As the finalists of the sixth season of Love Island USA When they recently left their cartoonishly converted villa in Fiji, they entered a changed world. Their experiences, broadcast daily on Peacock, had Love Island the number one reality series on all streaming platforms. The Islanders, a group of people in their twenties competing for love and a chance to win up to $100,000, had become overnight celebrities.

As these contestants competed in raunchy challenges and made bold declarations of attraction and betrayal during dramatic firepit conventions, fan bases formed around them. Favorites like Serena Page, JaNa Craig and Leah Kateb (and their partners Kordell Beckham, Kenny Rodriguez and Miguel Harichi) gained millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok. The trio, who affectionately call themselves PPG, after the animated superhero sisters on Cartoon Network, displayed a fierce loyalty, protectiveness and humor that defined this season. Some of their more militant supporters initiated campaigns on their behalf, advocating for these women who were shielded from the turmoil of internet fame without access to their phones.

Within the Love Island Universe is the U.S. version of one of the sleeper franchises. While the original show (which launched in 2005, was canceled in 2006, and revived in 2015), consisting of contestants from the United Kingdom, is nearly canonical—part guilty pleasure, part anthropological study—the American version barely made any waves in the culture. But Season 6 shook up that dynamic. The show, with its electrifying cast, captivated and charmed viewers. The islanders delivered the theatrics of reality TV without succumbing to total spectacle. A visceral conviction fueled the drama of their romantic pursuits, societal betrayals, and petty transgressions. The cast—in a refreshing twist for the genre—behaved as if they weren’t surrounded by dozens of cameras or under the watchful gaze of millions of viewers.

The Love Island USA The Season 6 reunion, which filmed in New York last week and premiered on Peacock on August 19, was a sobering if unsurprising moment for the franchise. It was an uneven affair, marked by the same issues that plague contemporary reality TV in general (see Bravo): the specter of aggressive fan bases and the reality of cyberbullying. The roughly hour-and-a-half special, hosted by Vanderpump Rules Star Ariana Madix showed the emotionally battered contestants the scars of this season’s popularity and seemed edited in a way that stifled any kind of angry reaction. The internet vitriol was so central that Peacock put on a mid-show intertitle with resources to combat cyberbullying.

The first part of this special was marked by the usual reunion anxiety. Some of the contestants had not seen each other since early summer, meaning unreconciled feuds and unanswered comments were in the air. Madix began by asking some of the islanders how things had been going outside the villa. The winning couples were introduced and talked briefly about their lives since leaving Fiji. The nervousness of anticipation soon led to some minor emotional outbursts and real confrontations. Craig, in an exciting nod to the Housewives franchise, pulled out physical notes with exact citations and listed violations.

The first half of the meeting was characterised by the tension and openness that fans of the show have come to expect, but the passion was largely dampened by the contestants’ obvious fear of fan backlash. When asked at the start of the meeting about her experience after being eliminated from the villa, Liv Walker said: “People don’t understand how hard it can be sometimes; the only people who really understand are the people here.” That sentiment became the overarching theme of the meeting, which seemed edited like a publicity stunt (and an extended advert for Pizza Hut).

Too much time was wasted rehashing the elimination of Andrea Carmona, although it was interesting to see unedited footage of the controversial conversation. By airing the full recording, producers reminded viewers – in a not-so-subtle response to fans’ pleas to release the tapes – how the real storyline plays out in the editing room. Other hot topics, like Connor Newsum’s brief relationship with Craig or discussions about the parts of Page and Beckham’s relationship that didn’t air, were disappointingly left unmentioned.

Instead, conversations kept turning to, or revolving around, potential fan backlash. The impact of those reactions on social media was particularly felt when Kateb broke the fourth wall (there was no live audience, to my knowledge) and addressed those who supported her. “I don’t want you to say anything negative to anyone on my behalf, I love all of these people very much,” she said. “I don’t want people to think I hate anyone sitting here.”

This moment reflected the impasse that many reality TV franchises have found themselves in in the age of social media: How to maintain suspense without reducing the contestants to characters? (Love Island has a particularly tragic track record when it comes to celebrity suicides.)

The thrill of reality TV is partly based on a kind of parasitic relationship. I am far from being a Love Island Loyalist, but this season has so gripped me that I found myself speaking about the contestants several times this summer with remarkable confidence, as if I knew their emotional lives. My defense to myself and others was that my favorites – Serena, JaNa and Leah – seemed like people I would meet in real life. They bucked the recent trend of image artificiality and were reminiscent of the more authentic personalities of the reality stars of the early ’00s.

I have observed Love Island while scrolling through the associated subreddit, devouring the drama on screen alongside the meta-narrative created by fans. In other corners of the internet, particularly in the comments sections on TikTok and Instagram, the hostility was more palpable, with some users leaving disparaging comments on specific cast members’ accounts.

The Big Brother-similar approach of Love Island – the contestants are filmed nearly 24/7, with hour-long episodes released every day – distorts intimacy. Perceived access is confused with real knowledge. This reunion was ultimately an exercise in creating some distance. Several of the contestants have expressed a desire to distance themselves from the show at one time or another. Page used the word “distance” during the reunion to describe her current approach. It was a sobering reminder of the contradictions of reality TV – and how the aspects that make it Love Island Being suitable for such insatiable consumption can become a nightmare.