My Review of "Love on the Spectrum U.S.: Season One"

Love on the Spectrum U.S.: Season One is one of the last TV shows I would have seen myself watching. I rarely get into reality shows and even more rarely get into dating shows. There's something about this show that caught my curiosity. Usually when they have reality dating shows you see impossibly beautiful people searching for love. These are more relatable individuals. There are obvious reasons why they have issues and I was curious how they'd get paired up.

This is quite a short series with only 6 episodes. This is exclusively streamed on Netflix so not everyone has access to the show. Despite the rather low episode count of the show they did have rather large group of individuals. There are three females and three males. On the female side, we have Dani who is a business oriented woman into animation. Then there's Kaelynn who has issues talking with people and has learning disabilities. Finally we have Abbey who is an animal lover, looking for her prince charming.

On the male side, we have James who is an awkward conversationalist. Then we have Subodh who has never dated in his life and is looking for his first date. Finally we have Steve, he's an older gentleman and was only recently diagnosed with autism.

All of these individuals have varying degrees of autism and it's interesting how they interact with people. For the most part, their interactions are quite awkward and can feel very uncomfortable to a general audience. I think that's the part that really makes this show connect at times. There is a sense of authenticity about it. These people feel very much real. Though some of the show may be scripted, their reactions are very much real.

There are a few standouts this season with Abbey and her partner David. Those two are incredibly nice together. I don't want them to ever have a fight ever. Another standout is Subodh and his partner Rachel. Those two are very deep into the spectrum so it was really nice to see the two find each other.

At times some of the dates are quite hard to watch. The awkwardness of their interactions seem to leap off the screen and thrown onto us as the viewers. I felt like I was in the date and at times I wanted to shut off the television or stop watching altogether. Though there are some really sweet scenes like the one with Dani and her date Solomon. Their laughs and sweet innocence would leap off the screen and into me. At times, I was wondering why I was giggling as well when I was watching their dates. I really wanted that one to work out.

In some ways, I can see social norms pushing these individuals to want certain things. They've been internalized with some of our needs for career aspects and needs for commonality. Then again I love some of the simplistic outlooks into their dating lives. For the most part they were able to look past looks and realize where they are. They wanted to see where things can go. Of course looks are important but these daters really made me think of what we look for in partners. Sometimes we're overthinking when we shouldn't really.

Their struggles might not all be relatable but loneliness is. They are on the path towards happiness. That's really what people can relate to. A secret main character in this show are the loved ones behind the individuals. They are the ones that lived with them all their lives and they are genuinely happy for these dating journeys. Abbey and Subodh's mothers emotions are definitely real. I love that these mothers can find peace knowing that their children have found love and happiness.

Overall, this show is not for everyone. There will be very awkward moments that may make you cringe to the point of shutting it off. I was very close to doing that at some point. I'm glad I didn't because there are some happy endings to this season that got me overjoyed. I have to give this season a 6.5 out of 10.