Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Part 1 of Love Is Blind Season 4.When it comes to Love Is Blind, the drama is typically far less than that of other reality dating shows. Through its first three seasons and multiple specials, there really hasn't been a true villain. The closest thing would be Cole Barnett from Season 3. With Season 4 upon us, the first batch of episodes has given us our first real Love Is Blind villain: Irina Solomonova. With reality dating shows, often editing can really paint someone in a bad light. That's something that may have further tarnished Cole. Yet, with Irina, it's hard to imagine that editing could have painted her to be the person we see on screen.
After matching with Zack Goytowski, Irina did the absolute bare minimum to give their relationship any shot at working out. What transpired was a botched pairing that fizzled out before it ever even got off the ground. After Episode 5, which was the final one of the first batch to drop, we see Irina and Zack calling it quits while on their honeymoon in Mexico. It was a bumpy ride for the two, mainly for Zack, but it was one that gave this series an unfamiliar villain.
Irina’s Villain Origins Began with the Other Girls
The drama in Love Is Blind typically never enters the living quarters. There are occasional awkward conversations. Fans can recall the uncomfortableness between Amber Pike and Jessica Batten during Season 1 as they each clamored for Matthew Barnett. Outside of that, there’s usually not much spillover that results in a Mean Girls-esque living arrangement. That’s what unfortunately transpired with Irina in the house. One of the wildest moments was when she asked Bliss Poureetezadi, who was seen baking cupcakes, if she could take one for Zack to bring into the pods for his birthday. Irina had forgotten it was his big day, instead going up to Bliss and asking to borrow a candle so she could bring it to her pod date with him. The whole thing was an awkward exchange that ultimately created a division in the women’s living quarters.
Irina was also just far too involved in the other women’s business. There was a moment where she snuck up closer so she could hear another heartbroken contestant crying, all while she was laughing about it. A few other instances saw her making remarks about other women and their emotions. All of it felt very childish, and something Love Is Blind usually doesn’t feature. Other reality dating shows thrive off of drama among peers like this, but the Netflix series has usually been able to separate itself from the pack because of its ability to focus on the couples and not concern itself with mean people who happen to be cast.
Out of the pods, we saw Irina even turn on her only friend in the house, Micah Lussier. Having matched with Paul Peden, these two ended up facing some drama of their own on the honeymoon. Micah entertained Kwame Appiah after the two had built a connection in the pods before Micah suggested they each go their own way, which caused a disruption for Chelsea Griffin as well as for Paul. He ended up engaging in a conversation with Irina, who clearly made a pass at him — which set Micah off. Irina’s actions not just hurt her own flailing engagement but caused a riff about Paul and Micah.
Zack Never Had a Chance With Irina
Once these two met, there just wasn’t any hope. We later learn from Irina that she had no interest in him from the moment she met him: “I was gonna leave you right after I saw you.” This isn’t the first couple who realized shortly after the pods that they weren’t compatible. Yet, these two stand out as the biggest fail of Love Is Blind Season 4 because of the lack of effort. Zack attempted to make things work as much as he could in this one-sided venture. Irina, on the other hand, absolutely gave it no chance whatsoever. She admitted to this during their final conversation before calling it off, “You got the worst part of me… I’m treating you so poorly.” She even said she treated him like a “jerk” while on their honeymoon. While self-aware, the damage was already done, and Irina had more than set herself up as the Season 4 villain.
Their engagement didn’t even make it back to the departing flight to Seattle. This leaves Zack in a tough predicament as he drew the short end of the stick this season. Irina likely won’t get a second shot at love – though she may have set herself up perfectly to be cast on Perfect Match if a second season unfolds. In the final moments of Episode 5, Zack is hoping that Bliss, the woman he didn’t choose, will give him another chance to see their potential relationship through. In the midst of their breakup, we even see Irina mention Bliss and how she hopes Zack can get a second chance. This will likely be one of the major storylines of the second batch of episodes, but no matter how that transpires, however, Irina left a wake of destruction in her path. Not only did she upend Bliss while in the pods by making her uneasy with the whole cupcakes situation, but she also pushed so hard to win Zack that it wound up leading to him making the wrong decision. There’s a chance this can all be corrected, of course, but Irina’s villainous ways in Season 4 were a rare thing to see on Love Is Blind. Nonetheless, it added a new layer to the season — something this show had been lacking through its first three chapters.
The first five episodes of the new Love Is Blind Season 4 are now streaming on Netflix. The next set of episodes will drop on March 31, followed by more on April 7, with the season culminating on April 14.