Netflix’s new series Dating Around is both heart-warming and gloriously awkward. It’s a real-life reflection of how exciting, exhausting and plain insane the modern dating scene is.
The streaming service’s first original dating show is basically like First Dates and The Bachelor combined, but with an exciting bonus of having WAY more diversity.
The magic of Dating Around comes down to the inclusivity and variety of the show’s participants. It’s not whitewashed. It’s not ageist. It IS inclusive of the LGBTQI community.
From a widower in his 70s, to a queer black woman, the show actually unveils what the single life is like for all kinds of people in the real world.
Dating Around introduces us to so many exciting characters.
So how does Dating Around work?
Where First Dates introduces us to a bunch of different single dates in one episode, and The Bachelor draws out single dates with one main star for an entire season, Dating Around introduces us to one leading man or woman each episode, who goes on five blind dates.
Divided in to small chapters, each 30 minute episode is split in to drinks, dinner and after hours. All five dates are blended seamlessly together, with viewers having the super weird privilege of looking in on all the dates as though they’re happening simultaneously.
Watching Dating Around is like when you eavesdrop on the couple next to you at the restaurant, only this time you’re at home alone watching TV so it’s not quite as odd.
There are some sweet first dates with the likes of 70-year-old widow Leonard and his love interest Dianna, but there are also many cringe-worthy moments that make you want to cover your face with a pillow, like when Gurki had an awkward date with the insufferable Justin.
If you’ve ever been on a really terrible, awful, no-good date and then spent the rest of your life thinking about it at 2am every night… you’ll be happy to know there are other people out there on bad first dates, and theirs are available to watch on Netflix.
But, if you’re just one of those people who loves love and doesn’t want the drama of other shows like Married At First Sight, it’s all good.
While there are some cringey moments on Dating Around, it’s not over-the-top.
We can all relate, surely?
Dating Around is currently streaming on Netflix.
