When shows get too big, they get silly. Or, worse, their characters and showrunners start to realize their own earning potential and start performing for the audience or the advertisers or the brand deals they could score if they behave a certain way. That’s why most of modern reality TV, after taking a couple of decades to really establish itself as a genre, is now at least partially scripted and always heavily staged. And that’s why the sixth season of Love Island USAThe first part of the series, which really made an impression on the audience after numerous teething problems in the first few years, is the most authentic and entertaining series of all reality TV shows currently broadcast.

A short story for those who don’t know: Love Island started in the UK in 2005 as a dating reality show for D-list celebs. Islanders paired up with another contestant, spent five weeks on a Fiji island and after various challenges, public votes, cheeky smooches and constant surveillance, the last couple standing won $130,000. In 2015, the same concept was born Love Islanda version of the show for normal people, which became so successful that 22 countries produced their own versions, including Love Island Israelwhich premiered on August 10, and in 2019 Love Island USA.

The original Love Islandthe British version, just finished its 11th season, drawing 3.4 million viewers for the finale. It’s so ingrained in British culture that it’s formed a vocabulary of its own. “He’s my type, on paper,” became a meme-worthy catchphrase after it was first said on the show so long ago that no one remembers when. “Can I invite you for a chat?” became the usual way contestants asked other islanders for a formal conversation about their romantic prospects. These Britishisms have even spread to other franchises, noticeably Love Island Australia And Love Island USAwhich, for some reason, is littered with Brits this year. Love Island-Branded water bottles, the same ones contestants use throughout the show to hydrate against the island heat, often sell out at the official merchandise shop. They’re such a huge hit that my own mother, a casual and far from loyal fan, has one.

While it may have paved the way, Britain’s Love Island is now too big. Being an islander is now a career path and no longer something someone does as an interlude, a sort of joke before returning to their real life. Now teenagers and twentysomethings across the UK are studying and preparing to become a Love Island Contestant: This is their real life. They change their face, learn the lingo, and build the following needed to get invited to the island—most contestants today are selected by modeling agencies or Instagram. They play the game in a way that’s obvious to the viewer—they pair up with someone on day one and stick it out, whether they have a connection or not, until they have enough screen time to land a six-figure deal with a fast-fashion house or enough Instagram followers to pay the bills each month through advertising. It’s so foolproof that I’ve considered it myself.

However, it took a while until this happened. The well-behaved, deliberate Love Island The contestants we see today are unrecognisable compared to the ghosts of the casts of previous seasons. For one thing, they used to be allowed to smoke and drink, which allowed them to be filmed in the villa’s smoking area – a place known for loose lips and dramatic fuck-ups fuelled by cheap chardonnay. In 2018, an anti-tobacco group called Action on Smoking and Health released a study claiming that cigarettes appear every five minutes on Love Island, with Lucky Strike packaging in particular appearing on screen so often that it raised questions about paid product placement. This was enough for the broadcaster to scrap on-screen smoking entirely – and that’s on a late-night show that often features half-naked twenty-somethings having on-screen sex. To make matters worse for the contestants, they are now allowed a maximum of two alcoholic drinks a day. Amy Hart, who starred in Season 5, confirmed that they were only allowed one drink on a “normal night” and two during longer on-camera assignments. Most of us who watch Love Island at home are more tipsy than the actual candidates, who are supposedly “on vacation” looking for love.

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But while the US Love Islanders are struggling with the same disinfection as the rest of them, this season six cast brought back some noughties nostalgia and reminded fans of the good old days. The cast, although just as gorgeous and fit as the Love Island Ideal was chaotic. Rob Rausch, a professional snake catcher in denim overalls, jumped into the pool with a pencil after a heated moment when he realized that was the only place he was not allowed to be filmed. Kaylor Martin, the 22-year-old from Pittsburgh with the trademark Kermit face, began a risky on-off relationship with 26-year-old Brit Aaron on her first day in the villa, during which she whined and ranted at least once per episode. Liv Walker, an Australian, became a fan favorite despite never finding a partner she liked or even tolerated. She didn’t lie once or make plans, because her British counterparts would have had to endure that until the end of the season. Instead, she focused on friendships and arguments with the female contestants and behaved like a normal twenty-something on vacation with her friends.

It may have taken years, but Love Island USA is now the No. 1 reality series on all streaming platforms in the country with an audience that has doubled since last season. The show is now even being taken “seriously,” beyond the normal critical treatment of reality content, disregard, with several thinkpiece-like reviews in the New York Times And Washington Post. Enjoy it while you can, because if Love Island has taught us one thing: too much success is a bad thing. And it won’t be long before Season 7 is full of selfie-taking Instagram influencers hoping to land a brand deal.

Kara Kennedy is a freelance writer living in Washington, DC