Stream It Or Skip It?

Love Island Games is back on Peacock with a second season that’s looking to raise the stakes like never before with the franchise’s most substantial grand prize yet. With a quarter of a million dollars up for grabs, former Love Island contestants from around the world will go head-to-head and heart-to-heart in physical and mental challenges that push them to the brink. Now hosted by Ariana Madix and once again featuring narration from Iain Stirling, Love Island Games: Season 2 pulls out all the stops to win viewers’ hearts as it airs every night except for hump days (ironically) over the next three weeks. Does it succeed? Keep reading to find out!

Opening Shot: Gorgeous shots of the Fiji landscape are interwoven with brief glimpses of the contestants arriving on the island in small groups. On the deck of a boat, Love Island USA: Season 5’s Kay Kay turns to Love Island USA: Season 6’s Andrea to ask, “Are you ready for this?” Andrea responds, “I am so ready, girl. Let the games begin!”

The Gist: Love Island USA host Ariana Madix replaces Maya Jama to steer us through the turbulent waters of Love Island Games: Season 2. Not long after Love Island USA: Season 7 ended, Peacock has turned out the villa in Fiji for a brand new crop of Islanders looking to shake up the competition like never before. Over the course of the nearly two-hour-long first episode, the contestants each make their entrance and reintroduce themselves to both their fellow Islanders as well as audiences back home.

From Love Island USA, there’s Kay Kay, Andrea, Andreina, Kendall, Isiah, Chris, and Josh (and by the end of the episode, Charlie). From the original British Love Island, there’s Tyrique and Lucinda. And then from the European Union iterations of Love Island, we’ve got Garbi, Mert, and Nicola (and eventually, Solène). With the most money ever in Love Island history on the line, the Islanders must choose whether they’ll prioritize love or strategy as they couple up and compete in various challenges to be the final two walking away with $250,000. Prepare to see the world of Love Island get more steamy, cutthroat, and shocking than ever before in Love Island Games: Season 2.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of?: Love Island Games: Season 2 is like combining the intense physical and psychological competition for money aspects of shows like Wipeout, Big Brother, and The Traitors with the romantic mess, drama, and couplings of Love Island (and all its many iterations).

Our Take: Love Island Games is perhaps a show made for Love Island superfans and no one else. Don’t get me wrong, there are several entertaining moments of Season 2, Episode 1 already born out of the big personalities of its cast members, but if you aren’t already a watcher of Love Island, then this show might not be for you.

With fan favorites (and least favorites) from various seasons of Love Island franchises from all across the world, there’s no doubt that Love Island Games: Season 2 has plenty that any true fan would love. There are many memorable soundbites that range from hilarious (Tyrique’s “my frontal lobe is developed, I like to be dominated now”) to utterly cringe-worthy (Charlie’s “Daddy’s home” and Chris’s “I’m sure you guys already know who I am”). There are heavy makeout sessions. There’s more money on the line than ever before. And all of this certainly makes for some must-see reality TV.

On the other hand, Love Island Games: Season 2 may not be the most approachable or easily digestible show for the general public. If you haven’t seen Love Island before or can’t recognize any of the contestants from the various franchises’ previous seasons, you may feel like you’re starting a bit on the back foot. But even beyond that (because honestly, these people do mostly have big enough personalities for them to stick out with or without any context or prior knowledge), the sheer second-hand embarrassment that this show has the power to evoke should be studied.

There are times when the show seems designed to be a humiliation ritual for its contestants, and even more times when the Islanders seem hellbent on humiliating themselves before the show or anyone else can. Between the lines that some of these Islanders (mostly the men) probably rehearsed back home to sound cool but flop in delivery, as well as an absurd amount of cash up for grabs that sets the show up to be more about money than love from the jump, Love Island Games: Season 2 feels set up to be sleazy and tumultuous. The more you watch, the more you can’t help but get the sense that a lot of the contestants are going to get hurt both emotionally AND physically. But hey, if you’re willing to put all of that aside to embrace the absurdity and insanity of it all for the many hours of this show ahead, you’re in for what will probably be a very engrossing and unforgettable next three weeks!

Sex and Skin: It’s a Love Island title, so of course, there’s a ton of skin being bared at all times. No sex in the first episode, but with the already-intense makeout sessions and multiple mentions of coochies, it’s only a matter of time until there’s even more NSFW content to behold.

Parting Shot: With Lucinda and Josh left “single, vulnerable, and heartbroken” after the new Islanders stole their partners, Ariana announces that the next two days hold opportunities to rescue themselves and put two other Islanders at risk for the first dumping of Love Island Games 2025. With the clock now ticking, everyone looks stressed as they brace for the shenanigans, competitions, and heartaches ahead.

Performance Worth Watching: Kay Kay says some wild things (“Quarter of a million dollars? My coochie started talking. You know what she said? She said that money belongs to me. And if my coochie said it, I know it’s the truth.”) that definitely make her stand out, but her earnestness and sincerity also make it easy to find her charming and likable. Please don’t let her get hurt over there in Fiji, reality TV gods!

Memorable Dialogue: Kay Kay already has some great quotes, like “I feel like, to be successful, you have to be just a little bit delusional, right? Like, think about it. Think about, like, Albert Einstein. He had to be delusional to be that smart, right?” and “I do not like a nonchalant man. I want a man to chalant me. Chalant me!”

Honorable mention for Garbi’s off-handed “I need to make sure that the person that I give up the cooter to is gonna be my boyfriend” for the shock value alone.

Our Call: This is a tough decision. I’d say, if you’re not super into reality shows, messy drama, or if you’ve never seen Love Island before, you should just SKIP IT, but if you’re one of the brave souls willing to commit to hours upon hours of near-daily cringe, chaos, and classic Love Island shenanigans, then Love Island Games: Season 2 will definitely entertain you and is absolutely worth watching.