The Direct

This season of Love Island USA brought a never-seen-before inside scoop on all things gossip and drama from the enthusiastic cast.

It is rare that a reality television contestant would find themselves with a Cheez-It brand deal. 

Yet, lo and behold, with a few scrolls on the brand’s website, the “Kordeezy Cheezy Couple Bundle”—a collaboration with one of the winners of the most recent season of Love Island USA, Kordell Beckham—now flashes an exulting “Out Of Stock.” 

Beckham—the brother of NFL superstar Odell Beckham Jr.—is far from the only cast member to reach an unprecedented level of stardom from what was forecasted to be just another season of the show.  Runner-up and fan favorite Leah Kateb has recently signed with the United Talented Agency, this season’s infamous aspirant Rob Rausch starred in pop star Nessa Barret’s new music video, and the rest of the cast have all been featured in countless pop culture magazines, videos, and articles. 

With such a monumental, expansive social impact, many have drawn up the unanimous question:

What makes this season of Love Island USA so good?

With an astonishing 37-episode runtime and an average 90-minute duration per episode, the television series was inspired by the original British Love Island and spanned over a period of 32 days. Filmed in the  Islands of Fiji, the original 10 islanders were dumped in a luxury villa and created pairs, or couples, with one another during the first episode. 

Throughout the series, additional contestants called bombshells entered the villa in attempt to disrupt the existing couples and get their own chance at finding love. With each week of the series, eliminations occurred and islanders were sent home depending on the status of their existing relationship. Amidst the final days of the series, American viewers were given the opportunity to vote via app for their favorite couple. The couple with the most votes were hailed as the Love Island champions and given a cash prize of $100k. The two winners could choose to either split the money among themselves or have one singular victor claim all of it. 

The 2024 season, which began airing in June, differentiates itself from other installments through it’s ability to evolve its composite story line by utilizing one key component: candid bluntness. 

Feeding into stereotypical characters, while irritating in other settings, creates for a cast full of electrifying, big personalities in this circumstance. One of this seasons most direct characterizations was that of Rob Rausch, the villainous heartthrob who spent a large portion of his screen time rolling his eyes, painting himself as a victim, and being arduously fickle and—fitting for his line of profession as a snake wrangler—snaky. The undeniably likable anti-hero of the series, Leah Kateb, cemented herself as one of this seasons most memorable islanders through her hilarious one-liners, witty remarks, and unbothered attitude—most of which being blatant jabs at Rob, her original partner-turned-disaster. 

Other than these two paramount characters, viewers found themselves gravitating towards the fierce veracity of female prizewinner, Serena Page, the charming and genuine JaNa Craig, the transparent and passionate Kaylor Martin, and the energetic, enthusiastic presence of Kendall Washington. 

With these charismatic cast members comes an abundance of rivalries and bonds that present themselves throughout the course of the show. Most significantly was the wholesome friendship between Leah, Serena, and JaNa, and trio that nicknamed themselves “The PPG” or “The Powerpuff Girls.” Episode after episode, the three can be seen in close comradery with each other, always ready to defend one another amidst altercations with the many islanders that attempted to penetrate the walls of their alliance.

The strength of these relationships was tested through a series of trial and tribulation throughout the show, one instance being the male islander’s journey to “Casa Amor,” a second villa just down the road from the original one, where an entirely new cast of female islanders awaited to test the connection that the boys claimed they had built. To the dismay of many of viewers, the journey to Casa Amor proved as a breaking point for many of the couples they had been loyally rooting for, as several established couples faltered under the pressure of new romantic interests. 

With a corroboration of insecurity and desire revealed under the guise of the Casa Amor dramatics came the potent magic that Peacock was able to instill in it’s viewers: people to root for, and people to pine against. 

This across-screen dynamic enhanced the entertainment value while simultaneously deepening the audience engagement across the world. Fans quickly found themselves invested in the outcomes of their favorite—and least favorite—islanders’ relationships, reveling in their soaring triumphs and empathizing with their crushing heartbreaks. 

The blow-ups, break-downs, and make-ups between contestants provided ample fodder for discussion and debate on social media, further amplifying the show’s reach and impact. In one special episode, the islanders were exposed to both the degrading and uplifting words people had shared about them on social media, a further testimony to how efficiently Love Island USA was able to achieve its goal of captivating their audience. 

With a reach that expands day after day, the impact that Love Island USA has had on pop culture as a whole is one that has not been seen before in an extensive period of time. While there is a plethora of garbage, cheesy reality television, this in particular has found the perfect way to use traditionally detrimental tactics that occur in its respective genre as a way to garner the attention of a world wide audience committed to experiencing the beautifully exaggerated ups and downs of the islanders’ time on the show. To quote Leah Kateb, Peacock certainly “did it’s big one” with the sixth season.