Just when you thought reality dating shows couldn’t get any more wild, here comes Perfect Match on Netflix. This isn’t just a dating show where a bunch of random singles mingle until they either hook up or get kicked out. Well, it is that — but it’s also the culmination of three years of elaborate reality TV storytelling. We’ve got familiar faces from Love Is Blind, The Circle, Too Hot to Handle, The Mole, and more all mixing it up in a no-holds-barred quest for romance. But do all of these flavors make for a delicious dish? Or is this just a recipe for disaster?
Opening Shot: We’ve got an epic shot of a boat zooming across the water, delivering precious cargo (host Nick Lachey) to its exotic destination (a mansion in Panama).
The Gist: Since the launch of The Circle on New Year’s Day 2020, Netflix has cultivated a roster of reality TV talent that’s unrivaled in the streaming landscape. Perfect Match provides Netflix with the opportunity to flex and show off all of the major personalities they have on speed dial — as well as all the clips that made them famous or infamous. This is Netflix reality TV’s greatest hits packaged in a reality TV format that’s destined to cause utter chaos. You’re welcome.
The rules are as follows: 10 Netflix alums arrive at a palatial estate and flirt and/or strategize until they all pair off into couples for the night. The next day, the five couples compete in a compatibility challenge. The most compatible couple (a.k.a. the winners of a round of TV-MA Double Dare) win their own private date and a trip to The Boardroom. In the Boardroom, the winners can bring in two outsiders (also Netflix stars) to go on dates with two of the people who are already coupled up. The dates happen and then we get another night of mingling — except now the gender ratio is 7 to 5. Two people are going home and then it all starts over again tomorrow.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The quest to pair up in couples or be forced out of the villa/resort/mansion/etc. is very Love Island, and framing that quest as a search for a soulmate is very Are You The One? However, there are some key differences that make Perfect Match even more chaotic. For one thing, most of these contestants already know each other and we already know most of them (or all, depending on how addicted you are to this stuff). That also means that a few of them have already hooked up with each other, or they already know who’s hooked up with who. The DMs were open and now they’re an open book.
Sex and Skin: The show is set in Panama so of course there are lots of bathing suits on display. And it’s a dating show, so of course every woman spends every nighttime mixer wearing an assortment of dresses with mind-boggling cutouts and lots of cleavage (and reverse cleavage, and under cleavage, and side cleavage, and…).
Parting Shot: One of the new players brought in to stir things up lives up to the premise’s promised chaos by making out with someone who’s already paired with someone else.
Sleeper Star: It’s great seeing A-listers like Joey and Francesca and Shayne all in one place — kinda like when Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America all fought in that forest in Avengers, except if they were making out with other superheroes in Panama. But I love that Perfect Match gives people from deeper cut reality series a chance to shine — like Ines from the absolutely fantastic The Circle: France. She’s mysterious, a bit moody, a touch philosophical, incredibly French — and she’s into the always manic Shayne of all people. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
Our Take: There are a lot of these shows — and it’s easy to see why. You just need to spring for an open bar and a house big enough to contain the chaos and bring in a dozen or more hotties “looking for love.” If you just look at the gameplay, Perfect Match isn’t much different from Love Island and its array of imitators. But to do so would be a disservice to Perfect Match, a series that may just be the first dating show of its kind that could be called prestige TV.
Yeah, prestige TV — but it’s still reality TV trash (a term I use with the affection of Joey telling Kariselle that he’s going to be farting on her in bed tonight). It’s like if Michelin-starred restaurant cranked out its own version of the Taco Bell menu. Yes, that’s a Crunchwrap Supreme — but it’s a Crunchwrap Supreme that would make Tom Colicchio weep.
Everything about Perfect Match feels meticulously crafted to be peak binge-worthy TV. That starts with the cast, which is packed with Netflix hall-of-famers: Chloe, Damian, Francesca, Joey, Shayne, Chase, Bartise — need I keep going? The fact that they’re all Netflix-lebrities who have spent a few years sliding into each other’s DMs, totally unaware that one day they’d all be dropped into a bingeable bacchanalia instantly makes Perfect Match juicier than any of the shows that inspired it. The potential for awkwardness is so entertainingly high — and you’ll wince even harder because you feel like you already know a person from their previous Netflix show. Like, Nick may have been daddy on The Circle, but he’s out of his league with Francesca, the woman that every man wants to match with.
But what makes Perfect Match feel elevated are all the subtle touches. The house is impressive, probably because they aren’t making all of these adults sleep in one massive bedroom with a half dozen beds in it. Every couple gets a damn suite, which adds to the luxurious vibe. There’s also no wasted time on Perfect Match, unlike other shows which feel stretched thin in order to meet a six-episodes-a-week pace that no one demanded. Even the way the confessionals are filmed have an artistic flair to them. I’m now gonna be super nerdy and shout out the font choices, color palette, and graphic design, all of which feel very fresh and flirty. I don’t know why I notice these things, but — y’know, it’s the little things that add up to the overall vibe.
All of those flourishes are the spice and flavor that make what could be a store brand dating show into a show that you’re not going to stop watching. Whether any of these people fall in love — it’s irrelevant. I’ve fallen in love with this gourmet Gordita and junk food has never been this filling nor tasted this exquisite.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Perfect Match is your perfect match.