The Men of Netflix's 'Temptation Island' Season 1 Are the Absolute Worst -

Two pandemics struck the nation during March 2020. The first, obviously coronavirus, and the second was Harry Jowsey being dumped on us during the premiere of Too Hot to Handle. Even RFK Jr. and Aaron Rodgers can’t deny that the pandemic of Harry Jowsey is very real, and very dangerous. After Harry ran out of Netflix shows to go on, Netflix said, “You know what’s worse than one Harry Jowsey on yet another reality show? Multiple Harry Jowsey prototypes on yet another reality show!” And thusly, the latest iteration of Temptation Island was born, and by God, these men are some of the worst men on reality television.

Their Audacity Stems From Delusional Self-Entitlement

The boyfriend cast from Netflix's Temptation Island sit together on benches during bonfire — Image via Netflix

Brion Whitley, Grant Larsen, and Tyler Breshears are the master manipulators of the show, with castmate Lino Troisi being the outlier because he seems like a relatively harmless guy with minor jealousy issues. Frankly, Lino’s only crime was proposing to girlfriend Alexa Santamaria during the finale because it was a harrowing visual to see them celebrate not cheating on each other or breaking up by putting a ring on it. Brion, Grant, and Tyler all come from different walks of life, but their common thread has to be their gumption, which is a byproduct of their delusional self-entitlement. Tyler has not had a full-time job for a year, and it was later revealed that he had then-girlfriend Tayler Byrd go along with the lie that he quit, but really he was fired. He’s had intermittent modeling gigs while volleying between Tayler’s house and his pregnant sister’s house with zero game plan. During the finale, Tayler lamented to Tyler that she wants a guy that supports her, that knows what he wants, that has a purpose that he’s working towards, and he’s never going to be that guy. While that’s a shocking glimmer of self-exposure, he’s deterred from stepping into full self-awareness because he doesn’t realize that there’s something wrong with that picture. He careens from woman to woman, saying they’re all he wants, but at the same time, he has no idea what he wants. Make it make sense.

Grant is a girl dad, and he never let then-girlfriend Ashley Moore forget it, or anyone for that matter. When taking Ashley to task for dissecting her issues with him with the guys in her villa, his only excuse was “I’m a father.” Right, Grant, because weak pull-out game and zero concept of birth control at far too young of an age means you’re exempt from valid criticism and accountability. He is so entitled to act however he wants, and when he cheated on Ashley only to find that she had nothing to say to him, he deflected by saying, “Well, she’s choosing to hold on to resentment.” Grant, she found out five seconds ago, and you continued to prove her right. The man consistently takes DARVO to a whole new level, but with the added layer of “I’m a father to a little girl,” and it’s crazy of him to use an innocent child as a human shield during conflict.

’Temptation Island’s Mark L. Walberg Is the Reality TV Host We’ve Been Waiting For

Who needs a cast therapist when you’ve got Mark.

The Demolition of a Woman’s Confidence

Brion may be the most upsetting to watch, largely because his girlfriend, Shanté Glover, has been reduced to a shell of a human being, while the other girls are much more outspoken about their boyfriends’ transgressions. Brion went on the show with Shanté to prove that he can be platonic friends with women, but how can he be friends with women if he doesn’t respect them? Even the temptresses in his villa eventually found him repellent due to his terrible personality. It’s not a matter of if he can be friends with girls, but rather, girls don’t want to be friends with him. Brion had a threesome on camera after reiterating his desire to have one only, like, a thousand times to other girls, and it took little coaxing to get him to do it. He immediately assumed Shanté would forgive him, and he was correct. You can’t help but wonder how terrible his treatment of her is off-camera if she’s reflexively forgiving him and churning out excuses for him while talking about how amazing he is. Brion didn’t even have to lift a finger to get her to forgive him.

When we first met the male counterparts of the couples on this show, it was abundantly clear that, much like 90% of heterosexual couples in the real world, these women could do so much better than them. The question is, how do they keep these women wrapped around their grubby little fingers? The answer: dismantling their self-esteem and concept of reality. While the boys wasted no time snuggling up to the temptresses in their villa, making googly eyes and getting lap dances while toeing the lines of infidelity almost instantly, the girls were shocked to see what it was like talking to guys that didn’t manipulate them or demand that they act as their caretakers. The girls weren’t quick to flirt, but rather hashed out their relationship woes to men that were lending an ear and a shoulder to cry on. When watching this play out during the bonfires, the guys were quick to protest and back each other up that unpacking their feelings and venting about their boyfriends justified the men mistreating and cheating on them. These girls were so surprised that there are guys out there that are willing to listen to them and support them, even if it is a casual flirtation for the sake of camera time, and it’s because their boyfriends eroded their concept of what it means to be a good partner.

Temptation Island is available to stream in the U.S. on Netflix.