection, which had confounded the nation, finally ended during tonight’s latest recoupling. After only a few days with new islander Clarke, Taylor chose to couple with her over the three-week “connection” he had allegedly been building with Olandria.
To make matters worse, Olandria found herself on the wrong side of a vote for the first time in the villa, on the verge of going home for the second time this week. While Nic actively fought to keep her there, Taylor openly advocated for her departure, wanting to end his pursuit of her and further build his connection with Clarke.
As I wrote in yesterday's recap: “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?!”
Relationships are built on communication, which is foundational to any connection. It never seemed as if there was a healthy level of communication between them, and things only worsened after Olandria joined the male islanders back at the Villa. Taylor remained vague about his feelings for her, especially relative to his growing connection with Clarke. He continued to keep her in the dark, his reluctance to be honest still giving Olandria a glimmer of hope that she could “win him back.”
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However, true to the motif of Love Island, sometimes Islanders connect through physical attraction. While these bonds don’t always seem stable, interest is often shown through physical touch and sometimes subtle or overt sensual attraction. Even that was absent in the alleged connection between Taylor and Olandria. They moved about their time in the villa as friends, which would have been perfectly fine if Olandria didn’t continuously talk about how she missed “her man.”
This is what caused my confusion. What were we missing that truly showcased their connection? What were the producers hiding from us? Well, clearly, not much. Olandria’s connection with Taylor was hopeful optimism at best. It never seemed as if anything serious would develop between them from the moment they were paired.
As Olandria herself said at the end of tonight’s episode, she deserves love. What we’ve seen from her this season is a beautiful, intelligent young woman who knows what she wants and is ready to find a love of her own. She’s wasted nearly half of this season on someone who was never able to offer the intellectual stimulation or physical appeasement it would take to foster a connection as quickly as this show deems necessary.
So, it’s time for her to move forward. Taylor has made his intentions clear. There’s no trying to win him back; this isn’t a Disney movie. She should use whatever time is left on this season to find the type of love she deserves with a man who’s willing to give her unconditional affection, respect for her intellect and maturity, and the discipline not to let the curiosity of a 72-hour fling easily throw away any real semblance of a foundation of connection.
I’m glad that the next episode of Love Island is on Sunday, because I think all of us need a break after the rollercoaster ride that this week’s episodes have been.
