Love Is Blind Reunion Proved Season 3 Had the Worst Men of the Franchise So Far

[Warning: The following contains spoilers from the finale of Love Is Blind Season 3.]

In Season 2 of Love Is Blind, we saw the abomination that was Abishek "Shake" Chatterjee. He repeatedly criticized his fiancée Deepti Vempati's appearance, and compared hanging out with her to hanging out with his aunt. "Thank you to the universe, whatever forces are working with me that I did not marry that man," Deepti told TV Guide earlier this year as the entire Internet celebrated her for saying no to Shake at the altar. We thought we had seen the worst of it in Shake — but nope. In Love Is Blind Season 3, hosts Nick and Vanessa Lachey introduced us to Bartise Bowden, Cole Barnett, and Matt Bolton. And while individually it's up for debate whether their words and actions were worse than Shake's, collectively it's not hard to argue that Love Is Blind Season 3 brought us the worst men in this franchise so far.

First things first. The other two men who got engaged in the pods — SK Alagbada and Brennon Lemieux — are not perfect by any means, but they sure seemed like angels compared to the other trio. We're also not saying that Bartise, Cole, and Matt are entirely to blame for the issues in their relationships with Nancy Rodriguez, Zanab Jaffrey, and Colleen Reed, respectively. In different ways, the women contributed to the problems leading up to their wedding days. But for the most part, through the events that happened this season and the drama that unfolds in the Love Is Blind Season 3 reunion — which we're about to break down — it's safe to say that Bartise, Cole, and Matt are largely responsible for their own villain arcs. 

When was the Love Is Blind Season 3 reunion filmed?

The Love Is Blind reunion was filmed around two weeks ago. Season 3 premiered on Oct. 19, so it's likely that the cast has seen at least some of the episodes — and the Internet's response to them. Heading into the reunion, here's where we were at with the couples: Raven and SK did not get married after SK said no at the altar, Bartise and Nancy did not get married after Bartise said no, and Cole and Zanab did not get married after Zanab said no. Meanwhile, Alexa and Brennon and Matt and Colleen said yes to each other and got married.

Bartise and Nancy

I'm not going to lie — I was one of the people who, in the first part of the show, not just believed Bartise and Nancy would say yes at the altar but really wanted them to. But as soon as he saw Raven Ross and started making comments nonstop about her being a "baddie," it became a no-go. At the reunion, the cast watched a clip of Bartise telling Nancy how he saw Raven in tight clothes and immediately thought she was a "smokeshow." Rewatching this, I'm once again asking why Nancy put up with Bartise for so long — and why she didn't say no to him at the altar. But alas, he was the one who rejected her on their wedding day. He does have some self-awareness and is willing to take accountability. At the reunion Bartise said he felt "embarrassed and ashamed of myself for making the comments to [Nancy.]" But he goes on to emphasize how his feelings were not inappropriate, but how he handled those feelings was inappropriate. OK, thanks for stating the obvious? Nobody is saying it's bad to think Raven is beautiful — she is! — it was always how he acted upon those feelings, including sharing about his attraction with Raven.

Vanessa also asked whether Bartise and Nancy have gone on dates since filming, and Alexa Alfia jumped in with the tea: "The next day. After the wedding." Nancy said that there were videos of Bartise with "a tall blonde by his side," and when the women tried to ask more about it Bartise said he does not feel comfortable talking about his sex life. First of all, as Nancy said, no one was asking about his sex life. Second, you signed up for a reality dating show, my dude. Of course there will be interest in who you date?

Raven and SK

A highlight of the reunion was SK calling Bartise out. In Episode 4, we saw the cast meeting each other and SK telling Bartise and Cole that the first time he and Raven sat on a couch, "we were literally sitting at opposite edges." SK said that he was sharing this in a bro's chat setting and that Bartise went on to use this information to tell Nancy there's something wrong with SK and Raven's relationship. It seems pretty clear that Bartise was rooting for SK and Raven's relationship to fail, but joke's on him since they announced at the reunion that they are dating! 

In Episode 9, I was shocked when SK said he would not marry Raven. He explains his reasoning in the finale: "Do I want to do this to please all these people or do I want to do this like my life at this very moment?" And while there are some very valid questions directed at SK about why he went on this show while preparing to leave for California for grad school, it seems like he does want a serious relationship. Raven and SK have been doing long distance as she continues to live in Dallas, and she said to the camera, "Stay out of my man's DMs... I see ya'll ladies." She has easily become my favorite this season and I only want good things for her and SK.

Alexa and Brennon

There's not much to share here. Alexa and Brennon have been the drama-free couple this season, and their relationship remained drama-free in the reunion. It felt as though they came to the reunion with their popcorn ready. And Alexa did spill the tea regarding the other couples. Besides being the first to say that Bartise was with another woman one day after his wedding with Nancy, she also called out Cole for his actions that she said happened off-camera. "He's likeable when you're watching it, and just knowing what I know..." She pauses. This led to a conversation about how Cole treated Zanab.

Cole and Zanab

Zanab said that before the wedding, Cole told her that he tried to kiss a girl at the bachelor party. Cole denied this and said there were no women at the bachelor party. This led to some back-and-forth about whether the men went out after the bachelor party, and none of the five men said they did. Zanab also shared another incident that she had told the other women about. There was a day when she wanted to eat tangerines and Cole responded with, "Are you about to eat two of those?" in what she thought was part of his pattern of body-shaming her. She said that he has pushed food away from her and that she was barely eating during filming. She also emphasized it's Cole's saving grace that the show did not air those comments, and he continued to say that she is making this up. Lo and behold, the reunion episode ended with "The Cuties Story" about the tangerines. In the clip, Cole does ask whether Zanab is about to eat two of them, but he also says he offered food to Zanab earlier, and asked her why she didn't eat more that day. So while Cole did say the words Zanab referred to, it's unclear what his intentions were in this particular incident. It's likely that his repeated comments about how he's more attracted to Colleen than to Zanab caused her to interpret his words in the worst way possible. 

The Cuties Story aside, Cole has said plenty of harmful things to Zanab — which she reminded him of when she said no at the altar. Zanab said Cole has "insulted her and critiqued her," and has shattered her confidence. Just think about how he told her she's a 9/10, but that Colleen and Raven are 10/10's. Again, Zanab is not without fault in this relationship because there's no way her persistent nagging was a healthy way to communicate, but it's easy to see how Cole's words — like when he asked her during a disagreement whether she's bipolar — significantly harmed Zanab. 

At the reunion, Cole is not OK. He looked as though he couldn't wait for filming to end, and later broke down. Cole apologized to Zanab and to everyone else in the cast, and said he wants to be friends. Sigh, it seems like the show has destroyed him but it was his choice to sign up for it...

Matt and Colleen

Matt and Colleen, who got married in Episode 11, are still together by the time of the reunion — and I really wish they were not. Of all the relationships, this one was perhaps the most painful to watch because of Matt's constant threats to walk out on Colleen and his repeated comments about her playing him. Not to mention the conversation where he aggressively told Colleen to "say it" when it came to her decision at the altar. At the reunion, the couple shared that they have not moved in together yet, but plan to. Throughout the whole episode, Colleen looked very uncomfortable and kind of seemed like she was being held hostage. I'm still upset that she said yes to him at the altar and now... Colleen blink twice if you need help.

Andrew

Finally, why didn't Andrew show up at the reunion??? After imitating his viral eyedrops move, Nick said Andrew was invited but did not appear. I'm not a fan and his participation added to Season 3 having the worst men in this franchise so far, but I am deeply disappointed we did not get to a final moment with this villain.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Raven said yes on her wedding day. She did not give a response on her wedding day. 

All episodes of Love Is Blind Season 3 are available to stream.