‘Love Island’ week 3 recap: friendship island, egg-cellent tactics and girl power

Week three (almost) done and dusted. By now, the islanders have essentially done the equivalent of a three-week stint in the Gaeltacht. In fact, one could probably draw more than a few comparisons between the two experiences – tears have been shed, couples have gone their separate ways and as is often the case at Irish college, some attendees have gotten the boot for bad behaviour. 

Usually, by this point in the series, I’m either well and truly hooked or completely over it. This year I don’t really have any strong feelings either way but I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I am a little bored by the whole thing. Nothing of substance has happened thus far so there’s a lot riding on Casa Amor and new boy Danny. No pressure or anything. 

Friendship Island

This summer’s series has very few serious couples in it. Jake and Liberty are the only ones to have been coupled up from the start and save for Liam and Millie and Toby and Chloe, the rest of the villa doesn’t seem too settled as of yet. Teddy gives the impression that his head has been turned by new girl AJ (much to Faye’s disgust) which leaves Sharon, Kaz, Aaron, Hugo, and Lucinda all single and for the taking. But, in a statement surprising to no one, this isn’t friendship island, so, why so many platonic couples? 

By no means unique to just this year (I refer you back to my favourite friendship couple to date – Amber and Ovie in season five), non-romantic couples have kind of always been a thing on the show. Not everyone is going to fancy everyone so it makes sense that there might be one or two couples that were paired together for no other reason than convenience. But I can’t help but question whether producers got it very, very wrong this year. Perhaps it’s the editing or the fact that we actually only see a very small part of the footage they capture throughout the day, but most of the islanders just don’t seem to have all that much chemistry to me… I include the actual couple couples in that bracket too. 

Take Brad and Lucinda for example. Already having tried on just about every other female in the villa so far, Brad eventually found exactly what he was looking for in Lucinda. So smitten was he that he already had their life together planned out – he was happy to do everything for his new partner and all she had to do was look pretty. Cue producers thinking “not so fast”, and after enjoying their first romantic date together, the couple learned that not only were they in the bottom three, but that they would have to decide between them who would be leaving the villa early. 

Maintaining that she really, really fancied him and didn’t think that there would be anyone else who could possibly measure up to him, Lucinda put on a very “deer in the headlights” performance when faced with the decision but ultimately they decided that she would stay, and Brad would go.

Cut to a few hours (days? I have no concept of time here) later and Lucinda and Aaron are now potentially a thing. Moving very swiftly on and forgetting all about her former flame Brad, Lucinda seems to be enjoying getting to know Aaron… but I just don’t really buy it. There were little sparks between her and Brad and there are even less between her and Aaron in my opinion, so this season seems all about tactics to me. 

Kris Jenner works hard but Faye works harder

Ironically, for a series all about finding a partner, it’s the individuals that make the programme what it is. We’ve seen countless favourites couple up with less favourable other halves and more often than not, it’s the public’s love for one particular person that carries the pairing through (*Maura and Curtis, cough cough*).

Watching the silly behind-the-scenes antics that go on is how viewers really grow to like islanders though and that’s only made possible when they let their guards down and are truly themselves. Usually, those personality-full tidbits are contained to After Sun, but that all changed in last night’s ep when Faye’s “suck the egg” game was given the airtime it so deserved.

Hoping to inject a much-needed dose of fun into the villa, Faye did her utmost to get the party started. Gathering contestants together in a circle, the premise of the game was simple – pass the egg to your fellow islander using just your mouth, drop the egg and you have to kiss whoever you were trying to pass it to. Simple in theory maybe, but definitely not in practice and there were several smashed eggs once the game was through. 

What appeared to be just a way to pass the time, was actually a very calculated move on Faye’s part though as she timed the challenge to perfection, using it as an excuse to break up a conversation between her partner Teddy and new girl AJ. Between that and the now-famous nail file moment (see meme below for reference), Faye has been the topic of much Love Island-related chatter this week and it seems that fans are swaying in her favour. 

Girl Power

If it’s not Faye people are talking about, it’s Liberty and Kaz though. While platonic couples kind of go against the whole premise of the show, watching onscreen friendships blossom is always one of the highlights each year. Establishing herself as one of the season’s breakout stars quite early on, fans were quick to fall for Liberty and many have commented that her bond with Kaz is “the only real genuine relationship on the show so far”. 

Usually shown hanging out together, the duo really seems to have hit it off and it’s clear that they’re very much about girl power and women supporting women. Proving herself to be the ultimate hype girl/wing woman, Lib took it upon herself to vet Kaz’s potential new love interest Teddy when he first entered the villa. Asking him a laundry list of questions to find out more about him, she really honed in on the important things… like whether he prefers Quality Street or Celebrations for example. We were all thinking it, to be fair. 

Week three may not have delivered any major drama but the whisper of Casa Amor hangs on the air so it’s worth sticking it out until then at the very least. Catch you back here same time next week. 

Feature image via Lifted Entertainment