TV Binge: Too Hot to Handle (Season 1, 2020)

Too Hot To Handle (Season 1, 2020)

On the shores of paradise, gorgeous singles meet and mingle. But there’s a twist. To win a $100,000 grand prize, they’ll have to give up sex. – IMDB

Netflix has been working on overtime at creating their own exclusive series to cover all forms of reality dating series and social distancing like The Circle and Love is Blind. Its all fairly guilty pleasure watches. What makes Too Hot To Handle from the two mentioned above is that those two have some social experiment elements to it, whereas this one is strictly guilty pleasure and right from the get-go in the first episode when the contestants are announced, its already positive that these people involved are all fairly shallow and full of themselves (there’s a difference between self-confidence and being full of themselves).

When you pick a series that focuses on watching a bunch of contestants in their bathing suits half naked 90% of the time living together who have to give up sex and any rule breaking is results in different amounts of reducing their total jackpot of $100,000, its hard to think that it is going to have a lot of substance. On top of that, the show has a unnamed narrator which made some pretty funny sarcastic comments, which I did enjoy, and all the contestants were observed by an cone-shaped air freshener-looking AI called Lana that would notify them of rule-breaking, how much money was left as well as liaison between organizing dates and other announcements. I’m not going to lie that I hesitated to start this one up but in the state of the world that this show is arriving at, I was down for some mindless entertainment that didn’t require a ton of my attention.

Let’s break it down. Too Hot To Handle is full of contestants that honestly aren’t very likable. I mean, in their introductions, they pretty much all share the same values of thinking they are total bombshells and studs. I say, “thinking” because well, beauty is to the eye of the beholder and I’m no longer in the phase of life where looks can cover up some very annoying traits (which some of these contestants do have). But, when you start up a show like Too Hot To Handle, you have to expect a few things and know exactly what to expect and be okay with that. One of those things is cringe-y moments and rather stupid commentaries and boy, are those plentiful in here especially in the first few episodes as we get to know these contestants a little more and they are in their first interactions.

That’s not to say that the show doesn’t aim to reform these contestants a little by giving them little workshops. They are punished for not embracing the rules and engaging in personal development. All these things results in monetary punishment most of the time with some exceptions. The workshops focus on sorting out their issues whether its in ladies-only or men-only workshop to embrace their own issues and empowerment while also having workshops together on relationship like trust and communication, etc. Its fairly generic stuff that happens as it introduces some exercises with fancy names. Its part of the show that tries to add some substance and give these contestants a little more depth and growth than when they first started. Aside from that, like many of these types of show, they throw in some plot twists to give it some exciting elements and adds in rewards instead of only punishments.

Overall, Too Hot to Handle is exactly what it advertises to be. You already know whether you will enjoy this one or not before you start this up. If you hate reality shows like this, then stay far away. If you like the pure guilty pleasure of this type of show and you might even call this trashy (but I don’t want to be mean), then you will like it for exactly what you expect to get.  For myself, it fit the time and I kind of didn’t mind it too much once I got past the first few episodes and got used to the contestants a little more. As for my anticipation of a second season, I’m don’t really have a preference whether there is one but I’d probably watch it anyways if it happens. Once in a while, guilty pleasure can be good, right?

Weekly Writing Challenge: Love in 21st Century

The 21st Century has revolutionized the idea of love.  We can find love through the internet on chats, dating sites, through friends from pretty much anywhere.  Being apart in a long distance relationship can frequently happen.

I haven’t done one of these writing challenges in a really long time (a few months probably).

21st century has done its fair share in my life.  I used to go on chat rooms and after my second relationship, I even ventured into the world of online dating after one of my friends wanted a companion to try it out.  We went to eventually test out the world of Lavalife. The world of online dating is a funny one (when I look back now).  Its not one I particularly prefer to share with others but since I’ve already shared so much about myself before, why not bring this out? It has a very educational foundation to it.

Online dating is one of those domains where once you enter, you either stay because you become desired or you leave because its ridiculous and there’s really nothing you can control (if you want to do it for free).  You sit around and wait for some guy to be interested and instant message.  At least thats what happened in my memory.  During that phase, I chatted with a few guys.  I never saw myself as a hot commodity but hey, at that moment, it started feeling that way.  Except other than feeling desired, I started seeing that online dating was like being in chat rooms.  It was meeting a bunch of people with different mindsets of what they wanted.  I usually get especially turned off when it comes to someone asking me what I was looking for.  Honestly, that was a question I’d have no idea how to answer.  One, I never believed in the whole love at first sight thing, plus love isn’t going to grow just from a few chats.  Other times, I’d met lots of guys who wanted just a fling or one night stand or expected the first date to end up in bed, etc.  Some were rude and degrading and eventually it came to a point that I came to the conclusion that online dating was in fact a waste of my time because if I continued on these ventures, I’d hate every man in the world and vow to stay single because I’d have just lost hope.  Thats when I left that world. Maybe I sound really picky right now or just very conservative.  I guarantee you I just have my standards as to finding someone and starting an actual relationship (if it was what these guys seemed to be proposing). They were obviously confused.

Now, leaving it might be the best choice because I went back to my own life and just enjoyed time with friends and putting my efforts

I think back, and the 21st century and its online dating made into the success stories but I know deep down and I do warn others that its a creepy and weird world in that universe and to prevail, you need to take time, be analytical and really just find that one person that understands how to let things flow.  Because love isn’t all that simple but it isn’t complicated at the same time, we need to give it time and it’ll find some way to surprise us 🙂  into school and definitely loving being single.  I found a way to be fully accepting of who I am.

Love does come to us when we least expect it.  One day, I opened my email and there it was, months after, a little message saying that someone had messaged me from that stupid online dating site.  I looked at it for a second and contemplated whether to delete it.  After a few moments, I thought about whether I had anything to lose. Obviously I didn’t, so out of curiosity, I opened it up.  This guy’s message sounded truthful and down to earth.  It was a guy who wanted to know the girl and not anything more.  I replied him and after a few emails and MSN messenger chats (when it still existed), then progressed to phone chats after a month or so.  Eventually after 2 or 3 months of online communication, we decided to go for our first date, then our second date, then a third…until fast forward 5+ years.  He is the man who I’m planning a future with and also the one who is the center of my universe.

Man, I’m such a romantic…I know! That was pointless rambling..haha!

This is my response to this week’s Weekly Writing Challenge: 21st Century Love.  Please head on over HERE to see other responses or read the challenge if you’d like to join in 🙂