We’re all familiar with the concept of dating shows. They’ve been around for decades and every year there seems to be a new attempt at making something new and exciting. This year, Netflix unveiled their offering, a little show called Dating Around.
The concept of Dating Around is pretty simple and is laid out right in the beginning of each episode. “Five first dates, only one second date.” Each episode centers around one person who goes on five first dates. They wear the same clothes, go to the same restaurants, ask the same questions. Each night is broken up into three parts, which are Drinks, Dinner, and After Hours. The separate dates are all edited together so it seems like each date is happening simultaneously. Then, we fast forward to the second date where the person’s choice is revealed. No ceremony, no roses, just real life.
And that’s what’s so great about Dating Around. While it is still a dating show, it feels a lot less produced and dramatic than what we’re used to. There definitely is wisdom to the opinion that reality shows can never really be real since people know they’re on camera, but Dating Around sure gets close.
But for people who don’t want to go through and watch each episode, have no fear! We’ve put together a ranking of all of the dates in each of the six episodes. So here they are, all the dates from Netflix’s Dating Around, ranked from worst to best.
John & Sarah (Episode 5)
Or “Mr. John,” as he introduced himself. John works at his friend’s strip club and has a nice shirt and a nice smile. Unfortunately, he decided the best way to go about this date was to have the conversation devolve into sexual jokes. Insert eye roll here. Sarah hung on for a bit, but she didn’t even manage to get to the salad part of dinner before she found an excuse to get the hell out of there. Good on you, Sarah.
Justin & Gurki (Episode 2)
Oh, Justin. Justin, Justin, Justin… We had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well as soon as he ordered that Miller High Life as his first drink of the night. There were other signs that the date wasn’t going to end well, but everything came to a head at the after hours. The two clearly had differing ideas on love and marriage, and instead of accepting that gracefully, Justin decided to mansplain. It was incredibly uncomfortable to watch, especially when he kept interrupting Gurki. Let her talk, bro! And also, don’t tell someone that they’ve wasted 8 years of their life. That’s just rude.
Ashley & Luke (Episode 1)
Nothing on Ashley, because she seems like good people, but it was clear from the get-go that she was not that interested in Luke. Likewise, Luke didn’t seem like he was into the date that much either. They made it through dinner and Ashley was very upfront about the fact that they weren’t really right for each other. It was a nice, clean end to the date. No muss, no fuss.
Mic & Lex (Episode 3)
The date between Mic and Lex wasn’t all that memorable. The only moment that stood out was when Lex decided to ask if Mic was a top or bottom. Mic quickly grew uncomfortable with the topic, which seemed to amuse Lex more than anything. But while that amused him, the date itself didn’t seem to, and it ended right after dinner.
Bam & Gurki (Episode 2)
Did anything even happen on this date? What did they talk about? All that seems to stick out was the cute anecdote about how Bam got his nickname and not much else. Bam didn’t even make it to the after hours portion, which makes this date extra unmemorable. Sorry, Bam.
Salim & Gurki (Episode 2)
Unlike Bam, Salim made it to the after hours, but we’re at a loss trying to think of something that stood out on this date. Maybe when Gurki said she was the Benjamin Button of daters because she got married first and is now trying to date? But then again, that was Gurki and not Salim, so she could have said the exact same thing to the other guys.
Jonathan & Lex (Episode 3)
Lex was somewhat hard to read throughout his episode, but with Jonathan, it was pretty clear he wasn’t into it. We don’t blame him, because really, what’s a person supposed to do when someone decides to read you song lyrics they wrote? Not sing, mind you, but recite, straight-faced. All before dinner. It was awkward, to say the least and Lex was a trooper for soldiering on.
Kate & Luke (Episode 1)
This date, frankly, just wasn’t memorable. The conversation between Kate and Luke wasn’t particularly interesting, and did Kate even talk about what she did? Maybe she did, but we weren’t paying attention. Despite Kate being beautiful and charming, there just wasn’t anything engaging about these two together.
Tiffany & Luke (Episode 1)
The lip-smacking while eating food was… a little much. And by a little, we mean that it was literally the only thing we could remember about this date. Tiffany seemed like a nice enough person, and we appreciate the fact that she’s very comfortable with herself, but the ASMR aspect of this date was a lot.
Lauren & Leonard (Episode 4)
Lauren is absolutely fabulous. It didn’t seem like she and Leonard had much in common, but honestly, it was just so fun watching her. She was so over the top and looked like she’d stepped out of an episode of The Real Housewives of New York. Leonard, however, didn’t seem all that into the glamor and attitude and at certain points even had his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. Safe to say, they did not make it to the after hours.
Jay & Gurki (Episode 2)
Jay, the SWAT officer, came across as very level headed and cool. He and Gurki had a nice enough conversation with one another, but it ultimately seemed to come down to the two of them not having much in common. Jay took everything Gurki said, including the revelation that she was once married, in stride, but at the end of the night, there wasn’t that spark.
Gloria & Leonard (Episode 4)
At first, it seemed like Gloria and Leonard had a chance, but things went downhill as soon as the text messages started. Gloria’s daughter sent her a message to see how the date was going, and instead of just sending a thumbs up and putting her phone on silent, Gloria decided to answer subsequent messages. Rookie move. Gloria still managed to get to after hours, but at the end of the night, Leonard admitted he wasn’t feeling it.
Nina & Mila (Episode 6)
Nina didn’t get that much screen time in this episode. The only really memorable moment during this date was when Nina was explaining all of her tattoos. Then Mila showed her the Hindu mantra tattoo she had and explained the reading and its meaning and that was sort of it. There really wasn’t much else to the date. But then again, Mila did exchange numbers with her, so maybe some more connection happened while we weren’t looking.
Betty & Luke (Episode 1)
Betty and Luke definitely had potential. They connected over their interest in fitness, and the moonlit salsa dance in front of the restaurant was pretty sweet. Betty opened up about how she’d been married once before, and Luke politely didn’t press any further. They did end up going to after hours, but it became pretty clear that Luke wasn’t as interested in her as she was in him. Protip: When someone says, “It’s late,” or “I’m getting tired,” during a date, that’s just a polite way of them saying, “I would very much like to go home now.”
Antonio & Sarah (Episode 5)
It’s really a wonder why Antonio stayed as long as he did. As soon as Sarah started doling out the puns, Antonio seemed like he was regretting a few life choices. These two just didn’t seem like they were on the same page about a lot of things, mainly that Antonio wanted to have a more serious conversation that Sarah wasn’t about to get tied down to. Eventually, Antonio was the one who pulled the plug on the date. It was a bit abrupt, but hey, honesty is a good thing.
Karen & Leonard (Episode 4)
Karen and Leonard, in the end, didn’t have enough in common. Like a lot of the dates on Dating Around, theirs was just not memorable. The only conversation that really stands out is when Karen mentioned she’d never done drugs and Leonard said that he’d done a lot of them. There really wasn’t much else to their interactions and this was another date that ended with them calling it quits before after hours.
Brad & Lex (Episode 3)
As Lex put it, Brad is “every homosexual’s wet dream.” He does seem to have his life together and emanates a sense of calm and stability. The date itself actually seemed pretty promising, although after a while Brad’s eye contact seemed a bit intense. Did he blink at all during the date? We’re pretty sure he didn’t. But both Lex and Brad seemed into each other
Adrian & Sarah (Episode 5)
There was definitely a moment during this date that could have gone badly. Boy tells a bad joke that Girl does not find funny. Girl explains why the joke isn’t funny, to which Boy tells Girl to relax. Girl tells Boy that he should never tell a girl to relax. This could have easily ended with Adrian getting defensive and saying something along the lines of, “I was just joking, God!” But to his credit, he acknowledged his mistake and apologized, so he gets to be spared any punishment.
Peter & Lex (Episode 3)
Peter was absolutely adorable, but it didn’t seem like he had much of a chance. Their interactions were definitely fun to watch, but it sort of felt like Lex settled into more of an older brother role. He seemed genuinely interested in what Peter had to say, but he couldn’t help but tease and poke at little Peter. Peter didn’t quite have the wit to fight back, but hey, maybe Queera Wang does.
Nick & Sarah (Episode 5)
It honestly was hard to tell if Sarah was into Nick or not. Nick clearly was into her and they did a cute bit where they reenacted a scene from the movie Sideways together, but was Sarah actually interested? It was hard to tell. It just seemed like they had good banter together, but at the end of the night, that was kind of it. They could tell jokes and goof off, but there wasn’t much more than that. Also, we wanted to hear the 9-minute joke about Greek mythology, Nick. Why would you take that from us?
