Reality TV requires viewers to suspend their disbelief. No matter how much we buy into whatever Bravo or Peacock or Netflix or ABC is selling, there’s a shared understanding that this is all for show.

This season of "Love Island USA" tests just how delusional we’ll allow ourselves to be.

For years, we believed that a group of 20-something singles could form legitimate romantic relationships – or fall in love, even – on a remote tropical paradise, completely isolated from the rest of the world. That’s the premise of the U.K. dating competition show "Love Island."

This summer, the American iteration, "Love Island USA," has caused quite the stir – not only due to standard reality TV drama, but also because the show has blurred the lines that stratify our perceptions of it and the intentions of the people on it.

Islanders play to win. But at what cost?

Where last season of "Love Island USA" reflected our culture's larger intimacy crisis in the overall lack of romance in the villa (only one of the final four couples is still "together"), this season has overcorrected in the opposite direction. Most remaining couples locked in early on and have not strayed from their initial connection.

This wouldn't be an issue if the couples in question weren’t riddled with issues of their own, and didn't reflect how........

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