Love Island USA - Season 7 Awards

That's right people. Did you think Bean's Blog wasn't going to get involved in the biggest reality show of the year? I'm not passing up on those eyeballs -- I know what the people want. Sure, I'd rather be writing about the OKC Thunder Summer League Roster -- but I'll just as easily wax poetic on Huda and Jeremiah's toxic relationship (The Duality of Bean).

So in typical Bean's Blog Fashion, I wanted to do my standard "Post-Season Awards" Blog for this season of Love Island USA following Sunday's finale. This is a very subjective show, and I certainly won't share the exact same opinions as you all -- so comment below this blog or on the Instagram Page your thoughts!

And if you're one of the fellas reading this, wear it proudly. There's no shame in watching Love Island. Don't let the haters bring you down or judge you. It's manly as fuck to watch this show.

(this is what I tell myself to rationalize watching this shit).

Rookie of the Year

(Best Bombshell of the Season)

Finalists: Amaya, Pepe, Iris

1st award will go to the Best Hot New Bombshell that entered the villa this season. And honestly, the 3 finalists here were some of my favorites of the whole season. But Because I have the two ladies here winning awards elsewhere, the 1st award goes to my guy Pepe. Pepe was a breath of fresh air when he came in because he was much more lowkey, low drama (which I like but clearly America doesn't). He's a basketball player so obviously I'm gonna root for the guy. I wanted him to win the entire show, but if nothing else, I'm glad he ended up with Iris and think they were the best couple on the show -- they just kept it under wraps and weren't so dramatic about it.

6th Man of the Year

(Person we wish got to stay longer)

Finalists: Elan, Gracyn, Charlie

Criteria for this award is people who were around for fewer than 10 episodes. There were a number of people that were only around for a few episodes (Zac, Vanna, Coco, JD) but full disclosure, I don't remember any of them well.

So my pick for this award is Elan — one of the bombshells that I think didn’t get a fair shake. Cierra kind of did him dirty and he wasn’t able to establish any strong connections after that, despite trying a Hail Mary with Amaya. Charlie was also a strong contender here because I liked his accent — but even a cool accent wouldn’t make me pick Zak (with a K) in this spot. I also think TJ was done super dirty by the other islanders because they knew he and Iris had a very strong, potentially show-winning connection.

TJ was right at 10 days and would be a rightful 2nd choice -- but I liked Elan just as much and he was actually fewer than 10 days, so I didn't bend the rule.

Defensive Player of the Season

Finalists: Olandria, Chris, Bryan

I don't know the best way to describe this award, so we're going a little rogue and improving. For example, Olandria kind of defended her position in the show after Taylor left her out to dry for Clarke by pairing up with Nic.

For Chris, I think he was always playing defense after getting coupled up with Huda -- a real tough spot to be in. Having to watch what he said and picking his battles, and by the end of it, defending himself from how he was getting treated. Also a hooper, so bonus points.

And Bryan's main case is how he defended Amaya during the "Stand on Business" challenge, which kind of wound up being the turning point for the both of them. He defended her, they connected, and they won the whole fricking show.

So we're calling DPOY a Reader's Choice award -- I'd give it to Bryan, but think there's 3 different arguments to be made, and maybe more I'm not thinking of.

Most Improved Player

(Best glow-up from their 1st to last moment)

Finalists: Amaya, Olandria, Chris

I think this is the most clear-cut winner in the field when you think about how Amaya came into the show. She was a bombshell in the baseball challenge (sidebar: what the fuck are the challenges in this show? Awful) alongside Hannah. She came in knowing nothing and got on Huda's bad side immediately. She was a slight outcast from that, and didn't find any super solid connections. Then the challenge came along where they wrote things for each other to read in front of the group, and she basically got attacked by the whole villa for having a bold personality.

But that's when Bryan came in to defend her, and in the following episodes they did a challenge where it became crystal clear that America loved her. This brought her personality out even more, and her connection got stronger with Bryan. She became the hottest commodity in the villa, was everyone's favorite islander, and wound up winning the whole damn show. Amaya easily had the best glow-up.

Quote of the Season

Finalists: "Mamacita?" -Nic, "My Dream Date, cute, and he knows that" -Huda, "I Pick Clarke" -Taylor

The funny quotes in this season could probably be their own blog, and have been taking over social media in meme form. But my favorite quote from the season, coming from the funniest person at the villa in Taylor, was NOT for the laughs.

Taylor's standing up there getting laid the fuck into by Olandria and Huda and all the other girls because she was upset that Taylor wanted to explore Clarke. Taylor listened to Olandria, stood on his decision, and read the next card saying "make up your damn mind already" (probably from that bitch Huda). So Taylor said fuck it, I Pick Clarke. Baller move, massive W for Taylor in my opinion. He was always one of my favorites. I thought he was very funny and genuine, and I think he got a bad rep for bailing on Olandria (which is fair), but I would've been happy if he and Clarke won the whole thing.

Least Valuable Player

Finalists: Yulissa, Cierra, Huda

Self-explanatory here: this is for the worst cast member of the season. Yulissa and Cierra were literally removed for racist posts, and there were like 5 bombshells only there for 3 days whose names I barely remember. Yet, somehow, none of them are even in contention for this Bean -- because Huda is my LVP.

I must be in the minority because Huda was there on Day 1 and stayed all the way to the finale, but I COULD NOT STAND this woman. Genuinely one of the least likeable, hypocritical, delusional, manipulative, immature and clinically insane people I've watched on a reality show, granted I don't watch a ton of them.

My #1 problem was the hypocritical aspect -- getting furious at people choosing Jeremiah in challenges, but doing the same (but worse) to Chelley with Ace. Called Amaya a messy bitch about 50 times when she came in, but was her BFF by the end. Same with Iris -- went off on her about Jeremiah multiple times, and at the finale she's trying to get a kiss from her (I'm with you on the reaction Pepe). Motherfucked Jeremiah into oblivion and essentially made it impossible for him to have a different connection (and got rewarded for it while he got kicked off).

Also think she was just shitty to Chris in their connection. Chris also handled things poorly, he was very negative in the last few episodes and acted out when things got bad. But his negativity was directly related to her treating him like a child and her being extremely selfish/self-centered. Just a genuinely bad person, but can't deny that being her being delusional was entertaining TV.

(clearly had a lot of takes to get off about how much I hated Huda -- thanks for bearing with me)

(if you're a Huda fan, you have to comment and let me know why because I don't understand)

Most Valuable Player (Female)

Finalists: Amaya, Iris, Olandria

The three non-Huda finalists are the easiest choices for MVP of this season of Love Island USA. I liked Olandria a lot early season, but thought she went full Mean Girls after Taylor wanted to explore Clarke and really fell off a cliff to me. But when she reconnected with Nic, even though I was never fully bought in and thought it was an act at times, I liked her a lot more in the final stretch.

Amaya is probably the correct choice for MVP based on how everything played out. It's clear she was America's favorite person on the show, and her journey throughout was the best arc. She also won the show, so it might be blasphemy to pick someone else, but the Bean's Blog MVP of the season is Iris.

Similarly to why I liked Pepe so much, Iris just seemed like the most normal and relatable person on the island. And their relationship was my favorite arc of the season -- coming in together, exploring other connections, and coming back to each other eventually. It sucked seeing TJ voted off and setting her back to square one, but it led to her and Pepe, so can't be too upset about it (s/o TJ, guy got done dirty then had to watch Iris connect with another dude. Iris + TJ may have been a stronger connection than her and Pepe though honestly). But the same thing happened to Pepe with Hannah, which kind of adds to the story of him and Iris getting together.

Because she was my favorite girl on the island from her intro to the end, she's easily my choice for MVP -- but if you're an Amaya Papaya defender, she's a fair winner as well.

Most Valuable Player (Male)

Finalists: Taylor, Pepe, Nic

And now for the final award, our MVP of the men on the island. I've already talked quite a bit about Pepe here -- and he was my #1 guy all season. But I don't want to repeat winners, and even if he's my MVP, it's clear the majority of people don't agree with them finishing 4th in the finale.

Other guys that came to mind were Ace, Chris, and Bryan. I could never fully get on board with Ace, thought he was a mixed bag all season. I think Bryan is a great dude, but he was carried by Amaya in reality. And I liked Chris a lot -- thought he was very genuine, honest, and didn't lead people on. But I don't think he's completely blame-free for the Huda fallout, and was awfully childish up until the final words they shared.

Let's talk about Taylor -- who was probably my favorite guy outside of Pepe. He was just a goofy, fun-loving guy to have around the villa, but I do think he made some mistakes on the way. He probably had a better chance of winning it all with Olandria, but I respect the hell out of choosing the spark over the cash.

So that leaves one guy for my MVP -- Nic. I don't really read the social media posts about this show, so I don't know the consensus opinion on Nic, but I do know that I always liked him on the show. He's funny, had a good personality, and probably played the game the way it was meant to be played more so than anyone else. He explored every connection, he got the most screentime, he made the most of his time there. And he had the most up-and-down journey.

I think when people look back on this season, they're going to remember Nic more than any other dude that was on the show. And when I think back on NBA/NFL MVP's, the winners are often the player that was the story of the season. So to me, Nic is most deserving of LIUSA MVP.

1st Team All-Love-Island

(my five favorite people on season 7 of LIUSA)

• Pepe

• Iris

• Taylor

• Nic

• Amaya

2nd Team All-Love-Island

• Bryan

• Hannah

• Elan

• Charlie

• Clarke

My apologies if you were an Ace and Chelley stan -- I know I didn't cover them much and they were very much main characters in this season's plot. I just was never particularly charmed by these two's relationship, and anytime I started to like Ace, he did some stupid or selfish shit to turn me against him again. I will say, his videos online teaching Pakistani guys to dance to Drake songs are fucking incredible. They make me laugh so hard.

That's all for today's blog folks -- something very different than we usually cover at Bean's Blog, but this show was shockingly fun (and kind of addictive) to watch and deserved to be covered. Back to your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow with Power Ranking Thursday!