The Trophy Abs and Soul Ties of “Love Island USA”

The New Yorker critic takes a thoughtful, almost anthropological look at Love Island USA Season 7 as a cultural phenomenon that blends performative dating with nonstop surveillance and fan‑driven drama. Filmed in Fiji yet styled like a hallucinatory Miami beach club, the show’s rituals of pairing off, recoupling, and playing twists create a surreal social laboratory where contestants reveal themselves in real time. Olandria Carthen emerges in the review as one of the villa’s “funnier and cooler” voices, offering a memorable articulation of the show’s version of friendship when she explains her version of being a supportive “girl’s girl” even while withholding full approval of a friend’s choices, underscoring her mix of wit and emotional intelligence in the villa’s charged environment.