As Love Island draws to a close, many of us can admit that season 7 has been a real struggle.
Going into this series we were desperately seeking some escapism and had a real buzz in the 'aftermath' of the pandemic. Television can easily fill that void, so expectations were at their zenith for the seventh season of the gameshow as this was the first summer edition since 2019. At the start of 2020 we had the inaugural winter edition, but we maybe did not appreciate it as much as we needed to. But believe we appreciate it more now after being reduced to mere scraps of real entertainment from this current edition. Maybe the timing of a winter edition was hard to acclimatise to, but we understand now that season did what it could. Also during the 2020 winter edition there was the harrowing death of ex-Love Island presenter Caroline Flack so no viewers head was in the right place. The show actually had a day when it did not air due to the sombre circumstances.
To our dismay many episodes have gone by without much really happening this time around. Casa Amor provided the usual twists and turns that gave us that bit of drama which was well needed. Outside of that however it has largely been quite painful to watch to say the least. There has clearly been something missing, and it has appeared that the season has just dragged. Casa Amor aside when there has been a bit of a spark the aftermath has been an complete anti-climax. For instance Toby never gave Hugo the smoke we expected after he ripped him in his speech when he picked Chloe a few weeks ago. Faye spoke to Teddy like he was something she found on the bottom of her shoe and Teddy still went back to her. None of the other girls in the villa made any form of an attempt to tell Faye she was being out of line, probably because she has everyone running scared. She took everyone on that day, even the great Lionel Messi would have even been in awe of her dominance.
This season has never really peaked, but one thing that me and many others have had to keep us invested is a review show called 'The Sundown'. The Sundown airs straight after every episode of Love Island on Link Up TV's YouTube channel. Link Up TV is synonymous with the UK music scene, but it also now has 'The Hub'. The Hub showcases live and interactive discussion shows that include 'The 90's Baby's' Show and 'Triggered' with Lin Mei and Craig Mitch amongst others. As good as those shows are however the Love Island review show the Sundown is the standout. Presented by comedienne Very Vee Brown; it is Love Island reviewed like you have never seen before. Vee is in her element and anchors things very well, but if you are not partial to the odd curse word then you may just get slightly offended at some of the things you will hear. The comments section can be extremely brutal, and Vee luckily has the thick skin needed to be a presenter or influencer on YouTube or any social media platform. Complimentary comments are drowned out by some harsh remarks and Vee gives back the exact same energy when replying. She is seldom rattled and even laughs along with some of the heavy banter on display, as they say 'if you do not laugh then you will cry'.
Each episode Vee is joined by a different guest. Guests have ranged from fellow Link Up TV regulars like the aforementioned '90's Baby's' to former-Love Islanders like Demi Jones, Michael Boateng and Patricia Anyabu. The ex-Islanders as they are no longer under contract show no restraints on spilling the tea on what life is really like in the villa. Laughs are at a plenty and they also have some very good people who call into the show too. In particular callers Frank, Jerry and 'Big Statty' have basically become cult heroes with the way they break down the show, and receive a great reception in the comments. I say 'ring in' the Link Up team actually call you back if you text the required studio number that is displayed in the top right corner of the screen. Vee greets every phone call with a little wiggle as she bellows "we got a caller!". The donations rake in showing the true appreciation of how much she has done to keep people devoted to the gameshow in spite of it's evident flaws in this season. If you are not up-to-date than there is no point in tuning in as you will not what is going on.
The debate on BAME representation in Love Island is the elephant in the room and having an outspoken black host creates quite a different dynamic to a lot of what else is out there. With the black and mixed race involvement at it's pinnacle this year since the gameshow began, it has worked really well for the Sundown. From just looking at social media during Love Island you can see that some people can not fathom that there are individual actions that are interpreted differently. Kaz was depicted as fiery in terms of her mannerisms, but Faye was defended after yet another outburst last week. Faye much earlier on in the season spoke to Teddy quite frankly like he was nothing, but some of the public as well as ex-Islanders like Bella Hassan have defended her. The likes of Kaz and Aaron Francis (who is no longer in the villa) have been subjected to racial abuse, and certain factions will not speak on it in-depth. Vee and her guests have no such qualms about tackling these kind of issues. More often than not it is in a lighthearted manner but trust she still gets her point across.
The Sundown's growing popularity has quite personally filled me with joy. I was actually late to the party; catching the show for the first time in its 4th or 5th episode when I watched a playback. The play count was around 2,000 at that time, now they easily get at least 2,000 viewers when it is live. So now when I have not been able to watch it on the day, I have watched it back the following day and they have as many as 20,000 views now, the growth has been brilliant. If you like a bit of edge to your Love Island review and are not fazed by some explicit language or irreverence within the analysis then this is the show for you. I myself have only watched ITV2's review show 'Aftersun' once this season because of it. If you have been watching Love Island and have not seen the Sundown before, I would highly recommend going back and watching the earlier episodes when you get a chance, you will not be disappointed. And if you do tune in, then remember to smash the like button!
Despite Love Island ending on Monday; Sunday will be the last Sundown live on YouTube, as Monday's event will be a watch-along with Vee and some special guests at BoxPark in Croydon (Surrey).
@DubulDee
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