In the Barrelhouse Television Workshop, writers look at the way we tell stories across media, the way those "writer moves" work, and why they may or may not work in certain situations. Next week, we’ll be discussing “Love is Blind,” the Netflix dating show. Here’s a preview of our panel, and their (spoiler-free) predictions of where the couples wind up. (And if you’re looking for love in the meantime, check out our most recent online issue, “I’ve Got Love on My Mind: Black Womxn on Love.”)
Jackson Bliss
Why did you start watching the show? I got sucked into it after a bunch of my writing friends wouldn’t shut the hell up about it & then of course, I watched one episode & got instantly hooked. Sharing this show with them is like sharing an addiction of cough syrup with a bunch of Goonies.
Prediction: Amber steals Barnett’s credit card after a night of raucous drinking & buys a llama online called Vicious Sid who eats nothing but white bread and dirty underwear.
Bio: Jackson Bliss is the author of THE AMNESIA OF JUNE BUGS (7.13 Books, 2022) & DREAM POP ORIGAMI (Unsolicited Press, 2022). His short work has appeared in the New York Times, Guernica, Ploughshares & Tin House, among others. He’s an assistant professor of English & creative writing at Bowling Green State University.
MELISSA Ragsly
Why did you start watching the show? To watch the “real” lives of people that can step away from their “real” lives to live in a pod while we all get to communicate about these people via our phones, our own version of a pod, is like a snake eating its own tail. It’s delicious.
Prediction: There will be one marriage, Amber and Barnett, which will be quickly annulled at the insistence of Barnett’s family
Bio: Melissa Ragsly’s collection We Know This Will All Disappear is out from Pank Books.
Erin Fitzgerald
Why did you start watching the show? I’ll try anything with a pod at least once.
Prediction: Cameron & Lauren 4eva.
Bio: Erin Fitzgerald lives here, and also at erinfitzgerald.work.
Becky Barnard
Why did you start watching the show? Netflix’s reality TV division is wearing a bow because it’s the gift to us all. I’m in for just about anything at this point.
Prediction: Damian pulls a Bachelor-style soft breakup with an “I’m going to put this ring in my pocket until we are really ready to get married,” then vomits after the ceremony. There was some pointed swallowing happening in that last 30 seconds.
Michael B. Tager
Why did you start watching the show? I saw my Twitter friends being very funny about a new show. I trust their taste, so was like, eh, I’ll give it a shot and now I’m a very different person.
Prediction: JESSICA and Mark ignore some deep flashing-red warning signs and push through with the marriage anyway.
Bio: Michael B. Tager is a writer and the Managing Editor of Mason Jar Press. His website is michaelbtager.com. He doesn’t like biopics.
Chris Gonzalez
Why did you start watching the show? Since Dating Around dropped last year, Netflix has proven it knows what it’s doing when it comes to reality programming. And this new convention of turning binge-streaming into a three week event has me by my Bachelor-loving heart.
Prediction: Kelly’s lack of physical attraction toward Kenny will be the thing to sink their ship.
Kate (KC) Mead-Brewer
Why did you start watching the show? After finishing The Circle, I needed some fresh reality in my life!!
Prediction: Only one wedding will take place without incident.
Bio: K.C. Mead-Brewer lives in Ithaca, NY. Her fiction can be found here and there. She is a graduate of Tin House's 2018 Winter Workshop for Short Fiction and of the 2018 Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers' Workshop. For more info, visit kcmeadbrewer.com and follow her @meadwriter.
Sian Griffiths
Why did you start watching the show? I ask myself every time, and then I log into Twitter, read my friends’ smart comments, and remember that it’s not about the show. It’s about this community.
Prediction: After Giannina threw down the gauntlet with her “I do,” Damien will finally realize that he is nowhere near enough of a fiery badass to be her husband and will run for the hills. On the night before her wedding, Jessica will drink herself into a stupor and will be too hungover/still drunk even to get to the church, let alone leave Mark at the altar. As we watch one wedding after another collapse in flames, Diamond Jack will rise like the phoenix she is, blessing single people everywhere.
Bio: Siân Griffiths lives in Ogden, Utah, where she teaches creative writing at Weber State University. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, and Cincinnati Review, among other publications. Her second novel Scrapple and her short fiction chapbook The Heart Keeps Faulty Time are just out. For more information, please visit sbgriffiths.com
Leonora Desar
Why did you start watching the show? I was weary of the “here-for-the-right-reasons” predictability of the Bachelor, and wanted to go where no reality show had gone before.
Prediction: I predict that Amber and Barnett will weather it out—for now—probably break up later, but that Barnett, filled up with regret, will find his way back to Amber, maybe even years down the line. This though is a crappy prediction for a TV show with a limited run, so instead I’ll predict that they stay together—for now.
Bio: Leonora Desar is a writer, reality TV show enthusiast, and dog mom. Her work has appeared in Barrelhouse (online), Passages North, River Styx, Black Warrior Review, The Best Small Fictions 2019, and elsewhere. Find out more on leonoradesar.com.
Tyrese Coleman
Why did you start watching the show? It started because The Circle was over and Melissa Ragsley tagged me on Twitter and basically said, “Bitch, watch this!” and so I did and got hooked and if Melissa Ragsley was ever a drug dealer, I’d be in a lot of trouble.
Prediction: As much as I hate to say it, I don’t think Lauren and Cameron are going to get married. I think we will find out on the reunion show that they decided to date one another first (although that is apparently against the rules that I doubt Nick Lachey and his wife can enforce...they all live in the same city!!!). And none of the rest of them are going to get married either. I think they all are going to chicken out but Lauren and Cameron are going to be the only couple who continue to see one another.
Bio: Tyrese Coleman has an addictive personality and will continue to binge shows even after she develops a headache from staring at the television for too long. She wrote How to Sit, A 2018 PEN Open Book Award finalist, published by Mason Jar Press. Her work has appeared in many publications. Look her up at tyresecoleman.com.